“This is a public service announcement… With guitar!”
We blatantly ripped that intro straight from Joe Strummer’s pre-recorded lips, and following it would be the commercial for Club Harvey’s New Wave Night with DJ Jane Doe. It was the first commercial voice-over work I would ever do, and to my knowledge, the last as well.
Yes, I was one of the kids who was “in,” back then, despite a whole wealth of problems coming into bloom just under the surface. How “in” was I, you ask? Well let’s just say, of the battle between Chess King and Merry Go Round… I bolo-tie shopped at them BOTH.
I guess what I’m trying to say as succinctly as possible (so we can get to the music already!) is that, outside of becoming a parent, the eighties proved to be just about the most important event in my life, as far as my trail of self-discovery goes. The decade saw quite a few different facets of me – far too many to be round-up in just (5) little tunes.
Brief Aside: So here’s what I’d like to do for just this week (promise!). Each song will represent a different facet, and then directly beneath (or on top, or somewhere in between) will be a link to find the (5) songs proper chosen for each of these facets. Please, after you’ve read the other writers submissions, feel free to listen to as many or as few as you’d like – I promise they’re all Golden! Even IF I’m not even scratching the surface here…
OK, back on task. So where were we? Oh yes, me – multi-faceted. Blah, blah, blah. Here’s where we get to the tunes. To keep things simple (and believe you me, not a damned thing is ever simple with me), we’ll keep the 8 t’s down to 5 – Mopey t, Happy t, Angry t., Club Kid t and the “definitive 8 t’s” t.
Ready to go? Wicked!
OK, first thing’s first, with the Mopey t (of course)…
Followed quickly (and I mean that – I was damned near maniacal back then) by Happy t!
Followed just as quickly (see special “maniacal” note above) by a t that was really Angry…
Of course, all those emotions bomping about inside all the time, gave me the craziest urge to hit the dance floor. I mean, I was a Club Kid t after all.
And before we (presumably) move on to the 90’s, let me give my version of the songs you MUST know in order to be a true eighties aficionado, The Definitive 8 t’s, if you will…
•••
So there we have it. Or, at least just one small tiny piece of it. And look at that, we made it all the way through without any Yanni or Kenny G references…
Care to take us out of here Joe? I mean, it wouldn’t have been a proper decade – or a Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday for that matter- without you.
as long as i'm singing 
I’m going to boldly announce my ignorance here and admit there was only one song on your list I’d heard. But, I now have several new-to-me songs on my playlist. I love the smell of education in the morning!
Thank you for your honesty =), and in your thirst for morning-type education, please click on the accompanying links to find even more musical goodness (based on your set list, I might recommend you start with “Mopey t.”)
Or I suppose, since I created these ancillary lists as pages, you could just click through them via the “8 t’s” tab at the top as well. See? Multi-faceted I remain!
Holy crap – I pride myself on knowing 80’s music and have never heard three of your songs before. Or, if I did hear them in the 80’s there was beer involved and I forgot about them. Awesome list!
Thank you! Did you stroll through the tabs as well? Maybe there would have been some more you knew – or was I really just that far out in the musical jungles back then?
So creative Troy…You are so damn creative! And if you play all the songs at the same time, it sounds like you are having a great life!
Hahahaha! I try that very thing (the playing all the songs at the same time thing, not the the creative thing) more often than I’d care to admit!
What does it say about the 80’s that I knew almost all of these songs (-2) but forgot about 70% of them. (that’s a random #) (generated by my sieve-like brain) I guess that’s the thing… so much emotion – so many memories – so much angst! If we took it all with us after the 80’s we’d be crippled. It was so nice to visit, some will stay with me for a little while, but I am ready to move on! Love the way you played it this week man. Can’t wait till next week!
Yay! So glad you liked what I did here (narrowing down to just five actual songs was going to place me in cardiac arrest…)!
And I just gotta know, which (2) were the (2) that were new to you? And did you like them?
Starting with Style Council and ending with the Clash would’ve made Joe very happy.
great stuff, here
Thanks man – and I was thinking you might especially like/have fond memories of the 5th track on “Happy t” – let me know what you think =)
Dude! total blog envy from this here Post here!
Knew some of the obvious names but despite having a Name that Tune Rating of ‘<5 notes'
(for most of what I remember of the 80s)… I was, "ok! I know that sounds familiar, where the hell do I know that from!"
