The wall awaits...
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UPDATE: Please note there are TWO prizes. One for people who want to be a DJ and one for people who want to win the four bottles of gin and vodka.
Ever dream of being a DJ… and playing Duran Duran… on the Great Wall… while sipping Tasmanian vodka?
Then this contest is for you.
I am teaming up with TUN, Acupuncture Records, and Strait to give one reader the chance to spin 80 minutes of 80s music while his or her friends enjoy a “party zone” stocked with booze.
Intimidated by DJ equipment? Not sure how all that mixing and stuff is done?
No problem: Ahead of your November 22 set, Acupuncture will give you a DJ crash course and prepare you for your big night atop the “Great Wall” booth at TUN.
Want your friends to see your show?
No problem: TUN will provide a lounge area for 12 people, and Strait will stock it with four bottles – vodka, dry gin, pepperberry vodka, and a Strait Twenty blended gin.
To enter the draw, leave a comment and list three eighties songs you like and why.
If being a DJ is not your thing, you can still enter the draw for the second prize – four bottles of Strait Twenty blended gins and vodka. Simply add “Strait Up” – yeah, that’s a Paula Abdul reference – at the bottom of your comment.
The nitty-gritty:
- The deadline for entries is Friday, November 7, 5:30 PM. I’ll find a respected member of the community to pull one name and will announce the winner on Monday, November 10.
- The winner needs to be available to DJ on November 22, from 11PM and for a DJ lesson that same week, and willing to create a set of danceable music: no eighty-minute mixes of Mr. Roboto, please.
- We bear no responsibility for participants who list Martika’s “Toy Soldiers“, Starship’s “We Built This City“, or Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” and spontaneously combust (this assumes God answers my prayer).
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- The wall awaits…
1. You Gotta Fight (For Your Right to Party), by The Beastie Boys
Theme song for me and the crew during a long hot summer I spent flipping pizzas at a beach resort.
2. Two of Hearts, by Stacy Q
Because of inspiring lyrics like, “I-I-I-I-I, I need, I need you, I-I-I-I-I, I need, I need you” One of those so-bad-it-is-kind-of-good songs.
3. I’m An Adult Now, by The Pursuit of Happiness
Gotta have some Canadian contest(Moe Berg, where are you now?).
Honorable mentions: Because I love the lyrics: One Night in Bangkok by Murray Head; because I love the movies: Don’t You (Forget about Me) by Simple Minds (The Breakfast Club) and Somebody’s Baby by Jackson Browne (Fast Times at Ridgemont High).
1. Rock Me Amadeus, by Falco
How cool to have a pop song about Mozart. And I love the stuttering versus. So cutting edge.
2. Whip It, by Devo
The hats. The hats kick ass.
3. You Spin Round (Like A Record) by Dead or Alive
Awesome 80s synth and ridiculous run-on sentences. “Right round baby right round like a record baby right round round round”
Honorable mentions: Down Under, by Men at Work. Africa, by Toto. and I’ll copy yours: One Night in Bangkok. All about foreign places!
And not fair taking Stacy Q…that was the first tape I bought in 3rd grade! Though I prefer We Connect, cause when we’re together, it’s so Per-fect
1. Blister in the Sun, Violent Femmes
Because even people who don’t/can’t dance try to dance to this one (as well as sing along – When I’m out walking I strut my stuff, Yeah and I’m so strung out
I’m high as a kite and I just might, Stop to check you out). Loved it, the cool jock dudes singing at the top of their lungs not realizing this song is about masturbation.
2. Photograph, Def Leppard
Gotta include something from the era of arena rock, great licks, a one armed drummer, lyrics to belt out, a good beat, and a pretty darn good air guitar song.
3. Summer of ’69, Brian Adams
I “played it till my fingers bled”, well at least until my speakers blew. This is my Canadian content.
