Thirty songs that represent what as going on in popular music in 1981.
Follow Tunes du Jour on Facebook.
Follow Tunes du Jour on Twitter.
Follow me on Instagram.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (10-21-20)
Inspired by the passing of Spencer Davis and the October 21 birthdays of Manfred Mann, The Go-Go’s’ Charlotte Caffey, The Teardrop Explodes’ Julian Cope, The Cramps’ Lux Interior, Elvin Bishop, Doja Cat, Kathy Young and Industry’s Jon Carin.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (8-17-20)
Inspired by the August 17 birthdays of Go-Go’s’ Belinda Carlisle, Lone Justice’s Maria McKee, Lisa Coleman, Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ Kevin Rowland, Luscious Jackson’s Jill Cunniff, The Pack’s Lil B, and Robert De Niro.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (5-20-20)
Inspired by the May 20 birthdays of Cher, Busta Rhymes, Joe Cocker, The Go-Go’s’ Jane Wiedlin, Haircut 100’s Nick Heyward, Shorty Long, and Paul & Paula’s Jill Jackson.
Throwback Thursday – 1982
As a songwriter, Gloria Jones charted with Gladys Knight & the Pips’ “If I Were Your Woman,” the Four Tops’ “Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life),” and Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross’ “My Mistake (Was to Love You).” As a producer, Gloria Jones hit the top ten on the disco chart with Gonzalez’s “Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet.” But as a lead singer, Jones failed to make the pop, r&b or dance charts.
In 1973, while on a trip to the United States, British DJ Richard Searling purchased a copy of a Gloria Jones single from 1965. The A-side was a song called “My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home,” but it was the B-side that really got Searling’s attention.
Northern soul music (uptempo American soul music in a sixties Motown vein yet without commercial success) had a large cult following in the northern England at that time, and Searling played the Gloria Jones b-side during his sets.
Northern soul fan David Ball loved the song. When he and his musical partner, Mark Almond, who together comprised the duo Soft Cell, were looking for a song to cover, they went with the Jones song, thinking it would be interesting for a synth band to cover a soul tune. Their record label asked them to add guitar, bass and drums to the track, but the duo refused. Despite this, the label put out the singer. Almond told Rolling Stone magazine “We thought if we were really lucky, we’d scrape into the top 75 in Britain. We didn’t think anything would happen over here [in the US].”
Soft Cell’s recording of “Tainted Love” became a smash worldwide. In the US, it spent 43 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100, a record at that time. Said Gloria Jones of the Soft Cell recording “Their version was far better than mine.”
This week, Tunes du Jour celebrates Throwback Thursday with twenty great tunes from 1982, kicking off with Soft Cell’s version of “Tainted Love,” but first, check out Gloria Jones’ original:
Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour
It’s Friday And I Need To Dance! – College Reunion Edition
On the Facebook page for my thirty-year college reunion, which is coming up this June, someone brought up the music that reminds them of our college days. Many posts followed, naming songs that remind us of shared experiences at Brandeis University in the first half of the 1980s.
That post inspired today’s playlist. Friday is dance day at Tunes du Jour, and today I present 50 songs we danced to in the Usdan Ballroom at Brandeis University between the fall of 1981 and the spring of 1985. It was a great time for popular music. These songs have stood the test of time.
Have a great weekend!
Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook.
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour
The Song Retains The Name
Today is Bobby Brown’s 46th birthday. A former member of New Edition, Brown had his first solo hit in 1988 with “Don’t Be Cruel,” which reached #8 on the Hot 100. Though it shares its title with an Elvis Presley #1 hit from 1956, Brown’s “Don’t Be Cruel” is not a remake.
That brings us to today’s playlist, which I call The Song Retains the Name. It consists of different songs with the same title. I initially planned to include twenty such songs, but more kept springing to mind. Before I knew it, I passed 100 entries. There are plenty more, so I decided to open this up to my reader(s). If you have songs that share titles you’d like to add, feel free to do so.
(NOTES: I included The Jacksons’ “This Place Hotel” because when it was released in 1980 its title was “Heartbreak Hotel.” Thought he didn’t have to, Michael Jackson, the song’s writer, later changed its name to “This Place Hotel” to avoid confusion with the Elvis Presley song “Heartbreak Hotel.” Whitney Houston didn’t feel the need to make the same Hotel accommodation.
Also, though it is listed on Spotify as “The Best of My Love,” the Eagles track does not have a “The” on the 45 or the band’s On the Border album.)
Click here to follow Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour
It’s Friday And I Need To Dance!
Last Friday I received word that a friend of mine died. Brain cancer. He was 37 years old.
The following day I got the call that my uncle passed away. My mother and her sister flew in for their brother’s funeral. He was married to the same woman for more than 50 years, since she was 19.
I’m glad this week is over. It’s Friday, and I really need to dance. We’ll start our weekly dance playlist with The Clash. The late Joe Strummer’s birthday was yesterday. We’ll play a track by the late Isaac Hayes, whose birthday was Wednesday. Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go’s and Mika had birthdays this past week, while Tori Amos turns 51 today. Here’s to life and dancing while one still can.
Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook.
It’s Friday The 13th And I Need To Dance!
In many Western countries, Friday the 13th is considered a day of bad luck by those who believe in such silliness.
In Spanish-speaking countries, Tuesday the 13th is unlucky.
In Italy, Friday the 17th is considered unlucky and 13 is a lucky number.
In Finland, many organizations promote National Accident Day, which always falls on Friday the 13th.
A study in the Netherlands found fewer car accidents occur on Friday the 13th as compared to other Fridays.
The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina estimates that somewhere between 17 and 21 million people in the United States are afraid of Friday the 13th.
At Tunes du Jour we dance every Friday, and we ain’t afraid of no 13th! Let’s kick off this week’s party with “Bad Luck,” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.