by Trent Rosser
There has been quite a controversy around the great city of Amarillo lately. Controversy on many different subjects. Is it an Multi-Purpose Event Center or is it a baseball field? Is it a violation of civil rights if you are arrested at a public city council meeting for clapping? Should the toilet paper roll be placed where it is coming from the front of the roll or behind the roll? If a man speaks in the woods and no woman is around to hear him, is he still wrong? Let’s start some fun controversy. Everyone has their own idea of great music and everyone believes that a certain music is better than the other. I’m going to talk about the best music ever. The 80’s era of music. So, let’s take a Journey with “Open Arms” to see the “Dark Side of the Moon”. Ok, so that was a little cheesy. But then again, so was the music back then.
Let me start by saying that I am pretty much bias on this. I spent my teenage years in the 80’s so I believe that it is the best music. Even though some of the songs make no sense. For example; George Michael had a band called Wham! can anyone explain why they wanted someone to “Wake Me up, Before You Go-Go?” Is someone leaving twice? Was it the same person that Michael Jackson told to “Beat it”? Was it “Billie Jean”? Sorry, getting a little cheesy again. What about the group Men at Work and Men Without Hats. One sang about someone that came from the place of “Down Under” and the other sang the “Safety Dance”. the lyrics for the “Safety Dance” are as follows: “we can dance if you want to, we can leave your friends behind, cause your friends don’t dance and if they don’t dance, well they’re no friends of mine” Umm? Maybe they should get with Kenny Loggins and go “Footloose”?
There were numerous hits throughout the decades, but the 80’s music was like Sir Elton John when he sang “I’m Still Standing”, and we still sing them out loud when they come across the radio in the car. Don’t tell me you never sang “White Wedding” or “Mony Mony” by Billy Idol while coming home from work? Still do not know why he is riding a pony (Mony, Mony, ride the pony)? Some are timeless classics that will never die. “Don’t Stop Believing” from Journey is one of the classics that will be sang forever. We can usually tell the song from the moment they start singing. “step inside, walk this way, you and me babe, hey hey!” Did you start singing “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard? The classic guitar riffs or the certain beat of the drums like Cheap Tricks “I Want You to Want Me” would signal the start a car karaoke. The music got your heartbeat going like a “Total eclipse of the Heart” or when we talked about “Jesse’s girl”. How can music now a day compete with songs like these? I know that Adele came out with a song and everyone kept asking me, “Have you heard that song called 'Hello?'” Yea I heard it, it was sung by Lionel Richie. The father of Nicole Richie. The video of “Hello” was him too shy to talk to a blind woman, so he would call and hang up. It was almost like stalking, but he made up for it when he ended up “Dancing on the Ceiling”. Ok, wrong song, but same title.
The music made us feel emotions! When the movie “Rocky III” was released, everyone left singing “Eye of the Tiger” feeling tough and invincible. “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Wave made us feel happy and joyous. There were the slow love songs, like “Take My Breath Away” which was also on the soundtrack for the Tom Cruise movie “Top Gun”. Even the great Tina Turner got into the act with “What’s love got to do with it “They made us feel the heart break when Prince belted out “When Doves Cry” and “Purple Rain” The songs taught us quite a bit also. Cyndi Lauper told us that “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” while Madonna taught us about sexuality while wearing a white wedding dress, rolling on the stage of the MTV awards show and singing “Like a Virgin”. Yep, top that Miley Cyrus! Wait…… you came in naked on a wrecking ball…… never mind, forget I said anything.
Then you have the hair bands, aka hair metal, aka, glam metal. Now these bands are in a class of their own. Usually a group of men with heavy make up and singing at the top of their lungs. Now the hair bands did not start in the 80s, they actually started in the late 70s and evolved. Kiss and Alice Cooper were some of the founding fathers of hair metal. Take Alice Cooper for example. A grown man wearing make up with a female name and doing theatrics during live shows. Sound a lot like Marilyn Manson. After all imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Some wore make up and some wore a lot of makeup. The first time I seen the album cover of a band call poison, I sincerely thought that they were some of the ugliest girls I have ever seen. The songs were great though! They had good beats and most had a good message. Some bands wrote their own songs, and the songs had meaning. “Dr. Feelgood” and “Kickstart my heart” from Motley Crue were written shortly after a stint in rehab and were about their drug dealer and one of the band members overdosing and being brought back to life. But, as with everything in life, things change.
As the music scene turned to grunge with bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden, the 80s music slowly slipped away. With technology of nationwide radio like Sirus Radio you can always find a channel dedicated to the 80s music. I will be like Journey and I will sing “Don’t stop believing”. I will keep singing “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue and “Paradise City” by Guns N' Roses. I will be always “Living on a Prayer” as Bon Jovi told us to. Twisted Sister expressed that “I Just Want to Rock” And I too will sing it until Europe plays “The Final Countdown”
Maybe this will not start any controversy, maybe I am like the group Styx and have “Too much Time on my Hands”, but maybe instead of the whole city being divided, we can come together. Here is a starter, our state song is “Texas our Texas”, how about we come together to pick out a city song? One that is upbeat and fun. Of course, it would be from the 80's. It could be “Centerfield” by John Fogerty or “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen. They would go good with the new baseball field. It just could not be “Jack and Diane” from John Cougar Mellencamp, and it could not be Dixie Midnight runners “Come on Eileen”. They both have clapping in the lyrics. If you want to make a suggestion for the city song, just call Jenny at “867-5309”.
