I know I said IÁ¢€â„¢d be quitting the intros for a while, but I had to put this all into perspective. I hadnÁ¢€â„¢t thought about the scope of this series since I first agreed to do it, but the other night it kind of hit me and put me into shock.
This is post #32. Usually I get about 20 songs in each post. Which means over the course of this series so far IÁ¢€â„¢ve posted somewhere around 640 songs. 640! ThatÁ¢€â„¢s a good 50-disc box set there.
Then it hit me that we’re only on the letter F. Take out letters like X and Z and weÁ¢€â„¢re still only about a quarter of the way through the entire series at this point. Again, this is the 32nd week; at this pace weÁ¢€â„¢re looking at 120-plus weeks, total. So by the end weÁ¢€â„¢re talking two years and a few months and probably around 2,500 songs. But the good news is that I still enjoy putting each week’s post together even after eight months of them. Whew.
Well, hereÁ¢€â„¢s another disc and a half’s worth of the eventual ultimate Bottom Feeders box set, as we continue looking at songs that charted from 41 to 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s.
Fleetwood Mac
Á¢€Å“Sisters of the MoonÁ¢€ — 1980, #86 (download)
Á¢€Å“FirefliesÁ¢€ — 1981, #60 (download)
Á¢€Å“Family ManÁ¢€ — 1988, #90 (download)
Á¢€Å“As Long as You FollowÁ¢€ — 1988, #43 (download)
Á¢€Å“Sisters of the MoonÁ¢€ was the last of the four singles released in the U.S. off of Tusk (1979). Someone needs to introduce Kanye West to this one. The beat seems right up his alley for a sample.
Á¢€Å“FirefliesÁ¢€ is from Fleetwood Mac Live (1980), written by Stevie Nicks and one of the three tracks recorded in Santa Monica for friends of the band.
Á¢€Å“As Long as You FollowÁ¢€ is the only one of the four tracks here that’s still heard on the radio today. It was one of the two new songs on their Greatest Hits album (1988), which is widely thought to be the last album released on eight-track.
I know Lindsey Buckingham is a Popdose favorite, so IÁ¢€â„¢ll let you guys talk about the Buckingham-penned Á¢€Å“Family Man,Á¢€ from 1987’s Tango in the Night, in the comments section.
A Flock of Seagulls
Á¢€Å“The More You Live, the More You LoveÁ¢€ — 1984, #56 (download)
ItÁ¢€â„¢s pretty amazing when you think of how well known A Flock of Seagulls is these days, considering they only had three big U.S. hits — “I Ran (So Far Away),” “Space Age Love Song,” and “Wishing (I Had a Photograph of You).” Of course, half their recognition factor can be credited to those silly haircuts they had in the early ’80s. But hey, any press is good press, right? I mean, these guys will be making money forever off Á¢€Å“I Ran.Á¢€ Á¢€Å“The More You Live, the More You LoveÁ¢€ was their final charting single in the U.S., and the guitar riff in it sounds almost identical to the one in Á¢€Å“Space Age Love Song.Á¢€
Flying Lizards
Á¢€Å“Money (That’s What I Want)Á¢€ — 1980, #50 (download)
HereÁ¢€â„¢s another band that could probably live off the residuals from one track for the rest of their lives. Their only hit, a cover of Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want),” has been used in countless commercials, movies, and TV shows. ItÁ¢€â„¢s another one of those songs that seems to be on every new-wave compilation in America. “Money” peaked at #50 in January 1980 (the second Hot 100 chart of the decade, in fact), then plummeted into the very ass end, where it spent two more weeks before dropping off the charts completely.
Dan Fogelberg
Á¢€Å“Believe in MeÁ¢€ — 1984, #48 (download)
Á¢€Å“Go Down EasyÁ¢€ — 1985, #80 (download)
Á¢€Å“She DonÁ¢€â„¢t Look BackÁ¢€ — 1987, #84 (download)
If I remember nothing else about Dan Fogelberg itÁ¢€â„¢ll be Denis Leary on his No Cure for Cancer disc saying that he should sue Fogelberg for turning him into a pussy in the Á¢€Ëœ70s. Normally I too would be saying that Fogelberg made some really shitty music, but I have much less of a problem with him than I probably should based on what you guys know about my taste. I actually think Á¢€Å“Go Down EasyÁ¢€ is a pretty good song, and his 1979 album Phoenix is even better despite Á¢€Å“LongerÁ¢€ being on it. Á¢€Å“She DonÁ¢€â„¢t Look BackÁ¢€ was by far his most rockinÁ¢€â„¢ song to chart, though there was certainly nothing unique about it.
