#49 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown! Pet Shop Boys: Always On My Mind (1987)

Here it is, the first of the final 49...and so here at #49 of the Countdown is Always On My Mind by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It all started for Neil Tennant (lead vocals/keyboards/guitar) and Chris Lowe (keyboards) in 1981 in London, England. Pet Shop Boys are still active to this day and they have sold somewhere around 100 million records worldwide, and are listed as The Most Successful Duo in UK Music History by the Guinness Book of World Records. They are also 3 time BRIT Award winners and 6 time Grammy Nominees, and since 1986 they have produced 42 Top 30 Singles and 22 Top 10 Hits on the UK Singles Charts. Always On My Mind appeared on their 1987 release album titled Introspective which was their 4th studio album. It was their 2nd best selling album and sold around 4.5 million copies globally. Always On My Mind was actually a synth-pop cover version of an American country song originally performed by Brenda Lee. This cover version was performed by the Pet Shop Boys on a Television special commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the death of former King of Pop Elvis Presley. This covered version was so well received that they decided to record it and release it as a single which would end up becoming the UK's #1 Christmas Single that year, beating out Fairytale of New York by the Pogues and topping the charts for 4 weeks. A good song it is, and a good dance song at that, so I am happy to have it set at #49, it gets even better folks, so stay tuned! (click here for the full Top 100 Countdown)

Song of the Day for October 9th, 2010: "Wait Up (Boots of Danger)" by Tokyo Police Club

And the song is...Wait Up (Boots of Danger) by Canadian indie-rock band Tokyo Police Club.  Tokyo Police Club formed in 2005, comes out of Newmarket, Ontario in Canada, and consists of members Dave Monks (vocals and bass guitar), Graham Wright (keyboards), Josh Hook (guitar), and Greg Alsop (drums). Wait Up (Boots of Danger) comes off of their June 2010 release album, which is their second studio-album. Check out their wikipedia page for more info on the band and enjoy today's song of the day!

Song of the day for October 8th, 2010: "Don't Lock Your Elbows" by Crash the Curb

And the song of the day is...Don't Lock Your Elbows, by Australian punk-pop band Crash the Curb. Crash the Curb is a punk-duo that comes out of Canberra, ACT in Australia, and consists of members Grace on drums/vocals and Adam on guitar/lead vocals. They are soon to bring out their first EP, and I can only assume that this song among the others featured on their myspace page will appear and that debut EP. Also, be sure to note that a studio-recorded version of the song, and 2 others of theirs are still available as free MP3 downloads at this link. Enjoy!

Song of the Day for October 7th, 2010: "Donkey Kong Suicide" by the Melodics

And the song of the day is....Donkey Kong Suicide by Australian indie-electro-rock band The Melodics. The Melodics originate out of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia and consists of members Oceans Baroque on Keyboards/Vocals, Jeremedy on Vocals,  James Tudball on Drums, Jamie Barlow on Bass, and Tarko (aka Fantastic Mr Fox) on Saxophone and synthesizers. The Melodics released their debut album, titled 4d in 2009 and it involved collaboration with over 20 other artists in its making. If you would like to find more info on the band check out their website here or if you like this song it is available as a free mp3 download with more information on the band here. 

#50 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown! "Your Love" by The Outfield (1985)

Well well well, we are there already, half way folks, half-bloody-way! At #50 of the Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown we have....Your Love by British power-pop-rock band The Outfield.The Outfield originated out of London, England back in 1984, and they currently consist of members Tony Lewis, John Spinks, and Alan Jackman. The Outfield are one of the English rock bands from the 80's that never really gained much acclaim in their home country, but did achieve some moderate success in the US music market. Your Love was released on their first studio album titled Play Deep in 1985, and the song peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #7 on the US Mainstream Rock Chart. In fact, Your Love would later prove to become the band's signature song (or one-hit-wonder), and according to Wikipedia this song been covered or remixed over 1,000 times by other artists over the years. As for their 1985 album Play Deep, it would reach #9 on the US Album Chart that year. Well that is it for trivia, and now we are over the hill, we hath finally reached the final 49 songs of the Countdown, or should I add a track "0" or "0.5???"

Song of the Day for October 6th, 2010: "Soldier" by Elke (2010)

And the song of the day is....Soldier, by Australian 5-piece indie-electro-rock band Elke. This song is about Australian soldiers in present day Afghanistan conflict. Elke formed back in 2007 as a weekend recording band in the sunny city of Brisbane, Queensland (aka Bris-Vegas).  I don't have too much more information about the song or the band other than what I was able to find at this page (note that this song a and a few other Elke songs are available for free download here as well). Alas, youtube doesn't have this song posted quite yet, so if you wish to hear it go to the link in the previous sentence or check out some of their other songs and info at their myspace page here. The video was made by someone personally showing some imagery of war and some not so serious imagery as well, and occasional shots of the band.

