VH1's Greatest Songs of the 80's, pt. 1 of 5.

OK, so here I am on Christmas morning, hanging out at home. We already went to hear mass earlier on, and I find out from my sister that on Christmas, the place is pretty much a ghost town what with all the shops and malls all closed.

Which is alright, coz it gives us time to hang out as family. And gives me time to catch up on my writing and my reading.

So here we have the TV on, with VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s. It's real great stuff. Apparently, VH1 viewers voted for their most favorite tracks of the decade, and here we are.

VH1 played the whole thing as a marathon- all one hundred songs in 5 whole hours of 80's wall-to-wall goodness. You know you're a true child of the 80's when you gasp in awe as they reveal the hits and say "Aw man, I remember that track, and it was awesome!"

Naturally, to spice things up, VH1 did a kick-ass job tracking down the featured artists to talk about the songs, clear up some rumors, and let the viewers know what they're up to right now.

Nice job on the "Air Guitar Track of the 80s" featuring such kick-ass songs like The Cult's "Love Removal Machine" and Def Leppard's "Photograph". And the "Guess The Headband Hero" with iconic headbanded 80's figures like Bruce Springsteen, Nick Rhodes and Olivia Newton-John.

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Special Note: We see the trailer for J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield. We first saw the trailer on this several summer movies ago, with no title, so man, everyone was talking about it.

Remember that New Years' Party gone crazy when part of the New York skyline suddenly blows up? We see a little bit more trailer this time, and it seems to hint at something huge attacking the city.

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100 Loverboy - Working For The weekend (1981). I admit I didn't catch this back in '81 when it hit radio. In fact, it wasn't until my stint at 99.5 RT that I've developed an appreciation for the song, playing it on 24K Friday. Which was appropriate, because the song managed to become an anthem of sorts for just about anyone with a 9-to-5 job.

99 Wang Chung - Everybody Have Fun Tonight (1986). Arguably, Wang Chung's most commercially successful single. The song has the distinction of introducing a new verb into our vocabulary- Everybody Wang Chung tonight...everybody have fun tonight! Did you know that the stop-motion animation actually caused epileptic seizures in some unfortunate individuals?



Oh, and the video was directed by Godley and Creme, who came up with the 80's one-hit wonder "Cry" in 1984.

98 The Romantics - What I Like About You (1980). Who doesn't like this song? Since it first hit radio and MTV in the early 80's, this song has been a staple at arenas and sports events. Just recently, though, the band is suing Activision, Inc. for using a cover of their song on the extremely popular Guitar Hero.

97 Bobby Brown - My Prerogative (1988). How about some New Jack Swing, huh? I remembered that I was tracking it on the charts back when it was being held up at #2 for three or four weeks I think. Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" was already #1 for several weeks (which I was rooting for at the time). "My Prerogative" ended up being the first #1 single for 1989.

96 Men at Work - Down Under (1981). What the heck is vegemite, anyway? No idea what it was when the song first came out. It was much, much later that I discovered that vegemite is an Australian staple- kind of like peanut butter, but made instead of yeast extracts, salty and a bit bitter, tastes almost like beef bouillion.

95 Debbie Gibson - Only In My Dreams (1986). Good God, it's precisely the reason why I bought her debut album "Only In My Dreams" back in '87. Fine, I admit- I had the hugest crush on her back then, even thinking she was waay better than Tiffany.

94 The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up (1982). You make a grown man cry-yy! Aw yeah, another song big enough to be a certified rock anthem and arena favorite. Used in sports games extensively to this day.

93 Gary Numan - Cars (1980). One of the first synth-heavy songs to really make itbig. Marilyn Manson remade it, so did the Foo Fighters, as well as Fear Factory for the movie "Freddie Got Fingered". Too bad Gary Numan never came up with a hit as huge as this song.

92 The New Kids on the Block - The Right Stuff (1989). You think New Kids, you think "uh oh oh woh oh, uh oh woh oh", and even go bust a move straight out of the video. No surprise, Jordan Knight came up with the trademark dance steps seen there.

91 Katrina and the Waves - Walking on Sunshine (1984). One-hit wonder, but it was quite the quintessential happy song. Though The Waves have been around since 1975 (mostly in Canada), it wasn't until "Walking on Sunshine" that they've been known internationally, even bagging a nomination for Best New Artist.

90 Tone Loc - Wild Thing (1989). Aw, man this song was huge. Young MC had co-written the song, and also featured a sampled riff from a rather-unknown Van Halen song. The video featured Robert Palmer-esque chicks and only cost US$500 to make- not bad for a song that sold at least two million copies.

89 The Pretenders - Brass In Pocket (1980). Such a lovely song. And such a lovely video, I remember. "Gonna use my arm, gonna use my legs, gonna use my style, gonna use my sidestep, gonna use my fingers, gonna use my my my imaginatio-on..."

88 Rufus + Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody (1982). This was some great funk for the 80's. From some of the greatest pipes ever to come out from the world of R&B and funk.

87 Falco - Rock Me Amadeus (1986). I think he almost rapped on this song. Great synth rock from the 80's. Came out about the same time the movie Amadeus came out. Unfortunately, Falco died in a car crash in 1988.

86 Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy (1982). Simply one of the catchiest tunes of the 80's. Three dudes used to be with Adam Ant. Now here's something I didn't know- the song was actually a remake of an earlier - though minor- 1965 hit.

85 Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love (1984). This song is sexy rock. But wow, the fashion models were something huh? Even if the hands weren't moving on the fretboards. Robert Palmer went on to hire the models for the next 2 videos. Sadly, Mr. Palmer died of a heart attack in 2003.

84 Lionel Richie - All Night Long (All Night) (1985), Yeah, jambo jambo! No idea what Lionel was chanting back then- Jamaican perhaps? -and even Lionel himself doesn't know. Can you believe it: when Iraq was liberated , this song was played out in the streets for a celebration. Apparently, Mr. Richie is HUGE in the Middle East, even to this day.

83 Prince - Kiss (1986). Aw, man one of my favorite Prince songs ever. He really got his groove going on with this song- all falsetto and everything, with such a minimalist arrangement. Originally, Prince wrote the song for another band. But after Producer David Z finished mixing it up, his purple majesty knew then he had to have the song.

82 Squeeze - Tempted (1981). One of those story songs. About infidelity. Two other guys were actually leading the British new wave group, but it was lead singer Paul Carrack that turned out to be the most famous of the bunch. He went solo, and later went on to work with Mike and the Mechanics.

81 Cameo - Word Up! (1986). Larry Blackmon gave the 80s a much needed funk injection. How can you not bounce to this song? Wave your hands in the air like you don't care! Glide by the people as they start to look and stare. Do your dance, do your dance, do your dance quick- mama, come on baby, tell me what’s the word, ah – word up!

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More of VH1's Greatest Hits of the 80's coming up- this is only the first part of five. Be reminded that this list is based on the votes viewers sent in via VH1's website some time ago- so your personal favorites might not necessarily be here, or rank as highly as you'd want them to.

It's all good fun though- an entertaining trip down memory lane. Stick around for Part 2 of 5. Cheers!