The fact that Joe's Gen Z/Alpha kids actually LIKE EWtRtW says it all: that song isn't nearly as 80s-sounding as Tainted Love. (Joe - I'm loving that addition to the episodes. In my head, I envision your kids listening to these songs in their entireties and thinking "WTF?" or some alternate PG-version of WTF. It makes me smile every time.) I like EWtRtW better than Tainted Love, but my vote goes to Tainted Love. All that crazy synth; all that cocaine; the bizarre video(s), which I'm now going to watch; . . . . And I'm blown away that Tainted Love was actually a cover. I had absolutely no idea.
Also:
- Fuck relish in deviled eggs. That also gets my vote.
- How about that Keith finally saw The Goonies?! After watching that, we also watched Cyndi Lauper's The Goonies R Good Enough videos. Yes, there are 2 videos --Part 1 and Part 2-- which I never knew. I had never seen Part 2. They're not great. (Keith also watched the movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun. He didn't love it. He might have hated it.)
- Finally, please post pics of your glorious '80s hair (both of you). You teased us by talking about it during this episode. I think it's only fair that all the fans actually get to see it.
I definitely did not HATE “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (The Movie). It’s super-duper 80s, pretty innocent, and while “bad,” is a fun movie, so I can see why you liked it and continue to like it. It has a much more understandable plot than “The Goonies,” which I thought did a shitty job of setting things up initially, and at times felt like randomly-cut-together “adventure” scenes.
Speaking of randomly-cut-together, “The Goonies R Good Enough” is the new leader for worst video I have ever seen for an artist that I truly like. Wow it is INCREDIBLY shitty. Nearly unbelievably so. It HAS TO BE improvised on the spot. It’s that bad.
I could post pics of our hair… with Joe’s permission?
Make a shit-ton of hardboiled eggs. Split 'em. Mash them yolks. Add mustard and mayo. Decide you need more. Add more. Realize you added too much. Split a couple more eggs and toss those yolks in, too. Determine it's now too dry again. Drop a little more mayostard in there. Figure it out. Serve on a deviled egg tray you use semi-annually. Give in when someone complains that you didn't sprinkle paprika on top.
Fuck, this one was also a super close vote. Tears for Fears gets my nod because I think they're a more '80s band than Soft Cell, and this song featured in 1985's "Real Genius." Experientially, my cassette copy of "Songs from the Big Chair" was a gift from a family friend, along with a paperback copy of the very first big collection of Far Side cartoons - and THAT's a lotta eighties.
They are so good, but RELISH-FREE (please see: fuck relish). Joe’s recipe is amazingly similar to mine, down to the detail. Semi-annually May be a stretch for me, however.
Deni - Thanks for the extra back story! While it is close for me - I really like both songs - my deep love for synth, dance, and electronic music puts "Tainted Love" over the top.
I have Songs from the Big Chair on vinyl, and musically is a fantastic album. Their sound, while clearly 80s, is more reserved and chill than get out of you seat and move around. That said, Tiesto (whom I love) did a remix, "Rule the World" that is pretty good and gives it a modern electronic sound. ❤️ https://youtu.be/yBQlyp6P7QI?si=a8kor9KGnZBWIFCr
I too have Big Chair on vinyl, as well as had Non Stop Erotic Cabaret but that seems to have been lost somewhere in the years between college and living in Seattle. At least I still have my Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go 12".
I'm gonna stick to my criteria for this bracket and choose the most popular song in South America. My vote goes to Tears for Fears! (There´s a pretty solid rendition of the song by Josh Gad in the movie "Pixels", by the way). Also, Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana's grandfather is not only from Argentina, but specifically from Córdoba, my hometown!
I had no idea he was a product of Argentina! 🇦🇷 This is a great factoid! Just listened to the Josh Gad version, or at least A Josh Gad version, on your recommendation, and he is doing a great job of it, a little jazzier interpretation…with The Worm at the end? 😆 Thanks, Alejandro! —Keith
I am one person who could name other Soft Cell songs, as well as Marc Almond solo songs. They had quite a few hits in the UK - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (off this same album), Torch, What (another cover from the soul era), and Bedsitter were all top 5 hits in the UK.
The Gloria Jones version was not necessarily a hit in the traditional way, but it was huge song in the Northern Soul scene. You could do a two-hour podcast about Northern Soul and it's influence on 80s British musicians, just using Soft Cell as an example.
I became obsessed with learning about the history of Northern Soul a few years ago. The late 60s and 70s saw working class youth (mods) in northern industrial England get into lesser known American soul music, and the rarer the better. English DJs travelled to America to dig around record shops for rare soul 45s to bring back. Lots of the songs that ended up popular in that scene were put out by non-Motown labels with a small pressing that didn't get promoted well. They were also soul songs with a more driving tempo than what was popular in the States. There are some well known artists that had huge Northern Soul sings that were not their radio hits, like Dobie Gray - best known for the smooth Drift Away - with an incredible up-tempo song called Out On The Floor. There were also some homegrown singers popular in the scene, like Dusty Springfield.
