Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Joining me once again tonight as guest curator
is Ben Checkness, host of the Too Vague podcast,
as well as one of My Weekly Mixtape's amazing
Patreon mixtapers. Ben, it's great to have you
back on the show, man. Yeah, thanks for having
me. I really appreciate it. I had a lot of fun
last time, and I'm looking forward to a great
time this time, too. So, thank you. Well, it's
great to have you back. And tonight's topic is
a very interesting one. Number one hits of the
1980s. So I guess it's safe to say that there
are no deep cuts tonight. I mean, literally the
deepest of cuts we could pick from this list
are the songs that only charted one week at number
one. But even then, it was still a number one
hit. This is true. Number one is number one.
So trivia time, Ben. We are sticking with the
1980s. If we were on Jeopardy right now, the
answer would be, this is the number of number
one hits that happened during the 1980s. Yeah,
I have no idea how many hits there were. Well,
the answer is, keeping it in Jeopardy form, what
is 231 songs? Oh, wow. So this bank of tunes
is actually a lot larger than some of the band
themed episodes of my weekly mixtape that have
happened already. So you and I have this challenge
to whittle down 231 number one hits down to 20.
Was this an easy feat for you to kind of whittle
down at least a bank of songs that you want to
bring to the conversation tonight? It took some
time. I'm not going to lie. I did have a little
bit of. At a moment going down this list where
I had to come up with a plan, my plan was basically
the songs that connected with me at that age.
I don't know if you did it a little differently
than I did. I went down the 231 songs, and when
songs jumped out at me, I went, ooh, I remember,
I love that song. And I created a big list. Then
I created a massive playlist in my phone, and
for the last week, I've been listening to songs
and slowly but surely swiping songs out of the
playlist, and I've whittled it down to 40. And
now I'm praying that the 10 songs you pick tonight
are all on my list to make me only have to whittle
it down from 30 to 10. Yeah. I think between
the two of us and our different musical tastes,
I think we're going to have a very diverse mix
tonight. I'm really excited about it. Yeah, I'm
hoping for a true snapshot of the decade, and
that's what we're tasked with. So let's get down
to business. Tonight, as I mentioned at the top
of the show, Ben and I will be curating a number
one hits of the 1980s mixtape, and we'll use
that old cassette deck approach. Ben, as my special
guest, will begin side A with his first song
choice, and then I'll add a song that I feel
best follows up his choice. We'll then flip -flop
choosing songs until we've mapped out 10 songs
for side A. We'll then give our mixtape a proverbial
flip and we'll map out side B. Only this time,
I'll kick things off with Ben choosing second.
Our overall goal for the episode is to craft
the best number one hits of the 1980s mixtape
possible through only 20 songs. At the end of
the show, you can take our conversation to the
next level by visiting the episode page at myweeklymixtape
.com to give our final mixtape a listen. via
the embedded playlist. And if you like what you're
hearing on the show, you can help me out by either
telling a friend, leaving the show a five -star
review wherever you're tuning in, or becoming
a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash
myweeklymixtape. And a few of the mixtapers chimed
in with songs they think should kick off our
playlist tonight, and I want to give a quick
shout out to those. Cactus P chimed in, starting
with, do you want me to choose my favorite kid
as well? No, but this certainly feels like it.
He chimed in with three songs, Tears for Fears,
Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Van Halen's
Jump, and Huey Lewis and the News, The Power
of Love, saying you can't go wrong with any of
these, in my opinion. And I would have to agree
with that. Yeah. Seeker chimed in with going
with my dearly departed compatriot, Olivia Newton,
John and physical. It was number one for 10 weeks
starting in November of 1982. Sean Faust chimed
in with Bon Jovi's living on a prayer. And Philip
Bergman chimed in with Sheena Easton's Morning
Train, nine to five. Interesting pick there.
So, Ben, with that, I'm officially pressing the
record button on our mixtape and the floor is
yours. Why don't you dive into the song you chose
to kick off side A? OK, this was a difficult
choice. I know that your own you're expecting
me to start this list, I think, with something
that's new wave ish. But what I want to do is
I'm going to go counter to that and start with
something that I think that maybe you might have
connected with back in the day. I'm going to
start this mix with White Snakes' Here I Go Again.
