Inspired by my kid walking around singing Safety Dance.

Cheesy 80's new wave songs. You know what I'm talking about . Men at Work. Men Without Hats. Wall of Voodoo. Bow Wow Wow. Those songs you sing in your car when you think no one is listening. The songs that make you think back to the days wearing your checkered Vans and six tons of hair spray and thinking that Thomas Dolby was somehow intellectual.

Synthesizers. Weird hair. Pop art videos.
You've got at least three favorites from this genre. No matter what you tell yourself, you know damn well that once a Flock of Seagulls comes on the radio, your fingers will start drumming and you'll start singing and suddenly you'll wonder how you would look with your hair cut like that.

thefinn steps up first:

This one is damned difficult. Choosing less than a handful of songs that I’ll sing in the car every time they’re on is a difficult proposition at best. I think I’m up to it.

Mirror In The Bathroom / The English Beat - When I was a kid, I got totally lost in the lyrics to this tune, thinking that it was about a guy who couldn’t stop looking at himself and pointing out all the flaws. I took a long time before I could finally discern that it was a song about the evils of cocaine and locking yourself in the bathroom for just one more line…. Just one more line. But good god, The Beat were tight. I was never a giant ska fan, but I know what I like. Coiled was the first word that came to mind when I heard it. Like a junkie in an alleyway near a dark street corner, ready to pounce. Jump on you and make you get your hands dirty, otherwise, you’re coming home with him. This song always makes me feel like my hands are dirty, I’m okay with that. And yeah, it’s a fantastic tune to shake your ass to.

Cactus / The Pixies – It’s the slow build that ends with Black Francis caterwauling. It’s the guitar grinding the days of your life way until you see that special someone. It’s the steady beat of the drums that so perfectly mirrors your heartbeat when you think about that person that’s so far way from you. But mostly it’s the lyrics….. “Sitting here wishing on a cement floor / Just wishing that I had just something you wore / Bloody your hands on a cactus tree / Wipe it on your dress and send it to me”. You know it’ll all be over soon, but it would be nice to have something that smells like them.

Microphone Fiend / Eric B. and Rakim – The guitar loop is simple and clean. The mix is by no means Eric B.’s best work, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make my head start bouncing after the third measure. The kick drum is on fire though and so is Rakim’s flow. This motherfucker was the best MC of the day, pure and simple. And this song is certainly no slouch. The song itself is all about addiction. The power of the crowd as it cheers your name, the power of holding the mic and making all these people get the hell down. And the power it holds over you, because once you taste it, you have to have more.

turtle who is supposed to be on vacation, goes next

This is pretty easy.

Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance

You know you guys are missing the days when this was an MP3 blog by now, aintcha? Well, those days are gone and different now. Get used to it. The only really cool thing about this song is the it had a little person in it wearing a jester costume. They looked so happy in the video. Just dancing and singing and doing some weird pole dance. Don't ask me about that one cause it all looked kinda weird to me. Renaissance Fair on LSD. I guess it would be funny if only "Dwarf Tossing" was still legal.

That One Guy - Cars

Yeah, I know it's not his name, but I really am too fucking tired to look it up. Something about feeling safe in his car. I'm not even going into what the hell it really means. It could have been sexual. I don't know. I just liked the "here in my car I feel safest of all" part. It might have been cause I was living in cars or it could've been sexual.

Once again, I don't know.

All I do know is he flys like big planes and shit nowadays for a living so that kinda blows the fuck out of the "it's about cars" theory.

Maybe it was about getting laid. Hell if I know.

Cyndi Lauper - Girl's Just Want To Have Fun

I really don't don't care what girl's want to have. It's really none of my business. All that matters is this was the song that inspired WRESTLEMANIA!!! Oh god yes. The Hulkster was running wild that night! Captain Lou Albano was making his comeback as a manager. The Hulkster was running wild on him! Girl's just wanna have fun was cranking as the Captain and Cyndi got walked over the head by the Hulkster! Hulkcamania was coming to you, brother! What you gonna do?

And the Hulkster endorsed many fine sexual aids available at your local late nite porn store.

Girl's just want to have fun. - T

Michele:

Ministry - Every Day is Halloween

Al Jourgenson refers to the album "With Sympathy" as an abortion, but I think it's a work of art. This song will always remind me of a dark nightclub, ripped fishnets and Newport Lights. This is nothing like the Ministry you know today. I can see why they may want to forget it, but I never will.

Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

Yes, they were much more than Tainted Love.

This is probably the greatest breakup song ever written. Aside from the warm fuzzy memories I get from this song (black leather skirt, spiked hair, ridiculous lipstick, dancing at Spit), it has the most biting, sneering yet lovelorn lyrics. When he says "We're strangers meeting for the first time O.K.?" you can just feel the pain. Eh, at least it's not yours, right?

Split Enz - I Got You.

I love this song more for the memories than the quality of it. Sure, it was a good tune, but it certainly wasn't the best on the album (I preferred Shark Attack). The best memory of this song, this album and the band in general is the one where we sat in my room for hours on end holding the record up to the light and turning it around and around so we could marvel at the little prisms of colors and shapes that were cleverly embedded into the laser-etched vinyl. Groovy. -M

So that was us. Sure some are kind of out it and some make you think that we are weird, but at least we were honest.

Tell us your favorite songs from that era. We promise we'll tell you more of ours.

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