A Time Travel Machine ?

The less I can say is: time flies!

Maybe you thought I found a Time Travel Machine and went back to the eighties? :-)

Well, too bad I did not find it yet!

I'm still alive and I still love music from the eighties. 80's songs are still amongst the one I prefer and I know I'm not the only one to think that way...

I've seen that despite my lack of update, this blog was still receiving several visits per day! It amazed me but most of all, it motivates me to put some efforts in it to make it back to live! :-)

But that won't be an easy thing to do... you know the song: so many things to do and so few time to do those...

Moreover, I'm now wondering if this blog is the best way to present you the results of my searches... I think that a "real" website might be easier to use for you. But that also means even more designing work for me... So... we'll see how motivated I am...

One thing is sure 80's music still rocks, during summer festivals around here in Belgium bands such as Frankie Goes To Hollywood and The Human League was performing again.

Madness released a new album and I've also recently heard a new released from Bananarama!!

And those of you who heard last Robbie Willams'song will have obviously noticed the "eighties colour" of it, as it sounds like ska music from Madness.

Hope to be back soon! See you! ;-)

George Michael

George who? Hehe, just kidding... ;-)

If you did not spent your last 20 years in a bunker without radio and television, I guess I don't need to tell you who George Michael is!

Just a quick note on him today to let you know that on 10th februray 1985, George Michael's hit "Careless Whisper" finally crossed the ocean and hit the number one position in US charts... In UK, this song hit the first place on august'84 already!!! 6 months to cross the ocean... what a record! ;-)

The story of this song is a bit original, because I'm still not sure if it has to be considered as a George Michael's song or a Wham!'s song... In Uk, the song was published as a solo from George and in the US it was credited to Wham! featuring George Michael !!! Actually, it looks like the song was written by George Michael together with Andrew Ridgeley, but this ballad didn't fit well with the image Wham! had with their upbeat songs...

At the end, it appeared well on Wham!'s second album "Make it big", this was their breakthrough album as it also contained the hits "Wake me up before you go-go", "Everything she wants" and "Freedom". You can click here to listen to samples of those.

I'll talk again about Wham! in another post and I'll try then to know what Andrew Ridgeley became, but that's another story...

If you want to read more about this song's story, click here.

Kenny Rogers a country's star?

Today, I want to talk about Kenny Rogers. I think that anybody in the US knows who he is. Kenny Rogers is a monument in US music's history! He's also well known all over the world, but probably far less, because the country music is, for instance, not so popular in Europe (where I'm from)...

I have to say to be honest that I do know his name and I even know his face, but I could hardly sing one of his songs! By the way, it's quite funny to see how much his face is popular... I even found a funny website where you can send pictures of all the men that looks like Kenny! You should have a look here just for fun... ;-)

But is Kenny Rogers "only" a country music's star, certainly not! He also wrote great love songs such as "Through the years", "She believes in me", "You decorated my life", and "Lady" the biggest song of his career. Actually, I didn't know what "Lady" was for a song, then I watched the video ... and now, I'm very ashamed... This song is really a BIG BIG HIT!

The reason why I'm talking about Kenny Rogers today is because it's the day Kenny reached the first place in 1980 in UK charts with the song "Coward of the county". This song was such a success that an TV movie based on it was created... and Kenny himself played in it!

Nevertheless, the 80's are not the best years for Kenny regarding the music charts... he spent times to some new activities such as photography, he even published several well-received photography books...

I can't sum up his 50 years long career here, but make sure Kenny is still "alive and kicking"! He recorded 58 (!) albums which have sold over 100 millions records worlwide... His "42 Ultimate Hits" album has also sold several millions of records...and he's still touring...

I'll let him finish this post:

"I've always been like a boomerang. You can throw me away, but you can rest assured, I'm coming back!"

More info on Kenny Rogers on his official site, click here.

Other Kenny Rogers great site, click here.

The funny site: Men who look like Kenny Rogers

Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson

On 3rd February 1985, Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson reached the first place in the UK charts with the song "'I know him so well'"... That's a fact, but to be honest, when I read that I thought "I know them so few" !!! ;-)

But maybe I should be ashamed for not knowing them, because this song is even in the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest-selling record by a female duo! Impressive, isn't it?

