ooh this is a tough one
― surm, Saturday, 25 January 2014 10:47 (ten years ago) link
Uptown Girl for me. One of the first songs I remember. Fun to sing along with. What's not to like?
― Frederik B, Saturday, 25 January 2014 10:47 (ten years ago) link
yeah i was gonna say that. i just saw the video for the first time. can we just say ...
― surm, Saturday, 25 January 2014 10:49 (ten years ago) link
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/05/31/article-2333287-1A13CC81000005DC-596_634x459.jpg
Don't know whether to go with "Uptown Girl", "The Safety Dance", "King of Pain" or "Overkill".
― Frontier Psychiatrist, Saturday, 25 January 2014 10:59 (ten years ago) link
yea how do u argue with king of pain
― surm, Saturday, 25 January 2014 11:00 (ten years ago) link
Safety dance. But there are a surprising number of good songs here
― LimbsKing, Saturday, 25 January 2014 12:14 (ten years ago) link
How can I choose between 'Safety Dance' and 'Mr. Roboto'? HOW CAN I CHOOSE?
― emil.y, Saturday, 25 January 2014 15:48 (ten years ago) link
marvin easy over men at work, donna summer, alan parsons
― balls, Saturday, 25 January 2014 16:06 (ten years ago) link
I'm appalled no one's mentioned "She Works Hard For the Money," so I will.
The runners-up:
OverkillHungry Like a WolfEye in the SkySexual HealingKing of Pain
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 25 January 2014 16:06 (ten years ago) link
One of these:
Men Without Hats – "The Safety Dance"Marvin Gaye – "Sexual Healing"Duran Duran – "Hungry Like the Wolf"
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 25 January 2014 16:17 (ten years ago) link
Overkill
― kornrulez6969, Saturday, 25 January 2014 16:52 (ten years ago) link
These years constitute some of my very earliest musical memories, so its odd that I don't feel all that passionate about any of these. Couldn't even tell you how "Heart Attack," "Eye in the Sky," "Harden My Heart," "Union of the Snake" or "Overkill" go, though maybe I just don't know that I know them.
Voted "Uptown Girl" at least partially for its brilliant use in that Simpsons episode with Martin Mull and George Carlin.
― Inside Lewellyn Sinclair (cryptosicko), Saturday, 25 January 2014 16:53 (ten years ago) link
"Eye in the Sky" over "Uptown Girl", "She Works Hard For the Money," "Sexual Healing", and "King of Pain"
hope Henley wins this poll with the lol votes though
― Euler, Saturday, 25 January 2014 16:54 (ten years ago) link
'dirty laundry' - henley vocals/lyrics is kinda awesome. stray cats least fave up there.
― balls, Saturday, 25 January 2014 16:58 (ten years ago) link
yeah I don't mind "Dirty Laundry", only figured out it was the Eagles guy ten years after the song was everywhere
like Rundgren's "Bang the Drum All Day", where I'd heard it out for years and had read about Rundgren for years but never figured out that THATS THE GUY
― Euler, Saturday, 25 January 2014 17:02 (ten years ago) link
ended up going with "Overkill"
― Frontier Psychiatrist, Saturday, 25 January 2014 17:54 (ten years ago) link
One vote for "Eye in the Sky" here.
― Set the Ctrl-Alt-Del for the heart of the sun (SlimAndSlam), Sunday, 26 January 2014 01:44 (ten years ago) link
"Eye In The Sky" and Steve Miller's "Abra Cadabra" were my jams in summer '82.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 26 January 2014 03:43 (ten years ago) link
music video was a factor beforehand but man you can really see that impact from 'uptown girl' on
― balls, Sunday, 26 January 2014 03:47 (ten years ago) link
omg. harden my heart v. safety dance v. hungry like the wolf v. union of the snake v. mr. roboto v. king of pain v. overkill. this is hard.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Sunday, 26 January 2014 03:52 (ten years ago) link
Sexual Healing and Safety Dance are wonderful, but... kinda feel like my irrational love for Union of the Snake needs to be represented SOMEwhere.