Nice. Which came out, it was a number one hit
for one week in 1987. So I'm starting the mix
with White Snakes' Here I Go Again. Absolutely
classic. hair metal song i know i say hair metal
power ballad whatever you want to call it i know
white snake was around a long time before the
hair metal scene but mtv certainly lumped that
video in with all the other hair bands at the
time guns and roses all the other groups that
were kind of being thrown together into that
hair band monkey or even though they had styles
that branched outside of the sunset strip look
however This song was originally recorded on
their 82 album Saints and Sinners and then re
-recorded for the version on their self -titled
87 album and then re -recorded again that same
year in a radio mix, which is the one that went
to number one. Oh, wow. So I guess third time's
a charm for this song. Obviously, if we mention
this song and not mention the unforgettable Tawny
Katane. And the music video, I mean, that is
something that made Jaws drop to the ground.
I was 10 years old at the time and I'm like,
what? Most certainly that song was on my list.
I absolutely love it. So I'm raising the metal
horns to that one. But that said, I'm not going
to lie. I expected you to start with something
new wave. So I kind of knew where I was going
to go from there. However, with this one. You're
throwing in more of a rock vibe. And I don't
want to go with another power ballad back to
back, but I want to keep that heft. And in order
to do that, I want to introduce a little bit
of a pop sound, but a song that's groove is so
undeniable. And playing alongside of Whitesnake's
Here I Go Again music video, another iconic music
video of the 1980s. was the Claymation masterpiece
known as Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer from 1986
is so. So we're still within a year of each other,
these two songs. And just like Whitesnake, it
was only number one for one week, July 26, 1986.
So technically, Ben, you and I have started off
with two very deep cuts for our number one songs
playlist. Only one week wonders. Yeah, that's
an interesting choice. I do both. Peter Gabriel
and what I think I'm going to follow this up
with were big influences when I was younger.
I was a huge fan of Peter Gabriel even before
the So album. But big fans of Peter Gabriel and
then, not to bury the lead here, but the next
song. So what I am going to follow this up with
is not by any stretch of the imagination what
I thought was their best song. But I do think
it was iconic in its own time. And it kind of
put this band more into the mainstream, I think,
than they had been previously. I think I know
where you're heading with this one. Coincidentally,
this band's song was number one the week before
Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. So I am going with
the band Genesis and their song Invisible Touch.
which also was at number one for a week. But
there is a Genesis -Peter Gabriel connection
if you go back far enough back into the 70s,
if you are into that sort of thing. I was definitely
aware of these two bands growing up. My father
was a big fan of Peter Gabriel, and my mom was
a big fan of Genesis. So I got the best of both
worlds, I think. So both really influential bands
in my childhood. Genesis and Peter Gabriel. So
that's a good one -two combo, I think. Could
not agree more. I mean, Phil Collins was the
1980s. He had seven number one hits outside of
Genesis. Right. And outside of Genesis, he spent
13 weeks at number one. So he was all over the
80s charts. And Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins
and the Genesis connection going back to back.
I think it's a fantastic touch. No pun intended.
Own it. Own it, man. Pun intended. Pun intended.
You're right. And looking at what we have so
far, I know exactly what I'm going to follow
this up with. And it is one that, believe it
or not, my wife and I completely disagree on.
Oh, you discuss these things before you record
shows. Yes. I adore this song. Her, not so much.
Huh. Okay. And we've talked at length just about
this song. And coming out of Genesis, I want
to go back a little bit more and go off of 1984's
Suddenly. This song spent two weeks at number
one. So I'm doubling our ante here, going from
One Week Wonders to two weeks now. And I'm going
to go with Billy Ocean, Caribbean Queen, No More
Love on the Run. It won a Grammy in 1985 for
best. male R &B vocal performance, which made
him the first British artist to win in that category.
To me, this song is sonically amazing. It's definitely
got that 80s pop vibe, but the guitar work in
it, the chunky, it's funky. It is smooth. It's
just a fun, get up and start dancing type song.
I love Billy Ocean. He's got such a unique voice
and a unique tone to the way he delivers vocals.
I feel like coming out of Genesis, we're kind
of leaning a little bit more poppy now. So I
think it's a perfect song to come out of Invisible
Touch. Yeah. And you know that that song that
had two different previous sort of recordings
where European Queen and African Queen were recorded.
Really? I had no idea about those. Yeah, check
those out because you can find those on YouTube.
But yeah, it was recorded differently before
it was re -released and I believe re -recorded
for the US and they chose that Caribbean Queen
instead of African or European. It's pretty mind
-blowing. It's just like completely different
sounding, feeling song with Caribbean Queen.
And then also the video was really good too.
Oh, the video is fantastic. I think that's another
thing. With number one hits of the 80s, I think
a lot of times you are going to tie a music video
to it. Oh, absolutely. Because MTV was such an
integral part of what made a hit song. Oh, yeah.
I guess Billy had queens all over the world.
He covered a worldwide market with this track.