I have to say that when I watched the video, I recognized the music. It's the kind of music that has been used so many times for tv shows, movies, ceremonies, ads, etc... quite popular indeed!

So probably this success owes a lot to the musicians that composed it: Björn Ulvaues and Benny Andersson... Who are those guys?!? Well, those guys are the founders (and the 2 B's) from ABBA !! Which I'm sure you know! :-)

Following ABBA's end, Björn and Benny embarked on a theatrical career, writing stage musicals. One of them being the very successfull "Chess" where "I know him so well" is coming from...

So, let's get back to our female duo... what are those women doing nowadays?

Elaine Paige is a very experienced singer and actress, but her 30-years carreer has been dominated by musicals. She played in all the main musicals such as : "Cats", "Jesus-Christ Superstar", "Evita", "Grease", "Hair", "Piaf", "The King and I"... but meanwhile she has recorded 14 solo albums!

Barbara Dickson began playing music as a child. Their biggest hits were produced during the start of the eighties... Barbara also played in several musicals: of course "Chess", "Evita" and "Blood Brothers" which provided Barbara with her first major acting role... During the eighties, her music was going back to her roots: the folk music rahter than pop music. In the mean time, she diversified more and more into acting with parts on radio and television, including a guest role in the popular crime series, "Taggart". Since then, she played in other series ("Band Of Gold"), turned back to theatre with a one-woman show "The 7 Ages Of Woman" and the musical "Spend, Spend, Spend".

Singer, actress, songwriter and even presenter - Barbara Dickson is one of the most versatile and in-demand performers working today! In January 2005, she was starring as Miss Sherman in "Fame"...

More info on Elaine Paige, click here.

More info on Barbara Dickson, click here.

Foreigner "I Want to Know What Love Is"

22d January 1985 (ooops sorry, I'm a week late!) is a great day for UK's charts... Why? Because at last, the Band Aid is not number one anymore!!! ;-)

So, who managed to take the place of a band of 20 top pop-rock musicians? Well, it took 6 musicians called Foreigner and their hit single: "I Want to Know What Love Is". This song is coming from their fifth album "Agent Provocateur" (let alone the best-of and live albums) and is almost their last very successfull song since then... Only in 1993 (after 7 years with no new releases) their album "Mr. Moonlight" contained also another top 10 hit: "Until The End Of Time".

We could easily say that this hit was kind of Foreigner's swansong... but don't worry too much for them, they're still selling a lot of albums. Of course, nothing really new but they do have some very great hits in their repertory, that are regularly re-edited or remixed in some best-of or live album...

Let's remember some of those (click on the links to listen to samples): "Urgent", "I Don't Want To Live Without You" and THE classical love song "Waiting For A Girl Like You" ! (What a song!)

"Urgent" and "Waiting For A Girl Like You" are from what is probably their best album simply called "4 ". Nearing the 10 million mark in sales, "4 " is amongst the most successful rock albums of all time.
In 2002, the band celebrated their 25th Anniversary and decided to embark in a tour hoping to show the world they're still alive and planning to release a new album... Since then, they did sell videos and DVD's of that 25th Anniversary Tour... but still nothing new... and even on their official website the last updated news was the release of that DVD...

Will we ever hear them again with something new?...

More info on Foreigner :

http://www.foreigneronline.com (official website)

http://www.foreignerfiles.com/ (fans website)

Urgent - Bloggers need to read this...

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What's up this year ?!?

Hey all!

I can't believe I let you 20 days without any updates!!! "Shame on you!" should you say... Yeah, you're right!

I have to admit I was a bit lazy during these holiday times, but believe it or not, back in 1985, nothing moved in the UK charts during this period!
As I already told you, "Do They Know it's Christmas?" stayed number one for 4 months!!! I'm glad this year's cover is not going to do the same! ;-)

Regarding the US charts, we already talked about Madonna... I can already tell you that next one to reach first place will be Foreigner, but that's not for today yet... Sorry!

