October 25, 2010 - Still Stuck In The 80's

Last week I decided to go back to my high school years and the early 80's music scene. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed some of that stuff, cheesy synths and all! It brought me back to a much more innocent time (at least for me). John enjoyed last week's selections so we decided to do it again this week.


John had an in-studio guest scheduled, but they had to cancel. Instead of going guest-free again, he replayed his interview with Luka Bloom from last year. Even without a guest, John did have company in the studio. Sammy was visiting from Mexico and joined John as a quiet observer. I did manage to convince her to wave to the webcam, just to prove she was there.


With an interview that was only about 20 minutes long, John got to play more songs than he usually does and my segment ran for a little over an hour. John brought in his Loverboy compilation "Big Ones" but we didn't play anything from that cd. Instead we played these songs:


R.E.M. - Gardening At Night
Split Enz - History Never Repeats
Squeeze - In Quintessence
Tony Carey - I Won't Be Home Tonight
Planet P - Why Me
The Jam - Start!
The Plimsouls - A Million Miles Away
The Vapors - Turning Japanese
Streets - If Love Should Go
Spys - Don't Run My Life
Prism - Don't Let Him Know
King Crimson - Frame By Frame
Martin Briley - The Salt In My Tears


Some of the music I played brought back memories. The first REM ep, Chronic Town changed music for me in 1982. Tony Carey & Planet P reminded me of my good friend Kirsten. The Plimsouls made me remember the time I almost saw them live. The Prism song (which was co-written by Bryan Adams)reminded me of the time I saw Bryan Adams open for The Kinks in a blizzard and all I remember of Bryan Adams is how bad he was. And then hearing Lonely Nights and Jealousy on the radio and realizing he did have talent.


Then there was The Vapors Turning Japanese. This song led to way too many masturbation jokes. John had to explain to Sammy what the song meant. Turning Japanese wasn't the first hit song with a hidden meaning (Yummy, Yummt, Yummy, anyone?) and it wasn't even the biggest "masterbation hit". That honor may belong to Cyndi Lauper's She Bop. But regardless of the subject matter, Turning Japanese was a great new wave/power pop song and although The Vapors had some great songs, this is the one they will always be known for.


I still have a dozen songs left it looks like we'll be staying in the early 80's for another week. It's been a lot of fun going back in time and hearing some of these songs again for the first time in years! Next week will give us The Tubes, Utopia, The Bongos, Icehouse, Donnie Iris and a few others.