The Story Behind "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc. and "Funky Town" by Pseudo Echo

 80s, Dance, Disco, Flashback Fridays, Music, Pop Culture, Pop Music, Retro, Rock, Synth-Pop, Video  4 Responses »
Jan 042013
 

Lipps Inc, con­sist­ing of writer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Steven Green­berg and lead vocalist/saxophonist/former Miss Black Min­nesota Cyn­thia John­son, released “Funky­town” on Feb­ru­ary 18, 1980. The sin­gle topped the U.S. Hot Bill­board 100 for four weeks and peaked at #2 on the U.K. Sin­gles Chart. The record also hit #1 on the U.S. Bill­board Dance Music/Club Play Sin­gles Chart and #2 on the U.S. Bill­board R&B Sin­gles Chart.

Sup­pos­edly, New York City is the “funky­town” referred to in the song, as Green­berg longed to move from Min­neapo­lis to the Big Apple, where every­thing was hap­pen­ing. He later went on to become A&R Vice Pres­i­dent for Mer­cury Records and signed Han­son. When he became head of S-Curve Records, he signed Joss Stone and the Baha Men.

Aus­tralian band Pse­duo Echo released a cover, reti­tled “Funky Town,” on Decem­ber 15, 1986. Their ver­sion reached #6 on the U.S. Bill­board Hot 100, #4 on the U.S. Bill­board Hot Dance/Club Play, #8 on the U.K. Sin­gles Chart, and topped the Aus­tralian Sin­gles Chart. The Pse­duo Echo ver­sion is rock-infused and removed most of the disco ele­ments of the orig­i­nal Lipps Inc. recording.

Lipps Inc Ver­sions
Funky­town [7″ Version/Single Ver­sion] 3’57
Funky­town [Album Version/12″ Ver­sion] 7’51

Pse­duo Echo Ver­sions
Funky Town [Sin­gle Version/LP Ver­sion] 3’40
Funky Town [Album Ver­sion] 4’53
Funky Town [Dance Mix] 6’36
Funky Town [Funky House Mix] 5’25
Funky Town [Funky Club Mix] 6’05
Funky Town [Funky Vocal Mix] 6’10

““Funky­town” by Lipps Inc.

““Funky Town [Dance Mix]” by Pseudo Echo

Music Video
Cyn­thia John­son per­forms “Funky­town” in a club with back­ing dancers/vocalists in a club for Lipps Inc.‘s music video for “Funkytown.”

The music video for Pse­duo Echo’s cover of “Funky Town” is a per­for­mance of the song in concert.

Mem­o­ries
When I was in the sixth grade, “Funky­town” by Lipps Inc. was all over the radio in Waco, Texas. It reminded me of the scenes in the movie Buck Rogers in the 25th Cen­tury where Gil Ger­ard gets down with Twiki on the dance floor. “Funky­town” and “Call Me” by Blondie were my favorite songs at the time, and I would demand my mother or older sis­ter turn them up. For some rea­son, though, I never bought the record.

I remem­ber being sur­prised when I heard Pseudo Echo’s “Funky Town.” It was dif­fer­ent, but I liked the mod­ern (at the time) sound of it. I recall think­ing how odd that I was old enough for a band to cover a song from my youth–just seven years prior.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Funky­town” by Lipps Inc.? Or “Funky Town” by Pse­duo Echo?

The Story Behind "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Music, Pop Music, Retro, Video  No Responses »
Dec 282012
 

Kool and the Gang released “Cel­e­bra­tion” on Octo­ber 11, 1980. It peaked at #7 on the U.K. Sin­gles Chart and was their only #1 on the U.S. Bill­board 100. It also topped the Bill­board Dance & R&B Charts.

Accord­ing to band mem­ber Robert “Kool” Bell, his brother, Ronald, came up with the idea of cel­e­brat­ing the moment, as they had just scored a hit album (Ladies Night), two top ten sin­gles (“Ladies Night” and “Too Hot”), and two Amer­i­can Music Awards.

“Cel­e­bra­tion” received a great deal of radio play 1980–1981. It’s a favorite at par­ties, wed­ding recep­tions, and sport­ing events. Kool and the Gang released a Span­ish ver­sion enti­tled “Cele­bre­mos” the fol­low­ing year.