What can we say? You know, everyone loved his
voice. He had a very, very velvety, smooth sounding
voice. Yeah. And the music fit that. Definitely.
Yeah, I'm not going to lie. That was on my list.
It wasn't, hey, hey, you, you, get into my car.
Who, me? Yes, you. It wasn't that one. I still
like that one. That was License to Drive, man.
That's true, License to Drive. I completely forgot
about that movie. Let's see. What am I going
to? Boy, oh boy. Let's keep the pop vibe going
here. I think you mentioned this on my show,
actually, this song, where you had, there was
some sort of a carnival or some sort of an event
that you went to where it was like you could
record your own singing to a song. Does that
ring any bells? Oh, it rings plenty. So I know
exactly the two songs you could be choosing here.
Okay. Okay. Well, the song that I'm going to
choose is the Jay Giles Band. Yeah. I'm going
to choose Centerfold. which was at the number
one slot for six weeks in 1982. I think that
following that, it's just got an upbeat. I think
with these two songs, as far as their connection,
it's just they feel upbeat, right? Oh, yeah.
And they're both love songs too, aren't they?
Sort of? Yeah. Love songs, lust songs, I guess.
Yeah, I'll allow it. Okay, okay. You can kind
of see my connection there, right? 100%. So I'm
going to go with... Jake Gilespan, centerfold.
And you are absolutely right because I was, I
want to say, eight years old and I went into
the karaoke booth at Hershey Park. It's right
Hershey Park. Yeah. And you were able to sing
any song in the big book of tunes that they had
waiting to go for you. And sure enough, I chose
the Jay Giles band's Centerfold, which at the
time, lyrics went right over my head, man. Like,
I had no idea. And I listened back to it, and
I'm like, man, I'm like the Kidz Bop back in
the 1980s. But, you know. And then again. Music
video, when he goes and hits the snare fill and
the snare head is filled with paint and after
he hits that last fill, all the cheerleaders
are dancing around the band. It's yet another
example of a music video making the song bigger
because in the 80s, MTV really had its finger
on the pulse of hit songs and the more creative
and the more memorable the music video, the more
popular the song became. You know, we could do
a show and let's not limit it to 80s, right?
But best videos, you know, you made the point
that there's a connection between videos and
audio even today, although it's less of a selling
sort of device. But that's definitely one of
those things where it's an 80s trope. It's the.
Put the paint on the drum and hit the drum thing.
Exactly. I mean, I can think of at least a dozen
videos that do that whole paint thing. And it
was like they were just trying to figure out
what the medium was and how to grab your attention,
right? The whole industry of videos and how they
sold music back, especially in the MTV days,
is a very interesting sort of thing to think
about, I think. Oh, it's completely insane what
they did in the 80s in order to sell songs. And
I'll tell you right now, the song I'm following
up Jay Giles band centerfold with you obviously
scooped me on that one. There was no way that
wasn't on my list, but I'm going to go one year
later, February 5th, 1983, one week at number
one, staying in that pop vibe, staying with an
iconic music video and sticking around with a
song that even younger kids are familiar with
and love now because of Weezer's. popular cover
i am going with toto's africa from 1982's toto
4 this song to me it's one of the songs colburn
and company has been playing for years it's so
much fun to play this song and as soon as you
hit those even if people weren't dancing the
whole night they are up and grooving and singing
along this song just people love trying to hit
the high notes and they're incredible They're
so hard to hit and nail with the energy that
is brought to Toto's version. And again, it's
just one of those songs that is timeless. When
Weezer did it, Toto's went right back up the
charts, too, because people realized, oh, yeah,
this song's amazing. One week at number one.
I swore it was much longer, though, when I was
growing up. I didn't like. I mean, that was.
Not to get negative here, but that wasn't one
of my choices. Oh, okay. For some reason, just
that song, it just doesn't connect with me for
some reason. I mean, I see nothing wrong with
that. If a song doesn't resonate with you, then
it doesn't resonate with you. It's all subjective.
Let me just say, though, I think Toto deserves
to be on this list. The song doesn't bring me
enjoyment. But I think it definitely belongs
on this tape because it connected with a lot
of people. And it's still connected with a lot
of people today because people, when that whole
business with, wasn't it a request for Weezer
to cover that? Someone requested it online? Yes,
it was an internet request. They were trying
to just get the band to do it. And then the band
told everybody by covering Toto, but they released
Rosanna as a single. And everybody... thought
it was like the greatest troll job, and then
two days later they put out the cover of Africa
as well. Yeah, that's great. And that's one of
those things that it obviously has a connection
with people, so it deserves to be on this list.
