bells has a little meme thing going on, where you go look at the songs that were number one or whatever the year you turned 18. well wasnt that a trip down memory lane?
in 1986, my final year of high school out there in the country (tamworth), we were treated to such masterpieces as 'rock me amadeus' and 'say you say me'. cringe factor very high.
however, there are some songs on that list that i remember with fondness. i was coming out of a rather heavy new romantics phase, so pet shop boys were kind of revolutionary, helping to make the transition from duran duran to new order. yes i even had an aysmmetrical hair cut (ie, a bob that was longer on one side than on the other). hence it should come as no surprise that human league were kind of big in my world that year.
i desperately hated anything that looked like power ballads, eg whitney houston, or just plain crap, eg huey lewis. but i didnt mind a bit of madonna, although her big hits in 86, live to tell and papa dont preach, were the beginning of the end for me. i too, was a material girl kind of madonna fan.
but the song that stands out for me in 1986 was Venus by Bananarama. not because its a fine piece of songmanship (although, it being a cover, it was pretty much the best banana-girls song). rather, its because at the end of year 12, in those days, muck up days were still permitted. after the last exam (which was mine probably, 3 unit ancient history i suspect), we drove up to the lookout at the top of the hill above our school and drank all night, coming down at 6am to toilet paper the school, and then we put on a farewell concert for the whole school, where we made fun of our teachers, stumbled through little semi-satirical political sketches (a la the chaser), and performed some musical numbers. a lot of my school mates were very musically talented, the boys (that is, the pool of about 6 that my group of girls dated from) were in a band, and the whole year did a very fine rendition of Twist and Shout from our favourite movie that year, Ferris Buellers Day Off. but the highlight was me and two of my friends, nat and kerryn, pretending to be bananarama, and doing a rather lively rendition of venus. complete with red catsuits. need i say more?
ah yes, the 80s. the decade that taste forgot.
k :)
5 comments:
was there an '86 ?. I thought we all skipped over that year, I don't seem to recall it. Robert De Niro was the best banana song I thought.
Ah, 1986, final year at college (it had become an institute of higher learning but not yet evolved into a uni)blonde long curly hair occasionally tied up ala Madonna, riding a red motor scooter (with a glovebox)and most clothes had big shoulder pads. But you never caught me in no red catsuits!
There are photos of that event somewhere, kms, and one day they will see the light.... mwahahahaha. 1986 was my first year at high school, so I recall all these very well - mainly from slumber parties, bopping around singing into a hairbrush! (and yes there are photos!)
ahhh yes, the catsuit!
Checked out the music site for my own trip down the lane of 1994. There I was reminded of the horror of Kurt Cobain's death and the song 'Whatta man' by Salt n Pepa. Salt n Pepa were huge for me in primary school and I liked to feel that I had outgrown them by 1994, but I certainly remember my own raunchy rendition with friends at an end of school event to the song Push it. Not sure I really knew what it all meant at the tender age of 12 though!!
xxx
Excellent post Kylie. I think 1986 was the last great year of the 80s. All very down hill from there on. and yes, Venus, for all its faults, is so evocative of that year.
God I'd forgotten Say you, Say me. I wish it could stay that way.
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