The Blog of Rudy Amid » music

Music of the 80′s – Movie Edition

rudyamid — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:51:28 +0000

Two things I did a lot while growing up: Watched movies and listened to radio. In the 80′s, the movies had a strong influence on what’s being played on radio. Sometimes the music was much better than the movie! These are some 80′s songs, as part of movie soundtracks, still stuck in my mind:

Simple Minds – Don’t You Forget About Me (1985)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAdaQhitdKg

The “Breakfast Club” is a great movie. It’s one of John Hughes’ classic teen movie. The soundtrack is unforgettable to me. I just love this song. I heard it so many times and I still don’t get tired of it. A bit of trivia: the song was turned down by Billy Idol and Bryan Ferry. I can’t imagine those two sing it, anyway.

OMD – If You Leave (1986)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM-dPjM5GiQ

[Original Video Link]

Another classic John Hughes’ film, “Pretty In Pink” has many classic songs. This OMD song in particular was played on the radio so many times, it was hard to miss. The contender is the song “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want“” by The Smiths.

The Furniture – Brilliant Mind (1986)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JeEXP717T0

Another one from Hughes’ film, “Some Kind of Wonderful“, but this time the soundtrack went alternative. This song in particular was played a lot on CFNY 102.1 alternative music station in the 80′s. I still like it.

Harold Faltermeyer – Top Gun Anthem (1986)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCTJmXrgsFg

As I posted earlier, the movie “Top Gun” was a blockbuster success and the soundtrack went to #1 with it. The theme song represented the movie quite well. I also like Faltermeyer’s previous work: “Axel F Theme“.

Bob Seger – Shakedown (1987)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk-W_i7Z59I

I really like the movie Beverly Hills Cop. The sequel is not bad, but not as good as the first one. For some reason, I enjoyed this song by Bob Seger on the sequel, more than the soundtrack of the first movie. I think it just a really upbeat song, and fun to sing along.

David Foster – Love Theme St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=blnXuYiY8Y0

Once in a while, I like a good ballad . This composition is particularly beautiful. Great melody. For a “love theme” it’s quite cheerful. The movie… not so memorable.

Huey Lewis and The News – Power of Love (1985)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbYQXmWrtpA

[Original Video Link]

“Back to the Future” is awesome movie, and it has an equally awesome song by Huey Lewis. I know the lyrics well. I’ll probably ace it in Karaoke.

Duran Duran – A View To A Kill (1985)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ResNDwq_5k

[Original Video Link]

I really don’t care about the movie “A View to a Kill“. For a Bond film, it was badly written, badly acted, and the stunts were boring. However, the featured song was great and they had chosen the correct contemporary band to play it.

Kenny Loggins – Footloose (1984)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL3EepgDe4g

“Footloose” is a good coming of age movie. This is Kevin Bacon’s breakout film. I don’t think he made any other decent film after this, other than “Tremors”. Anyway, the song from Kenny Loggins is so awesome, and it looked like they had fun doing the final dance scene in the movie.

Irene Cara – What A Feeling (1983)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILWSp0m9G2U

“Flashdance” was one of those movies where the soundtrack was better than the movie. Not a good feeling for the producers and director.

Bonus Track

Killing Joke – Eighties (1985)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjyKRRJQEpU

[Original Video Link]

This song was played a lot on alternative radios, and popular in the clubs. The guitar riffs are mesmerizing, and not overwhelming. Little did I know, this song was part of the “Weird Science” soundtrack! I can’t remember where it was played in the movie. I should watch that movie again.

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Music of the 80′s – Movie Edition

Music of the 80′s – UK Club Edition

rudyamid — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:20:41 +0000

In my continuing series of 80′s music (re)collection, I’m listing a few more that were stuck in my mind. During my teenage years, I went clubbing quite a bit. When I was a DJ, I played them a lot, too. These songs were popular in Europe, but in North America¹ they were obscure – at least initially. They were played often in alternative radio and clubs. Now, they’re well known and have huge influences on new bands everywhere.

New Order – Blue Monday (1983)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7LKjTV5oI

I’m a huge fan of New Order. They started off in the 70′s as Joy Division. Since the lead singer died, they moved on to form the new band. They began with the same depressing music style of Joy Division, but later changed to a more upbeat “clubby” songs which got the attention of the masses. They finally broke up a couple of years ago. It’s too bad, most new alternative bands now want to sound like them – and usually succeed.

