As promised, I am writing a post on favorite songs from my high school years. I’m not sure anyone was really waiting with bated breath for more “soundtrack” posts from me, but I enjoy the reminiscing. So, here goes!

The Birth of MTV

In my early teens, I was into a mishmash of musical genres. As I said in my most recent blog entry about my childhood music favorites, I had started getting into some classic rock (thanks to my older brother) and power pop (Pat Benetar) and a little New Wave (The Go-Go’s) by my pre-teens. MTV started in August 1981, the year I turned 13. This was a super-exciting event, as it meant that I was exposed to a broader range of music than was previously available in my small town. At that time, the local radio stations played a lot of soft rock and pop and some rock but not much (if any) alternative, punk, New Wave, or electronic music.

MTV opened up a whole new world. I can’t remember now if my family already had cable at the time MTV started (I think we did) or whether I watched that original MTV broadcast (I probably didn’t), but MTV soon became a big part of my early teenage life. See below for MTV’s debut (and sorry for the poor video quality).

Through MTV, I discovered “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles (the first video ever aired on MTV!), got more into Pat Benetar, and first heard music by The Pretenders, Split Enz, Elvis Costello, and many others. It’s hard to remember which of those early music videos had the biggest impact, but I do recall being very into “I Ran” by A Flock of Seagulls my freshman year in high school. Even though FOS was pretty much a one-hit wonder, “I Ran” and that FOS hairstyle (not featured in the “I Ran” video but seen in “Space Age Love Song,” which I also liked) had a big impact on teens in 1982! “I Ran” was also a very popular song at our high school Friday night dances in the early ’80s.

Another early-’80s fave was “Rock the Casbah” by The Clash. Like “I Ran,” “Rock the Casbah” got heavy play at the high school dances my freshman year and was probably a song I first heard on MTV. Wikipedia tells me that the song lyrics were inspired by the ban on Western music in Iran after the Islamic Revolution. I don’t think the lyrics seem too politically correct today, but as a fairly clueless 14-year-old in rural Pennsylvania, I thought they were great. (And I still do love The Clash.)

One of my all-time favorite songs, then and now, is “Melt With You” by Modern English. This song, which came out in 1982, still makes me happy. Oh, how I love it!

A memorable event was the 1982 release of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video, an extended version directed by John Landis. I recently went to see an MJ tribute band called Foreverland, and I was telling the friends I went with how exciting it was when the “Thriller” video came out. One of my high school pals had a “Thriller” viewing party. The 14-minute short film revolutionized the music video genre. Hailed as the greatest music video of all time by MTV, VH1, Rolling Stone, and others, it is the only music video included in the Library of Congress’ prestigious National Film Registry.

While MJ is a controversial figure today, I still love his music. He was so talented and driven as an artist, and of course, his songs from the ’80s have a lot of nostalgia value for me now.

Boom Boxes and Stereos

I had an old stereo that I inherited from my dad when he got a new one, but around 1981 or 1982, I also got a boom box, which I loved. It was easier to play cassette tapes on the boombox than vinyl on my turntable. Of course, the sound wasn’t as good and you had to fast forward or rewind to find a particular track. I can remember waiting breathlessly, finger on the “record” button to try and tape my favorite songs as they played on the radio. It took skill to hit “record” at the right moment and then to turn off the recording before the DJ started talking over the end of the song or a new song started playing. If you were lucky, the DJ was quiet and you got (almost) the whole song on tape.

Making “mixtapes” was fun for me and many teens in the ’80s. Whether it was recording a cassette of your own favorites to play in the car or making a special tape for a friend or love interest, mixtapes were awesome! I don’t think I made too many in high school, just because the technology I had wasn’t super, but I did make a ton of them in college.

At some point in my teens, I got my own brand-new stereo system. How exciting! It was huge. It included a receiver, turntable, and tape deck. All this was held in a massive fake wood cabinet (probably 4 feet high), and two large speakers took up floor space in my bedroom. Who could have imagined then how tiny music technology would become in the future?

Friday Night Videos

MTV was not the only source of cool music videos in the 1980s: The TV show Friday Night Videos started in 1983 to capitalize on MTV’s popularity (and to allow those without cable TV to see videos, too). I often had a friend sleep over on Friday nights, and we would stay up late watching videos, playing Atari (“Frogger,” “Pitfall!,” “Haunted House,” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” were my favorite games), and being silly teens. I was pretty wholesome at that age, so we didn’t get into much trouble.

While MTV stuck more to “Top 40” songs, Friday Night Videos played a wider variety of genres. In the beginning, the show ran 90 minutes long and aired music videos introduced by an off-camera announcer. Classic artists of the 1960s and 1970s occasionally appeared in “Hall of Fame Videos,” major stars were profiled in “Private Reels,” and new music videos made their network debuts as “World Premiere Videos.” The most popular feature was “Video Vote,” in which viewers could call in and vote (for a small fee) for one of two videos that were played back to back. I can’t remember me or my friend calling in, but maybe we did?

I may have watched Friday Night Videos all through high school, but I mainly remember it from my sophomore year, 1983 to 1984. This was the era of Madonna, and I was a fan. “Burning Up” was one of my faves, partly because of the hot ’80s fashion and dance moves. These videos seem very low-tech today, but at the time, they seemed pretty amazing and creative.

