Saturday, October 24, 2009

It Never Felt So Good, It Never Felt So Right, But By God That Song is Awful

Noted music aficionado and hostess sans pareil EMM commented on a recent post about "Total Eclipse of the Heart" being one of the greatest 80s songs ever. She is right, if not in the way intended, in that it is one of the greatest bad 80s songs, if not the greatest. It would be bad enough if it did not already include the single most gratuitous use of sleighbells in all of recorded human history, but that latter "accomplishment" puts it out of reach of mere dreck.

It is serial over-producer Jim Steinman's Ishtar.

And hey, I admit it, I like a lot of (what others consider) crap. Behold:



Or:



Incidentally, one reason I can't get behind the Go-Gos' cover of "Cool Jerk" (sorry EMM) is HSR's definitive treatment, with or without visuals:



Speaking of Jim Steinman, I also performed "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" as part of Four on the Floor, an intentionally bad barbershop quartet in college that played one show (by our choice, mind you). Among other things I got to do the Phil Rizzuto play-calling. Good times.

6 comments:

J. said...

You had me at "Lawn Chairs," quite possibly the greatest '80s song.

EMM said...

Thanks Dave S. HSR also remind us that there is always room for Jello!

My recent foray back into the gym has been almost pleasant due to my most excellent ipod nano. I'm lulled into an hour on the treadmill with the most bitchin' 80's tunes.

Unknown said...

I think I still have the vinyl for Figure 15. How could you not love a song that has the lyric "I licked Betty Ford's boots, she wore them all over China"?

Dave S. said...

Reilly, don't forget the backup singers' "It's true!" in the middle of that lyric.

Also, according to this Figure 15 was CD-only; the original LP was Figure 14.

Echo said...

Lawn chairs are everywhere. The song actually has structure. They actually start-stop and change the rhythm sequence -- not a common practice nowadays.

J. said...

Btw, our lawn chairs, which are everywhere, are in desperate need of power washing. On a sadder note, my someone special just left on a business trip to Fargo, but I did have a tall drink with him the other night.

(O/T: How did people procrastinate before blogs and Facebook and YouTube and Twitter?)