I thought you were going to follow Centerfold
up with another song that was, when you were
mentioning people covering, I want to say, was
it Real Big Fish that covered this? If you're
talking about A -ha's take on me, the answer
is yes. No, it was someone else. If it's Come
On Eileen, that's Save Ferris. Save Ferris, that's
who it is. So yes, I'm going to follow up Africa
with Dexy's Midnight Runners from 1983, Come
On Eileen, which spent one week at number one
also. Such an amazing song. I love save Ferris's
version in the nineties so much because the horns
and that whole real big fish Scott scene. If
you listen to this show, you know, I'm a huge
fan of it. The original is amazing. And I'll
be honest. I was not the biggest fan of come
on Eileen until I heard safe Ferris's version.
And then I went back to the original and I'm
like, Oh, I get this now. I get why this song
is so amazing. Like as a kid, it didn't, Hit
me. And then when I heard, say, Ferris do it,
it made me look at the original with a new light.
And I've loved the song ever since. I think that's
also exactly what happens with Toto, right? It's
like a lot of people did that, too. I'm sure
they hear the Weezer version and then they go
back to the original and they go, oh, man, this
is so great. And that's why I'm such a huge fan
of cover songs, because you're paying homage
to a song that you love and then putting your
own spin on it. And you would think naturally
to come out of that, I would go to a cover song,
but I'm not. But I am going to stick with this
vibe because I know my band plays Centerfold
and Africa, and we just got a female singer over
the last year that's joined us. We're going to
be doing Come On Eileen. So we've got this section
of the mixtape that people are up and dancing
right now. And I want to keep that going. And
I'm going to go with one that might actually
be seen. As an actual deep cut, because I don't
know if this would be everyone's go -to song,
but for me, it's one of my absolute favorites
from the entire decade. The baseline hooks me
in right from the beginning. And it's just one
of those songs that every time it comes on in
the car, it always, whoever I'm with, it makes
them light up. Oh my God. I remember this one.
Spent one week at number one, November 12th,
1988. From the album of the same name, I am going
with Escape Club, Wild Wild West. Oh boy. Nice.
I love this song so much, even from the whole
part where they break it down to this quasi reggae
section in the middle. It's just such a fun dance
song that my cover band back in the 2000s used
to break this out. And it got such a pop from
the crowd because it's one of those earworms
that when the song starts and the drum beats
going, you're like, oh, what is this song? And
then all of a sudden you hear the doom, doom,
doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom. And people
start going, oh my God, why do I know this? And
as soon as you start singing the lyrics, everyone's
like, oh, I remember this one. That's why I'm
going for that now. Escape Club, Wild Wild West.
That's a good choice. Good choice. All right.
Escape Club. Wow. West. Wow. What do I follow
that up with? My goodness. Okay. I don't know
if there's a direct connection to these two bands,
but I don't know why Escape Club, when you said
that, for some reason in excess popped into my
head. So I'm going to go with. Need You Tonight
by NXS from also 1988, right? That was 1988 for
Escape Club. So, yeah, I'm going to go with that
as a follow up to Wild Wild West. Right at the
beginning, January 30th, 1988, another one week
hit, but a great one at that. I mean, come on,
you think about iconic dance songs. The video
is very memorable. And then you fast forward,
I don't know, 12. 12 years later and the song
gets reinvigorated in the pop culture conversation
because of the movie coyote ugly oh yeah yeah
i mean this song is absolutely fantastic kick
is my favorite in excess album so i'm so thrilled
you went with that one because that's one less
one i got to deal with trying to squeeze in and
i know what i'm going to end the side with you
started with one that was known as kind of a
power ballad and i'm going to end the side with
one that's kind of a power ballad This song spent
two weeks at number one. I'm going to go to the
end of this spectrum here with July 22nd, 1989.
From her self -titled 1988 album Martika, I'm
going with Toy Soldiers to close out Side A.
Little heft, beautiful song, amazing vocals.
Again, iconic video. You could not escape that
song. I'm actually shocked it was only number
one for two weeks. Because at that point, you
couldn't put on any radio station and not hear
Toy Soldiers. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, that's a good
closer song. Definitely. Absolutely. Well, there
you have it, folks. Side A of our number one
hits of the 80s mixtape, which kicked off with
White Snakes' Here I Go Again, Peter Gabriel's
Sledgehammer, Genesis' Invisible Touch, Billy
Ocean, Caribbean Queen, No More Love on the Run,
Jay Guile's band Centerfold, Toto's Africa, Dexy's
Midnight Runners, Come on Eileen, Escape Club,
Wild Wild West, In Excess, Need You Tonight,
and Martika Toy Soldiers. Head over to myweeklymixtape
.com to hear all the songs we've discussed in
this mix through the playlist embedded on the
episode page. Now, before we flip our proverbial
mixtape over, Ben, there's been a lot going on
over at Too Vague. Why don't you catch us up
as to what's been going on at the show? Oh, boy.
