Nerd Pride Radio

Phoebe wrote: ↑Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:35 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Sat Feb 20, 2021 6:35 pmThis slaps!

Did you get this from your kids? One of my kids, that's pretty much all she says.

Yes. That is the first time I have used that phrase, and it felt horribly awkward. I took it from my millennial child, who is 26.

I was originally going to say "She definitely bops", but then I remembered that I heard that this song uses the phrase to refer to masturbation. And it occurred to me that if that were true, then anyone who knew that would see my comment as a pervy joke, and not the compliment I intended. In all of my overthinking, I connected with the word "slaps" and decided to use it.

I thought you used it AS a reference to the masturbation...

Anyways, I'm going to #40 for this year, because we have to include such wonderful hits as...

Phoebe wrote: ↑Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:35 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Sat Feb 20, 2021 6:35 pmThis slaps!

Did you get this from your kids? One of my kids, that's pretty much all she says.

Same at my house. At least they’ve stopped saying “No cap.”

I liked Billy Idol, but in retrospect- he's just a phony, right? Like, his big hits were covers (Rebel Yell and Mony, Mony) and, even though this is written by him, it's completely different from his image.

I just think he's a manufactured product that's trying to be Iggy Pop. Am I wrong?

Also- I still love this song. Even if he's a phony.

I’ll always remember this song playing on the radio as my wife and I were driving, in the rain, on our way out of town to move to Colorado Springs from Indiana after we got married. We ended up in Everett, Washington, several days later instead. That was in 1992, not 1984, but still a good memory.

Hellz yeah!

#39 for 1984. One more after this, and then we'll move on to 1985.

Always liked it. Never loved it.

This is it for 1984...

Used to be my favorite song.

Starting on 1985!

1984 is winning, but 1985 starts out promising.

In the US it was listed under: Wham! featuring George Michael
Which is just confusing given the modern usage of "featuring" but then again this was well after the band Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. But for starting a solo career, pretty much a perfect credit.

10/10

<left foot in>
Wow, first three: wham, wham, thank you mam.
<left foot out>

We're gonna slow things down for this next one.

Not a good song, but I love it because of the middle school earnestness and importance for me.

When this first came out, the rap intro was my favorite part, and the rest was just ordinary.

Great song!

Also, one of the Top 20 Most 80's Videos of all time.

I'm obsessed with John Oates. I'm convinced he gets it, right? He realizes what's going on and he's having a blast on this ride. I think I might be falling in love with him.

Okay, I bought the John Oates memoir on audiobook (narrated by John Oates!). I think I'll start a thread to update my experience with it.

oOoOO! Alt goes mainstream... and thus, you know, wandered into my uncultured field of view.

Great song

Another one that's special for me. In summer 1985, 15-year-old me was in Civil Air Patrol and spent a week at an encampment at Fort Knox, Kentucky, doing survival training with a couple Air Force Pararescue PJs. It was a blast! I learned to rappel down cliffs, rock climbing, knife throwing, all sorts of stuff. It was a blast. And one kid at the encampment came from New Jersey or somewhere out east like that, and he brought a portable tape player, and this was the only tape he had with him, and he kept playing it over and over during our evening down times. Ah, memories...

The only thing I hated about that encampment was that I had a mosquito bite on my ankle that I scratched open that got infected. So the very last night of the encampment, for the going away party, I had a fever of about 102 degrees and was miserable the whole drive back to northeastern Indiana, then ended up on crutches for almost a week. But everything up until then was awesome fun for a 15 year old!

I must have watched that video 50 times. The homophobic slurs are jarring, but still a great song.

Agreed!

One of the few Madonna songs I genuinely liked. She just generally wasn't my thing.

This song was a school dance staple forever. It’s hard to separate that experience and emotions from objectively analyzing the song, which I suspect is mediocre. But I love it.

I think Madonna's Like A Virgin was the first album I bought with my own money.

This one, for me, is the quintessential 80s song, and one of the best videos ever.

Right? The effort, artistry, originality, and successful storytelling of the video kinda makes the music feel like the accompaniment of the visuals, even though it was created oppositely. An illusion created rarely, like in the best Fantasia scenes.

A bit confused how Billboard creates these lists, as We Are the World was the biggest selling single of 1985 and of all the 1980s. I guess radio play is given preference?

Incidentally, that lead singer still has an excellent live voice as of a few years ago.


Anyways, here's #11 for 1985:

I love the A-Ha video too and have so many questions. They're all jumbled up in the crumpled comic, okay, so when she smooths it out does that have the effect of getting the bad wrench man out of the frame? So then dude is laying there, he's stuck in the hall, which is her hallway, so then he wakes up and tries to break himself out? Why can't he just open up a little window like he did before? Or is he being beat up by those bad guys and all the bopping around is what breaks him through the walls? And then... the cyberpunk reader/player in my wanted to know, was he zeroed at that point? WHO IS HE EVEN? Will she stash him in her room, forever? At various points this seemed like a good plan to me - like you would just keep him, there, because obviously he would otherwise be treated as an illegal immigrant. How would you go about getting him a driver's license so he could race little motorcycles with sidecars again? And who the hell races motorcycles with side cars? So many questions.

The first real miss of 1985. Not that it's terrible, but it's just blah.

I'll attempt answering, with nothing to back up my thoughts...

They're all jumbled up in the crumpled comic, okay, so when she smooths it out does that have the effect of getting the bad wrench man out of the frame?
No, he took a beating and they left.

So then dude is laying there, he's stuck in the hall, which is her hallway, so then he wakes up and tries to break himself out?
Yup. WIkipedia says it's based on the film "Altered States" where the guy uses his mind and muscle to bang himself into reality.

Why can't he just open up a little window like he did before?
That's to bring people into/outof his world, not the other way around!!!

Or is he being beat up by those bad guys and all the bopping around is what breaks him through the walls?
No, they gave him a beating and left. Prove me wrong, world!

And then... the cyberpunk reader/player in my wanted to know, was he zeroed at that point?
He can never die, except off a cliff playing chicken, slipped off dead man's curve, or riding too fast as the leader of the pack.

WHO IS HE EVEN?
THE HERO

Will she stash him in her room, forever?
There's no keeping him caged.

How would you go about getting him a driver's license so he could race little motorcycles with sidecars again?
License? He don't need no stinkin license!

And who the hell races motorcycles with side cars?
Is this rhetorical?

LOL I AM DYING I AM DEAD YO UHAVE KILLT ME

That was great analysis, Pete. Thank you!

My day is better for it.

That analysis? BANGER!

Not sure the title of this one holds up...

Phoebe wrote: ↑Tue Feb 23, 2021 12:36 pm And who the hell races motorcycles with side cars?

Those with lions as friends, that's who.

Nope. Nostalgia does nothing to cover the corporate rock cheese factor of this one for me.

#14 for 1985:

I remember our local radio station aired a version of this song that changed the spoken-word interlude to make explicit reference to Omaha (where the station was located). It was weird.

An early favorite, maybe my first favorite pop song, and I still enjoy no matter the artifice and uncool factor.

Mike wrote: ↑Wed Feb 24, 2021 4:56 am I remember our local radio station aired a version of this song that changed the spoken-word interlude to make explicit reference to Omaha (where the station was located). It was weird.

Yep, our local station changed it to references to Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was weird hearing that on the radio.

Anyways, here's #15: