I must insert a few disclaimers before proceeding. First and foremost, I wasn’t a Tears for Fears fan. In fact, there were exceptions for sure but generally I wasn’t into the whole 80s England pop/new wave influx on American music. Lastly, many consider “Shout” the group’s signature song. I personally found it annoying. Apologies to … Read More
Perhaps I had a choice on how much I’d come to like “Born in the USA” but not listening was never an option. From the day Bruce Springsteen’s album came out as a 13-year old, I was subjected to hearing this song ad nauseam thanks to my father. This was one of, if not his … Read More
Before there was One Direction, N’Sync, Backstreet Boys and a million other boy band groups including late 80s phenomenon New Kids on the Block, there was New Edition. Not since their arrival to the pop music scene have I enjoyed a group more. The group was originally discovered by Maurice Starr in 1981 at a … Read More
Never did a song make me wish I had girlfriend with a specific first name solely so I can play a song for her more than Toto’s “Rosanna” in `1982. Unfortunately I struck out in the girlfriend department during those days seeing I was 11, and in hindsight I’m not confident I even knew a … Read More
As a young child, there’s precious few bass guitar leads I remember more fondly than Maneater. Honestly, if the entire 4:31 had zero vocals and contained nothing else than the baseline I’d be satisfied. Of course, Darryl Hall (and I guess Oates too) do sing in it and do so quite well. This is the … Read More
Madonna is no stranger to this countdown, with Crazy For You marking her fourth appearance already, joining Papa Don’t Preach (No. 96), Borderline (88) and Like A Prayer (84). Here’s a spoiler alert—this isn’t quite the last you’ll see of Madonna either. While she’s far better known for delivering pop records that govern clubs and … Read More
I love me some Huey Lewis & The News, and this song is my favorite amongst many of their formidable choices. It’s also mandatory that “The News” gets their props from me. Because Lewis was the face of the group and lead singer it’s easy to only refer to them as Huey Lewis, but the … Read More
Everyone knows Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” is the preeminent song to get down to. Not everyone knows is exactly how America’s unofficial humping anthem came out. It turns out Gaye was quite the pornography addict. From Songfacts.com: “The renown writer David Ritz gave Gaye the idea for this song. Gaye had a large collection of … Read More
Let me provide some clarification before proceeding. Even if a video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller’ was never made, I’d still be a fan of the title track off the greatest album I’ve heard in my lifetime. But I gotta keep things real. “Thriller” is at the halfway point of my Top 100 countdown because … Read More
If there’s a noise that lets you know the funk is coming more prominently than the animal sounds preceding “Jungle Love’, I’ve yet to hear it. The best non-Prince song from the movie Purple Rain that ever lived, (Morris Day &) The Time made “Jungle Love” a must have for every party in 1984 and … Read More
