I love it when a random song from the past pops into my head. Just a little while ago, a song called "Just Be Good To Me" started playing in my head. I went looking for it on iTunes. I only found a version done by a Canadian singer named Deborah Cox. Deborah Cox recorded "Just Be Good To Me" in 1995. She's two years younger than I am. I knew the song was older than that, since I remember it playing on the radio when I was a kid. Sure enough, I learned that it was released by the S.O.S. Band in 1983.
The song I remembered. It's hard to find this song without paying an arm and a leg.
Neither iTunes nor Amazon.com had this song available by the S.O.S. Band. If I want it, I have to pay a shitload of money. I like the song, but not that much! Besides, I can always listen on YouTube. I did download Deborah Cox's version, which is pretty good and very faithful to this version.
She's got chops. I read that she used to sing backup for Celine Dion.
Amazon.de does have "Just Be Good To Me" available to download, but I can't download stuff from their store, because I have a U.S. bank account. I would need a German account to access the digital Amazon.de store.
Living in Germany can have its annoying sides. Like, for instance, I am once again locked out of my PenFed account, and I have to call the bank to get it unlocked. But I have to wait until the afternoon, because I'm six hours ahead of PenFed, which is in Virginia. It's even worse when something happens on USAA. They're on central time, there.
Anyway, the S.O.S. band had another hit song back in the day. It's called "Take Your Time, Do It Right". I don't like that one as much as the funky "Just Be Good To Me". For one thing, "Take Your Time" has a tendency to get stuck in my head. It's quite an earworm.
But you sure can dance to it... or do other things.
"High Hopes" is a 1982 era hit.
"The Finest" is another hit by the S.O.S. Band, but I don't remember this one.
The S.O.S. Band stands for Sounds of Success. They got their start in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977. As I sit here listening to their music, realizing that they worked with some famously great producers like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, I can understand why their sound is so infectious and still pretty great many years later. I've always really appreciated funk, even though I'm about as white as a person can get.
I'll probably be singing that song for the rest of the day.
I have never been a particular fan of Bette Midler's brand of music. I love her as an actress and a comedienne, but her singing doesn't do it for me. I kind of rank her singing with Celine Dion's and Barbra Streisand's... very talented, but kind of annoying. The other day, my friend Joann reminded me of a long ago forgotten memory. Bette Midler once covered The Rolling Stones' hit, "Beast of Burden", which is one of my favorite songs by them.
I watched the video, which I had seen ages ago, but long ago forgotten about. This song was released in 1983. Look how young they both are! I was young then, too.
I had forgotten how funny this video is. Bette does alright with this song and Mick is funny getting a pie thrown in his face.
You never see this kind of silly shit anymore. I guess this just proves that Mick Jagger has a sense of humor and fun. I'm not sure he should give up music for an acting gig, though.
The video for Rodney Dangerfield's hit "Rappin' Rodney" even had a cameo from Pat Benatar in it. She played the executioner. The backup singers remind me of the Pointer Sisters, but I doubt they had anything to do with this tripe. Rodney was pretty funny back in the day, though. Check him out on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.
They don't make 'em like this anymore.
At the time of its release, Dangerfield was 62 years old and his catchphrase was "I don't get no respect at all." So they made a song about it and it was a minor hit in the 80s. The other day, it popped into my head for no apparent reason. I hadn't thought of that song in decades and I consider myself to be an aficionado of shitty one hit wonders from the late 70s until the early 80s. But it made an appearance on the brain while we were in France. I had to go looking for it and had a sudden flashback to the early 80s, when MTV was still about music on TV.
In the 1980s, Dangerfield's career was ignited with several movies. He was in Back to School, Easy Money, and Caddyshack. It makes sense that he'd hit the hit parade with a silly novelty song.
Now that I've thought of this song, there will surely be others. Long live the 80s!
I can't believe I haven't written about Eurythmics yet! I guess they were just too awesome to write about alongside some of the acts from the 70s and 80s that get featured here. Eurythmics consisted of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. I seem to remember them bursting on the scene in 1983 with their huge hit, "Sweet Dreams (are made of this)".
Besides being an infectious pop groove, this song also had a fabulously memorable video.
"Sweet Dreams" was very much loved by the public and there came a big string of hits after it. I think this one was the next one...
"Here Comes the Rain Again"... Wow, when I listen to this song, I'm reminded of 6th grade.
Actually, almost all of Eurythmics songs remind me of being pre-pubescent. I think they were ahead of their time, though. Even today, their music sounds fresh to my ears.
A live performance of "There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)"
This duo was long on talent, but short on longevity. After several years of successful hit making at an exhausting pace, Lennox and Stewart started to have some differences. In 1990, they broke up. But in later years, after both had explored other musical avenues, they've come back together for certain projects. Dave Stewart started writing music for soundtracks and Annie Lennox has had a successful solo career. I have to admit, she kinda rocks!
I never knew David Stewart was responsible for this hit, "Lily Was Here" featuring sexy saxophonist Candy Dulfer.
I woke up this morning with this song on the brain.
This song is called "Whirly Girl" and it's by a band called OXO. This was their one and only hit.
When I was in the fifth grade back in the spring of 1983, an American dance band called OXO came out with a song called "Whirly Girl". I remember liking the song when it was popular. It's fairly catchy.
For some reason, I woke up thinking about this obscure song and decided to see if I could find it. Sure enough, there it was in all its YouTube glory. One would think this band would go on to bigger and better things, but they sort of fell off the face of the map. I see in the YouTube comments that this song was also used in a documentary called Frank and Cindy. Indeed, Frank Garcia was the bassist of OXO and his stepson, G.J. Echternkamp wrote and directed the film. Evidently, Cindy was the ultimate groupie and married Frank thinking she'd live a rock star life. Guess not. Now I'm curious about the film.
Dick Clark interviews OXO on American Bandstand. Dig those costumes.
I'm surprised it's taken me this long to write about OXO. They seem like they're the perfect addition to a blog like this one, focused on musical crap from the past.
Of course, nowadays, when most people think of OXO, they think of kitchen gadgets, not an obscure 80s band. I like the dancer in the video. Wonder what she's doing now...