That was kinda fun, but then the whole structure (or whatever the correct term is) that you created here became increasingly visible…
This is *so* the fun of a blog hop, i.e. no matter how creatively comprehensive the initial prompt is, *some* people can take an idea and the resulting Post becomes interesting in a whole new way.
v cool*
…I have to go back into the sublists…and do some more listening
Two things Clark. 1) I am so glad you enjoyed this – I hope it in some way made your 80’s musical experience at least a tad bit brighter! And, 2) are you getting paid by the word here?
=)
Seriously though – that’s what I love about these as well. Finding all the things that you could have done/addressed, while still admiring the other person for catching it before you!
This is all over my head. I must have been napping. I sure wasn’t stoned.
Nice work, Troy.
Hahaha! Ah Tess, this was the time in my life BEFORE I got stoned, if you can believe that!
And had you not been napping, I woulda had you on the floor sista!
Dang! How did I manage to miss #1? Cool list Troy and the way you did it is really great!
No worries – I still feel bad that I couldn’t get The Femmes into the mix!
I’m glad you liked the list – it really does represent a pretty danged big piece of my soul =)
“This is a public service announcement… With guitar!” :))) This post started in force and it is really great!!! Indeed very multifaceted, we can read so much into the post, as it reminds from every single angle about life and all it’s aspects !!! =] Yay!!! =)
I have not known 90% of the music posted by you here. Mopey Me loved A LOT the Mopey t section, Wasteland and Sinead are the very best. (=
The Happy t section is nice but it’s not really my thing… :) That is because I find myself more in the Angry t kind of music- Pailhead style/Rock style… :)))
The Club kid t section reminds me of a lot of club/dance music we heard after the Communist era, and it was a revelation indeed… :)
Of course I recognized the Definitive 8 t’s music, and I could add a loooooong list to it… But the hammer was the last song, Killing Joke-Eighties… :))) Are you joking me? When I listen to that music and see those images I remember my life in the 80’s in my poor Communist country and the music we had and the atmosphere… t- ons of memories m’dear, T-ONS… =} =] =)
Memories are what it’s all about, m’dear.
Both good an bad, music has been there for me, even when breathing souls were not (just between you and I “Sometimes” by Midnight Oil played through my Walkman as I traversed the USMC New River Air Station flight line alone late at night, coaxing me into believing that – even at it’s worse – life will still get better.
It did. And it will again. Now, rock your ass out to the boys from both Ministry and Minor Threat – also known as Pailhead! =]
It can be better and it will be better… And I had a Walk-man too… and I still have it home in Romania, just like all my magnetic cassettes that, believe it or not, still work…. :) Those were in many ways happy innocent times…
Awe. SOME choice! One of my 8 t’s Faves – how did I miss it???
And for some reason I can’t hear that without thinking of this one…
=))) I did not know this song at all… Very good song indeed. It goes well together with Wonderful world. ;)
Someone once said… “And now, for something completely different.” I think it may have been Chevy Chase (lol) I think he was referring to your List. And I mean that purely as a compliment… absolutely!!! NIce… Slu
Chevy Chase by way of a certain Flying Circus, perchance? =)
Thanks for the compliment Slu (how could I take it any other way?), and just thank your lucky stars that I decided to keep Divine out of the mix!
YOU PUT LIVE AID ON YOUR LIST! That is classic my friend…you are now my 80’s hero! HAHAHAAAAAA ;)
The 80’s, right? How could I not? AND, I even gave the Midge Ure bump (sorry Boomtown Rats!)
glad you enjoyed it =)
I never hear Pop Goes the World without thinking of Tiny Bubbles.
And I never hear it without thinking, “HAPPY!”
Oh yes, I did forget about Live Aid. Then there was Band Aid. Rite Aid. Wrong Aid. Maid-Rite. Wait, not all of these were 80s fundraiser, were they? They loved raising money in the 80s, back when we had it. We are the World was raising money for Ethiopia, wasn’t it some kind of “AID”?. Wasn’t That’s What Friends Are For some sort of fundraiser? Oh no. Oh nooooo… time to wash my brain. I am NOT going to bed with THAT song stuck in there!
Hahahaha! You’re right! We did seem to be raising money at almost every turn – and STILL the world is the shape it’s in today.
But seriously? You FORGOT Live Aid????
These are classic, Troy! Some awesome numbers of yeste years. Awww..
I just read annapurna trekking guide
I told ya – ALL Golden!
=)
Thanks for this musical (and for me, educational) journey.
You are very welcome, and I hope you enjoyed the trip =)