Pet Shop Boys – Opportunity (Let’s Make Lots of Money) (1985)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1aYZ3e5EI0

[Original Video Link]

In a Roling Stone magazine, a critic wrote PSBs were “Britain’s Dopiest Duo”. When a friend introduced me to the Please album, I dismissed that critical review. They produced some of the catchiest melody, with smart lyrics. They also made several remixes – labeled them as “dance” tracks. So it was no surprise their songs made it to clubs. This song reminded me of my clubbing days. The PSBs are still together making new albums. I haven’t listened to them lately. They’ve lost their unique sound.

Depeche Mode – Strange Love (1987)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5L0l9hS958

[Original Video Link]

I went to see these guys at the CNE Grandstand in 1987 when they were promoting Music For the Masses album. The appeal of this band was it never went mainstream, yet popular enough in the clubs. I just like them because they always reinvent themselves.

ABC – The Look of Love (1982)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuLcogdames

[Original Video Link]

This group is one of those bands that made me look back and ask, “Where are they now?” Apparently, they were still busy touring in 2009! They were so good back in the 80′s, with their pop dance tunes, but somehow I lost track of them after their album Alphabet City. Anyway, this song was part of the classy album Lexicon of Love, which has wonderful strings orchestra for a pop song. Very catchy. Very dance-able.

Human League – Don’t You Want Me (1981)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KVlz88gXNA

[Original Video Link]

This is a classic 80′s dance tune. Always a floor filler whenever I played this song in parties. I just read the Human League story on Wikipedia, and they seem to have a rough past – but strangely enough the lead singer, Phil Oakey, is still recording, and touring! I’ll bet people will go see them just to hear this song again.

Duran Duran – The Reflex (1983)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsKCcGFrwJQ

[Original Video Link]

Finally, the 80′s dance scene is not complete without these guys. They were the poster children of MTV. Girls loved them. DJs loved to play their songs. However, my personal favorite is “Come Undone“, from their self-titled album in 1993. Since this is about the 80′s, I chose The Reflex because it was their final shining world Pop Music glory.

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Music of the 80′s – UK Club Edition

Canadians had a tendency to like European music.

Music of the 80′s

rudyamid — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:45:49 +0000

A friend once asked me, “What is my favorite 80′s music?” That’s not an easy question to answer. I can’t think of one song that represents an entire decade of music. Instead, the music was integrated into the experiences that occurred in the 80′s.

There are many examples, and in the next few months or so, I’ll try to recall some of my memories of the 80′s as they relate to music that I heard.

Hall and Oates: “I Can’t Go For That” (1981)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccenFp_3kq8

This song reminded me of winter days in Toronto when we would drive, in my uncle’s station wagon, for miles and miles to Richmond Hill to buy some computer hardware & software. The radio station put this song under heavy rotation.

The Police: Every Little She Does Is Magic (1981)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfztiGanKS8

My sisters and uncle had these get togethers with their friends at the house. They would play The Police album “Ghost in the Machine” a lot. This song particularly stuck in my mind because of the catchy beat… and the word “magic”.

Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (1983)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeMFqkcPYcg

With the popularity of MTV starting in 1981, my cousin, who was fashionably cool, would watch the show a lot. Since there were only a handful of music videos back then, they played the same videos over and over again. One of the most unique (both in sound and sight) was this Eurythmics video. Seriously, do women actually have short orange hair??

Michael Jackson: Billie Jean (1983)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi_XLOBDo_Y

One of MTV’s favorite is Michael Jackson. Billie Jean just had one of those very catch beat and melody. For the longest time, I couldn’t understand what he was saying, “Billie Jean not my low-fa. She’s just a girl, said that I’m not the one. The chair’s not my son.” Memorable song, none the less.

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Music of the 80′s

Hey DJ (Hero)!

rudyamid — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:15:42 +0000

I used to be a DJ in the 80′s, and I enjoy doing party mixes for a crowd, or to a tape recorder. Having two turntables (and sometimes a drum machine), and playing various dance/club songs were fun me. It was an expensive hobby too, I bought a lot of vinyls.

