Watching, Watching Out

The John Hughes lovefest has me thinking and rethinking, making my own secret history of the 1980s. For those of us who don't care to sup at the nostalgic breakfast club, there are other things to recall, like this, which is very very '80s and still totally wonderful. How can you go wrong with a band featuring Adrian Belew and David van Tieghem, one of the coolest men in the world? (Get him a Dos XX commercial!) And why did Anderson have to give up on song so much? Oh well.



Or, for something of a different funk, there's this blast from Ryuichi Sakamoto, that's both silly and hot all at the same time. (That might be my goal in life, now that I think about it. And I didn't say I achieved my goal, so no snide comments.)



Thank god for mixed tapes and my car old enough to still play them. For there's also this, a great pop song from Joan Armatrading, who, alas, mostly exists for me as a PiT--that is pre-iTunes, only on vinyl, disappearing from musical memory. Damn digital. This video couldn't be more '80s, and there's something sad that the "story" has to have white people star in it, as if Joan is too scary. (Or perhaps too lesbian, but she's never quite come out, so who am I to poke around in her closet.) Nonetheless, this song is why I cannot believe in Top 40 (does that term mean anything anymore?)--how something this catchy was not a monster hit I'll never know. I'm ever left alone in my home of non-popular taste.