Cheesy 80's Music Battle!!!!

[mgs]

Who wins this one?

Neutron Dance by the Pointer Sisters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhcjRoU0C7g

OR

Walk Like An Egyptian by the Bangles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IACiTz59w54&feature=related

:smile:


Not the videos or the better group mind you, but the cheesy pseudo dance 80's songs themselves! :wink:

[rick]

That's not 80's cheese

This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG3PnQ3tgzY) and this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGLZqDXau98) are 80's cheese.

[mgs]

That's not 80's cheese

This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG3PnQ3tgzY) and this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGLZqDXau98) are 80's cheese.
eh, those aren't 'firmly' 80's and they have earlier relationships. :wink:

[Adam C]

eh, those aren't 'firmly' 80's and they have earlier relationships. :wink:

'Earlier relationships'? What do you mean by that? Like the way the organ line and rhythms in "Neutron Dance" are clear call back to 60s soul (as the vocals are in "It's Raining Men") but fed through the hyper-glossy aesthetic of 80s dance pop, itself a product of 70s disco? Or how the Bangles music (and fashion sense) are clearly rooted in early 70s British Glam?

And "Putting on the Ritz" might be an Irving Berlin classic from 1929, but Taco's treatment of it is firmly situated in the cheesiest side of 1980s synth-pop with its keyboard lines, drum machines, and completely camp delivery. There's exactly no stylistic or spiritual difference between it and Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trOij8SPIAo)

[howyadoin]

Or how the Bangles music (and fashion sense) are clearly rooted in early 70s British Glam?I'd say it takes much more from early- to mid-60s - the dresses, the big hair, the harmonies, even the Rickenbackers. They certainly wore their Beatles influences on their sleeves.

[Adam C]

I'd say it takes much more from early- to mid-60s - the dresses, the big hair, the harmonies, even the Rickenbackers. They certainly wore their Beatles influences on their sleeves.

Point. Maybe it was the drummer playing the tambourine at the start and my forgetting the Bangles' earlier power pop sound that threw me. (That and my associating a lot of 80s glitz with British glam.)

Personally, I think it's one of the lesser examples of 80s cheese. Not only compared to all the other videos, but even stuff like "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" and "Here I Go Again."

[howyadoin]

"I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" and "Here I Go Again."Now it's gonna take all day to wipe that imagery out of my mind.

[mailedbypostman1]

IT'S THE FINAAL COUNTDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN!
*glass shatters and the heavens groan*

[Ziggy Stardust]

Winner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCiVXigrjjQ

[mgs]

Personally, I think it's one of the lesser examples of 80s cheese. Not only compared to all the other videos, but even stuff like "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" and "Here I Go Again."
Ever since Old School, I can't get that Whitesnake song out of mah head!

IT'S THE FINAAL COUNTDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN!
*glass shatters and the heavens groan*

Winner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCiVXigrjjQ
haha, I like these songs! :biggrin:

[The Confessor]

I might be alone in this but I don't consider The Bangles to be a cheesy pop band at all. I consider them to be excellent song-writers and purveyors of sublimely structured guitar pop. You only have to look at where they came from and their influences to see that there's nothing cheesy about them at all.


I'd say it takes much more from early- to mid-60s - the dresses, the big hair, the harmonies, even the Rickenbackers.

Absolutely right!

They were formed out of the early 80's retro scene better known as the Paisley Underground, along with bands like Rain Parade, The Long Ryders and the Dream Syndicate. They were heavily influenced by jangly, harmony laden, folk-rock or power-pop bands like The Turtles, The Byrds, Big Star, The Beatles and The Grass Roots. In addition, The Bangles early EPs and even their first album display strong traces of the alternative U.S. college radio sound with it's mix of sixties pop and punky/garage band attitude.

Contrary to what some people might think, they really weren't just a bunch of pretty-faced girls, hand picked by a record company to sing pop songs (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, it’s just that’s not what The Bangles were). The Bangles were a bona fide gigging band who played their way around the clubs of Los Angeles before being picked up by a small indie record label. They were all good musicians who wrote an awful lot of their own material and all four members were excellent harmony singers too.

Just for the record, I'm not trying to claim that The Bangles were some kind of cool alternative guitar band, they weren't - they were a pop band through and through. However, they were pop in exactly the same way as their influences were and I wouldn't call The Beatles, Big Star, The Grass Roots or The Byrds "cheesy pop". They were no more "Cheesy" than their contemporaries the Dream Syndicate or Green on Red (or even early R.E.M.).

Actually, thinking about, I'm not sure the Pointer Sisters were really cheesy pop either – this thread is stupid and ill-informed. :mad: :tongue:

[mgs]

this thread is stupid and ill-informed. :mad: :tongue:
ha! well, while I actually agree with all you said, I think these two SONGS!! Again, NOT the actual groups, can easily be considered 'cheesy'!! :tongue:

[The Confessor]

ha! well, while I actually agree with all you said, I think these two SONGS!! Again, NOT the actual groups, can easily be considered 'cheesy'!! :tongue:


Well, fair enough...but to me, cheesy 80's pop is Rick Astley or Whitney Houston, not The Bangles (good lord, no sir!).

[howyadoin]

Contrary to what some people might think, they really weren't just a bunch of pretty-faced girls, hand picked by a record company to sing pop songs (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, it’s just that’s not what The Bangles were). The Bangles were a bona fide gigging band who played their way around the clubs of Los Angeles before being picked up by a small indie record label. They were all good musicians who wrote an awful lot of their own material and all four members were excellent harmony singers too. All good points. But at the same time, the majority of their hits were written by other people.

[Bakasama]

I give you the Safety Dance. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qW0Edq1KqI)

[The Confessor]

All good points. But at the same time, the majority of their hits were written by other people.


True enough but then, the same could be said for The Byrds as well and they're cetainly not a "cheesy" pop band. The Bangles did write or had a hand in writing a fair few of their own hits though; "Hero Takes A Fall", "Walking Down Your Street", "In Your Room" and also the song that is arguably their very biggest hit, "Eternal Flame". You're right though that their two or three real über hits, with the exception of "Eternal Flame", were written by others.

[Serik]

Nothing says 80s cheese like Van Halen's "Jump" and its music video. Hell, when they zoom-in on the keyboard during the ridiculous synth solo, you can see that it's covered in dust.

[Deathstroke]

I liked both of the groups so I don't think they are cheesy.