Back to the 80's once again, and I have been sprucing up my 80's music collection (especially the dance hits lately) and always finding new (to me) great 80's dance music. Looking to do some 80's DJ work here soon, but that put aside we are at #59 of the countdown, and the song is....Who's Johnny, by American R&B/pop music falsetto singer El Debarge. Now if this song doesn't have that classic 80's synth-pop sound then I don't know what does. Eldra Patrick "El" DeBarge came out of Grand Rapids, Michigan andwas the lead singer and focal point of the family group called Debarge throughout the early to mid 1980's. El Debarge is best known for Who's Johnny which appeared as track #1 on his self-titled album which was released in 1986 and would eventually reach Gold status. The record was released under Gordy Records, which was a sub-label of Motown Records, which also carried 80's African American artists Michael Jackson and Rockwell. Who's Johnny also appeared as a single on the classic 80's robot movie Short Circuit soundtrack, which was quite fitting seeing that the robot's name in the film was Johhny-5. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Hot R&B Singles chart that same year. The song brings back memories of being a kid and watching Short Circuit, who I reckon was way cooler than that new Wall-E character/film and clear Johnny-5 rip-off they came up with (although it was pretty good too).
Welcome back everybody! Here we are again, this time presenting #68 of the countdown! And the song is....I'll Kiss You, by that very unusual and no doubt one of the most memorable and classic high-octave singer's of the 1980's, miss Cyndi Lauper. This song can be found on Lauper's 1983 release and mega-hit album, "She's So Unusual," as track number 8. Cyndi Lauper herself was born in 1953 in New York City, and according to wikipedia she was the first female singer to have 4 top 5 singles released off of one album, although I can imagine that Madonna would have shortly become the second female singer to do the same, however I am not completely sure on that fact. Her wikipedia page also states that Lauper has released 11 albums and hailed over 40 singles, and that as of the year 2008 she had sold somewhere around 25 million records worldwide, a hard act to follow for most no bout adout it. This song features a great dance beat with Lauper's signature vocals, and I must say that listening to Lauper songs really do take me back to 80's memories as a little kid watching movies with my sister and especially the Goonies (probably because she had a feature song on the Goonies soundtrack). Now don't be surprised if more Lauper hits appear later on this countdown, and watch out for that love potion #8, its #9 that you want right???
Welcome back everybody! I am here today to present #77 of the Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown. You know, I keep coming across songs that I forgot about or that I haven't heard in awhile thinking that I should have made this countdown an even Top 200 or something, but I suppose I can just post my own professional recommendations following the countdown, and in the meantime lets just get on with it!! Ok, so number 77 is....Burning Up, by the Queen of Pop herself Madonna! Now like I mentioned in the (#80) MJ post Madonna, Prince, and MJ all turned 50 last year, making them all 51 this year of 2010. The Queen of Pop was born on August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan, and it was back in 1977 when she moved to the Big Apple to pursue a career in modern dance, which inevitably led her to the music business and the amazingly prolific success she has had there over the past 31 years or so. Madonna has sold over 250 millions records over the years and is considered the best-selling female artist of the 20th century (according to wikipedia). She has also graced the silver-screen winning both a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar in 1996 for her starring role as Eva Perón in the 1996 movie Evita. There could be entire books written about the controversies, implications, and details of Madonna's life, career, and impact on global culture; in fact as the Queen of Pop she has no doubt been one of the most influential female icons in the past 30 years. Go buy a book or look her up elsewhere if you want more than what I've said here. Burning up was the 3rd track on Madonna's first studio-released and self-titled album. It was a not a big hit relative to her various other hits, I mean seriously, can you find another highly prolific artist outside of Michael Jackson with the same consistent number of mega-hits as Madonna?? That is why she is the Queen of Pop. Madonna was released in March of 1983, and Burning Up was the second single released following Physical Attraction of that first album. Well, that's all I got for you here, like a said books probably have been written and she is still producing hit albums so no need to go into depth here. Enjoy the Queen of Pop!