Seeing that some hit singles stayed very long time in the eighties charts (not changing as fast as nowadays!) I've chosen a BIG New Year's resolution: I will also do some searches on the hits of the early eighties. As I started this blog called "20 Years ago... Music of the 80's" in the middle of this decade... It means that we would miss the first half of the 80's !!! This is unacceptable!!!

This way, I hope you'll have more frequent updates about your favourite singers and bands from the 80's... and that you'll enjoy the trip back there!

See you soon! ;-)

If you want to know what we'd miss by ignoring the years from 1980 to 1984, click on the image below and listen to the samples...

Happy New Year !

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

I wish you all the best for the New Year. May 2005 bring you everything you need and everything you wish. Let's hope music in 2005 will be good enough to appear in my blog in 20 years from now...

Come back here in several days to see who reached the first places in the 1985's charts, but for now let's celebrate the New Year!!!

Madonna is coming...

Ok, I told you than in UK charts nothing moved at the first place during 4 months... But, Americans were luckier as they welcomed on their charts' first place the one and only Luise Veronica Ciccone worlwide known as Madonna!

Well, for this one I guess there is no need to tell you what she became since then... so, what I could do is maybe refresh your memory a bit...

Madonna's debut LP, "Madonna" was released in September 1983. Her first single to enter the charts was "Holiday". One year later, her second album called "Like a Virgin" is released and both the album and single reach the first place in the U.S. in december.

Since then, she did something every year to make sure we're not forgetting her. That was not only albums, but a lot of world tours, some "scandalous" books and several movies... and most of all, she always renewed herself successfully everytime it was needed. That is probably what made her stay at the top for so long.

Nowadays, Madonna seems to definetely have chosen Spirituality rather than Sexuality. Her "scandalous" life is over, she's now married with 2 children. She's writing Tales for Children and she even decided to change her name to Esther, a name more suiting Kabbalah's rules...

Would 2005 be the year of Esther's first album... wait and see...

To review the whole Madonna's career and even watch all their videos, visit her official website by clicking here: Madonna's Official Website

Again, if I'm not updating before then, I'm already wishing you all a

Merry Christmas!

May Peace and Love be with you all!

Band Aid "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Sorry, I've been sooo long to update my blog, but you'll see why this is not so "urgent" to update it...

Unless you are less than 20 years old, you can't have forgotten this hit from 1984: the Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?". This song was played so many times on radios during 4 months(!!!) and still is during each Christmas period that I'm sure all of you could sing it right away!

What you might not be able to do is to list all the band/singers that were part of this Band Aid? If you want to try, you have to know they were 20 of them... Ok, stop to read until you find them back, then compare your list with the one below:

Bananarama
Bob Geldof
Culture Club
David Bowie
Duran Duran
Eurythmics
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Heaven 17
Human League
Kool and the Gang
Midge Urge
Paul McCartney
Paul Young
Phil Collins
Spandau Ballet
Status Quo
Sting
The Style Council
U2
Wham!

The aim of this song written by Sir Bob Geldof, was to collect funds to feed and help children in Ethiopia. Fifty million copies were sold. It sold over 3 million copies in the UK alone. Midge Ure was the co-producer, and he accompanied the first relief shipment of food and medical supplies to Ethiopa, March 11, 1985.

If you'd like to have the original song on CD, you'll find it on If I was: The Very Best of Midge Ure and Ultravox. By the way, this song is probably the least reason to buy this album, but songs like "If I was", "Vienna", and "Fade to Grey" make it a "must have" album for all the 80's fans!

Now here is the bad news for those who hated having heard that song sooo much... It's back again! Yes, 20 years later this song is back "thanks to" a new band called Band Aid 20. This new band consists of:

Beverley Knight
Bono
Busted
Chris Martin (Coldplay)
Daniel Bedingfield
Danny Goffey (Supergrass)
Dido
Dizzie Rascal
Estelle
Feeder
Fran Healy (Travis)
Jamelia
Joss Stone
Justin Hawkins (Darkness)
Katie Melua
Keane
Lemar
Ms Dynamite
Natasha Bedingfield
Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy)
Paul McCartney
Rachel Stevens
Robbie Williams
Roisin Murphy (Moloko)
Shaznay Lewis
Skye (Morcheeba)
Snow Patrol
The Sugababes
The Thrills
Will Young

