Music

ADDICTED TO LOVE. THE #1 SONG THIS WEEK IN 1986.

by generationxrewind

Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer was the #1 song the week of May 3rd, 1986. It was the second single from Palmer’s double platinum album, Riptide. The song was #10 on the year-end charts.

Bernard Edwards, former bassist of Chic produced the single. Andy Taylor of Duran Duran played lead guitar. Taylor and Palmer were bandmates in The Power Station, which had a big hit album the year before. The song was originally intended to be a duet between Palmer and Chaka Khan, but her record company would not let her appear on an album that was on Island Records.

The music video for the song is one of the most iconic of the early MTV era. The video featured Palmer with a band made up of mannequin looking models with pale skin, dark hair, and bright red lips. The video is ranked #3 on VH1’s Top 20 Videos of the 1980s. Several music videos by other artist paid homage to Addicted to Love, most notably, Man, I Feel like a Woman by Shania Twain.

Music

WE ARE THE WORLD: #1 song this week in 1985.

by generationxrewind

We are the Word, the Charity single from USA for Africa was the number one song in America this week in 1985. The song was released on March 8, 1985, and spent four weeks on top of the Billboard singles chart.

The song also hit the top of the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts. We Are the World was the first single to ever be certified multi-platinum. It was the biggest selling single of 1985 as well as the entire decade.

We are the World was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian. The blockbuster hit received three Grammys, one American Music Award and one People’s choice award.

Jackson, Richie and nineteen of the biggest artist of the day contributed vocals to the song. Some of the stars include Stevie Wonder, Kenny Rogers, Tina Turner, Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan, and Ray Charles. Another twenty stars contributed to the chorus of the song.

After the song was released, 63 million dollars was raised for Humanitarian causes. That equals out to about 144 million dollars today.

Music

Full Moon Fever: Tom Petty

by generationxrewind

Hard to believe it’s been this long ago, but today, April 24, 2019, is the 30th anniversary of the debut solo album, Full Moon Fever, from the late great Tom Petty. The album was produced by Jeff Lynn, who also played along Petty in The Traveling Wilburys. Fellow Wilburys George Hamilton and Roy Orbison also contributed to the album. Lynn also doubled as the bass player for the record.

Although this was a solo album, Heartbreaker’s guitarist Mike Campbell was the lead picker on the record. Fellow Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Howie Epstein also appeared on the album.

Full Moon Fever went to #3 on the album charts and sold over five million copies. The album contains such Petty classics as Free Fallin‘, Running Down a Dream, and I Won’t Back Down.

Buy or Stream Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty by clicking on the Amazon image below.

Music

Around the World in a Day by Prince & the Revolution.

by generationxrewind

On April 22, 1985, Prince and The Revolution released Around the World in a Day. This record was the follow up to the massively successful album, Purple Rain, which was released in 1984. While not selling as many copies as Purple Rain, the album did reach #1 and went on to sell seven million copies.

Two top ten singles did come out of the record. Raspberry Beret went to #2 and Pop Life landed at #7. In the video for Raspberry Beret, the young blond lady who hands Prince his guitar was actress Jackie Swanson, who went on to play the girlfriend and later wife of Woody Harrelson’s character on Cheers.

Click image to stream Around the World in a Day via Amazon.

Music

Kenny Rogers: The Gambler

by generationxrewind

The #1 Country album this week in 1979 was The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. The album went on to sell more than 35 million copies. The title track and She Believes in Me also went to number one on the country singles charts.

The Gambler was a huge cross over singles hit that made it to #16 on the pop chart and #3 on the easy listening chat. In 1980, A made for TV movie based on the song aired on CBS. The film was so successful that four sequels were also produced.

Click image to buy THE GAMBLER now!

Music

Electro-Funk

by generationxrewind

In our last post, we talked about the various music genres of the Gen X era. We left out Funk because it clearly is a product of the Boomer generation, but we could have included a subgenre of funk called Electro-Funk. In this style, the horn sections got replaced with synthesizers and the beat often came courtesy of a drum machine. Some of the top acts associated with 80’s electro-funk include, the Dazz Band, Midnight Star, Zapp and The Gap Band.

Music

Gen X Music Genres

by generationxrewind

When many people think of music in regards to the Generation X era, they might think of the New Wave and Hair Metal scenes of the eighties. While those styles might provide the most common visual reminders of the time, the years from the mid-seventies to the mid-nineties also brought us Rap, Disco, Techno, Industrial, Goth, Thrash, Death Metal, Grunge and don’t forget the Urban Cowboy country boom of the early eighties.

Can you think of any other genres? What was your favorite of the era?

Music

Judas Priest “British Steel”

by generationxrewind

39 years ago today, Judas Priest released British Steel, one of the most influential albums in heavy metal history. The album contained classics such as Living After Midnight, Breaking the Law, United, and Metal Gods.





Music

The #1 Album on this day in 1982

by generationxrewind

“Beauty and the Beat” by The Go Go’s. One of the true classics of the early MTV era. The single “We Got the Beat” was #2 on the singles chart.

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