The 100 Greatest Songs of 1981 #1 Super Freak

[Binky The Doormat 12,945]

16 hours ago, FairWarning said:

I can't change the station fast enough when this comes on.  

you have a terrible taste in music

[zamboni 7,425]

1 minute ago, Andy Dufresne said:

Freeze Frame was released in January of '82. But whatever...it jams.

The album was released in October 1981, but not sure what criteria Tim is using.

[Andy Dufresne 12,972]

2 minutes ago, zamboni said:

The album was released in October 1981, but not sure what criteria Tim is using.

Yeah, I'm just collecting '82 songs and this was on my list. No big whoop...

But I AM starting to think '83 might be more fun.

Edited February 25 by Andy Dufresne

[timschochet 35,028]

Just now, zamboni said:

The album was released in October 1981, but not sure what criteria Tim is using.

It’s whatever was earlier. The song itself was released on the album in 1981. Thats the key. 

[FairWarning 1,072]

17 minutes ago, Binky The Doormat said:

you have a terrible taste in music

I know

[Binky The Doormat 12,945]

8 hours ago, timschochet said:

81. J Geils Band “Freeze Frame” (from Freeze Frame) 

https://youtu.be/wHo43B6nu60

Another band that had been around for years with some pretty good songs along the way, but with MTV they exploded. Peter Wolf continues to make some very good music; I have several of his most recent songs on my playlist. 

 

 

was so jealous that he got Faye Dunaway ...

[Nigel 3,606]

On 2/23/2021 at 2:30 PM, Gr00vus said:

 

 

Thanks for bringing back the awkward/painful memories of the slow dance portions of every 7th grade dance I ever went to.

The soundtrack to every spin-the-bottle game in Heidi Kleindeinst’s basement.

[Pip's Invitation 7,686]

25 minutes ago, timschochet said:

It’s whatever was earlier. The song itself was released on the album in 1981. Thats the key. 

We countdowners have different rules about eligibility.

Tim: If album and single appearance differ, it counts for the year that is earlier.

Me: If album and single appearance differ, it counts for either year.

Bracie: If album and single appearance differ, it counts for either year, and anything released in the last 3 months of the previous year also counts. 

[Mister CIA 8,617]

1981 is taking a lot of shine off the 80's, so far.

[DocHolliday 4,208]

1 hour ago, timschochet said:

79. Loverboy “Working for the Weekend” (from Get Lucky) 

https://youtu.be/cxhj1Is7HpY

Yet another Canadian rock band that made it big in 1981. Yeah this is a guilty pleasure but a pleasure nonetheless, with some of my favorite cheesy 80s lyrics of all time: 

You want a piece of my heart? 
You better start from the start! 
You want to be in the show? 
Come on baby let’s GO!!!

Love this song and loved it when the album was released.  I don’t care it’s cheesy.   It was fun.  We all need more fun.  

[Mister CIA 8,617]

44 minutes ago, FairWarning said:

1 hour ago, Binky The Doormat said:

you have a terrible taste in music

I know

It's easy to appreciate The Police for their artistic and technical merits today, but yeah, I could not stand The Police back in the 80's.

Don't get me wrong, they provided a few audio highlights to my teen brain, but I mainly yearned for something else.

[zamboni 7,425]

Does a fewer letter combination of two rock band members (assuming both first/last names are used) exist than  Loverboy’s Mike Reno and Paul Dean?

Yeah, I’m a loser and think of these things.

ETA: unless Mel Ott and son Ed Ott were once in a band together.

Edited February 25 by zamboni

[Andy Dufresne 12,972]

The best use of Working For The Weekend.

[Binky The Doormat 12,945]

13 minutes ago, DocHolliday said:

Love this song and loved it when the album was released.  I don’t care it’s cheesy.   It was fun.  We all need more fun.  

candid snapshot of Loverboy's lead singer.

[rockaction 26,302]

4 minutes ago, zamboni said:

Does a fewer letter combination of two rock band members (assuming both first/last names are used) exist than  Loverboy’s Mike Reno and Paul Dean?

