Welcome to a new edition of Shuffle! The music blog where I take some random songs, put it under a random topic and produce a great shuffle of music for you to enjoy.
In my last blog post, I talked about how 1982 was the year I began to develop my own taste in music that wasn’t influenced by my family. I was 10, in fourth grade and it was a time when my mind was opened to hearing everything radio had to offer (which considering where I was from, there wasn’t a whole lot of choices!) In this blog post, I’m going to unearth some of the music that didn’t hit the top 10 and wasn’t widely popular. Instead I want to highlight what was being listened to on the college scene at the time. What is great is that I ended up listening to these songs later in my life but not at the time they were released in 1982. I will readily admit when I “jump on the bandwagon” for a band or solo artist. But, whenever that happens, I want to listen to how they were before they “made it big”. I want to hear how their sound developed and what changed over time to make them huge successes. Or perhaps they didn’t get really big but still managed to have an impact on music at that time and beyond. A lot of this music are by artists and bands that did hit it big but in 1982 they weren’t at the top of the charts yet. Let’s get started!
- “Don’t Change” by INXS:
INXS is one of the most influential pop bands of the eighties in my opinion. They had such a distinct sound that was pretty infectious. Back in 1982, I wasn’t aware of them yet but they became pretty huge by the end of the eighties with the albums Listen Like Thieves and Kick. I have went back through their older songs and this is one of my favorites from 1982. The video is pretty simplistic but yet shows the strength of the sound these boys could make. Michael Hutchence exuded hot front man. Unfortunately he would die much too early from tragic circumstances. If you don’t know them beyond their hits, I urge you to listen to early albums such as Shabooh Shoobah and The Swing.
2. “Temptation” by New Order:
New Order is best known for their eighties songs “Blue Monday” and “Bizarre Love Triangle” which will live forever but “Temptation” was released in 1982 and has a driving synth sound which I love. New Order was another band I didn’t really discover till later in the eighties and then more in college and beyond. I really began to learn of their history to gay culture after I came out when I was 24 which was the year 1996. “Age of Consent” is another favorite of mine which was released in 1983. I also learned that the members of New Order were originally the band Joy Division and after the lead singer of that band, Ian Curtis, commits suicide, they formed New Order.
3. “I Melt With You” by Modern English
“I Melt With You” is another song from 1982 that will live on forever in the music landscape. It gained its original fame when it was a part of the movie soundtrack to “Valley Girl” and became a staple on MTV. I do love this song and seemingly never tire of it. Although when you look at the stats of the song, perhaps I should be tired of it! Per wiki: “The song is among the top 500 songs ever played on U.S. radio. The group received a lifetime achievement award at the BMI Awards in 2017, celebrating 3 million plays of the song. It is ranked #39 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s. As Modern English’s only major hit song, they are generally considered one-hit wonders, despite not reaching the Top 40 of the U.S. Hot 100 during either of its runs on that chart. It was ranked #7 on VH1’s 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.” This song really does remind me of simpler times during my youth. It also makes me want to do the Peanuts Gang dance for some strange reason!
4. “Save A Prayer” by Duran Duran
This is one of my favorite songs of all time! When it was first released I didn’t like it much but as I’ve aged, I have come to appreciate its melancholy rhythms and how it describes an inner loneliness we all feel at times. Duran Duran were like the Beatles of the eighties really. Masses of fans, hit after hit and ear worms we are still singing today. This is one of those great songs to play on a Sunday morning or looking out on an ocean. It just fits a reflective mood.
5. “I Love A Man in Uniform” by Gang of Four
I discovered this song into my thirties which would be in the 2000’s. It came out in 1982 and set the standard for a new wave/punk vibe. I love the song for its cheekiness. It can be taken on many levels such as the assumption that women will just fall over you because you are in uniform but for me, coming from a gay background, it can have that fetish vibe that gay culture embraces with men in all sorts of uniform be it from the armed services to police to leather uniforms of all kinds. This is a live version of the song so enjoy! Also, check out Gang of Four’s entire catalog because they are a very unique band who’s influence you will see in several bands that came after them.
That wraps up this alternative short trip into 1982. It was a phenomenal year of music and I look back on it so fondly where I started my own musical journey and developed my own taste in music of all kinds. Subscribe, share and follow and keep on shuffling your own music! Let me know your favorites from 1982 as well.