In 1983 or 1984, I got into Bananarama. They were a fun pop/New Wave band that I probably liked because of their similarity to The Go-Go’s and cool fashions and hairstyles. The first song of theirs that I remember was “Cruel Summer.”

As a pretty mainstream girl at the time, I wasn’t quite sure what to think of Billy Idol’s sneer and punk aesthetic, but everyone loved “Dancing With Myself,” and I was no exception. The video is actually pretty elaborate and cinematic for 1983.

More Favorites

There were a few bands and albums I got into in the early and mid-’80s not solely because of watching music videos. One was Cheap Trick. Although this live version of “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick came out in the United States in 1979, I didn’t get into the band until the mid-’80s (influenced by my high-school boyfriend). I became a huge fan and had all the Cheap Trick albums (on cassette). I actually preferred the studio version of “I Want You to Want Me,” but this live version from the live album Cheap Trick at Budokan, recorded at their 1978 concert at Nippon Budokan (in Tokyo), has remained a classic.

I must have worn out my copy of Genesis by Genesis, which came out in 1983. One of my favorite tracks was “Mama.” I think it was Phil Collins’ passionate singing that got me, as well as the strange laughing and groaning in the middle of the song. I still like a lot of music from my teen years, but not Genesis. Sorry, Phil Collins.

Another Phil Collins song I loved as a teen was “In the Air Tonight” after seeing the movie Risky Business. I also developed a major crush on Tom Cruise.

I became a big fan of The Police, mainly due to the influence of some cooler kids in high school who had better musical taste than me. My first Police album was Synchronicity–another album I must have worn out. I loved all the songs, so it’s hard to choose a fave, but “King of Pain” and “Every Breath You Take” were up there. I’ll share the video for “King of Pain,” since it’s much more interesting and avant garde than the one for “Every Breath You Take.” Actually, I’ll share “Every Breath You Take” as well, since both the song and the video are classics. The video is quite lovely. (I also had a big crush on Sting.)

A group I got very into in my teens was INXS. I am pretty sure I must have heard their 1982 hit “Don’t Change” and their 1983 single “Original Sin” around the time they were released, but I didn’t fall in love with the band until 1985, when they released “What You Need.” That song became one of my top faves, and I bought all of their albums (again, on cassette, although I may have had one or two on vinyl).

Poor Michael Hutchence (INXS’s lead singer). Not only did he die young (at age 37, in 1997), but there were widespread rumors that he died by either suicide or autoerotic asphyxiation. As a mental health professional, I don’t want to add to the stigma of either reason for his death, but I do remember that the media had a field day with the story that he died performing a sex act. Rest in peace, Michael, and thanks for the music.

Who can forget the clever and classic video for “Take on Me” by a-ha, released in 1985? I also had a crush on the lead singer, although I didn’t know his name. In fact, I probably never knew his name until I Googled it just now–it was Morten Harket, from Norway. I had so many celebrity crushes in my teens.

At the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, the video for “Take on Me” won six awards—Best New Artist in a Video, Best Concept Video, Most Experimental Video, Best Direction, Best Special Effects, and Viewer’s Choice—and was nominated for two others, Best Group Video and Video of the Year. The video was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Video at the 13th American Music Awards in 1986. It’s still fun to watch.

Another 1985 fave was “Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds. I can’t remember if I liked the song first or got into the song because it was in the movie The Breakfast Club. This film came out during my junior year in high school and was a big influence on me (and most teens at the time). Unlike some other John Hughes films, The Breakfast Club still mostly holds up to the test of time. But, I digress. This post is about music, not movies.

Late High School

My junior and senior years in high school (1984 to 1985 and 1985 to 1986), I continued to like lots of pop, New Wave, and rock artists. There were also some soft rock and R&B songs in my heavy rotation as well, including those by Peter Cetera, Billy Ocean, and Lionel Ritchie. There were so many blockbuster artists at the time: Michael Jackson and Madonna continued to dominate, plus Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Peter Gabriel, Van Halen, Tina Turner, Wham!, Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, Sade, Bruce Springsteen, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Sting. Aretha Franklin was making new hits.

The music video for Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” came out in 1986. It caused quite a stir. The video ranked at number 3 on VH1’s Top 20 Videos of the 1980s. It was much loved and also much mocked. Classic ’80s!

I have a clear memory that someone held a microphone up to a boom box at my high school graduation ceremony to play Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All.” (I guess our school didn’t have a better way to play music at an event?) I can’t remember now if I liked the song that much, but the memory of graduation does stick, despite my not having a single photo from that night! (Our planned outdoor ceremony got rained out and was held in the high school auditorium, although I am not sure why that resulted in no photos?)

The summer after my senior year in high school was when Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” came out. I didn’t actually like the song as much as I’d liked his earlier hit “Shock the Monkey,” but the video was so creative. It’s worth a re-watch now.

Last Thoughts

There are so many other songs, artists, and albums from the 1980s that I loved–too many to post about here. I’ll post again to list my college faves, and maybe even beyond.