Now, it looks like Activision is going to bring back memories for me with their latest game DJ Hero. It’s like Guitar Hero but using turntable and mixer instruments. I’ve been anticipating this for a while. It looks like it has the “fun” factor in it. However, just like a serious guitar player would laugh at Guitar Hero, I’m also laughing at this setup. It’s marketed to gamers, I suppose I can’t put it down too much. I’ll just roll with it, and enjoy it as pure fun & games.

Here’s the demo from E3 2009.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f46drTL7e4E

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Hey DJ (Hero)!

Lunch Bits – Edition 30

rudyamid — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:44:57 +0000

We went to Arby’s. It was a cool sunny day when we talked about:

Free Arby’s roast burger. I had the bacon cheddar burger, and it was good. We generally liked the roast burgers.
Consistent, Simple, and Repeatable process. Something we should strive and enforce in the work place.
Obama left, or try to be right wing? Or just down the middle?
Led Zeppelin vs The Beatles – who’s more influential? The Beatles had talent but had a lot of marketing (movies, interviews, etc.). Led Zeppelin was innovative with minimal marketing. I thought The Beatles, as a group or individually, was more mainstream, so they were more influential.

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Lunch Bits – Edition 30

Re-View: Top Gun

rudyamid — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 08:34:21 +0000

One of my best movies of the 80′s is Top Gun. It was a great action film that made guys like Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Edwards famous. The writing was kind of corny, but it produced a lot of memorable quotes, such as “I feel the need – the need for speed.” The acting was also substandard. But it was testosterone filled, so that made it a classic flick for us guys. I certainly didn’t watch it for the acting. Oh, I almost forgot Meg Ryan made a cameo. Between her and Kelly Mcginnis, they were the highlights of good acting in the entire movie.

I lost my original DVD a few years ago and was going to replace it with the Special Edition DVD. However, I just saw the HD-DVD version at Fry’s for $9. So I picked it up. I was curious to know what was in the hi-def version. As far as I could tell, the colors were richer, and the detail for the close-ups (mostly faces) were quite dramatic. I noticed a lot of edge enhanced images, especially during the dark scenes, resulting in “halos” around objects. It was most likely due to bad authoring. They didn’t bother to review and clean-up those scenes.

Like anything from the 80′s, the music played a big part in making the movie famous. It was no surprise the soundtrack was the only one that won an Oscar. The best original song was Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWdxIp6PtbQ

Kenny Loggin’s “Danger Zone” was great too.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1a_ikfUico

Personally, I think Harold Faltermeyer’s Top Gun theme song was the best. With a backing from Steve Stevens’ rocking guitar work, it was the perfect theme song for the movie.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCTJmXrgsFg

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Re-View: Top Gun

My “Mixtape” from Tumblr

rudyamid — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 09:06:22 +0000

Tumbltape is a way for me to make a convenient playlist of the audio/mp3 files from my Tumblr site. I’ve been looking for something like this for quite some time. It works pretty well, except that it only takes the recent 12 songs and it’s not configurable. But, this will have to do for now.

Meanwhile, enjoy the music. Click on a song title to play it.

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My “Mixtape” from Tumblr

Other Side of the Blogio

Re-View: Pinocchio

rudyamid — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:52:28 +0000

After reading Wired’s post, 10 Cartoon Classics to Share with Your Kids, I felt it was time to revisit the classic Disney cartoon Pinocchio. Like all the cartoons created back then, it had some eyebrow raising scenes such as kids drinking and smoking, or Geppetto had a gun under his pillow. However, the underlying theme of the movie was still about love and kindness – and being truthful. They’re good messages to pass on to my daughter. We watched the movie last week. She liked it – except the scary parts like the escape from the whale’s belly.

The original DVD doesn’t have any additional features. It just has the standard movie (in 4:3 format) and scene selectors. The movie can use Disney’s “Special Platinum Edition” release with documentaries, featurettes, games, and print clean-up. The same treatment with Dumbo and Bambi DVDs.

Personally, I very much like the theme song, “When You Wish Upon A Star”. It was performed by Cliff Edwards, who happened to be the voice of Jiminy Cricket in the movie. I found the YouTube video of the original song, with the scenes from some of the other classic Disney movies.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-GtMDLlGRI

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do

Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

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Re-View: Pinocchio

Orange County Fair 2008

rudyamid — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:57:30 +0000

Last sunday, we decided to check out this year’s Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa. It’s annual event during the summer. It’s open July 11 thru August 3. The weekends are usually the busiest, so with that in mind, we decided to take the bus to avoid traffic jams and parking fee. We took the special OCTA Route 671 direct from Anaheim Canyon Metrolink station right to the Fair’s front gate. It only cost us $1.25/person each way. The route is 15.5 miles each direction. There was only one other passenger, so we got the express bus for ourselves.