Yeah, we've had a lot of connections that we
made back when I was at Penny Arcade Expo back
in September. So we've had a lot of developers
who've been on the show recently, have a new
somewhat regular co -host in Andrew who has been
on the show. more frequently now, uh, that he's,
I like to, maybe I've, maybe I'm taking some
credit here, but he's, uh, he's gotten into the
audacity recording himself sort of vibe. So now
he's excited about doing that. So we're recording
remotely and, and making good quality stuff together.
So he's like my, my new regular cohost. We just
created a new promo that, uh, I think you're
going to play, right? Sure thing. Let's do it.
Welcome aboard Two Vague Airlines. We're cruising
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feet, but what do I know? I'm not really an airplane.
I'm a podcaster. Actually, I'm a co -podcaster.
I'm the co -host of several episodes of the Two
Vague Podcast. If you haven't heard it, you're
missing out. Check out the Two Vague Podcast.
Any place podcasts do whatever they do. Ladies
and gentlemen, the captain has turned off the
fasten seatbelt sign. For your continued safety,
Two Vague Airlines requires that you keep your
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But, while you're seated, you can tune into the
Two Vague podcast, T -W -O -V -A -G -U -E, on
your favorite podcast services, and enjoy the
flight. Well, there you have it, folks. And we'll
talk a little bit more about Too Vague when we
get to the end of Side B. But now we're going
to kick off Side B, and I have the pleasure or
pain of kicking things off. You know what the
answer to that question is? Yes. Exactly. Only
it's not a song by Yes. I am going to go back
to 1985, and I am going to go with a song that
spent two weeks at number one. And I'm not going
to say much about the song. All I'm going to
say it's back to the future. Huey Lewis in the
news. The power of love. Episode 23 with Bill
Gibson. Please go back and listen to that because
he talks about the power of love better than
I ever could because he played drums on the song.
Absolutely amazing track. One of my favorites
from the band and kicking off side be the power
of love. Huey Lewis in the news. Boy. That is
a wonderful choice. The power of love. So let's
go with a love song or another one of these.
Is it really a love song kind of songs? I know
power of love is more about how love can conquer
all, not just love as a concept of you love someone,
right? It's the power of love. of everyone, or
maybe I'm reading too much into it. Is that kind
of like, what do you think of when you think
of the power of love? I think about love as the
actual feeling that you have with somebody else
is the way I always took the song. Yeah. I thought
of it as more of the power of love makes the
world go round as in love for your fellow man.
Sure. That could work too. And that's the beauty
of these lyrics. You could just take it any way
you want. Exactly. Well, But that being said,
I'm going to use your definition of love here
and I am going to go with the song. For some
reason, one of my favorite songs, we're going
to take it back to 1981 and we are going to go
with actor turned rock music. I don't know if
it's, I don't know which way it happened if he
was doing acting and then he became a rock star
or rock star and then he became an actor. I'm
not sure I'm going to leave that to you. You
are the history guy, but I'm going to go with
to follow up the power of love. Rick Springfield's
Jesse's Girl, which spent two weeks at number
one in 1981. Rick Springfield. Absolutely love
it. Anybody who's ever been in a cover band.
It's one of those songs where. When you're not
in a cover band and it comes on, you enjoy it.
If you're playing in a cover band and it comes
on, you go, oh, God, not again. Because that
is a song that you cannot. It is so iconic. The
riff that Neil Giraldo came up with, who, if
that name sounds familiar, it's Pat Benatar's
husband and guitarist, wrote Jessie's Girl, along
with Hit Me With Your Best Shot and all of Pat
Benatar's amazing hits. Incredible song. Absolutely
love it. Yeah, just the way it starts out, too,
is just so great. This song also has a special
place in my heart because one of my favorite
albums as a kid in the 80s was Chipmunk Punk.
And on the album Chipmunk Rock, Alvin and the
Chipmunks do a version of Jessie's Girl. okay
all right and i if i'm not mistaken if my childhood
memory serves me correct it's jesse's got a squirrel
and i want to make her mine oh boy but absolutely
i love the song it's on my list totally scooped
me thank you it's great and i think i know what
i'm going to come out of that with let me just
say i have a request if you can find that chipmunks
version you need to include it as a bonus track
on this thing. Cause I, because we need to hear
that. I will see if it's on, at least on YouTube.
