Possibly the cheesiest song ever to come out of the 1980's. Yet it is so much better than the utter rubbish that continues to fill the charts today.
Russ Abbot was quite a celebrity during the 1980's. He had several primetime comedy sketch shows on the BBC (Remember Cooperman, C.U. Jimmy, and Basildon Bond). He also released a number of (unremarkable) singles, the most popular being this one.
Yes, the image of Russ Abbot arriving at a party on a bike, wearing a sweater, and showing us his moves on the dance floor will forever be imprinted in my memory until the day I die (and many others too it seems since it managed to peak at number 11 in the charts during February 1985 - obviously quite a few people went out and bought this). It's a fun song, and not to be taken seriously.
Come on, who is going to admit to having this in their vinyl/cassette singles collections?
Proof that good ol' Russ was actually beating Bryan Adams, Phil Collins, and even Tears for Fears for a time. Go Russ!
I'm feeling a bit down at the moment and while going through my vast library of songs on my hard drive, I was trying to find some tunes to cheer me up and put a smile on my face. After a bit of searching, I found and remembered this one...
... So... My next favourite track is a rarity from the Austrian dance group Edelweiss which never actually made it into the UK charts. It was released in 1992 but I didn't get to hear it until early 1995 during a Star Trek documentary on MTV to coincide with the then imminent release of the movie Star Trek Generations.
The song in question is... "Raumschiff Edelweiss", or in English, Starship Edelweiss.
Edeweiss were a popular eurodance/pop group in Europe during the late 80's and early 90s. I don't suppose many readers of my blog will know who they were and you might be surprised to hear that their hit song Bring Me Edelweiss actually reached number 5 in the UK charts back in May, 1989, beating the likes of The Bangles (Eterna Flame), Queen (I Want It All) and many others. Now, I'm no expert on the group, and as far as I can tell they only ever released one album - but what an album!
Raumschiff Edelweiss is a Star Trek-inspired spoof song (which in my opinion is miles better than The Firm's Star Trekkin') and features the original Star Trek theme, mixed with plenty of yodeling (which Edelweiss are well known for), a dance track, and a music video with some whacky visuals that could only have been made with the use of certain recreational drugs and high levels of alcohol consumption.
Have a listen, and give it a chance.... It's not all that bad!
AND if you liked that... The song had a follow up - called Planet Edelweiss (featured below) which I swear sounds like something that could have been 'tracked' on a Commodore Amiga! That’s a good thing by the way.
Yes they're cheesy, but I'm proud to admit I actually have this album in my music collection, and it always makes me smile. It's also the only place you will ever get to see a Klingon rapping and singing reggae!
The Safety Dance, from Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats will be forever in my childhood memories, as well as the memories of many people who grew up in the 1980's simply from its memorable video which accompanied the song featuring frontman Ivan Doroschuk and dwarf actor Mike Edmonds prancing about West Kington near Chippenham, South West England (amazing what you can find out from Wikipedia) showing the local townsfolk how to dance by repeatedly forming an "S" sign (S for Safety) by jerking both arms into a stiff pose.
The music video alone is pure 80's cheese but in my opinion, is better and more creative than anything produced today. The song is quite catchy too! If only they still made stuff like this! I'd buy it.
I love this song so much, I'm even going to post a video from the Status Quo cover. A damn good version from a band I'm not particularly keen on.
AND FINALLY..... I even have to admit that I quite like this version from Glee too! Sad or what!ARRRGGGGHHHHHH!
I have always felt that my childhood pretty much ended the day I walked out of my secondary school on Friday, June the 25th 1993 following my last GCSE exam, and some songs/bands remind me quite vividly of this time in my life, Ace of Base being one of them.
"The Sign" came out in November that same year, and will forever be imprinted in my memory due to the constant air time it had on the local radio station (Essex FM) when I was doing my work experience at the Evening Echo newspaper during my brief time at Basildon College in 1994.
The song was a big hit for Ace of Base, reaching a very impressive number 2 in the UK charts, and an even more impressive number 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 singles. It stayed in the charts for 16 weeks.
Now for me, the 90's wasn't really a great decade. Sure, it had a few good things going for it, but the music wasn't one of them. During the early 90s, my interest in music was almost non-existent apart from listening to Erasure, Jean Michel Jarre, Mike Oldfield, and a few movie soundtracks. I suppose this song, along with The Beloved's Sweet Harmony are the two songs that really define my musical tastes from those early years of a decade that to me will always be fondly remembered by me for playing my Amiga 500, getting my head around playing Magic The Gathering (some card game) with my friend Dan, ogling over Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax in Star Trek Deep Space Nine) and watching Noel's House Party on a Saturday evening.
Anyway, on a separate note - I do really hope to update my blog with more posts over the next couple of weeks (and not just music and game covers). Work has been considerably busy and stressful and has pretty much taken over my life. I'm literally living and breathing servers, and computers to the point where I'm even losing sleep! Yes I know it's not healthy, but what can I do.... It pays the bills!!!
Onwards and upwards, and don't forget you can check out my other favourite songs by clicking here.
Nik Kershaw was (still is?) one of my sister's favourite artists and like Howard Jones, he was heard many times through the thin walls that separated our bedrooms. Released way back in 1984, Wouldn't It Be Good was released as the second single from his Human Racing album (the others being I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, Dancing Girls, and Human Racing). I was never really that fond of the song when I was younger, but that was probably due to hearing it over, and over again. However, as with many things from my childhood, it has grown on me immensely and I've really come to appreciate and enjoy Nik's work. Perhaps it's the nostalgia that comes with listening to him or the feeling of reliving the 80s again? Either way, it's a really good song. Modern musical artists should take note.
It spent 15 weeks in the charts, peaking at a very impressive number 4. The music video is memorable for featuring Nik Kershaw as an alien wearing an insanely bright (and animated) suit, created using chroma key technology.
Enjoy!
"Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoes
Even if it was just for one day
And wouldn't it be good if we could wish ourselves away
Wouldn't it be good to be on your side
The grass is always greener over there
And wouldn't it be good if we could live without a care"
Also, check out this insanely brilliant version of the song, recorded at the 80s Classical event in Leeds 2019. Nik Kershaw performs Wouldn't It Be Good with the Orchestra of Opera North.