Comparatively speaking, OC Fair is nicer and more fun than the San Diego County Fair. There was also more emphasis on food and fun. The retailers’ booths were neatly hidden inside the buildings. With no clutter of commercial signs, it felt more like an amusement park.

There are more games and rides, with a separate section for adults and kids. My 3-year old daughter loved the kids’ rides. She would go on them by herself, too. My wife and I didn’t have to accompany her. We took the cable car ride from the front to the back entrance of the fairgrounds. It was a neat ride; we could see the entire fairground from end to end.

At the Park Plaza, we stopped by to watch Kishin Daiko performing Taiko, or Japanese Drums. These guys (and girls) are incredible. The rhythm of the drums is mesmerizing and awe inspiring. One of the performer mentioned there’s a Taiko Drum Master for Playstation 2. I want one also for the Wii!

The only gripe I had about the Fair was the expensive food and drinks. We had roasted corn for $3.75, Great Western BBQ Sausage for $8.75, and small Dipping Dot ice cream for $3.50. Good thing we brought our own water, otherwise it’s going to be another $2.50 for that!

Overall, we’re glad to have gone to the Fair. We’re looking forward to visit it again, maybe in 2 weeks, or next year.

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Orange County Fair 2008

Dance With My Father

rudyamid — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:04:17 +0000

My wife introduced me to this song a few years ago. It was written by Luther Vandross and Richard Marx. Dance With My Father is a beautiful song. I thought I’d share it with everyone.

Back when I was a child
Before life removed all the innocence
My father would lift me high
And dance with my mother and me and then
Spend me around till I fell asleep
Then up the stairs he would carry me
And I knew for sure I was loved

If I could get another chance
Another walk, another dance with him
I’d play a song that would never ever end
How I’d love love love to dance with my father again

When I and my mother would disagree
To get my way I would run from her to him
He’d make me laugh just to comfort me(yeah, yeah)
Then finally make me do just what my momma said
Later that night, when I was asleep
He left a dollar under my sheet
Never dreamed that he would be gone from me

If I could steal
One final glance
One final step
One final dance with him
I’d play a song that would never ever end
Cause I’d love love love to dance with my father again

Sometimes I’d listen outside her door
I’d hear how my mother cried for him
I’d pray for her even more than me

I know I’m praying for much too much
But could you send back the only man she loved
I know you don’t do it usually
But dear Lord she’ s dying to dance with my father again

Every night I fall asleep
And this is all I ever dream

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Dance With My Father

The Blog of Rudy Amid » music

Music of the 80′s – Movie Edition

Simple Minds – Don’t You Forget About Me (1985)

OMD – If You Leave (1986)

The Furniture – Brilliant Mind (1986)

Harold Faltermeyer – Top Gun Anthem (1986)

Bob Seger – Shakedown (1987)

David Foster – Love Theme St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)

Huey Lewis and The News – Power of Love (1985)

Duran Duran – A View To A Kill (1985)

Kenny Loggins – Footloose (1984)

Irene Cara – What A Feeling (1983)

Bonus Track

Killing Joke – Eighties (1985)

Related posts:

Music of the 80′s – UK Club Edition

New Order – Blue Monday (1983)

Pet Shop Boys – Opportunity (Let’s Make Lots of Money) (1985)

Depeche Mode – Strange Love (1987)

ABC – The Look of Love (1982)

Human League – Don’t You Want Me (1981)

Duran Duran – The Reflex (1983)

Related posts:

Music of the 80′s

Hall and Oates: “I Can’t Go For That” (1981)

The Police: Every Little She Does Is Magic (1981)

Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (1983)

Michael Jackson: Billie Jean (1983)

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Hey DJ (Hero)!

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Lunch Bits – Edition 30

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Re-View: Top Gun

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My “Mixtape” from Tumblr

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Re-View: Pinocchio

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Orange County Fair 2008

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Dance With My Father

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