― mr.raffles, Sunday, 26 January 2014 04:09 (ten years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Friday, 31 January 2014 00:01 (ten years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Saturday, 1 February 2014 00:01 (ten years ago) link
'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance Well they're no friends of mine
― ۩, Saturday, 1 February 2014 00:11 (ten years ago) link
Haha, Henley stans in the woodwork.
― tbd (Eazy), Saturday, 1 February 2014 01:28 (ten years ago) link
ONJ track criminally overlooked!!
― Amne$ha (I M Losted), Monday, 10 February 2014 01:51 (ten years ago) link
"The Safety Dance" one of the worst songs ever. Loathe the vocal. Makes a case against Bowie as influence (reminds me Re-Flex's "The Politics of Dancing")
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 February 2014 01:55 (ten years ago) link
i like the safety dance in a kitsch-y way. but the pop goes the world album is MWH's best work, by far.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 10 February 2014 03:40 (ten years ago) link
"The Safety Dance" rules, was my 2nd choice after "Overkill"
― scott c-word (some dude), Monday, 10 February 2014 03:42 (ten years ago) link
overkill's is an underrated pop gem. best single from that band, by a mile.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 10 February 2014 03:43 (ten years ago) link
it's great how "Pop Goes The World" has gotten the exposure it deserves thanks to that commercial
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 February 2014 03:44 (ten years ago) link
love both "Overkill" and "It's a Mistake"
it's a mistake is a fun song. if you pay attention to lyrics, tho (and i do), it can be a little cringe-worthy.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 10 February 2014 03:45 (ten years ago) link
I'm trying to think of other briefly huge pop band whose most beloved hits are on the followup to the best seller.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 February 2014 03:49 (ten years ago) link
i'm not sure that's completely true about met at work ('down under' is overwhelmingly their most played track on last.fm and 'who can it be now?' has a huge lead over 'overkill' and 'it's a mistake') but i have often wondered about cargo and why the followup was such a relative flop. maybe it's just inevitable w/ a debut that successful but it's not like there was a huge backlash as far as i'm aware and it's not like that huge a percentage of their sales were to ppl who don't buy many records ie they weren't hootie and the blowfish.
― balls, Monday, 10 February 2014 04:04 (ten years ago) link
met at work = those awkward intermission interviews during the met live in hd screenings
― balls, Monday, 10 February 2014 04:06 (ten years ago) link
I'd need to read Paul Grein or somebody at Billboard at the time who said Cargo flopped. Three million instead of six million units shipped is nothing to sneeze at, and the album woudl've gone to #1 had Thriller not parked itself. Another fun fact: Thriller dethroned Business as Usual months earlier.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 February 2014 13:00 (ten years ago) link
Maybe there was less of a "need" for Men at Work, with the Police returning at the same time?
― mr.raffles, Monday, 10 February 2014 14:02 (ten years ago) link
I have to say in Safety Dance's defense (I didn't vote for it): I heard it in a big LA dance club in '84, I forget how the fuck we ended up there but there we were, teenagers, and it came on. that synth sound, through a giant 80s system - playing that little dum-dum-dum da-da dum-dum-dum figure? it sounded like nothing else in the world. it came from the damn future, even though the dude's visual schtick was all ren-faire. it just sounded incredible. this left a huge impression on me & I'd guess on many others who heard in in this sort of context.
― joe perry has been dead for years (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Monday, 10 February 2014 14:07 (ten years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/Ey1Agtz.gif
― Ian from Etobicoke (Phil D.), Monday, 10 February 2014 14:48 (ten years ago) link
that dance wasn't as safe as they said it was
― voodoo chili, Friday, 14 February 2014 04:32 (ten years ago) link
men without hats lied, ppl died
― balls, Friday, 14 February 2014 05:28 (ten years ago) link
man, I just consulted my Whitburn top ten book, and for a brief moment in May and June '83 Cargo and BAU sat in the top ten at the same time. From November '82 to summer '83 they were the biggest band in the US (BAU sat 15 weeks at #1).
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 14 February 2014 12:00 (ten years ago) link
Here's a bunch..
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 29 July 2021 10:18 (two years ago) link