The band is cur­rently work­ing with play­wright Ben Elton to cre­ate a stage musi­cal based on their music, like Abba’s Mamma Mia. The work­ing title is It’s a Cel­e­bra­tion.

Ver­sions
Cel­e­bra­tion [Sin­gle Version/Short Ver­sion] 3’39
Cel­e­bra­tion [Album Version/Long Ver­sion] 5’00
Cele­bre­mos [Span­ish Ver­sion] 5’28

Music Video
Like many music videos of the time, the “Cel­e­bra­tion” fea­tures Kool and the Gang per­form­ing the song on a stage. It nicely show­cases their energy and personalities.

Mem­o­ries
I vividly remem­ber hear­ing this song on the radio as my fam­ily and I drove back from din­ner at Bill Martin’s Fourth Edi­tion on New Year’s Eve 1980. We had just moved from Waco to Burleson two months before. Although it was a change for all of us, I seemed to be deal­ing with cul­ture shock.

It also reminds me of a time in sev­enth grade sci­ence class when I said some­thing unkind about some other stu­dents. Although no one else seemed trou­bled by my com­ment, I still cringe when­ever I recall that moment when­ever I hear this song.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Cel­e­bra­tion” by Kool and the Gang?

The Story Behind "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" by Bruce Springsteen

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Holidays, Music, Retro, Rock, Video  No Responses »
Dec 212012
 

Bruce Spring­steen released his sev­enth sin­gle from his Born in the U.S.A. album, “My Home­town,” on Novem­ber 21, 1985 and the song peaked at #6 on the U.S. Hot Bill­board 100.

The B-Side was a live record­ing of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” from a Decem­ber 1975 gig in Long Island, New York. The record­ing had orig­i­nally been included on an obscure children’s album, In Har­mony 2, released four years ear­lier. It was also released as a promo sin­gle in Decem­ber of 1981.

Springsteen’s cover has become a hol­i­day sta­ple on radio, and The Boss still per­forms the song in con­cert around the holidays–as well as in July and other times of the year.

Ver­sions
Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town 4’27

Music Video
There’s no music video for Bruce Springsteen’s cover “Santa Claus Is Com­ing to Town,” but I did fine a short clip of The Boss per­form­ing the song with the E Street Band on New Year’s Eve 1980 at the Nas­sau Col­i­seum in Union­dale, New York. Enjoy!

Mem­o­ries
I remem­ber 1985 being a huge year for Bruce Spring­steen. He’s released his Born in the U.S.A. album the year before and had charted six con­sec­u­tive sin­gles in the U.S. Bill­board Hot 100 Top Ten, includ­ing “Danc­ing in the Dark,” “Cover Me,” “Born in the U.S.A.,” “I’m on Fire,” “Glory Days,” and “I’m Goin’ Down.” I don’t remem­ber ever hear­ing “I’m Goin’ Down” or “My Home­town” on DFW radio, but “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” received a lot of air­play. I don’t nor­mally like live record­ings, yet I always enjoyed this one, prob­a­bly because it show­cases The Boss and the E Street Band’s energy and sense of humor.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” by Bruce Springsteen?

The Story Behind "The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Holidays, Music, Retro, Synth-Pop, Video  No Responses »
Dec 142012
 

Frankie Goes to Hol­ly­wood released “The Power of Love” on Novem­ber 19, 1984 and the song topped the U.K. Sin­gles Chart, yet was pushed out of the cov­eted Christ­mas Num­ber One spot by “Do They Know It’s Christ­mas?” by Band Aid. It was the third sin­gle from their Wel­come to the Plea­sure­dome album in the U.K., but the sec­ond sin­gle in the U.S.

In the U.K., “The Power of Love” is often asso­ci­ated with Christ­mas, due to the tim­ing of its release, the use of the Assump­tion of the Vir­gin by Tit­ian on the record sleeve, and nativity-inspired music video. They lyrics do ref­er­ence the birth of Christ or snowy, hol­i­day nos­tal­gia; instead, they campily ref­er­ence vam­pires and the Hooded Claw, the vil­lain voiced by Paul Lynde in the ani­mated tele­vi­sion series, The Per­ils of Pene­lope Pit­stop.

Lead singer, Holly John­son, is quoted as say­ing this about the song, “There is a bib­li­cal aspect to its spir­i­tu­al­ity and pas­sion; the fact that love is the only thing that matters.”