These kids had "all nighters" in clubs in the north and danced to this music until dawn (fueled by major amounts of amphetamines). Dancing was really athletic and there is a basic move known as the Northern Soul step or stomp.
This scene led to a lot of the sounds that we know from 80s bands, particularly the electronic bands. There is a direct line from Northern Soul to Soft Cell, Pet Shop Boys, Culture Club, Human League, ABC and many more.
As for Gloria Jones, well look her up sometime. An insane amazing life, and she is still with us in her late 70s. Became a cult figure in the Northern Soul scene with Tainted Love in the mid-70s, almost a decade after it was released. She was a member of the band T. Rex in the 70s and had a son with Mark Bolan. She was actually the driver of the car when it crashed and killed him.
When I was on WBGU in college, I used to spin Soft Cell's cover of the not-great James Bond theme "You Only Live Twice," so there's that. I also only learned recently that Say Hello, Wave Goodbye was originally a Soft Cell song - my wife's a big David Gray "White Ladder" fan, so we knew it from there. (As a sort of tribute, he regularly plays "Tainted Love" on tour.)
Your incredible depth of knowledge in this area makes me think YOU should be the one doing the two-hour podcast on Northern Soul! Thanks for the brief primer!
Meanwhile, I had never heard of Gloria Jones, but I did know T-Rex. I just found out that Gloria is also a fellow Ohioan! —Keith
The fact that Joe's Gen Z/Alpha kids actually LIKE EWtRtW says it all: that song isn't nearly as 80s-sounding as Tainted Love. (Joe - I'm loving that addition to the episodes. In my head, I envision your kids listening to these songs in their entireties and thinking "WTF?" or some alternate PG-version of WTF. It makes me smile every time.) I like EWtRtW better than Tainted Love, but my vote goes to Tainted Love. All that crazy synth; all that cocaine; the bizarre video(s), which I'm now going to watch; . . . . And I'm blown away that Tainted Love was actually a cover. I had absolutely no idea.
Also:
- Fuck relish in deviled eggs. That also gets my vote.
- How about that Keith finally saw The Goonies?! After watching that, we also watched Cyndi Lauper's The Goonies R Good Enough videos. Yes, there are 2 videos --Part 1 and Part 2-- which I never knew. I had never seen Part 2. They're not great. (Keith also watched the movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun. He didn't love it. He might have hated it.)
- Finally, please post pics of your glorious '80s hair (both of you). You teased us by talking about it during this episode. I think it's only fair that all the fans actually get to see it.
I definitely did not HATE “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (The Movie). It’s super-duper 80s, pretty innocent, and while “bad,” is a fun movie, so I can see why you liked it and continue to like it. It has a much more understandable plot than “The Goonies,” which I thought did a shitty job of setting things up initially, and at times felt like randomly-cut-together “adventure” scenes.
Speaking of randomly-cut-together, “The Goonies R Good Enough” is the new leader for worst video I have ever seen for an artist that I truly like. Wow it is INCREDIBLY shitty. Nearly unbelievably so. It HAS TO BE improvised on the spot. It’s that bad.
I could post pics of our hair… with Joe’s permission?
Glad you are enjoying the show!
—K
Deviled Eggs:
--Eggs
--French's Honey Mustard
--Kewpie Mayo
Make a shit-ton of hardboiled eggs. Split 'em. Mash them yolks. Add mustard and mayo. Decide you need more. Add more. Realize you added too much. Split a couple more eggs and toss those yolks in, too. Determine it's now too dry again. Drop a little more mayostard in there. Figure it out. Serve on a deviled egg tray you use semi-annually. Give in when someone complains that you didn't sprinkle paprika on top.
There it is! 😈 🥚! You’re welcome, hungry listeners with summer picnics approaching! —Keith
Fuck, this one was also a super close vote. Tears for Fears gets my nod because I think they're a more '80s band than Soft Cell, and this song featured in 1985's "Real Genius." Experientially, my cassette copy of "Songs from the Big Chair" was a gift from a family friend, along with a paperback copy of the very first big collection of Far Side cartoons - and THAT's a lotta eighties.
I did NOT remember the “Real Genius” connection! That’s a HUGE Marcia movie, too!
—Keith
ARE there people who *actually* put RELISH in deviled eggs? 😫 That is tantamount to a crime against humanity. And eggs.
I don’t even remotely like deviled eggs, and yet, putting relish in them makes them sound WORSE to me, so I tend to agree! —Keith
They are so good, but RELISH-FREE (please see: fuck relish). Joe’s recipe is amazingly similar to mine, down to the detail. Semi-annually May be a stretch for me, however.
