It’s Friiidddaayyy fun track time! And today we are visiting the amazing world of Music Mike a music buff and former radio DJ, whom is on my links page and is awesome. I thought I’d pick a few videos from his channel because he has some great deep cuts, lesser known hits, and b-sides. Not to mention he gives a little history on some videos and has a FANTASTIC radio voice from the days when DJs were artists themselves.

Petula Clark - A Sign Of The Times


Foghat - What A Shame


Lulu - Oh Me Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby)


The Tymes - You Little Trustmaker


The Sylvers - Hotline


Yvonne Elliman - Love Pains

It the 80s battling the 80s on your Thursday Throwdowns today. Who does it best, vote below.

Falco


After The Fire

The 80s vs the 80s on the throwdowns. Who would you rather be left alone with, vote below.

I-Ten


Heart

It’s the 80s vs. the 80s on the throwdowns today. Who does is best, vote below.

Eighth Wonder


Martika

I completely fouled up my week and so WBW is late, which promoted many a angry message. Sorry guys. Now get on the floor! It’s May 23, 1994 on WBW Wednesday.

My dad was/is a HUGE Doors fan. He saw them before they were big in Berkeley, CA on some smallish outdoor stage. He even has pictures he took at the show.

I never appreciated them until I was much older. It all sounded so alien to me when I was in my serious clubbing days. Today I find Ray Manzerak’s keyboard work just so smooth, effortless. And coupled with Morrison’s low-key vocals even on the heavy rockers you get kind of lulled into this calm of oozing sexuality and cerebral funk. My favorite track was always ‘Touch Me’ but I think ‘Riders On The Storm’ really shows off how smooth and sexy Ray’s keyboard work was.

The Doors - Riders On The Storm

I forgot last week to give your three hellish hits on the thirteenth. So it is instead and Monday music massacre.

Dance floor anthems… they fill the floor and have people young and old going apeshit at weddings. And there are PLENTY of disasters that have made the charts (i.e. Disco Duck, We Built This City, Barbie Girl…) and so here are a few smash hits that swept the clubs, the wedding receptions, and high school dances the world over.

1st up:

Bay City Rollers – Saturday Night



This is a speak ‘n’ spell glam rock smash may have been fun when it came out and you were at the local roller-disco. Heck it may still be fun now in the right context (i.e. platforms and bell bottoms at a retro 70s party). But it has all the hallmarks of the era that are supposedly great and I find myself with feet not stomping and fists not pumping and absolutely no makeup on what so ever. This is probably because the before the song would sludge its way to radios Queen and Bowie etc had made an art form out of the glam scene and so BCR didn’t have a chance in hell. And when you don’t have a chance in hell you get a gimmick and that meant, “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night!” framing such rancid lyrical verbiage as

“I love her so
I’m gonna let her know
At the good ole rock and roll
Show, I gotta go…”

Yes, I’ve got to go. Far, far, far away from Bay City and its rollers.

Falco - Rock Me Amadeus


The 80s New Wave synth scene seemed to have a love affair with classical composers; ‘I Like Chopin’ by Gazebo, Beethoven (I Love To Listen To) by the Eurythmics… And so Falco, inspired by the film Amadeus no doubt, created this homage to his fellow country and original rock star Mozart. It was a song that stormed charts everywhere but, like Solieri was no Mozart, Falco was no Pet Shop Boys or Eurythmics. And like the Bay City Rollers above he took what was inventive and iconic about the genre of synthpop and new wave cooked it not to well done but burnt. The opening of the track contains a classic of cringe with the girl cooing, “Ooo Rock Me Amadeus” as if Falco is some uber-sexual synth version of Mick Jagger. And it also overuses the cool at the time Max Headroom stutter. But the real proof of the song’s utter recipe of disaster is that is sounds no better in German than English. The phrasing and affliction in his vocals sounds “Oh-my-god! No-way! As if!” And despite the rumors, he is not a one hit wonder. He had a minor hit with the original ‘Der Kommissar’ before After The Fire did the English cut the following year and he had his second big single was ‘Vienna Calling’. In the 80s he was huge in his home country and in Germany as well but even the biggest names in music can sometimes forget to take bath before recoding something that stinks.

