Billy Ocean

Have you seen Billy Ocean lately? No, me either. In my head, he still looks like he does above. Prepare yourselves...

This blog educates me daily, I Googled Billy Ocean and imagine my surprise! As always, I was inspired by 80s Groove. Ahhhh Billy Ocean, what a guy. I can't think of a better speaking opener to a song than Caribbean Queen, "she's simply awesome." LOVE it.

This is the man who also gave us When The Going Gets Tough (The Tough Get Going) from the marvellous Jewel Of The Nile (yes, a posting about that and Romancin' The Stone will be imminent). And of course, the fabulous Suddenly and Love Really Hurts Without You. Plus, he is called Billy Ocean. The man has it all!

Let's enjoy.

George Benson - Give Me The Night

I am still obsessing over my 80s Groove. This is one song I simply can't stop playing, I remember it but it came out in 1980 when I was nine and before I started buying singles so it bypassed me. It's a work of total genius and some Googling tells me it was produced by the legendary Quincy Jones. Once you know this, it's obvious of course. It has all the Quincy trademarks.

Like I say, I cannot stop playing this song, I love it. Let me share the joy with you.

It's the end of the world as we know it

There may be rioting in London but that's not what I refer to, oh no. I read this morning that Dirty Dancing is being remade and will be directed by Kenny Ortega, the man who brought us High School Musical. This is so completely unnecessary, do they really think they can improve on the first one? I don't mind Dirty Dancing 2 (in fact, I kind of like it what with the Cuba setting and all) but it wasn't a remake.

I weep for the future, I despair for mankind. I need to watch the original again and cleanse my mind of the horrors that a remake will inflict upon us. As if anyone could ever top the mighty Swayze. I am sighing deeply.

The Bangles

One of the things I love about Gilmore Girls is how much Lorelei loves The Bangles. It's perfect scripting as Lorelei would absolutely love The Bangles. All the cool kids loved them. They had three memorable hits, I don't have a huge amount of time for Eternal Flame but Manic Monday is fantastic. Of course as Prince wrote it I'd expect it to be fabulous. It was one of my mum's favourite songs, she loved the chorus: "I wish it was Sunday, that's my fun day, my I don't have to run day" - so clever and so true.

However, for me, it's all about Walk Like An Egyptian. A novelty record that manages to be completely awesome. I wish I had thought to have this played at my wedding but alas, if I'd had every song I wanted played at my wedding we'd all still be at my wedding. It had one of the best videos of the 80s, it's so cute and endearing. And it will forever win for this lyric: "gold crocodiles, they snap their teeth on a cigarette."

We only wish we could be this cool.

Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody

Love, love, love Chaka Khan. I am still loving my 80s Groove album (I have now bought the first one as well!) and this opens it. It's a total classic and demands that you sing along loudly and tunelessly.

It has one of the best introductions ever recorded. Sing along and strut your disco pants.

The Human League

I always feel I should be a bigger fan of The Human League than I am. Phil Oakley has such a unique voice and I do like them but I am heartily sick of Don't You Want Me, it has to be one of the most overplayed songs of all time. I was at a wedding yesterday where they had guest DJs for an hour at a time. This is a great idea and works well if your friends understand a wedding crowd. Wedding discos demand cheese and something kiddies and great aunts can bop along to. I can tell you right now what they don't demand, The Pixies. Yes, really, we had a hour of someone who was clearly a muso. Nothing makes me yawn more than a muso. The floor remained resolutely empty. Pixie fans don't tend to dance at weddings now do they? They sit on the edges nodding and stroking their beards.

Thankfully he eventually handed over to a lovely lady who understood that everyone actually did want to dance and in the middle of her set she played Love Action by The Human League. The crowd went wild. She also played Jackson by Johnny Cash which I consider a stroke of genius.

I have a clear favourite Human League song and it's this one, I love it. Funnily enough I wasn't asked to DJ but if I had been, this would have made an appearance.

Nu-Shooz - I Can't Wait

I am loving my 80s Groove 2 album and so I am going to talk about another forgotten classic. Nu Shooz, I Can't Wait. I bought this single back in the 80s and thought it was the best thing ever. What do you know? It turns out it really is. Another song to bop around the kitchen to.  Yet more research for this blog tells me that Nu Shooz were a husband and wife team from Portland, Oregon. I was not expecting that, I thought they'd be Danish or something.

I am amazed to discover the video on YouTube has over two million hits. Wow, that's a lot of Nu Shooz fans! Check out her hair - pure 80s style.

The Pointer Sisters

Yet again I am wondering why I've been so slow to blog about something so fundamental. The Pointer Sisters; one of the best bands ever. There's not even a trace of irony in that statement. So tonight I was cooking supper and decided to listen to a new album I bought on iTunes the other day. When I say new, I don't mean new music, I rarely buy new music seeing as how I am stuck in the 80s. I bought 80s Groove Volume 2 - it's by the Ministry of Sound so that makes it cool, right?

I was grooving on down and then Jump by The Pointer Sisters came on. What a song this is. I appreciate Girls Aloud as much as the next pop-obsessed chick but come on, The Pointer Sisters version blows theirs out of the water. It's groove-tastic, I defy anyone to sit still during it, even Hugh Grant couldn't in Love Actually (a film I must blog about at some point, not because I love it, quite the contrary).

The Pointer Sisters had some classics. Along with Jump, I offer you Automatic, I'm So Excited and Neutron Dance for your delectation. All fantastic. Did you know they were actually sisters called Pointer. I love that. I'm a bit upset to discover June Pointer died in 2006 and I didn't even know. It's five years too late but RIP June.

Let's groove along to this great video.

Almost Famous

Almost Famous is such a great movie and if you've not seen it, you really must. #3245 reason to feel old: it's eleven years old - how on earth did that happen?

It's a wonderfully innocent movie about a kid who goes on the road with a band and learns about life. It  has some fabulous performances including Frances McDormand's classic line: "rock stars kidnapped my son!"

Kate Hudson isn't totally annoying in this (just quite annoying) and Anna Paquin looks about twelve.

I love that the tour bus is called Doris, that the groupies are called Band Aids and most of all I love it for the line, "I am a golden god!" It is a total desert island movie and it has one scene I never tire of watching, here it is. Thank you Elton.

A celebration of summer one-hit wonders

At last we have some sunny hot weather in London and my thoughts turned to cheesy summertime hits. These fall into two categories: classic summer hits (Club Tropicana, La Isla Bonita etc) and one-hit wonders that remind you of two weeks in the Costa Del Sol. Today we shall be focusing on the latter.

First up, Sabrina with Boys Boys Boys. There are no words for this other than to say this was before FHM magazine and teenage boys had to look at something. Really one of the worst songs ever made but without a doubt, a summer song.

Baltimora, Tarzan Boy. I have something of a soft spot for this. It's so ridiculous, how could you not smile when you hear it?

Moving into the 90s, we have Saturday Night by Whigfield. It's worth remembering that a dance routine being involved adds to the summer fun.

Speaking of which, Macarena! I love this one. The two old dudes look like they can't believe their luck!

Finally, Las Ketchup! I kid you not when I say this is Teenboy's favourite song. Maybe not of all time but he certainly likes it enough to comment when it comes on the radio. It's worth pointing out he is a Motorhead fan. I also like this, it's very summery and happy.

What have I missed? I know there are loads so comment me up people. You've all been very quiet recently, are you on a Spanish beach somewhere sipping sangria?