The Go-Go's: Beauty and the Beat This is their debut album that leads off with the classic tune "Our Lips Are Sealed," and also contains "We Got the Beat." I've discovered I don't even need pictures of Belinda Carlisle to get slack-jawed for her, just the sound of her voice makes me spacey! This is good stuff. Perhaps I need to collect some Go-Go's.
Duran Duran I'm also listening to a sampler of Duran Duran songs. I was moved to examine Duran Duran more closely based on a You Tube video posted on the Van Halen forum for "
Save a Prayer." That video is a real piece of art. It's like a master class in cinematography. No one invests the money and time to make epic videos like that any more. The fashions still look cool to me, too.
The music? Duran Duran was considered cheese at the time. In the same way people say, "You must like pop crap like Britney Spears!" today, people said, "You must like pop crap like Duran Duran!" back then. Knowing how music progressed after 1990, though, Duran Duran sounds like Mozart today. These are well-written songs. Melody died shortly after Duran Duran's run, I'm afraid.
The Smiths Speaking of melody, how about the Smiths? I've known of the Smiths since about the 11th grade, but I never actually heard any of their tunes. However I heard a live Smiths album playing at the used CD store, and was caught by their light, airy tunes. Their lengthy song titles also intrigued me ("Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others," "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want," etc.).
So I've listened to this stuff, and the song I like best is the one with the lyrical line that strikes me the most. It's called "
Cemetery Gates," which Pantera later covered -- on second thought, I think Pantera had a very different song of the same title.
So we go inside and we gravely read the stones
All those people all those lives
Where are they now ?
With loves, and hates
and passions just like mine
They were born
and then they lived and then they died
which seems so unfair
and I want to crySomething that's crossed my mind before, too, and too true! Amazingly, this is put against the most cheery melody! Really interesting stuff.
So there you go.