High School Music of the 80's

I grew up in the 80's, and I still think my high school era had the best music ever. Now my mom argues a strong case for her 1950's high school days, and that was some great music as well. Who can really beat out Elvis, right? But with all due respect to every other decade of great music, the 80's were the best. An excellent AC article on 80's music was recently written by John Myers, check it out here: www.associatedcontent.com/article/1953212/top_ten_one_hit_wonders_of_the_1980s.html . His article inspired me to think back to my 4 years of high school, and some of my favorite songs of that time period. My California high school years were 1984-1988 and the following are some of my favorites during that time.

1984- Cyndi Lauper "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Though it technically came out in 1983, it got a lot of air time in '84 when I was a freshman in H.S. This was the song I danced around to and sung along with on MTV. You remember those days, back when MTV actually played music videos? Good times. I still love Cindy Lauper and when I happen to catch this song on my 80's station on Sirius Radio, I crank it! Check out the Girls Just Want to Have Fun video here: www.youtube.com/watch

1985- Depeche Mode "People are People". I liked a variety of music in the 80's, but Depeche Mode was one of my favorite bands, hands down. This was and still is one of my favorite songs to yell/sing along with. My sophomore year I was starting to see the cliques and the separation of people at school. I was becoming more aware of how cruel folks could be if they thought you were different than them. "So we're different colors and we're different creeds and different people have different needs..." You can see this video at: www.youtube.com/watch

1986- Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force "All Cried Out" and Ric Ocasek from The Cars singing "Emotion in Motion". Those were 2 songs I loved in 1986, and both of them made me think of relationships I was in at that moment. That Lisa Lisa song fit perfectly for the end of my first real relationship. Ric Ocasek's song only made it to #15 on the charts, but it was #1 in my heart, as was the person I was seeing when the song came out. No names are forthcoming! Lisa Lisa video at: www.youtube.com/watch
Ric Ocasek's video is here: www.youtube.com/watch

1987- U2 "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Who would have thought that a song that applied to my life at 17, would still apply at age 39? Sheesh! Oh well, it is still a great song by one of the best bands of all time. The album was The Joshua Tree and this song was #1 on Billboard Hot 100. At least I'm not nearly as confused now as I was at 17, you could not pay me enough to be that age again. Anyway, here's the link to this video: www.youtube.com/watch

1988- So many great songs that year, but I'll go with Rick Astley and "Never Gonna Give You Up". Whenever I hear this song on my 80's station, I remember a trip to a track meet with my coach. I use to get motion sickness on buses, so I rode with her to Bakersfield for our meet. I had been on again, off again in a couple of relationships and when Rick started singing, "Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you..." I snickered and rolled my eyes. Coach inquired about my reaction so I told her the song was crap because people say those things but never mean them. She said I was the most jaded 17 year old she ever met! Ha. It was true. I still snicker at the song, I like the song, but I still think its crap. Here's a link to the Rick Astley video but I warn you, his dancing is ridiculous!: www.youtube.com/watch

As I said, the 80's music was great, and it is probably why I often listen to the 80's station in my car! It reminds me of many fun times, and not so fun moments, all of which I survived. Here's a special shout out to a few other great 80's bands or artists, Prince, The Go-Go's,Duran Duran and The Cure!

Source: Me