Brief Movie Review for "Bigger Than Life" (1956)

4/5 Stars **** 

So I suppose that the moral of the story is "don't do drugs," or maybe "don't take more than you are prescribed by your physician." A bit of a crazy James Mason movie, but also very interesting and entertaining too. Its about a school-teacher who develops a rare vascular disease requiring that he take prescription cortisone which incidentally causes manic episodes in this particular case, in fact so extreme that at one point the school teacher decides he wants to kill his son and his wife and himself with a pair of scissors...exciting stuff. Probably would not watch again, but decent flick overall.

VJ Samsonite's Top 15 80's Songs for Your Halloween Party! : 80's Halloween Songs (must plays for your Halloween Party!)

Oi! We will get back down to the Top 100 Countdown shortly, but first I have had a few people as me about what music they might play at their upcoming Halloween Parties, and I have also been working on a lengthy play-list of mine own which consists of music from many decades and genres (not just 80's). But seeing that this is 'Your 80's Music Authority' I had felt it my duty to enlist a Top 15 80's Halloween Songs To Play at Your Party in list format. And so, Without any further ado.....






1.) "Thriller" by Michael Jackson (1983) (note: This one is a must! Its a true 80's Halloween staple-song, and if your Halloween party doesn't play it, then it ain't a Halloween party at all!)
2.) "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell (1984)
3.) "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo (1985)
4.) "Peek-A-Boo" by Siouxsie & the Banshees (1988)
5.) "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. (1984)
6.) "Dead Souls" by Joy Division (1980)
7.) "Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo (1985)
8.) "Lost in the Shadows" by Lou Gramm (1987)
9.) "Bad Ghostbusters" by Michael Jackson & Ray Parker Jr. (1987) (note: it seems arduous to locate a high quality version of this song?)
10.) "Sweet Dreams (Dance Remix or Original Mix)" by Eurythmics (1983)
11.) "I Got You" by Split Endz (1980)
12.) "Sex Dwarf" by Soft Cell (1981)
13.) "Living on a Video" by Trans X (1981)
14.) "Shout at the Devil" by Motley Crue (1983)
15.) "People are Strange" by Echo & The Bunnymen (1987)

Well that's a start anyways, I could keep going and going but I think I have given you all a good starter-list to warm up your Halloween Parties. Cheers everyone, I Hope this helps ring in All-Hallows Even 2010, and perhaps even some future ones too.

***I just want to note here that I will be posting a Top 20 (or so) 80's Christmas Songs in December, so stay tuned***

**This very same post and more 80's posts can be found at my other Vlog here**

Song of the Day for October 5th, 2010: "Somebody to Love Me" by Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.

And the song of the day is....Somebody to Love Me, by British guitarist and music producer Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. This song is interesting as it features Boy George on vocals, and also includes  Andrew Wyatt (from The Bird and the Bee). It is a slower song, not like the first two singles Bang, Bang, Bang or The Bike Song, and it harkens back to some of Ronson's soul sounds, as are found more in his previous albums. Somebody to Love Me comes off of his latest album release titled Record Collection, which is now out in stores, as it was officially released in full on September 27th, 2010. Record Collection has already peaked at #1 on the UK Album Download Chart, and at #2 on the UK Albums Chart, so its out there in a big way already, and this is actually the 3rd track off of that album I have featured on this vlog, so enjoy and be sure to check out the album in its entirety.

Song of the Day for October 4th, 2010: "All The Things We Did" by Radio Star

And the song of the day is...All The Things We Did by Australian indie-rock-pop group Radio Star. Radio Star originate out of Melbourne, Australia's Upper East Side and consists of members Zack, Will, Patty and Jake. All The Things We Did comes off of their first EP release of the same name, it was released on August 31st, 2010 and its available on Itunes as of now. Also, if you are interested in more info on this band you can check out their myspace page here. 

#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!

Song of the Day for October 2nd, 2010: "Pray" by Seven (ft. Michael Tomlinson)

And the song of the day is....Pray, by Australian hip-hop/electronic emcee Seven (ft. Michael Tomlinson). Seven is a young emcee based in the Gold Coast, in Queensland Australia, and he started out in the music biz as a member of the Brisbane-based hip hop group called Publik Relation, but has since gone solo as an Aussie hip-hop artists. He has released an EP, which is available in stores now, and which can also be found on Itunes. Pray, comes off of that self-titled EP, which was officially released on September 10th, 2010. There certainly are heaps of great Aussie hip-hop artists hitting the scenes these days, and I reckon they will be a force in the years to come. Also, if you like this song you will be happy to know it is still available as a free mp3 download at this link. In fact, you will have to go to that link to hear the song as it is not up on youtube as of yet, enjoy!

Brief Movie Review for "The Black Balloon" (2008)

**** 4/5 Stars

A Good Aussie film and definitely not your run of the mill formula flick. It relates to the challenges of autism and its really about families and how they manage through situations that aren't always easy. I would recommend this movie, its one that might just make you think critically a little bit, and god-forbid that ever happen! However, I wouldn't watch it again, more of a serious film and not really one for just entertainment. I still don't know what the title is about, did I miss the black balloon part?