new wave

45 RPMs: New Order Bizarre Love Triangle

/ Janet / 3 Comments

Every time I see you falling
I get down on my knees and pray

promo BLT

U.S. 7″ promo copy of Bizarre Love Triangle

Bizarre Love Triangle is one of my all-time favorite songs and the reason why I fell in love with New Order. If I had a dollar for every mix tape I started with Bizarre Love Triangle, I’d be vacationing in St. Bart’s right now. It’s a great song to listen to, a great song to dance to, and it has lyrics that grab ahold of you with all the beauty, turmoil, and confusion of young love. (Did I mention I really love this song?)

 

brotherhood

New Order’s fourth album, Brotherhood

Released in 1986, Bizarre Love Triangle was a single from New Order’s fourth album, Brotherhood. It reached No. 56 on the UK Singles chart and No. 4 on the US Dance Club Songs chart. In 1995, a new mix of the song, included on The Best of New Order album, cracked the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 98. Continue reading →

45 RPMs: The Police Don’t Stand So Close to Me

/ Janet / 2 Comments

Temptation, frustration
So bad it makes him cry

zenyattaThe Police’s hit single Don’t Stand So Close to Me dealt with the subject of teacher-student affairs long before they became common fodder for TV specials and Internet headlines. The song was inspired by Sting’s experience as an English teacher before he became famous (although he denied ever having an affair with a student while he was a teacher) as well as his admiration for Vladimir Nabokov’s classic Lolita. The novel tells the story of a literature professor in his late 30s – “the old man in that book by Nabokov” referred to in the song – who becomes obsessed with a 12-year-old girl.

Don’t Stand So Close to Me was released in 1980 as a single from The Police’s third studio album, Zenyatta Mondatta. It was a No. 1 hit and the best-selling single of 1980 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Continue reading →

45 RPMs: Psychedelic Furs Pretty in Pink

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She turns herself ’round and she smiles and she says
“This is it, that’s the end of the joke”

pretty in pink soundtrackI was twelve when the Pretty in Pink movie came out in 1986, and I actually fell in love harder with Richard Butler’s voice on the song of the same name than I did with Andrew McCarthy’s irresistible grin. (And that’s saying something. Andrew McCarthy’s grin is pretty irresistible.) andrew mccarthyIt was the first time I had heard the Psychedelic Furs, but it only made me want to hear more.

In the years since, I’ve become a huge fan of the Furs. Speaking of Richard Butler’s voice, I can listen to it for hours, and if you ever get the opportunity to see the band live, I have one word for you: go! And while I’ve grown to like some of their songs more than Pretty in Pink, you never forget your first. Plus, I love the Pretty in Pink movie, and there’s just something about hearing the opening notes of the song that bring you right back to 1986 and watching Molly Ringwald’s character Andie getting ready for school in the first scenes of the movie. Continue reading →

45 RPMs: The Go-Go’s Our Lips Are Sealed

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Give no mind to what they say
It doesn’t matter anyway

beauty and beat peachI was only 7 years old when the Go-Go’s debut album, Beauty and the Beat, and its first single, Our Lips Are Sealed, were released in 1981, but I still remember standing in the middle of a department store begging my mother to buy me the record. The cover art – with the Go-Go’s wearing towels and face cream – was mesmerizing, and it was impossible not to start moving and singing along immediately upon hearing those first notes of Our Lips Are Sealed.

From that first song, the Go-Go’s made a huge impression on me when I was younger. They made me want to start my own all-girl band (until years later when I realized I had absolutely no music talent). They were more relatable somehow than many other music acts at the time – like they could be your older sister and her friends, only much, much cooler. Continue reading →

45 RPMs: Split Enz I Got You

/ Janet / 1 Comment

I don’t know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I’m not lyin’

Remember New Zealand rock band Split Enz? We can thank them for Crowded House, which singer and guitarist Neil Finn formed when he left the band, and for the impossibly catchy tune I Got You. This song doesn’t just get into your head; it sets up camp and parties there for days. When I think of new wave pop and the early days of MTV, I think of I Got You. i got you video 2

From the album True Colours, I Got You was released as a single in 1980 with Double Happy as the B side. It reached No. 53 on the U.S. chart, but shot all the way to No. 1 on both the Australian and New Zealand charts. Written by Finn, it was the band’s first international hit. I don’t own any Split Enz on vinyl, but True Colours and I Got You have been on my Want List for awhile. split-enz-i-got-you-1980