Honorable Mentions: Because I was in high school and we all had a love/hate relationship with slow dancing
Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse of the Heart, REO Speedwagon, I can’t fight this feeling, and Wham, Careless Whisper (laughing now)
Plus if I had to pick a one artist set it would be
U2/I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Where the Streets Have No Name and With or Without You
Oh crap, I can think of so many great songs, can I enter more than once?
With artists like Hall & Oates, Don Henley, Kenny Loggins, Blondie, Journey, Duran Duran, Madonna, Huey Lewis, Bowie, Flock of Seagulls, Joan Jet, A-Ha, etc…narrowing this list down to just 3 songs from the 80′s is next to impossible, but here goes nothin’!
A few of my personal favorites:
1. Too Shy, by Kajagoogoo
There’s just something indescribably sexy about this song. Hey girl, move a little closer…” It gets me every time.
2. Billie Jean, by Michael Jackson
While Michael may have lost some of his credibility in recent years, he is an undeniable icon of the 80′s…with some incredible hits. How can you not want to dance to Billie Jean?
3. Everybody Wants to Rule The World, by Tears for Fears
This song just reminds me of growing up…and how we all thought, we knew everything…and would someday rule the world. “Welcome to your life…there’s no turning back…”
Best of luck to everyone! See you guys on the 22nd…with leg warmers on!
1. Heaven is a Place on Earth, Belinda Carlisle – my favourite karaoke song, and because heaven really is a place on earth.
2. Glory of Love, theme song from Karate Kid – Ralph Macchio was HOT when I was 9.
3. I Think We’re Alone Now, Tiffany. because I know Beijing Boyce LOVES Tiffany! :)
violent femmes – “add it up”…….drinking tinkle pink in the southern California orange groves. Hoping to score, and dancing in the bed of my lowered nissan king kab…….
the cure “love cats”…….trying to meet a goth girl at an underage dance club, but, i wasn’t cool enough. Please note: I was 16 in 1984
Singing “I wanna rock” by Twisted Sister, in my buddies 67 ‘stang…with Moses, Sean , and Rod circa 1982
@ Jenn,
You do know that Bruce Kimball, ex-lead singer of Toto, is coming to the Hard Rock Cafe, right?
@ Danger Boy,
Yeah, it is hard to pick just three. Go for another triple set.
@ Shannon,
Tears for Fears, eh? Big fan of “Sowing the Seeds of Love.”
@ p3wong,
What, no Martika?
@ Chad,
Twisted Sister leads to Quiet Riot and then it’s just a slippery slope to debauchery from there.
Cheers, Boyce
I’m going old school rock on this one to just get the party started:
Quiet Riot: Come on feel the noise
followed by
Motley Crue: Girls Girls Girls
and closing it with
Guns n Roses: Paradise City
3 songs split evenly between the beginning, mid and late eighties. Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse.
it’s tough not including Bon jovi in that one but Motley’s got the glam and the hair covered.
I mean, I am way too young to be rocking to the 80′s tunes at that time, but here are my three favourites that represent three different times in my life:
1. Another Brick in the Wall – Pink Floyd Because we’ll be spinning on the Great Wall! And ’cause it was kinda popular to be a rebbel in High School.
2. The winner takes it all – ABBA I can’t believe noone thought of ABBA before?! The winner will take it (almost) all.
3. Chariots of Fire – Vangelis You’ve gotta love the running!
CU on 22nd.
Just a correction: Chariots of Fire go first, to get the groove going, followed by Pink Floyd and than getting people on the dance floor with ABBA… Yeah, that should do it.
Cheers
@ BD,
Yep, Motley Crue made my short list, too, as did Ratt’s “Round and Round.” Mainly because I get the latter song stuck in my head at least once a month.
Cheers, Boyce
These are 80s songs I particularly enjoy. These are not necessarily songs that would be a appropriate to DJ with.