Yeah, I’m a loser and think of these things.

Do any two rock star names from the same band with short names sound any more like adult film stars than Mike Reno and Paul Dean?

[rockaction 26,302]

6 minutes ago, Mister CIA said:

It's easy to appreciate The Police for their artistic and technical merits today, but yeah, I could not stand The Police back in the 80's.

Don't get me wrong, they provided a few audio highlights to my teen brain, but I mainly yearned for something else.

Loved The Police in high school, but by then they were in the pantheon of the greats. We used to sing "Can't Stand Losing You" in high school Spanish. Kelly [redacted] liked the song. My friend and I both had crushes on her. That was always interesting. Wound up dating her friend as a senior, who'd turned into a wonderful looking young woman. Still had a crush on Kelly. Strange times...

46 minutes ago, Nigel said:

The soundtrack to every spin-the-bottle game in Heidi Kleindeinst’s basement.

See above for high school memories.

[zamboni 7,425]

9 minutes ago, zamboni said:

Does a fewer letter combination of two rock band members (assuming both first/last names are used) exist than  Loverboy’s Mike Reno and Paul Dean?

Yeah, I’m a loser and think of these things.

ETA: unless Mel Ott and son Ed Ott were once in a band together.

Answered my own question: Lou Reed and John Cale, for one.

[Mister CIA 8,617]

3 minutes ago, rockaction said:

Loved The Police in high school, but by then they were in the pantheon of the greats. We used to sing "Can't Stand Losing You" in high school Spanish. Kelly [redacted] liked the song. My friend and I both had crushes on her. That was always interesting. Wound up dating her friend as a senior, who'd turned into a wonderful looking young woman. Still had a crush on Kelly. Strange times...

Back in my 1981 BFE days, "Kelly" like Olivia Newton John and Juice Newton.

[rockaction 26,302]

1 minute ago, Mister CIA said:

Back in my 1981 BFE days, "Kelly" like Olivia Newton John and Juice Newton.

I had to look up BFE. Now I got it. But your second clause is now confusing me. Just ride with me, I'm trynna understand.

[Mister CIA 8,617]

4 minutes ago, zamboni said:

15 minutes ago, zamboni said:

Does a fewer letter combination of two rock band members (assuming both first/last names are used) exist than  Loverboy’s Mike Reno and Paul Dean?

Yeah, I’m a loser and think of these things.

ETA: unless Mel Ott and son Ed Ott were once in a band together.

Answered my own question: Lou Reed and John Cale, for one.

Need a ruling on Ike and Tina Turner.

[Mister CIA 8,617]

13 minutes ago, rockaction said:

15 minutes ago, Mister CIA said:

Back in my 1981 BFE days, "Kelly" like Olivia Newton John and Juice Newton.

I had to look up BFE. Now I got it. But your second clause is now confusing me. Just ride with me, I'm trynna understand.

Before diving into the weeds, I left off a 'd', where I meant to spell "liked." 

Basically I'm saying I experienced growth spurts in times where my local girls had only poor taste.  

[HeeHaw] If it weren't for poor taste they'd have no taste at all; blues, despair, antagony on me. [/HeeHaw]

 

ETA: Ah, it's "gloom, despair, antagony"

Edited February 25 by Mister CIA

[shuke 22,938]

I can't believe how bad this list is so far.  And I'm not blaming Tim.  I'm blaming 1981.

[rockaction 26,302]

7 minutes ago, Mister CIA said:

Before diving into the weeds, I left off a 'd', where I meant to spell "liked." 

Basically I'm saying I experienced growth spurts in times where my local girls had only poor taste.  

[HeeHaw] If it weren't for poor taste they'd have no taste at all; blues, despair, antagony on me. [/HeeHaw]

Gotcha. I'm from BFE, too, which was why "Kelly" was quite the rarity. Our "Kellys" generally liked classic rock, hair metal, or the stuff they played at the grossly awkward dances, like Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer.

I was...out of touch with my BFE mates.