If it is, I will embed it over at my weekly mixtape
.com. Yeah. That'll bring joy to several people's
lives. Yes. Well, following that up, Jesse's
girls playing, everybody's up on the dance floor.
We want to keep that dance floor cranked right
now. And I'm going to go with the song that as
soon as Jesse's girl ends, the drums kick in.
and we're about to cut loose 1984 footloose three
weeks at number one by the incredible kenny loggins
the soundtrack king of the 1980s bringing the
fire with a song that even when they remade the
movie and the song was redone by blake shelton
doesn't hold a candle to kenny loggins original
so much fun such an iconic track and that is
what i am following up jesse's girl with And
an iconic musician, like you mentioned, like
as far as movie soundtracks, he was also Caddyshack,
wasn't he? He had I'm All Right. I don't know
if that was a number one at any point, but it
was definitely one of those songs that I remember
hearing a lot in my youth. We talk about this
a lot on episode 18, the 80s soundtrack episode,
because Kenny Loggins was all over the 80s. If
you think about Caddyshack 1 with I'm Alright,
then you can even fast forward to Caddyshack
2, Nobody's Fool. You have Top Gun, Danger Zone.
You have Over the Top, Meet Me Halfway. And then
you have Footloose as well. Footloose definitely
is a great song and very dancey. And what are
you going to follow it up with? Boy, oh boy.
Well, That is the question, Brian. That is the
question. Wasn't Footloose a movie about how
rock music is bad? It was against the law. Yeah,
rock music. So let's put this in the face of
that town, right? Let's do this. Let's say the
next track that I'm going to follow up Footloose
with is Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' I Love
Rock and Roll. We'll do that. Because thematically,
I think it makes sense. You're saying, hey, town.
No, no, no. I love rock and roll. So let's go
with that as the connection. Kind of a stretch,
but you know, hey, I think it connects to the
movie. So I'm going to do that. Absolutely love
it. Seven weeks at number one. Again, you scooped
me, obviously. Recorded by the Arrows originally
in 1975. We talked about this song on the Songs
You Didn't Know Were Covers episode because there's
a lot of people that don't know I Love Rock and
Roll was originally recorded by the Arrows. And
just assume Joan Jets is the first one. And it's
so iconic and so important to rock music in the
early 80s. People do forget about the Arrows
version. And then obviously, you know the song
is important to the world of music because Weird
Al blessed it with his amazing cover, I Love
Rocky Road. I mean, you know you're important
when Weird Al covers your song. This is true.
So now coming out of that, I actually know what
I'm going to do. This past weekend, I discovered
a box of old cassettes. Oh, okay. And in that
box of old cassettes was a cassette that was
made by me in 1987. I was 10 years old. Okay.
And the cassette was called the Get Down Rock
Party. The get down rock party. The get down
rock party. And it kicked off in New York. There
was a radio DJ, Scott Shannon, who had a morning
show, the Z morning zoo at that point. One of
the people that went around to all the different
radio promos was a guy named Mr. Leonard. And
this cassette opens up with Mr. Leonard singing.
karaoke over k kaiser's three little fishies
okay okay now i know i know none of this makes
sense but it's getting to the point following
that up i'm sitting there with tears in my eyes
listening to this song that unlocked a memory
that i hadn't had in 30 years and then it ended
and then the cassette did a little Like a couple
of bits of talking because I was trying to catch
the right song. And then sure enough, you hear
a crowd screaming and the drums kick in. And
I have Billy Idol with his live cover following
up the I Love Rock and Roll cover of Money Money
that was released in advance of his Vital Idol
album. And I think hindsight made me always think
that the song we heard on the radio was the 81.
Money Money B -side. It wasn't because on this
cassette was the live version and it made me
go back this past weekend and look up the live
version is now streaming on Spotify. So this
was the version they did specifically to promote
the Vital Idol comp. And let's be honest, the
song Money Money is played at every single wedding
that you've ever been to ever. And it was a number
one hit for him. So it has to be on the list.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. All right. You see, that's
a big. Yeah. Yeah. I'll say, yeah. Yeah. Money,
money. Boy, what am I going to cover? What am
I going to cover that with? What am I going to
follow up that cover with is what I was trying
to say. So I am going to follow a cover with
a cover. A cover that follows a cover that follows
a cover. I guess maybe go back a little bit to
my sort of what I would consider new wave roots,
I guess, because I would consider this sort of
part of the new wave. Even though they had their
popularity, they were still a little bit under
the radar. But I'm going to go with Bananarama's
Venus from 1986. One week at number one, but
yep. banana Rama Venus. I had that 45. They,
the three singers sang the whole song together.