On “The Power of Love [Extended Ver­sion],” actor Chris Bar­rie par­o­dies DJ Mike Read’s ban­ning of “Relax.” The sin­gle also included “Holier Than Thou,” a Christ­mas mes­sage from Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Ver­sions
The Power of Love 5’27
The Power of Love [Extended Ver­sion] 9’28
The Power of Love [Extended Ver­sion, Too] 8’54

Music Video
The music video was directed by God­ley & Creme, mem­bers of 10CC. Since the sin­gle would be released near the hol­i­day sea­son, the sto­ry­line was inspired by the nativity.

Mem­o­ries
I had never heard “The Power of Love” before I bought Bang!… The Great­est Hits of Frankie Goes to Hol­ly­wood in 1994. Although I instantly took to “Relax” and “Two Tribes,” “The Power of Love” had to grow on me. I was quite sur­prised to find out it was con­sid­ered a Christ­mas song in the U.K., since they lyrics don’t directly ref­er­ence the birth of Christ or snowy, hol­i­day nostalgia.

What are your mem­o­ries of “The Power of Love” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood?

The Story Behind "Stop the Cavalry" by Jona Lewie

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Holidays, Music, Retro, Video  No Responses »
Dec 072012
 

Jona Lewie released “Stop the Cav­alry” in Decem­ber 1980. It peaked at #3 on the U.K. Sin­gles Chart.

The song was writ­ten as a protest song–not a Christ­mas tune–but the brass band, tubu­lar bell, and the lyric about wish­ing to be home for Christ­mas cemented “Stop the Cav­alry” as a hol­i­day song in the minds of U.K. residents.

Ver­sions
Stop the Cav­alry 2’55

Music Video
The music video for “Stop the Cav­alry” is set in win­ter trenches of World War I and a fire­lit par­lor where Lewie is reunited with Mary Bradley, the girl whose arms he longs to dance in as men­tioned in the lyrics.

Mem­o­ries
I had never heard of “Stop the Cav­alry” by Jona Lewie before I pur­chased a hol­i­day com­pi­la­tion CD enti­tled It’s Christ­mas Time in the import bar­gain bin of a Where­house Music. After a few plays, though, the music and the lyric “wish I was at home for Christ­mas” got stuck in my head and it’s been a favorite ever since.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Stop the Cav­alry” by Jona Lewie?

The Story Behind "The Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl

 80s, Alternative, Flashback Fridays, Holidays, Music, Pop Culture, Retro, Video  1 Response »
Nov 302012
 

The Pogues released “Fairy­tale of New York,” an Irish-inspired folk bal­lad, in Novem­ber 1987. It reached #1 on the Irish Sin­gle Charts and #2 on the U.K. Sin­gles Chart. The tune is con­sid­ered to be the best Christ­mas song ever by res­i­dents of Ire­land and the U.K., even though it’s not espe­cially sen­ti­men­tal. The title was inspired by J. P. Donleavy’s 1961 novel, A Fairy Tale of New York.

The song fea­tures British singer/songwriter Kirsty Mac­Coll, who was mar­ried to Steve Lil­ly­white, the pro­ducer for the Pogues’ If I Should Fall from Grace with God album. Lil­ly­white asked Mac­Coll to record a guide vocal on the demo of the song; how­ever, the Pogues liked MacColl’s per­for­mance so much, they invited her to sing on the final recording.

The song tells the story of an Irish imi­grant, Pogues’ lead singer Shane Mac­Gowan, who is thrown into the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) drunk tank on Christ­mas Eve to sleep off an alcohol-infused binge. Mac­Gowan hears an old man sing “The Rare Old Moun­tain Dew,” an Irish bal­lad, and rem­i­nisces about MacColl’s char­ac­ter, and the song morphs into a call and response between Mac­Gowan and Mac­Coll. A Sina­tra ref­er­ences makes it unclear whether the song is set in the ‘50s or early ‘80s.

Sup­pos­edly, the song evolved from a story about a sailor and a dis­tant ocean to the the tale of two lovers who are down on their luck at Christmas.

After being denied the #1 spot the week of Christ­mas by the Pet Shop Boy’s cover of Elvis Presley’s “Always on My Mind,” Mac­Gowan is rumored to have com­mented, “We were beaten by two queens and a drum machine.”

