#51 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown! "Looks That Kill" (1983) by Mötley Crüe

Here's #51 of the Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown, and the song is....Looks That Kill, by American hard-rock band legends Mötley Crüe.  Mötley Crüe is a well known hard rock band, obviously, they arose out of Los Angeles California back in 1981 and are still actively touring and doing shows to this day (in fact the ticket prices were over AUD$450.00 each at their concert in Sydney a few years back if I remember correctly). The band was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were soon joined by lead guiarist Mick Mars and of course lead singer Vince Neil. To date, Mötley Crüe have sold over 80 million albums worldwide and over 25 million in the USA. These four have also done their best to live up to the "rockstar persona" having histories full of drug-abuse, alcoholism, jail-time, celebrity, image alterations, and celebrity relationship/sex scandals, as well as their fair share of tats. They have definitely lived up to their name over the years. Looks That Kill first appeared on their second studio-album release (back in 1983), and was later released as a single in 1984 where it spent 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, peaking at #54. The main guitar riff in this song is considered to be Mick Mars best work, and it has been ranked as #41 on Guitar World's best riffs/solos. Books could be and have been written about this band, but for now we are finished with trivia, so stay tuned find out what #50 will be, and then we can get started on the final 49 80's dance hits, bloody half-way 'innit!

#65 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown: "Planet of Women" (1985) by ZZ Top

Now presenting to you, #65 of the Top 100 80's Dance Hits is....Planet of Women, by none other than American blues-rock band ZZ Top.  ZZ Top consists of members Comprising of Billy Gibbons (vocals and guitar), Dusty Hill ( bass guitar, back up vocals, and keyboards), and Frank Beard (drums). ZZ Top originally formed in Houston, Texas back in 1969, and they were ranked #44 by VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. They certainly have had a few hit songs over the years, and are well known for their long elvin-looking beards and dark sunglasses. The band has been together for 41 years, but the 4th band-member Lawrence Payton, past-away back in 1997, however the remaining trio is still together. One interesting fact direct to you from wikipedia:  

"In 1984, the Gillette Company reportedly offered Gibbons and Hill $1 million each to shave their beards for a television commercial. They allegedly declined, saying "We're too ugly without 'em."

Planet of Women is one of my favorite ZZ Top songs of all time, and comes off of their 9th studio album titled Afterburner, released back in 1985. It is one of those songs that should have been on the Top Gun soundtrack, or for some reason really reminds me of some other songs off that soundtrack and thus would have been fitting. There may or may not be more Top songs on the countdown, stay tuned to find out...

#76 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!

Ahoy There! We are presenting #76 of the countdown on this hot summer day of our lord in North America! Now unless your Aussie you might not be familiar with this song or this band as they were a one hit Aussie rock wonder from 1987. And the song is...Run to Paradise, by Sydney hard-rock band The Choirboys.  Run to Paradise is a classic in the Aussie-rock repetoire and the band is considered to be an "Iconic Australian Heritage Band." It reached #3 on the Australian Singles Chart back in 1987 with its release. Never heard of them or this song you say?? Well, guess what chicken-butt, now you have!! The Choirboys were formed back in 1979 in the Northern Sydney beaches, which are arguably some of the best sandy-beaches in the world. The original band members are Mark Gable (Singer), Ian Hulme (Bass guitar), Lindsay Tebbutt (Drummer), and Brad Carr (lead guitar). According to wikipedia they are actually still a band, not all the original members of course, but they still perform Run to Paradise around the Aussie summer festivals from time to time and were last spotted performing it at  the Gold Coast SuperGP/Indy Carnival in October of 2009. Check em out and see what you think of this legendary Aussie song.