That was kind of like their thing. They didn't
harmonize. They all sang the same notes together
and it gave a very unique sound. And the original
done by shocking blue back in 1969 is definitely
a lot more of a psychedelic kind of rock song.
So I love that they turned it into a dance anthem
in the eighties. It works so well. Yeah, absolutely.
Well, following that up, we've only got two picks
each. Oh, boy. So we got to start bringing the
home run tracks in. Okay. And when I think of
home run songs of the 1980s, you have to go with
the artists that kind of dominated the charts.
And this artist had the most number one singles
of the 80s and spent the most weeks at number
one. That artist being Michael Jackson. I don't
think you could talk about a number one hits
of the 1980s mixtape and not include the person
who had the most number one songs. But coming
out of Venus, I got to go with one of my favorite
tunes ever from him. Billie Jean off of Thriller.
Song is absolutely incredible. The baseline in
it is funky. The beat. You think about the moonwalk
in the music video. There was so much that just
made this song. Such a moment in musical history.
Doing the moonwalk on stage when he did the live
performance, it blew people's minds. Seven weeks
at number one, starting March 5th, 1983. So when
you think about it, Billie Jean was one of the
biggest songs of 1983. The album was released
in 82 and still should be in the conversation
for both years because Thriller was basically
all over the charts for the entire reign of that
album. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And then you
look at this list and it's just like Michael
Jackson, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson. But
then as you reach the middle of the 80s, I start
seeing what I'm going to probably follow this
up with the artist. You start seeing Janet Jackson,
Janet Jackson, Janet Jackson here. So I think
and not to, you know, not to not they were both.
very different artists i know that janet jackson
kind of went out on her own with her breakout
break away from the family album what was the
name of the album gosh darn it control control
that was it yes control the control album was
sort of her kind of i'm gonna do this my way
sort of thing and then so from that point forward
you started seeing janet jackson rack up the
hits and doing it her way right I am going to
follow this up, the Michael Jackson with the
Janet Jackson. I don't know if that's, I hope
that's not too telegraphed, but I'm going to
go with When I Think of You. It was only at number
one for two weeks, but I mean, it's definitely
one of the Janet Jackson songs that I remember
fondly. So 1986, Janet Jackson, When I Think
of You is what I'm going to follow up Michael
Jackson with. Is that too predictable to telegraph?
Do you disagree with that? Not at all. Okay.
Keep it in the family, man. Yeah, and I think
Janet Jackson kind of dominated the early 90s
herself, right? I mean, she started racking up
the hits on her own. She started. This was on
the Control album, so this was all a big part
of the late 80s, 100%. Oh, yeah. And now I'm
going to lean into the female aspect of things,
because you brought on a very popular female
artist of... The 80s. And I have two that I could
easily flip a coin with. They're two of my favorite
singers, one that leans more rock and one that
leans more R &B. And I think looking at this
side as a whole, the side has been kind of a
rockier side versus side one. And as my last
pick of the night, because it is one of my favorite
power ballads of all time, spent three weeks
at number one. july 11th 1987 we had toy soldiers
was my last pick for side a for side b i want
to close with a big massive power ballot at least
for my contributions and i'm going off of 1987's
bad animals the incredible ann wilson and nancy
wilson you can't you got to keep them both in
this discussion heart alone their cover again
another cover song you might not have known was
a cover but i tended it originally Go back to
that Songs You Didn't Know Were Covers episode
to hear more about this one. One of my favorite
Heart songs ever, cover or not, Heart made it
their own version, and it's an unbelievable song.
Oh yeah, absolutely. And I think for me, my thought
of whenever I heard of Heart, at one point in
my life, it was always Barracuda. But they were
really good at doing those anthems, those big
crowd -pleasing, like Alone is. It just has a...
Sort of like you can totally feel it being played
in an arena and getting people juiced, right?
100%. It's just an amazing song. Yeah, that's
a great choice to wrap it up. And now you get
to wrap up the whole evening. Yeah. And here's
the thing. This is kind of, I mean, there are
songs I want to close this off with, but I think
it would be a crime if we excluded this artist
from. Please tell me it's the title track to
Who's That Girl. It is the title track to Who's
That Girl. I love it. Yes. For some reason, that
movie, I watched it so many times. Love that
song. And there's a quote from that movie that
I absolutely love. And I'm going to say it right
now. It's, you know, Loudon, who is the guy who
has the Madonna character kind of tagging along.