This song jumped on the UK hits' first place right away, but I'm not sure this success will last as long as the previous one... I'm quite sure that next year at Christmas, we'll hear 84's version again and probably not this one anymore...
Anyway, this year the funds collected are for helping victims of the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. So, I guess it's a good thing to buy the song... but nobody said you have to listen to it! ;-)

If you wish to learn more about this project and/or download the song/ringtone, click on the following link : Band Aid 20

As the original song occupied the first place during 4 months, you know now why my update was not that "urgent"! I'll have to find another trick to know who I'll be talking about for the next weeks!...

Anyway, if I'm not updating before then, I'm already wishing you all a

Merry Christmas!

May Peace and Love be with you all!

Would you wish have some typical Christmas songs, check there Christmas songs

Hall & Oates "Out of Touch"

Yesterday, I told you who was on UK charts' first place... Today, I'm going to talk about the ones that reached the first place in US charts 20 years ago... It was Hall & Oates with the song "Out of Touch".

Hall & Oates' duet was formed in the 70's already but their biggest hits songs are part of the 80's history. To be honest, before doing some searches on them, I did not clearly remember what they sang, but just click on the following links to listen some samples, and I'm sure you'll say: "Ooh, that's from them?!? I know that song!". So, here are the ones I easily remember when listening to : "Out of Touch ", "I can't go for that...(no) ", and the more famous "Maneater " and "Kiss on My List ".

I thought this group disappeared at the end of the 80's, but actually they are still there... They might be a bit less successful than in the 80's but they are touring regularly and have just released a new album in October '04 named "Our Kind of Soul ". This album contains mainly cover versions of soul standards and is kind of a tribute to legendary soul music stars such as Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Barry White, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin...

2005 might be the year of their come-back to international success... Seems Hall & Oates are trendy again, as a new dance release of "Out of Touch" by Uniting Nations is currently climbing in the charts...

More info on Hall & Oates: http://www.hallandoates.de/

Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Already a week has passed, and I gave you no information...

I'm very sorry! :-(
Here is the method I will use to know who I'm going to talk about: I'll check who was N°1 in the charts 20 years ago in the UK and the US.
So, this week back in 1984, the number one in the UK was Frankie Goes to Hollywood with "The Power of Love". This song is probably one of their biggest hits just after their famous "Relax" and "Two Tribes" that both stayed 5 weeks n°1 on UK charts.

The video was also great but MTV forced YouTube to remove its videos... So, here's the song from a tv show:

The band broke up in April 1987. All the members are still more or less in the music business but they never reached the same success level than the one they reached with FGTH... Only the lead singer Holly Johnson managed to have a quite successfull solo career. His first solo album "Blast" reached n°1 in the UK charts. This album contains 3 hit singles "Americanos", "Love Train" and "Atomic War". In 1991, Holly discovers he is HIV positive. He stops making music and begins writing his autobiography ("A Bone In My Flute" published by Century in 1994) , painting and coming to terms with his diagnosis. Nowadays, he's mostly involved in paintings even if he still occasionally sings and produces others.

On the 18th November 2004, all the members of FGTH but Holly, performed together again for the Prince' s Trust at Wembley. That was a great success so they might be back in 2005!

More info about FGTH there: http://welcome.to/fgth/

More info about Holly Johnson there:http://www.hollyjohnson.com/

Listen to samples of FGTH's greatest hits by clicking the image below:

Welcome to all! Read this first...

Hi all,

This is my first post and I want to welcome warmly all of you! ;-)
I guess you found this blog because you like 80's music, so do I!
When listening "old" good songs from the eighties, I'm often wondering: "What the hell happened to that singer/band? They used to be so popular?"
Well, now I decided I would not just threw those questions in the air, but I will investigate to find out the answers... and I'll bring them back to you here!

If you have any suggestion on who you would like me to look for, just let me know?
For now, I'll do my searches on a non-specific order, but if you request s.o. I'll do that one first!

I hope you'll enjoy this blog and will help me to make it great!