Pop Rock Nation

Author: Jenny

Icky songs from the 80s…

Just the other day, while riding in the car with my husband, I was reminded of just how many icky songs there are out there…

You’d think in this day and age, as Miley Cyrus twerks with Robin Thicke and shows us her tongue, people would have a rather high “ick” tolerance. And maybe they do. I can’t speak for everyone, especially as I’ve become middle-aged and decidedly uncool. Actually, I don’t think I was cool even when I was a young lass, but that’s beside the point. What I’m thinking about today is icky songs from the 80s. There were a lot of them back in the day.

I started thinking about icky songs while listening to my iPod. A song from 1983 started playing. It was Kenny Rogers, back when he was still more or less “flavor of the month” and he was singing a song called “Scarlet Fever”. You’d think this was a ditty about a devastating communicable disease, but actually it’s about an underaged exotic dancer named Scarlet. Kenny sings the part of a horny middle aged man who went to the club where she was performing. There he was, lusting after a woman who looked 25, but he was told that she was just 16. The lyrics suggest that the guy just watches and appreciates her dance moves, but I think we know what he did when he went home.

In 1983, this song was okay… but today, people would probably be scratching their heads and saying, “Eeeew.”

After listening to this happy go lucky song about a middle aged man lusting over a teenager, I started thinking of other icky songs. One that popped into my head was Nick Gilder’s 1979 hit, “Hot Child In The City”. This was a one hit wonder about a guy who notices a hot young thing, loose and alone on the streets. I loved this song when I was a little kid, but now it kind of makes me cringe a little. It still has a great rock beat, but it’s basically a song about a mysterious girl who makes grown men lust after her.

Keep your mind out of the gutter, you perverts!

Sheena Easton had a hit song in 1984 called “Sugar Walls”. I always thought this song was kind of nasty. It was written by Prince during his nasty years and supposedly refers to the walls of Sheena’s vagina.

This is a far cry from “Morning Train”, isn’t it?

Benny Mardones had a hit with his song, “Into The Night”, which originally hit the charts in 1980, but made a comeback in 1989. I don’t know why this song became popular again since, to me, it sounds very much like a hit from 1980. But people apparently loved it, despite the lyrics about a guy lusting after a sixteen year old.

It should be noted, Benny Mardones was 33 years old when this song originally charted. That doesn’t mean he was chasing teenagers, but still… eeew!

The Police had a famous song in 1981 about a teacher tempted by a teenager… It’s one of their best songs in my humble opinion. Granted, The Police aren’t the ones chasing the young girl, though Sting was a teacher at one time. Perhaps this song was inspired by those days he spent in the classroom. In 1986, it was remade into an equally creepy slower version. For awhile, I liked the 1986 version better, but then I wised up.

Lots of raw testosterone in this video…

The Police had another creepy but awesome song in their 1983 hit, “Every Breath You Take”. That song was presumably about a woman who was fully grown, but the subject of a man’s relentless obsession.

This song never gets old.

In contrast to The Police and their brand of raw maleness, we have George Michael’s cool, obsessive, and slightly creepy number from 1987, “Father Figure”. I always liked this song, even though it’s definitely kind of icky.

This video is high on estrogen… and rich with supermodels… George Michael was very much into sex in the 80s.

And finally, there’s Madonna’s “Open Your Heart”. On the surface, this song doesn’t seem that icky… It’s the video that kind of skeeves me out. A young boy watches as Madonna gyrates and spins tassels on her boobs. Then, at the end of the video, they seem to strike up a playful friendship.

Compared to “Sugar Walls”, maybe this is pretty tame… Still, I wonder how people would react if Madonna were an exotic male dancer and a young girl was in the role of the voyeur.

Despite the ickiness of some of these songs, I like all of them. I guess that makes me a pervert.

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June 24, 2014
Remembering Gerry Goffin…

The world lost a great lyricist yesterday. Today, I’m remembering Gerry Goffin.

Carole King is one of my favorite singer-songwriters. Since I was a small child, I’ve loved her very personal music which is often accompanied by meaningful lyrics. Because I’m such a Carole King fan, I follow her on Facebook. Yesterday, she posted that her ex husband, the father of her two daughters, and former song writing partner, Gerry Goffin, died of natural causes. He was 75 years old.

During his lifetime, Gerry Goffin wrote the lyrics for seven Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers and a total of 59 Top 40 hits. Though Goffin was best known for writing hits with Carole King, he also worked with some other big names in the music business, including: Russ Titleman, Barry Mann, Carole Bayer Sager, and Michael Masser. Goffin was also one of the first people to recognize Kelly Clarkson’s talent as a singer. He hired her to sing demos in 1995, years before she became famous for being the world’s first American Idol.

I don’t want to write too much about his personal life, because honestly, I don’t know much about his personal life. What I know about are his songs, which could serve as a wonderful soundtrack for people who came of age in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. In fact, I have an interesting anecdote related to Carole King and somewhat loosely to her first husband, Gerry Goffin.

Back in April 2010, my husband Bill and I were on our very first cruise on SeaDream I, a small luxury mega yacht. It was a five night cruise in the Caribbean and, though we are definitely not financially well off people, it was populated by some folks who have ties to show business. One night, they had karaoke. It was very poorly attended. I think maybe six people showed up, most of whom didn’t want to sing. Since I love singing, I was game. I sang “I Feel The Earth Move”, which is a song that was written by Carole King alone.