1. Rock The Night – Europe. This song captures the essence of 80s rock for me. “Rock Girl, Rock The Night…”
2. Disco Boy – Frank Zappa. Zappa is one of my all-time favorite artists. Disco boy is catchy, funny, and has that zappa touch.
3. E2-E4 (Can’t pick a specific song) – Manuel Göttsching. This album was really the birth of electroncia and house music as a genre. It’s still a great album, and once you’ve listened to it you hear it throughout the genre.
OK, another three…
1. Big Bottoms, by Spinal Tap
Among the few songs that reference “mud flaps”…
2. 867-5309 / Jenny, by Tommy Tutone
I struggled to remember a single number in math class, but somehow these ones always stick in my mind, thus suggesting teachers should put all lesson plans in the form of songs.
3. Two Princes, by The Spin Doctors
Danced to this one years ago at a party at a women’s university in Korea. Good times…
Cheers, Boyce
In honor of Halloween:
The Cramps “Goo Goo Muck”
Swamp rock with deviant characteristics. When the sun goes down and the moon comes up…
The Birthday Party “Release the Bats”
Is there song more goth than this?
T.S.O.L. “Code Blue”
Trust me, it works.
Have a great night, everyone!
I’m going to have to start out with Back In Black the Album by AC/DC. The album was released a year before I was born but I was sneaking off to Concerts with my friends family @ just 6 yrs old.
Heart — Barracuda.. THat guitar lick is so damn sticky and they way she lays her vocals down on this one you just have to love it!
Last but never least..
Beastie Boys — Brass Monkey… I remember The bass on this song thumping inside my core as I went off roading with My uncle steve in his 71 Topless Blazer!
I know 3.. but I gotta mention one more song even i I don’t get entered twice for it..
Run DMC and Aerosmith teaming up on Walk This Way!
these guys opened doors for everyone to start combining everything and anything. Still the best rock rap song out there by far!!!
There can be only three:
1. “Beat It” by Michael Jackson. It launched the “Thriller” album, and Eddie Van Halen’s presence on the track made it ok for rock radio stations to play it.
2. “Like A Virgin” by Madonna. Madge may look like a guy now, and no one believes she was ever a virgin, but in the early 80s, she passed as a female sex symbol. At least before Simon LeBon and Nick Rhodes came along.
3. “The Miami Vice Theme” by Jan Hammer. No single television show set the style for the decade like Miami Vice. Put on your sleeveless pastel t-shirt, roll up your suit jacket sleeves and crank this one. It sounds like a cigarette boat hauling 100 keys of primo Colombian bam-bam up the Florida coast.
Wow…………someone pulled out a True Sounds of Liberty Reference ………amazing. In true spirit of that…I will choose 3 more songs featuring 80s So Cal Bands……..
Oingo Boingo………Only A Lad…Irvine Meadows and the Halloween Show every year. Plus Elfman =Simpsons Theme
T.S.O.L……….Change Today…….any track of this album rocked many a night at the Newport beach Jack in the Box
Janes Addiction….Caught Stealing….oh hollywood nights, and im still alive to tell the tale
@ Mazolinc,
I’ve never heard seen Chariots of Fire described as a song to “get the groove going.” EVER!
@ Arthoof,
A list of Halloween songs without Ghostbusters? For shame!(Kidding).
I would add the scarily titled “Eyes Without a Face” (Billy Idol)
@ Will,
Bonus points for using an umlaut!
Cheers, Boyce
@ Michael,
There is only one AC/DC song if you are a DJ in Beijing:
Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)
It’s a tribute to the ayis…
Cheers, Boyce
Nice work, sinoscuba,
See, I thought for sure you would pick something from Van Halen’s Diver Down or even “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid soundtrack.
Re Madonna, maybe it’s time for a remake: “Like a Virgil.”
