Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 30 - Madness (Cardiac Arrest)

For the 30th in my list of favourite songs, I've gone with Madness and Cardiac Arrest.  In all fairness, I could have gone with any of their major hits from the early 1980s as I've always enjoyed listening to my Dads "Complete Madness" album going back to when I was little.

Now, why have I gone with this particular track?  Simple really....

a)  I absolutely love it
b)  This song could very well be the soundtrack to my life!

From what I can work out, the song is about a family man (average husband, with wife and kids - sounds familiar) who lets his work take over his life and who has become a workaholic (yep... definitely sounds familiar).  He is shown becoming rather agitated and stressed over simple things like the bus running late, and getting to work for an important meeting.  Ultimately it ends with him suffering a heart attack on the way to work.  I can honestly say it's a carbon copy of my life at the moment, just without the heart attack... yet!

Sound advice really - Don't let work take over your life and ruin your family time.  Perhaps I should heed the advice given by Suggs and the rest of the gang and change the way I look at work.

Easier said than done. 

The song was released on the 12th February 1982 and remained in the charts for 10 weeks, peaking at number 14.

Anyway, enjoy this 40 year old classic!

Game Covers - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Commodore 64)

Pick up your trilby and trusty bullwhip and don the mantle of the legendary Indiana Jones!  Prepare yourself for your most dangerous adventure yet - to storm the evil Temple of Doom ad rescue the imprisoned children and the magical Stones of Sankara!  Beware the foes and hazards that block your way.  The Thuggee guards will fight to the finish and poisonous cobra snakes will rise up in front of you.  You will traverse perilous ledges, ride the underground railway, and cross the bottomless fiery pit in pursuit of your quest!

You will call on all your reserves of courage, strength, and skill.  Push yourself o the limit, ride your luck and the magical stones may just be yours!

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Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 29 - Russ Abbot (Atmosphere)

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!

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 28 - Edelweiss (Raumschiff Edelweiss)

Erm....  Where do I start with this one?

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! 

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 27 - Men Without Hats (The Safety Dance)

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!

Game Covers - Head Over Heels (Commodore 64)

Comical
Dazzling
Enthralling

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