After MacColl’s death on Decem­ber 18, 2000, “Fairy­tale of New York” has been released in Ire­land and the U.K. every Christ­mas sea­son since 2005. Pro­ceeds have been donated to var­i­ous home­less char­i­ties and Jus­tice for Kirsty, a cam­paign to inves­ti­gate MacColl’s death in Mex­ico. Since songs can now chart with­out a phys­i­cal release, “Fairy­tale of New York” has man­aged to place in the Top 20 for the past seven years, result­ing in it being the 22nd longest run­ner of all time.

The song gen­er­ated some con­tro­versy in 2007 when BBC Radio 1 decided to edit out the words “slut” and “fag­got,” so as not to offend any­one. After receiv­ing crit­i­cism from MacColl’s mother and lis­ten­ers, the unedited ver­sion of “Fairy­tale of New York” returned to the airwaves.

Coin­ci­den­tally, Mac­Gowan was born on Christ­mas Day.

Ver­sions
The Fairy­tale of New York 4’35

Music Video
The music video fea­tures actor Matt Dil­lon as a police­man throw­ing Pogues’ lead singer, Shane Mac­Gowan, in the NYPD’s drunk tank, inter­cut with footage of the Pogues and Kirsty Mac­Coll per­form­ing the song in a stu­dio and Mac­Gowan and Mac­Coll walk­ing the streets of New York City.

Although the lyrics refer to the NYPD choir singing “Gal­way Bay,” the NYPD does not actu­ally have a choir. Instead, the NYPD Pipes and Drums unit is fea­tured in the music video. Since Pipes and Drum unit did not know “Gal­way Bay,” the footage of them is slowed down to dis­guise the fact they were play­ing a dif­fer­ent song.

Mem­o­ries
I can’t remem­ber exactly when I first heard “The Fairy­tale of New York,” but for the longest time I con­fused it with the Pogues’ and Kirsty MacColl’s “Miss Otis Regrets/Just One of Those Things” from the Red Hot + Blue com­pi­la­tion. I was quite sur­prised, how­ever, to learn it was con­sid­ered to be a Christ­mas song a few years after its release. Most hol­i­days songs are nos­tal­gic and recall details of hap­pier times, whereas the sub­ject and lyrics of “Fairy­tale of New York” con­tain about as much hol­i­day cheer as acid thrown in one’s face. Per­haps that’s why it res­onates with lis­ten­ers, because some­times life (and the hol­i­days) aren’t all mulled apple cider and a slice of pump­kin pie.

What are your mem­o­ries of “The Fairy­tale of New York” by the Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl?

Top Ten Signs of a Hipster Christmas

 Alternative, Humor, Parody, Pop Culture, Retro, Top Ten Thursdays, Urban Life  No Responses »
Nov 292012
 

You may have been won­der­ing about those new kids who have moved into the rental house next door.  What kind of peo­ple are they?  Vin­tage clothes, rid­ing scoot­ers, name-dropping … Could they be hip­sters?  Since we’re in the midst of the hol­i­day sea­son, here are ten signs of a hip­ster Xmas:

01. Tat­too of Blitzen the Rein­deer passed out amongst a moun­tain of empty Pabst Blue Rib­bon cans

02. Design an Xmas font for invi­ta­tions to pagan win­ter sol­stice party because it’s ironic

03. Vin­tage, light-up snow­man on front lawn is wear­ing shut­ter shades

04. Hemp Xmas wreath … imported from Sweden

05. Poster of Che Gue­vara wear­ing a Santa hat on front door

06. Decon­struct cas­settes and use the mag­netic tape as gar­land on Xmas tree

07. Sew white faux fur trim to retro red vel­vet bowl­ing shirt

08. Ride Ves­pas door-to-door to go caroling

09. Fruit­cake made with cof­fee and cigarettes

10. Every time they sing “Deck the Halls” they gig­gle as if it’s some pri­vate joke

11. Voodoo doll gin­ger­bread men

The Story Behind "Jingle Bell Rock" by Hall & Oates

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Holidays, Music, Pop Culture, Pop Music, Retro, Video  No Responses »
Nov 232012
 

