My 25 year class reunion is this month. Hope all this looking back is coming to its eventual conclusion, teen aged angst has its place, and 1987 is where I'd like to leave it.
Still, I had a great senior year: pretty good grades, lots of great friends, romantic drama, spring break in Daytona Beach with my girls, prom, the rush of grad parties, summer being lazy at the beach, and trying to figure out what to major in when I went to college (secondary education, one of 6 different majors). The following songs (and a couple albums) provided a soundtrack that runs through my heart 25 years later. I expect to hear more than a few of these on November 23.
Pump it up homeboy, just don't stop.
Lean on Me, Club Noveau - in spring '87, nominations were out, and this song was a popular choice for class song. Alas, one of the nuns deemed it too pop-py a choice and we were stuck with the dull This is the Time by Billy Joel. I think of this as our class song by default. I still own the 12" dance remix to this day, with its art-deco tagger artwork.
Don't Dream It's Over, Crowded House - one high school drama after another had adopted this song as their prom-to-graduation soundtrack, the first of which being 90210. I think One Tree Hill and maybe even Dawson's Creek. Well, it was ours first! There is a wistful melancholy to the song that lends itself well to that time of your life when you are looking forward yet looking back. I was a sucker for the Beatlesque sounds of Split Enz, and the band headed by Neil Finn had me in the first opening bars.
Walk Like an Egyptian, The Bangles - you couldn't go anywhere without this infectious song invading your radio or dance floor. It was truly an "everyone dance!" type of tune. I have senior grad party pics of my friend Todd dancing with a couple of teachers who volunteered to chaperone.
I loved the Bangles, their careers were just a tad too short, and I wish they had stuck around a little longer to solidify their place in the history of rock. Were they too poppy for rock? Too cerebral for pop? Too angsty within their own band to last? The band consisted of two sisters (probably a powder keg right there), a broody bassist, and Susanna Hoffs, who everyone loved and tried to make into a model/actress/solo artist. For a Bangles primer, I recommend Going Down to Liverpool, Following and Hazy Shade of Winter. In the annuals of my own art, I recreated the album cover Everything for painting class at LCC.
Livin' on a Prayer, Bon Jovi - oh, I hate this song to this day but it has to be included. I think it may have even been the #1 hit of the year. The hair metal blue collar anthem was Jon Bon Jovi's attempt at Bruce Springsteen. It has endured as a classic rock staple. The chorus is an easy one to belt out at the top of your lungs with your girlfriends while cruising the Ave., a distinct teen aged pleasure for generations of Jacksonians that seems to have disappeared. A pity, but it probably makes more sense for the kids to take the party to the backyard or some one's basement.
La Bamba, Los Lobos - a summer hit from the movie of the same name, and like cruising the Ave mentioned above, a cross-generation hit. La Bamba the movie was the story of Richie Valens, the Hispanic-American pop star of the 50s who died in the infamous plane crash with the Big Bopper and Buddy Holly. Los Lobos took Richie's song, updated it, and it became their biggest hit. My friend Lisa loves Los Lobos and knows a few of the guys in the band. I've recently become of fan of mariachi in pop songs, and this band may be worth a second listen.
Mony Mony, Billy Idol - this is a song with a life of its own. It was recorded for a studio album by Idol in 1981, was a constant at dances throughout my high school years, and a live version of the song was released as a single in 1987, when it finally hit #1. We all thought we were badasses singing the refrain "hey! hey you, get laid get fucked!" It was a Catholic school, I'm surprised they let us get away with it, although I swear I heard Sister Joanne singing along to her own version "hey, hey you, get praised, love Jesus!" I loved it when the teachers got into it ths spirit.
At This Moment, Billy Vera and the Beaters - two of my former boyfriends were also my classmates, the before mentioned E (Feb angst) and Gregg, who was my freshman boyfriend, with whom I believed we shared less than 5 kisses total. Still, he counts among the notches in my belt (snicker) since I can recall at least three mall-plus-movie dates and I scored a valentine + heart-shaped box of candy (VD '84) presented to me by Alison W., by proxy, since she rode my bus and Gregg didn't. Oh, the romantic limitations of 14 year olds. So what does that have to do with this old fashioned crooner that became an improbable hit based on its association with the sitcom Family Ties? Absolutely nothing, except it would have been nice to dance with one of them to this song instead of staring wistfully, yet jealously, at the girls who were asked to sway in a circle for 3 minutes.
Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Wang Chung - bwahahahaha! This song is delightfully stupid, an amazing ear worm that infects those who hear it 25 years later. Any song that encourages joviality, with a video that triggers epileptic seizures and is banned in certain countries for inciting riotous behavior is ok in my book. On the show Cheers - an 80s classic! - Frasier Crane descends the stairs and in his Shakespearean baritone, commands everyone to Wang Chung... tonight! Jen, Denise and I, in a fit of giddiness on the highway through Chicago while road tripping to Minnesota, contribute the song to the lexicon of adult skating by declaring Wang Chung! every time the spirit struck us. And it struck us, numerous times.
THE ALBUMS!
Taking juvenile antics to a higher art form.
Licensed to Ill, Beastie Boys - "Weeeellll, here's a little story I've got to tell about three bad brothers you know so well..." This album was everywhere, and played in its entirety, all the time. It was the soundtrack on the bus ride to Daytona, and by Florida me, Carla, Rachel and Maria knew the words to Posse in Effect by heart. To this day, all it takes is one quote from the album and Rachel and I will start to rap "ONE lone Beastie I be, ALL by myself without NOBODY..." as only two white middle aged women can.
The Joshua Tree, U2 and Document, R.E.M. - Rolling Stone had itself an internal battle raging in the 80s: which band did they love more, U2 or R.E.M.? In the early years, both were considered indie darlings, beloved by rock critics and college radio. At one point, both were declared THE band of the 80s and/or the only band that mattered.
With The Joshua Tree, U2 struck first, hitting number 1 everywhere both with the album and singles. Then there was the monster stadium tours.
R.E.M. built momentum towards their eventual global domination with the release of Document, a broody, dark album surprisingly easy on the ears and my early intro to the joys of college rock radio, a position I would embrace while a DJ at WLCC and WRKX.
True Blue, Madonna - How much did I love Madonna in those early years? I knew all the lyrics, I knew all the dance movies, I stood in line early with my friend Maria to get tickets to the Who's That Girl tour, relishing my nosebleed seats as I sang along to Open your Heart. I may have been on board the Madonna wannabe bus as early as Burnin' Up from her debut album, but I embraced the maturity of this work as her new artistic direction. Of the tracks, La Isla Bonita is by far my favorite to this day, and of all her albums, this is my second favorite after 1989's Like a Prayer. Art alert! I did a charcoal sketch of the album cover for art class in 1989.
Control, Janet Jackson - it's a 1986 release but it's awesomeness resonated through the next year. As with True Blue, we all knew the lyrics, and all did the dance moves. Oh, E and I perfected that little pull the rope knee slide from The Pleasure Principle! The aggressive snarl of demanding someone "gimme a beat!" before launching into Nasty. The lip curling sass of "I know he USED to do nice stuff for you, but what has he done for you LATE - LY?"
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