[northern exposure 1,540]

3 hours ago, zamboni said:

Does a fewer letter combination of two rock band members (assuming both first/last names are used) exist than  Loverboy’s Mike Reno and Paul Dean?

Yeah, I’m a loser and think of these things.

ETA: unless Mel Ott and son Ed Ott were once in a band together.

Neil Finn and Tim Finn of Crowded House is one less letter than the guys in Loverboy.

[FairWarning 1,072]

7 hours ago, Mister CIA said:

It's easy to appreciate The Police for their artistic and technical merits today, but yeah, I could not stand The Police back in the 80's.

Don't get me wrong, they provided a few audio highlights to my teen brain, but I mainly yearned for something else.

I was never a big Police fan, this was a song I never liked though.  To me, it was annoying AF, same with Roxanne.

[El Floppo 29,047]

8 hours ago, shuke said:

I can't believe how bad this list is so far.  And I'm not blaming Tim.  I'm blaming 1981.

Lots of good to great tunes from this year. I don't blame Tim for putting up the fromage instead.

Well, I guess I do...but I'm not the one making the list and still completely support Tims choices even though I don't like and didn't like a lot of the tunes even back then. I've started a playlist of 1981 stuff I've been throwing together as the songs come to me...I'm playing by memory, so some may be the wrong year. I also am all over the place with choices- most of the time I'm not including the "obvious" bigger song from an album, some times I do. I'm also not including stuff I didn't like listening to then or own, which covers a lot of the bigger, best selling tunes and bands. But I'm sure, or at least hope there will be overlap with Tim.

I'll happily provide the spotify link for anybody interested via pm. Will post it here once Tim is done so no spoilers. Will also continue to add to it as I remember more.

[FairWarning 1,072]

I should do the top 100 metal songs of 1981, that would eliminate the police and ONJ.

[timschochet 35,028]

78. Devo “Beautiful World” (from New Traditionalists) 

https://youtu.be/56u6g0POvo0

I haven’t seen this video in years but I clearly remembered it because I used to think it was so creepy...still is though now I think it’s also a terrific piece of art. The song itself is a piece of brilliant satire and a fine example of the band’s work. 

[timschochet 35,028]

1 hour ago, El Floppo said:

I don't blame Tim for putting up the fromage instead.

Well, I guess I do..

Lol don’t hold back! 

[El Floppo 29,047]

2 minutes ago, timschochet said:

Lol don’t hold back! 

Let's get into physical, timmy.

[timschochet 35,028]

2 minutes ago, El Floppo said:

Let's get into physical, timmy.

At my age nobody wants to hear my body talk. 

[El Floppo 29,047]

1 minute ago, timschochet said:

At my age nobody wants to hear my body talk. 

At my age, my body talks regardless.

[timschochet 35,028]

What’s great (at least in my mind) is that I haven’t even yet introduced the king of cheesy, guilty pleasure rock for 1981: his stuff is coming up later! 

[Andy Dufresne 12,972]

12 minutes ago, timschochet said:

78. Devo “Beautiful World” (from New Traditionalists) 

https://youtu.be/56u6g0POvo0

I haven’t seen this video in years but I clearly remembered it because I used to think it was so creepy...still is though now I think it’s also a terrific piece of art. The song itself is a piece of brilliant satire and a fine example of the band’s work. 

If you think sarcasm is an art form, and I do, then you think this song is brilliant...which I do.

Edited February 25 by Andy Dufresne

[El Floppo 29,047]

7 minutes ago, timschochet said:

Lol don’t hold back! 

I've said this before, but even though our tastes don't always overlap and it's easy to bust your chops over these lists, I love and genuinely respect that you do them. 

[FairWarning 1,072]

1 minute ago, El Floppo said:

I've said this before, but even though our tastes don't always overlap and it's easy to bust your chops over these lists, I love and genuinely respect that you do them. 

Same here.

[timschochet 35,028]

3 minutes ago, FairWarning said:

Same here.

Thanks guys. It’s a lot of fun. 

[Doug B 7,106]

7 hours ago, northern exposure said:

11 hours ago, zamboni said:

Does a fewer letter combination of two rock band members (assuming both first/last names are used) exist than  Loverboy’s Mike Reno and Paul Dean?

Neil Finn and Tim Finn of Crowded House is one less letter than the guys in Loverboy.

Prince and Sheila E are three letters less than the Loverboy guys 

[Doug B 7,106]

10 minutes ago, FairWarning said:

13 minutes ago, El Floppo said:

I've said this before, but even though our tastes don't always overlap and it's easy to bust your chops over these lists, I love and genuinely respect that you do them. 

Same here.

Right on.

[Ghost Rider 6,377]

As a kid, I remember thinking that Loverboy's drummer was awesome, pretty much because of the way the Working for the Weekend video was edited, but I eventually saw the error of my ways.  Fun tune, regardless. 

Not much of a Devo fan. 

Edited February 25 by Ghost Rider

[Doug B 7,106]

1 hour ago, FairWarning said:

I should do the top 100 metal songs of 1981, that would eliminate the police and ONJ.

But Roy Clark would be fair game! Using Bracie's timing rules  

[Andy Dufresne 12,972]

25 minutes ago, Andy Dufresne said:

If you think sarcasm is an art form, and I do, then you think this song is brilliant...which I do.

No really. Such a simple song yet it says so much. There's only one "authentic" line in the whole song..."IT'S NOT FOR ME!" Everything else is critical, from the literal words to the change in tone.

It starts by pointing out the only things that can be considered "beautiful" are the way people comb their hair and show they care (i.e. they don't). That's it? That's the best that could be considered beautiful? How empty.

The line "IT'S NOT FOR ME" is a cry in the wilderness spoken by someone outside this vapid existence - either ostracized or by choice because they see what others don't. And after that line the phrase "It's a beautiful world" is spoken by a synthesizer - it protests that things are beautiful but the listener can't believe it because it's literally a false voice.

I think this would be a great choice to play over the opening credits of an updated film version of Orwell's 1984.

[timschochet 35,028]

77. Gary U.S. Bonds “This Little Girl” (from Dedication) 

https://youtu.be/nTKtcsUjVMc

Early 60s rocker Gary U.S. Bonds managed to reboot his career in 1981 thanks to a little help from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Springsteen wrote this song and Little Stevie produced it. The rest of this album is actually pretty good as well. 

 

[Binky The Doormat 12,945]

3 hours ago, Ghost Rider said:

Not much of a Devo fan. 

you are through being cool. 

[El Floppo 29,047]

29 minutes ago, Binky The Doormat said:

3 hours ago, Ghost Rider said:

Not much of a Devo fan. 

you are through being cool. 

He's a blockhead

[zamboni 7,425]

21 minutes ago, El Floppo said:

He's a blockhead

Ian Dury says hold my beer.

[FairWarning 1,072]

2 hours ago, timschochet said:

77. Gary U.S. Bonds “This Little Girl” (from Dedication) 

https://youtu.be/nTKtcsUjVMc

Early 60s rocker Gary U.S. Bonds managed to reboot his career in 1981 thanks to a little help from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Springsteen wrote this song and Little Stevie produced it. The rest of this album is actually pretty good as well. 

 

I don’t remember this at all. 

[Ghost Rider 6,377]

2 hours ago, Binky The Doormat said:

you are through being cool. 

 

[timschochet 35,028]

76. The Cars “Shake It Up” (from Shake It Up) 

https://youtu.be/eq-yoorI7lo

One their most popular songs ever, and one that got a lot of kids on the dance floor. Always loved the guitar solo on this one, which is interesting since I never really considered this band as special for that. 

[Ghost Rider 6,377]

I was a big Cars fan in '84 thanks to the Heartbeat City hits, but never was never overly wild about Shake It Up.  Solid tune, and that guitar solo is surprisingly good, but it's not a song I ever seek out. I always enjoy it if I hear it somewhere, but I would never turn it on intentionally.