Today’s choices: BRUTAL, btw
Deni - Thanks for the extra back story! While it is close for me - I really like both songs - my deep love for synth, dance, and electronic music puts "Tainted Love" over the top.
I have Songs from the Big Chair on vinyl, and musically is a fantastic album. Their sound, while clearly 80s, is more reserved and chill than get out of you seat and move around. That said, Tiesto (whom I love) did a remix, "Rule the World" that is pretty good and gives it a modern electronic sound. ❤️ https://youtu.be/yBQlyp6P7QI?si=a8kor9KGnZBWIFCr
I too have Big Chair on vinyl, as well as had Non Stop Erotic Cabaret but that seems to have been lost somewhere in the years between college and living in Seattle. At least I still have my Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go 12".
I was unaware of Tiesto. But I guess if I wanted to dance, this is a much better way to dance to Tears for Fears than the original! —Keith
The sex dwarf car story is hilarious, Keith making excuses for it suddenly blaring out of his speakers, love it 😆
A true moment of embarrassment, like "Oh god, he is going to think I am a deviant." --K
😂😂
I pressed the wrong button (buttons are very 80s, but in reality it was a screen that I pressed) and voted for Everybody, just so you know.
So just to be clear, you intended to vote for Soft Cell?
Yep, I think it's so recognisably 80s, couldn't be from another time.
I'm gonna stick to my criteria for this bracket and choose the most popular song in South America. My vote goes to Tears for Fears! (There´s a pretty solid rendition of the song by Josh Gad in the movie "Pixels", by the way). Also, Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana's grandfather is not only from Argentina, but specifically from Córdoba, my hometown!
I had no idea he was a product of Argentina! 🇦🇷 This is a great factoid! Just listened to the Josh Gad version, or at least A Josh Gad version, on your recommendation, and he is doing a great job of it, a little jazzier interpretation…with The Worm at the end? 😆 Thanks, Alejandro! —Keith
I am one person who could name other Soft Cell songs, as well as Marc Almond solo songs. They had quite a few hits in the UK - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (off this same album), Torch, What (another cover from the soul era), and Bedsitter were all top 5 hits in the UK.
The Gloria Jones version was not necessarily a hit in the traditional way, but it was huge song in the Northern Soul scene. You could do a two-hour podcast about Northern Soul and it's influence on 80s British musicians, just using Soft Cell as an example.
I became obsessed with learning about the history of Northern Soul a few years ago. The late 60s and 70s saw working class youth (mods) in northern industrial England get into lesser known American soul music, and the rarer the better. English DJs travelled to America to dig around record shops for rare soul 45s to bring back. Lots of the songs that ended up popular in that scene were put out by non-Motown labels with a small pressing that didn't get promoted well. They were also soul songs with a more driving tempo than what was popular in the States. There are some well known artists that had huge Northern Soul sings that were not their radio hits, like Dobie Gray - best known for the smooth Drift Away - with an incredible up-tempo song called Out On The Floor. There were also some homegrown singers popular in the scene, like Dusty Springfield.
These kids had "all nighters" in clubs in the north and danced to this music until dawn (fueled by major amounts of amphetamines). Dancing was really athletic and there is a basic move known as the Northern Soul step or stomp.
This scene led to a lot of the sounds that we know from 80s bands, particularly the electronic bands. There is a direct line from Northern Soul to Soft Cell, Pet Shop Boys, Culture Club, Human League, ABC and many more.
As for Gloria Jones, well look her up sometime. An insane amazing life, and she is still with us in her late 70s. Became a cult figure in the Northern Soul scene with Tainted Love in the mid-70s, almost a decade after it was released. She was a member of the band T. Rex in the 70s and had a son with Mark Bolan. She was actually the driver of the car when it crashed and killed him.
When I was on WBGU in college, I used to spin Soft Cell's cover of the not-great James Bond theme "You Only Live Twice," so there's that. I also only learned recently that Say Hello, Wave Goodbye was originally a Soft Cell song - my wife's a big David Gray "White Ladder" fan, so we knew it from there. (As a sort of tribute, he regularly plays "Tainted Love" on tour.)
This one escaped my circle of knowledge, am gonna go listen to this cover, and the David Gray cover now.
—K
Your incredible depth of knowledge in this area makes me think YOU should be the one doing the two-hour podcast on Northern Soul! Thanks for the brief primer!
Meanwhile, I had never heard of Gloria Jones, but I did know T-Rex. I just found out that Gloria is also a fellow Ohioan! —Keith
Me doing a 2-hour podcast would likely be either the most annoying or most boring podcast ever, possibly even both.
😂 When you decide you’re ready, Joe and I will do the show with you! —Keith
I voted before listening on this one. I love both bands, but Tainted Love is a no brainer for a MAJOR song from the soundtrack of the 80s.