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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Infatueighties

  • Infatueighties: #81: “State of the Heart”

    I could have sworn there was a video for this, but I can’t find it on Youtube. Anyway.

    When folks think of Rick Springfield, 9 out of 10 think “Jessie’s Girl”. However, that was far from his only hit single, and good as it is, it’s certainly not his best. He scored a fairly lengthy string of Top 20 singles from 1981-1985, with “State of the Heart” serving as almost the end of the line (he scored one top 40 hit three years later with “Rock of Life”.

    A synth-pop ballad, “State” bears a resemblance to John Waite’s “Missing You” (itself a knockoff of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”). The fortunate thing, of course, being that “Every Breath You Take” was so good a song that even a second-generation knockoff is good stuff.

    While I don’t know how many vocal sweeteners there were in 1985, something tells me at least a portion of his vocal is computer enhanced. When he performed at Live Aid that summer, he dropped the song down a full octave so he could hit the notes. So while there wasn’t an Auto-Tune, his vocals were either run through an Emulator of some sort OR simply sped up (I’m voting for the latter). Trickery aside, it’s a great song with a hilariously unhinged synth/guitar solo.

    Since I couldn’t locate the actual video and I don’t care much for the Live Aid version, here is Rick lip-synching performing it on a hit Eighties’ TV show.

  • Infatueighties: #82: “Silent Morning”

    The cover of the 12" single for Noel's "SIlent Morning".
    The cover of the 12

    There’s an undercurrent of mortal fear that runs through “Silent Morning”, the 1987 Latin freestyle hit by Noel. The chorus of “silent morning…I wake up and you’re not by my side” is sung with a tangible sadness that rock critic Dave Marsh somewhat accurately connected with the AIDS scourge that was terrorizing the gay community in the mid-late Eighties. A little research reveals that the original title of the song was “Silent Mourning”, underscoring the shock many of the people who were dancing to the song at the height of its’ popularity felt as they saw many of their friends and lovers suddenly dying.

    Like many freestyle hits of the time period, “Silent Morning” isn’t particularly well-known to the general public. However, if you were living in Miami, L.A. or New York during the time period it was out, this song was ridiculously fucking huge. Noel Pagan’s two hits (“Morning” and “Like a Child”) are now fodder for “Oldies” nights at clubs and on radio stations, or freestyle reunion shows in which Noel shares the stage with contemporaries like The Cover Girls and TKA. However, next time you hear this song, keep in mind that some of the folks dancing to it may be doing so in celebration of lives that were lost much too soon.

  • Infatueighties: #83: “Love Shack”

    OK-time to get the party started.

    No matter who you are, no matter where you are. Pop “Love Shack” into the CD player or onto the iPod and even the paraplegics will start moving. This song screams out “good time” more than any song recorded during the decade. Ironically, “Love Shack” was the first anyone had heard from the B-52’s since the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson four years earlier. They did what anyone should do when faced with the loss of a loved one-continued the party in his memory.

    It was the first I’d heard or seen of the band, and you’ve gotta admit that the 52’s are a sight for the eyes and ears. This video is the epitome of controlled chaos (watch out for a RuPaul cameo in the video four years before anyone knew or cared who RuPaul was), and I will always have a spot for the B-52’s as long as Charles Nelson Reilly Fred Schneider is in the band.

    Having a bad day? Play this video.