Cheers, Boyce
Falco: Rock Me Amadeus
Nena: 99 Luftballons
Cars: You Might Think
1. Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel
Why? Because my childhood was shaped by 80s movies. The reason I’m still single I believe is only because I’m waiting for my John Cusack-esque romantic to stand under my window holding a circa 1983 boombox above his head. Now, that Ladies and Gentlemen, is love!
2. Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler
When I was in middle school I was part of this group called “Celebrate” that would sing and dance about positive self-image and saying no to drugs and sex–yes, very cheesy stuff. One of our most “intense” skits was to this song. The story goes like this: Two best friends come out and demonstrate their dear friendship. Then came about six other students dressed in baggy sweatshirts with the name of a “terrible” drug on it (LSD, Alcohol, Cigarettes, etc–you know, the hard stuff). It was always a huge deal about getting to play “LSD”. Anyway, one of the friends would starting hugging on the “drugs” and the other friend would try to stop her–to no avail. Then the druggie girl would get caught in the middle of a circle of dancing drugs and can’t get out while her best friend tries to help. Finally, she breaks free of the drug circle and the two best friends are reunited and the drugs slink off stage–defeated. It was very moving in a “Napoleon Dynamite” kind of way. Unfortunately, the girl who usually played the friend caught in the drug circle, actually got expelled from school a few years later for drug use. So, “Just Say NO!” didn’t work…
3. Thriller, Michael Jackson
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this as one of my top three favorite songs not only of the 80s but of all times!! Without a doubt it is the best music video EVER!! And I had the pleasure this Halloween of producing a show featuring a zombie attack and Thriller dance number. It was a dream come true–all I need now is John Cusack with a boombox!
Blake,
But why!? You forgot to tell us why!
(You’re Austrian and you’re playing head games with us, aren’t you – the Falco gave it away.)
Cheers, Boyce
Grace,
That boom-box move is very song-specific. For example, I don’t think it’d work with Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry.” But, the bigger issue is: Would you react as Diane Court did in the movie (which was to ignore Lloyd Dobler)?
BTW, I have no idea what to say to your “dance of drugs” story. Well, except for one question – those shirts with “LSD”, “alcohol” and other words on them. Were they made from hemp?
Cheers, Boyce
Bottles only!! I’m too shy to actually take a stage and spin…
This is a dance party, ya’ll, so while the options are limitless, the choices are pretty straightforward if you want asses on the floor:
1. “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record, Baby)” by Dead or Alive. The quintessential 80′s dance song, that you can party to until you… er… get dizzy.
2. “It Takes Two” by Rob Base & DJ E-Z. Perhaps the most sampled song of all time, its instantly recognizable and imminently danceable. Considered by many (including Spin magazine and VH-1) to be one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time, this one will get the crowd going.
3. “Billie Jean,” by Michael Jackson. Yeah… I know its Michael Jackson, but if you lived in the 80s you KNOW you danced to this song, time and time again, whether it was in your house, at a club or bar, or at school. Its arguably the greatest dance song of all time, and was THE biggest hit of the 1980s.
BONUS SONG: If I were on stage, I would try to sneak in a bonus 4 spin… being Beijing, you’d be remiss to not play “China Girl” by Bowie at an 80′s party.
“500 miles” by The Proclaimers
cos it makes everyone drink like they’re Scottish
“Kids in America” by Kim Wilde
Cos it’s the kids coming out to vote that won it for Obama
“Dub Be Good to Me” by Beats International
cos of it’s bassline nicked from The Clash
There are a couple of things that symbolize the feeling of 80s music for me… I’m prefacing what I’m about to say with a quick disclaimer: I say the following with fondness and nostalgia.
1) One-hit-wonderism. Singles thrived. Pop songs that should have inspired a collective “WTF?” instead rocketed bands to fame. Besides remixes and remakes of those singles, we’ve never heard from said bands again.
My Choice: Come on Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
I love this song. But, why? Tu-ra tu-ra ta-lu-ra-aye? What is that? Gaelic? Can I relate to this song?