They're trying to figure stuff out. He says,
we did one of your things already. We murdered
the pimp and the fat man. Now it's time to do
one of my things. So let's wrap it up with that.
Amazing song. I'll never forget. We were on vacation
in Nantucket. I was with my folks up there for
a week and we wanted to go to a movie one night
and that was the only thing showing and my parents
were like, whatever. I'm sure it's fine. It's
air conditioned. Let's go. And I loved it. I
love the song. I went out and got the soundtrack
afterwards. It's one of my all time favorite
Madonna songs. So I absolutely love it. Ending
out. Awesome. Our side B, which kicked off with
Huey Lewis in the news. The power of love. Rick
Springfield's Jesse's girl. Kenny Loggins footloose.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. I love rock and
roll. Billy Idol's live version of Moni Moni.
Banana Ram is Venus. Michael Jackson's Billie
Jean, Janet Jackson's When I Think of You, Hearts
Alone, and Madonna's Who's That Girl. Head over
to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all the songs
we've discussed in this mix through the playlist
embedded on the episode page. I asked this on
the last show, but is there a track that you
wanted to put in there that didn't quite fit
for some reason? Because I do have one in mind
that I really wanted to put in there. But it
just didn't present itself, the opportunity.
Well, I feel like in terms of deserving to be
on there, the two that are missing are one that
was called out at the beginning of the show by
Seeker, Olivia Newton -John's physical, because
it had the longest reign. And then for me, I
feel awful that I did not include my first ever
crush in life. Tiffany's I Think We're Alone
Now cover. I'm actually feeling tangible guilt
right now because she started her big mall tour
right here in New Jersey at the Bergen Mall.
And I didn't include that. I'm looking through
this list kicking myself. We have to do a volume
two at some point. There's just no way. What
kind of Jersey boy are you, man? Not including.
What was your one that didn't fit? Okay, this
is more of a guilty pleasure one, right? For
some reason, I love the song by the Steve Miller
band, Abracadabra. Oh, great. I don't know what
it was. It was something about that song. I wasn't
a big Steve Miller band fan, but that song, for
some reason, just was like, it was just a good
feeling song. It was kind of ridiculous. It was
like, what does it mean? But then again, I think
that's kind of the 80s. What does it mean? 100%.
So, yeah, Abracadabra was great. Yeah, and then
in the 90s, Sugar Ray did a cover of it, and
it brought the song back again. Yep, yep. Still
prefer the Steve Miller version, but... Oh yeah,
Steve is an icon. Well, if you're out there listening,
and there was a number one hit that you would
have added to this mixtape, hit me up on social
media, at My Weekly Mixtape, or send me an email,
myweeklymixtape at gmail .com, and let me know
what song you would add to this mix, and maybe
we'll add it in... When Ben comes back for volume
two, Ben, why don't you let people know where
they can find the Too Vague podcast and get in
touch with you? Yeah. The Too Vague podcast,
which the way I describe the show to anyone who
hasn't heard it is very simple. One word, two
hosts, stories, trivia, video games. And that's
basically what it is. It's two people having
a conversation about the stuff that they enjoy
and love and memories and things. But then we.
try and connect it to video games back in the
second half. So if you're more into the stories
trivia part, you can listen to the first half
and then disconnect. Although, let me just say,
the whole episode is definitely stories and things
throughout. But anyway, if you're interested
in that kind of thing, go ahead and check out
www .2vigpodcast .com. That's T -W -O -V -A -G
-U -E podcast. And let me know what you think.
We're available on most of your favorite streaming
or podcast services. So check it out. Let me
know what you think. And thank you for listening.
Give us a thumbs up. Do people give them thumbs
up these days? Is that what they do? I guess
if you post on Facebook, you might get a thumbs
up like, or if you text them the episode, you
might get a thumbs up back. Give me a five -star
review. Yeah, five -star review is what you need.
Yeah, definitely. Okay. Thank you. You are the
Zen master of the podcasting realm for me, I
guess, because I don't know any of this business
here. Do that for two big podcasts. And while
you're there, make sure to drop one for my weekly
mixtape. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Ben, this has
been a blast. Thank you so much for joining me
again, man. Thank you for having me. I really
appreciate it. Looking forward to volume two.
We're definitely going to make that happen. And
remember, Mixtapers, you can find My Weekly Mixtape
on all the social media haunts at My Weekly Mixtape.
You can also head to MyWeeklyMixtape .com to
check out the full catalog of My Weekly Mixtape
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Mixtaper at Patreon .com forward slash My Weekly
Mixtape. That's all for this week. Thanks again
for listening. Until next time. Enjoy the tunes.