![]() Michael Jackson and U2 dominated music in 1987. “Crazy” is one of those old-fashioned love songs with a rock edge, and it’s too bad more people don’t remember it these days. The song is a meaty modern rock track with an equal balance of synths and soaring guitars, and lead singer Iva Davies’ Bowie-esque vocals are as glorious as his big ‘80s hair. The protagonist of “Crazy” thinks that the woman who loves him is insane to do so – she’s apparently rich, while he does without – but he’s happy to be with her. But the single that preceded it, “Crazy,” was a much better, more epic rock song. Of their two hits here, “Electric Blue” was the most successful (it garnered a lot of attention because John Oates of Hall & Oates co-wrote it with the band), peaking at number seven on the Hot 100. The Australian band Icehouse only had a pair of big hits here in the States, but they’ve had a prolonged career Down Under. We sometimes get the mistaken impression that, just because an artist didn’t have a long run of hits in the U.S., they weren’t successful elsewhere. Though he continued to generate hits through the ’90s, Anderson didn’t make an impact beyond the country world after “Swingin’.” Perhaps his distinctive style just didn’t lend itself to crossover success. Anderson’s distinctive twang and the cheesiness of the song made it an irresistible earworm. “Swingin’” became the second single from Anderson’s Wild and Blue album, and soon after he topped the country charts, the song made its way on to pop radio, barely missing the top 40. Against the backdrop of normal family life, Charlotte and the song’s protagonist swing on the front porch and become a couple. In 1982 he co-wrote a song about a young man who falls in love with a neighbor named Charlotte Johnson. ![]() Anderson developed a distinctive voice and began to make a name for himself in the late ‘70s on the country charts. One of the most unusual songs to make a splash in the ‘80s was an anthem by a nasally voiced country singer celebrating the romantic appeal of sitting on a front porch swing.įlorida native John Anderson played in rock bands until he discovered outlaw country music and changed his style. These days, the song still sounds as wistful and fresh as it did back then. “Our House” is a brilliant pop tune with a gorgeous sound and a sentimental lyric that resonated with record buyers. A tableau of family life – dad rushing to work, mom taking care of the house, siblings playing or getting ready to go out – couched in a bouncy song gave a generation of pop music listeners a sense of domestic peace at a time when their families were likely falling apart. ![]() Most of the memories the band mentions in the song are universal enough for everyone to identify with, at least for ‘80s kids and older. A breezy, nostalgic look at growing up in working-class Britain, the song drenches its sentimental fun in horns and strings. ![]() One of the premier bands in that ‘80s UK ska scene was Madness.Īs huge as they were in Britain, Madness only had a couple of hits in the United States, and “Our House” was their biggest single. But in the late ‘70s and into the ‘80s, ska had a strong resurgence in Great Britain. The genre enjoyed a weird, tongue-in-cheek revival in the ‘90s. Ska music started out in Jamaica in the ‘60s and ‘70s and became the forerunner to reggae.
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