Daryl Hall & John Oates were at the peak of their career when they released Rock & Soul Part 1.  The first pro­mo­tional sin­gle from their com­pi­la­tion of hits was “Say It Isn’t So,” which was kept off the #1 spot of the U.S. Bill­board Hot 100 by Paul McCart­ney &  Michael Jackson’s “Say Say Say,” oddly enough.  RCA decided to release a cover of Dar­ryl Hall & John Oates singing “Jin­gle Bell Rock” in time for Christ­mas 1983.  Both Hall & Oates recorded their own lead vocal, with Hall’s on the A-Side and Oates’ on the B-Side, although the music track is the same.  A humor­ous and cheesy music video was made, which received heavy rota­tion  on MTV.  The sin­gle was never released com­mer­cially and given away with Rock & Soul Part 1 as a pro­mo­tional item; how­ever, it is now avail­able for down­load on iTunes. In addi­tion, it was avail­able in both red and green vinyl. How cool is that?

Ver­sions
Jin­gle Bell Rock from Daryl 2’09
Jin­gle Bell Rock from John 2’09

Orig­i­nal Music Video

Lit­eral Video Version

Music Video
For some rea­son, Amer­i­cans have a fond­ness for Christ­mas songs from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Per­haps it’s the pro­duc­tion; I’m not sure. Regard­less, Hall & Oates cre­ated a fun, tongue-in-cheek music video. Their bad mem­bers played the fam­ily who show up to cel­e­brate Christ­mas with them. I always get a kick out of Santa Claus appear­ing out of nowhere like Bar­bra Eden on I Dream of Jean­nie. Good times! And for amus­ing twist, I embed­ded the Lit­eral Video Ver­sion of “Jin­gle Bell Rock.” Enjoy!

And if you like the fun, cheesy feel of Hall & Oates’ “Jin­gle Bell Rock,” you’ll prob­a­bly enjoy Mel Smith & Kim Wilde’s music video for “Rockin’ Around the Christ­mas Tree.”

Mem­o­ries
It seemed like Hall & Oates were con­stantly on the radio from 1981–1985, and a lot of the sin­gles and albums blur together in my mem­ory. I do recall my older sis­ter, Vicki, and I get­ting a kick out of see­ing the music video for “Jin­gle Bell Rock” on one of the many music video shows that were on T.V. (We lived too far out in the coun­try to order MTV, sadly.) Because Mom had played Wayne Newton’s Songs for Merry Christ­mas every hol­i­day sea­son from the time we were born, I sup­pose there was famil­iar­ity to the musi­cal pro­duc­tion and the styling of the music video. (Wayne New­ton is even dressed sim­i­larly to John Oates on the cover of the album.) Vicki and I espe­cially loved John Oates facial expres­sions in the video. It does a nice job of send­ing up the time period with­out being sar­cas­tic. The song received a lot of air­play on the radio, too. I’ve always liked “Jin­gle Bell Rock,” so I look for­ward to hear­ing this ver­sion every year. It always brings back fond memories.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Jin­gle Bell Rock” by Hall & Oates?

The Story Behind "Sowing the Seeds of Love" by Tears for Fears

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Music, Pop Music, Retro, Rock, Video  No Responses »
Nov 162012
 

Tears for Fears released “Sow­ing the Seeds of Love” on August 22, 1989, which was the first sin­gle from their The Seeds of Love album. The song peaked at #5 on the U.K. Sin­gles Chart and #2 on the U.S. Bill­board Hot 100.

Orig­i­nally start­ing out as a dark synth-pop duo with tribal per­cus­sion influ­ences on their first album, The Hurt­ing, Tears for Fears evolved into mod­ern pop/rock band by their sec­ond album, Songs from the Big Chair, and, finally, by their third album, The Seeds of Love, the band had devel­oped a more pro­gres­sive rock sound.

“Sow­ing the Seeds of Love” is rem­i­nis­cent of the Bea­t­les. The idea for the song came to Roland Orz­a­bal after Mar­garet Thatcher won her third term in office in 1987, which inspired him to take an inter­est in pol­i­tics. The title of the song was inspired by an Eng­lish folk song.

