**note: you will have to forgive my ramblings before the songs. i am stream-of-consciousness typing, so these are prone to sentence fragments, run-ons, and general... messed-upped-ness. ._.
ABBA - S.O.S.
this is a song that Pete Townshend calls "the best pop song ever written". despite my intense love for other abba songs, i have to agree. it has every element that makes pop music what it is. for that reason and even though it is not my absolute favorite abba (but it is close), i have to pick this 1975 single to represent the group in this entry. incidentally, this is the only top 10 (possibly top 100, even) song in which the artist and song title are palindromes.
The B-52's - Dance this Mess Around
WHY DON'T YOU DANCE WITH ME???!!!! I'M NOT NO LIMBURGERRRRRR!!!!!
WHY DON'T YOU DANCE WITH ME??!?!! I'M NOT NO LIMBURGERRRRR!!!!!!!
again, not my favorite track for the band, but their youtube presence is low, especially for my favorite songs. this one is from their first (yellow) self-titled album. one of the few groups in which the songwriting is done as a group effort, so everyone gets credit (and therefore royalties).
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6QpiGh76zTk
(skip to about the 1:00 mark in the video.)
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
this could have been any song, really... i just feel like listening to this now.
a note about the video... as much as i love robert smith, i wish he wouldn't use ovation guitars. they're so fucking ugly. i hate them, ugh. the 12 string is slightly less ugly than the standard ones, but still. my eyes.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ORc5Td_T6og
Depeche Mode - Strangelove
fuck. i love this song so. much. ughhhh. there aren't words really. i'm posting the original (because it's the original), but there are some bad ass remixes of this that take it to a totally new level. i especially like the darker mixes that bring out the dirtiness.
i'm always willing to learn when you've got something to teach...
Erasure - Sometimes
here's one that i belt out shamelessly in the car, hand motions and all. love it.
incidentally, for all the abba-haters out there, Erasure's "ABBA-esque" EP gave them their first #1... a testament to the power of the greatest.pop.group.in.the.world. =P
oooo, sometimes.. the truth is harder than the pain inside
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
- and my personal god, Lindsey Buckingham (who began honing his production skills at this time) you explore the far left side of the palate and open-handedly slap everyone - your bandmates, your label, top 40 radio, your prior discography, your fans, your potential fans - across the face with an album and single like "Tusk". Tusk will ALWAYS be my favorite album, even if it sold 18 million copies fewer than its predecessor and, in spite of 5 million copies of a DOUBLE album (thats still 10 million vinyl records, people) was called a disappointment. it is a masterpiece. if you get a copy, listen to it 5 to 10 times, and still can't learn to appreciate it... i don't like your musical taste. or you.
weeka wakka weeka.. ooga hagga hooga.. reeealll savage like
The Go-Go's - Head Over Heels
the first all female band to write their own songs and play their own instruments and top the charts. they don't get enough respect, but i am all about The Go-Go's. although my tendency is to default to "vacation", i'm going with "head over heels" here because it probably actually is my favorite. i love the piano.. and the CLAP.. that happens periodically. this is another one that makes me quite a sight in my car. i go off on it. 
http://youtube.com/watch?v=N9nqCM8Ito8
Heart - Crazy On You
Ann and Nancy. that voice. those guitar skills. what a pair. in lots of classic rock communities and discussions, people shittalk Heart, and i think it's undeserved. yeah, they strayed in the 80s, but i don't think it was the Wilson sisters' fault, and i will gladly wear my Heart t-shirt with pride. if you are a little girl who is into rock records and guitars, it is really hard to find a female role model who has "made it". enter Nancy Wilson, and my God can she tell a six string what the fuck is up.
wild man's world is crying in pain, whatcha gonna do when everybody's insane? so afraid of one who's so afraid of you, whatcha gonna doooooooo?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9nnv6lVglnk
INXS - Need You Tonight
okay, i can't NOT pick need you tonight. uuuughhhnnnnn michael hutchence ughhhnnnnnnn. that is all.
there's something a.bout.you.girl. that makes me sweat.
Joy Division - Atmosphere
joy division? yes, i think so. ♥
your confusion.. my illusion.. worn like a mask of self-hate.. confronts and then dies. don't walk away.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0We9d5J3BLQ
The Kinks - I'm Not Like Everybody Else
so, in the early-mid 60s, we have The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Kinks. Obviously, for me The Beatles have to be #1... but I will definitely take The Kinks over The 'Stones and The Who ANY day. I am usually alone in this ordering: Beatles, Kinks, Stones, Who.. but the Stones and Who could easily be swapped around at any given time, they are quite mediocre to me, mainly because of the songwriting, even if I do appreciate their star-power. anyway. it'd be easy to pick "all day and all of the night", "you really got me", or "so tired of waiting for you" to rep the Kinks here, but this tune is my favorite for the band. i just wish the chorus at the end would repeat out longer, especially with the backing vocal echo.
(ignore the video, i have no idea wtf this guy is about, but it's the only one i could find with the studio version of the song.)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cmfIb5u59QQ
Lindsey Buckingham - Time Bomb Town
okay, so i'm cheating by going by his first name, but i had to get him in here. i have the same problem here as i did with the fleetwood mac section above... choosing only one from the man i worship as a god. (i actually imagine that god looks somewhat like lindsey buckingham.) anyway. so my solution to this problem is to actually choose a song that is buried deeeep within his catalogue. never on a lindsey disc.. just the original soundtrack for "back to the future" (of all things). i love every lindsey buckingham song to an equal degree but for varying reasons. my favorite type of love for lindsey is the quirky love, and i think this sums that up just fine.
i got a bad complication. i keep it to myself...
wuh-OH oh Oh ho oh OH! uhhunghn. wuh-uH ohOH oh uh uh OH!
wuh-ba ba ba ba ba ba yeeahhh