John Fogerty
Á¢€Å“CenterfieldÁ¢€ — 1985, #44 (download)
Á¢€Å“Eye of the ZombieÁ¢€ — 1986, #81 (download)
HereÁ¢€â„¢s yet another song that appears in a million places — Á¢€Å“CenterfieldÁ¢€ is used so much in so many places that it’s hard to believe it didnÁ¢€â„¢t reach the Top 40. But you listen to the track today and, frankly, it sounds like a novelty song. Á¢€Å“Eye of the ZombieÁ¢€ was the uninspired title track from Fogerty’s follow-up to Centerfield; it not only is a mess but has one of the creepiest album covers of the Á¢€Ëœ80s.
Foghat
Á¢€Å“Stranger in My HometownÁ¢€ — 1980, #81 (download)
Á¢€Å“Stranger in My HometownÁ¢€ was FoghatÁ¢€â„¢s first real attempt at moving away from their traditional blues-rock sound and more into new wave. From their Tight Shoes album, this certainly doesnÁ¢€â„¢t sound like anything I’d expect from them. After Tight Shoes, the band kept a rotating lineup going, never sticking with the same members for more than two years, until the original lineup reunited in 1993.
Fools
Á¢€Å“ItÁ¢€â„¢s a Night for Beautiful GirlsÁ¢€ — 1980, #67 (download)
Á¢€Å“Running ScaredÁ¢€ — 1981, #50 (download)
From what I understand, the Fools were pretty damn huge in Boston during their heyday and still tour there pretty regularly. Neither of these songs represented them well, though, as they donÁ¢€â„¢t show their sense of humor or their dirty side. They were known more for their song Á¢€Å“Life Sucks … Then You DieÁ¢€ and for a dirty parody of Talking Heads’ Á¢€Å“Psycho KillerÁ¢€ called Á¢€Å“Psycho Chicken.Á¢€ In 1985 they rerelased their most successful album, World Dance Party, and included a song on it called Á¢€Å“I Love Your Tits.Á¢€ (They seem to have rereleased it in 2003 as — take a wild guess — World Dance Party 2003.) Quite a different vibe than Á¢€Å“Running Scared.Á¢€
Steve Forbert
Á¢€Å“Say Goodbye to Little JoÁ¢€ — 1980, #85 (download)
If thereÁ¢€â„¢s one area in my collection that needs building up, itÁ¢€â„¢s the Steve Forbert section. The only album of his that I own is Jackrabbit Slim (1979), which includes “Say Goodbye to Little Jo” and his bigger hit “Romeo’s Tune,” which is one of my favorite tracks of the ’70s, despite the fact that it’s almost impossible to listen to on my iPod since the organ is deafening. Á¢€Å“Say Goodbye to Little JoÁ¢€ is an awesome track, and IÁ¢€â„¢m well aware that I need to acquire some more Steve Forbert in the near future.
Force M.D.Á¢€â„¢s
Á¢€Å“Love Is a HouseÁ¢€ — 1987, #78 (download)
If you spell their name out, you get Force Musical DiversityÁ¢€â„¢s — which sounds even more ridiculous then the shortened moniker they’re known by. Á¢€Å“Love Is a HouseÁ¢€ is a decent “quiet storm” record that went to #1 on the R&B chart.
Foreigner
Á¢€Å“WomenÁ¢€ — 1980, #41 (download)
Á¢€Å“LuanneÁ¢€ — 1982, #75 (download)
Á¢€Å“Reaction to ActionÁ¢€ — 1985, #54 (download)
Á¢€Å“Down on LoveÁ¢€ — 1985, #54 (download)
Á¢€Å“Heart Turns to StoneÁ¢€ — 1988, #56 (download)
There is absolutely no denying that Foreigner was an absolute fuckinÁ¢€â„¢ force to be reckoned with from the moment they stepped on the scene in 1976 straight through 1987Á¢€â„¢s Inside Information. I, along with way too many other people, usually just lump these guys together with Styx, Journey, REO Speedwagon, and such as the typical sound of arena rock in the ’80s, but thatÁ¢€â„¢s doing them a disservice. Lou Gramm is one of the best rock singers of the entire decade, and even though ForeignerÁ¢€â„¢s big hits got a little bit lighter as the decade went on, they had no shortage of pure rockers. Á¢€Å“WomenÁ¢€ and Á¢€Å“LuanneÁ¢€ maintain a bit of the band’s ’70s sound, while thereÁ¢€â„¢s no doubt the other three are Á¢€Ëœ80s tunes. Á¢€Å“Reaction to ActionÁ¢€ is an underrated track that doesnÁ¢€â„¢t quite get the respect it deserves.
QUICK HITS:
Best song — Steve Forbert, Á¢€Å“Say Goodbye to Little JoÁ¢€
Worst song — The Fools, Á¢€Å“Running ScaredÁ¢€
Next week we have two classic R&B artists, Terje FjeldeÁ¢€â„¢s nightmare, and a woman I wouldnÁ¢€â„¢t mind seeing naked (again).
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