DJ Sammy – Hevean


DJ Sammy has committed many felonies in his music career, none worse than his “rave” version of Annie Lennox’s ‘Why’. But that malefic mess didn’t make to the charts. However, an earlier slice of fromage, his rave version of “Heaven’ by Bryan Adams, made to #8 in the US and #1 in the UK. And I admit I worked the floor to this one. I still work the floor to this when they play it; probably more for the nostalgia of the original than the actual merits of this wreck of which there are no merits. In fact I am issuing demerits to this song, 50 of them. This is not so much a “cover” as it is DJ Sammy putting Bryan Adams balls in a vice to raise his choice and the dragging him behind a truck through a toxic waste disposal yard. What was an 80s power ballad has now become a song that could be used for all those sad goodbyes senior year of high school but made much more hyper so you can really work those tears on the floor. You don’t really want to remember most of your high school class after senior year and you certainly don’t want to remember this song either.

We kick off our salute to summer with 10 beach songs. So suggest you favorite tracks with beach in the title.

Examples: New Order - The Beach

Monday music time for the 20th, which means we DOUBLE THE FUN (2x10) with 20 rainbow related tunes. The rainbow theme was one of the very first sets I ever did back when I started the blog back in 2010 so I went and dug up the set list and it looked like this.

1. Looking For A Rainbow – Chris Rea
2. Ride The Rainbow – Alex Rudi Pell
3. Rainbow In The Dark – Dio
4. Rainbow’s Cadillac – Bruce Hornsby
5. Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow – Alan Jackson
6. Shir Ha’Keshet (The Rainbow Song) – Alabina
7. She’s A Rainbow – The Rolling Stones
8. Follow My Rainbow – Sheena Easton
9. A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow – Mitch & Mickey
10. Rainbow Connection – Kermit The Frog

What a set and so hard not to repeat certain songs because they are rather awesome so 20 for the 20th sounds like a grand way to play a bit of old and bit of new! OK lets get to the three facts, then the mucho music, and the lyrics answer and the answer to your Friday fun tracks connection, enjoy!

1. When you see a rainbow the sun is always behind you and the rain in front of you when a rainbow appears. The center of the rainbow’s arc is directly opposite the sun.

2. The angle of light refraction to create a Rainbow is 42 degrees to the eye of the person watching.

3. You can never reach or see the bottom of a rainbow because as your eyes move so does the rainbow.

1. Shir Ha’Keshet (The Rainbow Song) – Alabina
2. Rainbow Ride – Kathy McCord
3. Neon Rainbow – The Box Tops
4. Mr. Rainbow – Slapp Happy
5. She’s A Rainbow – The Rolling Stones
6. A Rainbow In The Dark – Dio
7. Rainbows – Cranes
8. Quick As Rainbows – Kitchens Of Distinction
9. When The Rainbow Comes – World Party
10. She Breaks For Rainbows – The B-52s
11. Somewhere Over The Rainbow – Ray Charles
12. The Rainbow Connection – The Dixie Chicks
13. Chasing That Neon Rainbow – Alan Jackson
14. Rainbow’s Cadillac – Bruce Hornsby
15. I’m Always Chasing Rainbows – George Chakiris
16. The Rainbow Of Your Love – Tania Maria
17. Rainbow Country – Bob Marley
18. Rainbow Island – Rita Marley
19. Life’s Rainbow – Sonny Rhodes
20. Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow – Mitch and Mickey


Last week’s first line lyric was

You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge

From ‘Straight Outta Compoton’ by N.W.A.

All the fun tracks from last Friday were connected by two things:

1. The all reached #2 on the Billboard Charts in the 90s
2. The were all kept from the #1 spot by the same song ‘Everything I Do (I Do It For You)’ by Bryan Adams