Runner up: One Night in Bangkok – from the musical ‘Chess,’ spoken, not sung, by Murray Head.
Can you name another song from this musical? How did this become a pop song? How is it that it’s still danced to on 80s night?
2) Being different for the sake of being different. Ex. using synthesized music because it’s new, trying to make your personal desires for stuff or sex sound like deeper issues than they are.
My Choice: Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics
They did such a good job of making this song sound deeply meaningful that I’m still not certain if it is. And, is anything not synth? Awesome.
Runner up: Don’t You Want Me by Human League
I love how selfish this song is. Again, wonderfully synthy.
3) Rebellion without a cause, much more so than in previous generations (though they’ve since been outdone). We felt rebellious while listening to the song, but either we had no idea what we were rebelling against, or we were rebelling against nothing worth rebelling against.
My Choice: London Calling by The Clash
So frequently used to represent rebellion. But.. against what? Did you actually know this was inspired by the meltdown and three mile island?
Runner Up: We’re not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister
Not gonna take what? Being forced to attend high school? Curfew? Bed time? Not being able to smear womens’ makeup all over our faces? Seriously.
So, like everyone else, I hate having to only choose three, which I’ve extended to six, but there’s a ton of others I’d like to throw out there, but I’m long-winded enough and I’ll spare you.
Can I have some free booze now?
Tainted Love- Soft Cell, but it has to be the extended remix.
Rock the Casbah- the Clash
New Dress- Depeche Mode,
@ Charlie,
I would have picked Dead or Alive in the eighties, but I I’ve heard that song WAY too many times since then. Will always associate it with summer camp.
Kids in America… a classic. Great early video!
Cheers, Boyce
@ Kenn,
Agree. Would anyone have predicted in the eighties that people would still dance to One Night in Bangkok in the twenty-first century?
I think it came down to Murray Head and Jon & Vangelis’ Friends of Mr Cairo, and there was only room for one…
Cheers, Boyce
Just drinks for me please this ‘DJ’ malarkey sounds a bit scary.
Radio Ga-Ga by Queen.
An incredible showcase of Mercury’s talents. A precursor to House and Electro music. God, if anywhere near as much thought was put into pop music nowadays blah, blah, blah… Epic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEI4U5KyAS0
Blue Monday by New Order.
The turning point in the pop/dance crossover. At the pinnacle of the Acid House ‘Hacienda/Madchester’ days, this put the scene and ‘Factory Records’ on the map. A pivotal record for any lover of modern electronic music. The highest selling 12 inch single of all time. A CLASSIC!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts9r0QHuFHw
This Charming Man by The Smiths.
Morrissey was probably the best underground social commentator of his day, and the melody of this tune is both whimsical and up-lifting at the same time. Biggle. My dad also used to play this record continuously throughout my formative years. Mind you, he also used to play ‘The Boomtown Rats’ and Elton John…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGnjrTkv1gs
1. Take on Me – a-ha
2. Love Shack – B52′s
3. Bruce Springsteen – Born In The USA
If you don’t like these song’s you are insane in the mind!
P.S I Would LOVE to do the whole DJ thing.
1. Billie Jean
Great song and tribute to Michael Jackson – my first pop idol growing up in Calcutta
2. Footloose
It was the theme song of our school band – will always be in my memory
3. Wake me up before you go go
80′s is not complete without Wham…
I’m down for the DJing:
Prince – When Doves Cry
Robert Palmer – Simply Irresistible
Kim Wilde – Kids in America
@ Boyce
Sure, but do you have BAD memories of summer camp?! ;)
i know it’s late but…
1. Jam – GOing Underground
Paul Weller, coolest thing in the 80s and still cool
2. Blondie – Call me
Original rock chick
3. Duran Duran – Rio
those sounds and those bright suits – the epitome of the 80s
ohmickeyyouresofineyouresofineyourockmymind
hey mickey
hey mickey