Ahhhhh the soothing sounds of old school electro funk hip hop. It's like an old friend.
This record is great for many many reasons. The title is great. The jacket is great. The music is great. Who would have thought that that quintessential stripper music you hear in movies and TV shows was actually called "The Stripper". The other great thing about the record and that song in particular is that it was written by David Rose who wrote many a TV theme and the one I like to point out to people is of course the theme to Little House On The Prairie. I think that is a great piece of trivia, that the guy who wrote the music from the sweet wholesome Little House On The Prairie also wrote the most famous stripper song.
I'm a sucker for good record covers and this one was a must have. As it turns out the music isn't too bad. "In Lust" would be great in a dark club and I'm sure that was the intended venue. "Into The Black" is okay. Probably not as good as the title would have you hope. There is obviously a gothy sex vibe going on in these songs, which I think had a small niche in the 80's. I think The Dance was kind of a fore runner to My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult which took this to the extreme and I think did it better than anybody. These two tracks are much tamer, but you can see that they helped pave the way for the end of the decade.
Long before Mix-A-Lot sang rapped about big butts he was putting out the jams in an old school fashion. His success in the mainstream I remember at the time being somewhat surrealistic, because I had been listening to and following him long before "Baby's Got Back" invaded the public consciousness in the spring of 1992.
I've already posted another record of songs from Anything Goes. If you haven't seen a production of this musical, do yourself a favor and do. It is fun in the classic American musical theater tradition and it's Cole Porter. How can you go wrong. Just look at the track listing. There is just great song after great song all in this one production. Unbelievable.
Probably like most people Spandau Ballet just means the classic single "True". That is what they meant to me forever. That song by the way seems to be one of those songs that people either love or hate. I'm on the love side of the argument. Anyways, in my record collecting I've had a chance to listen to some of their other releases. Here is a fun dance track from 1983. Very upbeat and very 80's. I don't remember this being a hit in the world I grew up in, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was a hit amongst club goers or on some foreign charts. It is a pretty great track and here are 3 versions to choose from to add to your next 80's dance party.
Here's a moderately fun release from Dr. Hook. "Makin' It Natural" is the track I recommend here. Plenty of 70's drug references and a hippie vibe to make this mellow track worth a listen. Make sure to stick around until the very end when someone says "Far Out". The line reminds me of The Brady Bunch.
I'll be honest. "Sunglasses at Night" is the only reason I am posting this record. The other thing I have to confess is that I cheated with this posting. Even thought I own the LP, I saved myself some time and pulled this from a CD rip.
I have no memory of these guys from when I was a kid. This one I picked up as part of the new wave power pop purchase earlier this year. The album isn't too bad actually. Right off the bat the first track will conjure up thoughts of The Police circa "Zenyatta Mondatta". 
Here is some classic 80's electro funk from Kathy Buck. The opening synth/drum beats are simply classic. You'll recognize these sounds as being used in other songs from the period. One of the beats/synths reminds me of the backing track on "Sexual Healing". I haven't listened to the side by side, but that is what comes to mind when I hear it. Some of the beats even remind me of early Def Jam recordings by say Run DMC or LL Cool J. Have a listen and let me know what you think.
Listen to the opening few bars of “Rainbows Are Back In Style” and tell me it doesn’t sound like the beginning to the theme song for “Three’s Company”. It’s funny I never really made this connection before, but just a couple days ago I was listening to TV theme songs and that was one of them, so it is in my head. So when I kicked this on to listen to for the blog, I couldn’t help but make the comparison.
I am by no means a big fan of Level 42. They are one of those bands that I've always just kind of known about, but never really got around to getting into. There are so many of those bands and there just simply isn't enough time and resources to get to them all.
I love this record. I can't say it enough. I am a recent convert to this record. Similar to my story with Icicle Works, I never thought much of these guys back in the 80's. I knew the hit songs, but never listened to any album cuts. They I picked up this record and listened to it from start to finish and couldn't believe how great it is.
This one falls into the category of "what the hell?" I don't know anything about B.E. Taylor, but after hearing this one I think I know why. Vitamin L is a perfectly weird song. It is from his 1983 release "Love Won The Fight". The song starts off with a sort of electro funk proto hip hop vibe, but then once the vocals kick in, it basically falls apart into silliness. The lyrics are just laughable and there is this big sort of rock chorus. You listen and all you can say is "what the hell?"
Gus Gus are from Iceland. The only other artist(s) I know from Iceland are Bjork and The Sugarcubes. These guys are electronic oriented, but are perhaps a little more accessible than some of the weirdness Bjork and The Sugarcubes produced, not to take away from their fine work.
Today's entry is going to have very little to do with the actual music I'm posting. This is the 12" single of OMD's "If You Leave" which is great. This is an extended remix and as far as remixes go this is a good one. I think that is because I just can't get enough of this song. The reason brings me to the subject I really want to talk about.
Every once in a while, when sifting through bins of used records at thrift shops you come across old records that catered to adults back in the day. I've picked up a few here and there. I've got a couple Rusty Warren records that crack me up. Not because they are actually very funny even though they are supposed to be comedy records, but because they were considered risque at the time. They seem so tame by today's standards. Her use of the word Knockers over and over again isn't offensive anymore and now just seems silly.
The big claim to fame for the Impacts is that Singer songwriter Merrell Fankhauser claims to have written the original "Wipe Out". he claims he originally wrote the song and the Surfaris ripped it off and made it a big hit. I listen to the two songs and while there are similarities, I think they are different enough. I like 'em both.