When I was finished singing, a lady approached me, along with a couple that she introduced as her parents. She complimented me on my voice and asked if I was in the music business. I said I was a housewife. We ended up hanging out for awhile and she told me that her husband works with Joan Jett. I later met her husband and was left with the impression that maybe he was in Joan Jett’s band. Her husband was wearing a USO baseball cap and told me he appreciated Bill’s service in the Army. Later, they had a brief conversation and the guy gave Bill his card. When we got home, I looked them up on the Internet and it turned out that the couple were Joan Jett’s managers and they were pretty much responsible for helping her to launch her career.

Ever since then, anytime I listen to a song by Carole King– and so many of her best songs were co-written by Gerry Goffin– I think of meeting my friend Meryl and her husband, Kenny. In fact, when I shared Carole King’s status update about Goffin, Meryl shared in the sadness with me.

One of my favorite songs penned by Gerry Goffin and Carole King is “Up On The Roof”. It was originally recorded by The Drifters. My favorite version is, of course, the one James Taylor recorded in 1979. I think it was the first song I ever heard by JT and it made me fall in love with his music. Who hasn’t fantasized about getting away from it all, even if it’s only for a little while, up on the roof?

Gerry Goffin’s lyrics are so relatable in this song about escaping it all and gazing at the stars with someone special.

Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote “Take Good Care of My Baby”, a song that was a hit for Bobby Vee and was later used in lots of commercials… especially for baby products.

Catchy, isn’t it?

He also helped write a huge hit for the late Whitney Houston…

Whitney Houston singing Goffin’s lyrics at the 1986 Grammys… I have always loved “Saving All My Love For You”.

And one for Glenn Medeiros, popular when I was in high school…

I confess, I didn’t know Gerry Goffin helped write this song until this morning…

Another one of my favorite songs by Gerry Goffin is another one he wrote with Carole King… It’s been covered by so many people, myself included.

Carole King sings “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, her breakthrough hit with her ex husband, Gerry Goffin…

The Shirrelles made “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” famous, but I love the way Carole King does it, especially when she’s backed up by James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. And I love the words, which captures the feelings of any young woman unsure of her paramour’s love for her. Obviously, the song resonated with a lot of people besides me.

Today happens to be my birthday and it hasn’t gotten off to the best start. It’s a little sad to be listening to these great songs by Gerry Goffin and knowing that there won’t be any more from him, now that his work on Earth is done.

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June 20, 2014
Remembering Casey Kasem…

I wasn’t surprised when I got the news on Father’s Day that he’d died. Today, I’m remembering Casey Kasem.

Like a lot of other folks who get the bulk of their news from the Internet, over the past few weeks I became aware of the drama surrounding the last days of Casey Kasem’s life. His children from his first marriage to Linda Myers were at odds with his second wife, Jean Kasem, over the legendary announcer’s medical care. I read a number of disturbing accounts of what was going on between the kids and the wife, but I hesitate to draw conclusions. So much of what has been written about how Casey Kasem was cared for during his final days seems very dramatic. Given that I don’t know any of the people involved and recognize how the press can distort things, all I can say is that Kasem’s last weeks on earth were probably a lot less peaceful than they needed to be.

Casey Kasem had lewy body dementia, a cruel disease that also affects my father. My dad is a year younger than Kasem is, though at this point, he still seems relatively coherent at times. Having seen lewy body disease and the dementia it causes up close, I can imagine that Kasem’s last days were very painful for his family. Lewy body dementia typically causes hallucinations and disorientation. In Kasem’s case, it also took his voice. My father has also lost much of his voice and that makes me realize how traumatizing it must have been for Kasem, to lose that one thing that he’d built his life around. My dad used to be a good singer but can barely speak now. It’s hard to imagine Casey Kasem without his famous voice; naturally, he stayed out of the public eye in his last days.

I remember Casey Kasem so well as the voice of Shaggy on Scooby Doo and the announcer on the American Top 40 radio show. On weekend afternoons, I’d be cleaning stalls at the barn where I boarded my horse. The radio would be playing and nine times out of ten, it was Casey Kasem’s show that was on, counting down the nation’s favorite pop songs. His voice had sort of an everyman quality to it. He sounded like a next door neighbor rather than some golden throated announcer. That quality made Casey Kasem easy to relate to; he just sounded like a nice, friendly guy who loved music and wanted to share it. He could be your friend, even if it was only over the airwaves.

Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 circa 1987.

Maybe today’s young people don’t have the memories of Casey Kasem’s show like I do. It’s been awhile since he was last on the air and radio is not the medium it once was, given the many entertainment choices we have available today. But besides hearing him on the radio, I remember seeing Kasem guest on a number of TV shows, including one memorable episode of Saved By The Bell, a show that was initially popular in the late 80s and eventually became even more popular in syndication.

Casey Kasem on Saved By The Bell, introducing “The Sprain”. Looks like he enjoyed that gig!

Of course, Kasem wasn’t without moments of drama. Since his death, a couple of clips on YouTube have sprung up, indicating that he had a tendency to curse sometimes.

There’s a lot of swearing on this video, but I have to admit I get a kick out of hearing Casey Kasem cuss.

Casey Kasem does Shaggy on Scooby Doo.

In addition to his lengthy radio career, cartoon voices, and television cameos, Casey Kasem’s voice also pitched a lot of products. He lent his famous voice to many different product endorsements, doing voiceovers for everything from the California Raisin Advisory Board to Chevron.

Casey Kasem does a voiceover for a Dairy Queen ad circa 1986.

I think of Casey Kasem as being sort of the voice of my generation. At 82, he lived a long and very productive life. He was famous for his long distance dedications and his familiar tag line, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars…” I hope wherever Casey Kasem is now, he’s among those stars and at peace.

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June 17, 2014