Ver­sions
Sow­ing the Seeds of Love [7″ Ver­sion] 5’43Sowing the Seeds of Love [U.S. Radio Edit] 3’30
Sow­ing the Seeds of Love [U.S. Radio Ver­sion] 4’00
Sow­ing the Seeds of Love [Full Version/Album Ver­sion] 6’50


Tears for Fears Sow­ing the Seeds of Love by Celtiemama

Music Video

Jim Blash­field directed the music video for “Sow­ing the Seeds of Love.” It fea­tures live action and stop motion ani­ma­tion. It won Best Break­through Video and Best Spe­cial Effects at the MTV Music Video Awards.

Mem­o­ries
I had just moved into an apart­ment with my friend Chris when “Sow­ing the Seeds of Love” was released in the autumn of 1989. We were both stu­dents at the Uni­ver­sity of Texas at Arling­ton and had met while work­ing at Tar­get on South Hulen Street in Fort Worth. I can’t remem­ber if I heard the song on the radio first, or saw the music video on MTV. I do recall that Chris bought the CD sin­gle, which U.S. record com­pa­nies were intro­duc­ing, about the same time I bought the CD sin­gles for “Per­sonal Jesus” by Depeche Mode and “Love Shack/Channel Z by the B-52’s. Chris played the song inces­santly. For­tu­nately, he received head­phones for Christ­mas, and I was spared from grow­ing to hate the song from over­ex­po­sure. In Feb­ru­ary of 1990, Chris and I saw Tears for Fears in con­cert in Dal­las. Deb­o­rah Harry opened for them. (I was thrilled.) Some­one in the audi­ence brought a beach ball and bat­ted it up on stage while Tears for Fears was per­form­ing. Since he some­times came across as dark and moody, I expected he would get upset, but he actu­ally seemed some­what amused.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Sow­ing the Seeds of Love” by Tears for Fears?

The Story Behind "Goody Two Shoes" by Adam Ant

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Music, New Wave, Pop Music, Retro, Video  No Responses »
Nov 092012
 

Adam Ant released “Goody Two Shoes” on May 7, 1982.  His debut solo sin­gle topped the U.K. Sin­gles Chart and peaked at #12 on the U.S. Bill­board Hot 1oo.  It was his biggest hit in the U.S., thanks to heavy rota­tion of the music video on MTV.

Although Ant had an over-the-top stage pres­ence, the man behind the per­sona was very pri­vate.  He had over­come his drug addic­tion in the 70s and no longer drank alco­hol or smoked cig­a­rettes, which led to the tabloids hound­ing him about his per­sonal life.  Could a pop star really be such a goody two shoes?  Another inspi­ra­tion for the song, sup­pos­edly, came from a per­for­mance by Kevin Row­land, lead singer of Dexys Mid­night Runners.

Ver­sions
Goody Two Shoes 3’15
Goody Two Shoes [Album Ver­sion] 3’27

Orig­i­nal Music Video

Alter­nate Music Video

Music Video
There are two music videos for “Goody Two Shoes.”  The first fol­lows a day in the life of Adam Ant, as he is hounded by the press, even­tu­ally end­ing up with a pretty female reporter played by actress Car­o­line Munro (The Golden Voy­age of Sin­bad, At the Earth’s Core, The Spy Who Loved Me, Maniac, etc.).  The sec­ond video fea­tures Ant per­form­ing in a cramped room with mov­ing fur­ni­ture, then reclined over a room where soap suds fill the floor behind him.

Mem­o­ries
I’ve always had a fond­ness for Adam Ant.  Per­haps it was his flam­boy­ant style or the tribal per­cus­sion dri­ving most of his hits.  Regard­less, I can remem­ber stand­ing in front of the tele­vi­sion, unmov­ing, as I watched the music video for “Goody Two Shoes.”  It was fea­tured on one of many music video shows that were pop­u­lar on reg­u­lar tele­vi­sion after the launch of MTV.  A decade later, I picked up a copy of his Hits video com­pi­la­tion on VHS at Half Price Books in Hurst, TX.  When I returned to my apart­ment, I played it for my friends.  Even though the videos seemed some­what dated–many of them were shot with video, not film–my friends, who were some­what younger than I was, remarked at how there was some­thing inex­plic­a­ble about Adam Ant.  It was a sex­i­ness that went beyond sen­su­al­ity and phys­i­cal attrac­tive­ness; it had more to do with stage pres­ence and his tongue-in-cheek playfulness.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Goody Two Shoes” by Adam Ant? 

Page 3 of 1212345...10...Last »