The British Invastion: British and American Music Part 2

In a previous post, I talked about how influential British music has been in the states and, more specifically, my life. As an example, my family is here with me now, in Scotland, in a little town called Dunkeld.  My brother John, Maggie (my wife) and I went for a drive, today, out near the lochs, listening to Wind and Wuthering by Genesis.  I remember, in the early 1980s, back at university, the three of us would listen to Genesis and talk about taking such an adventure in the UK.  And here we are, now, almost 30 years later. Some influences are strong, even if things take time to happen.  Brilliant.

Anyway, as we talked about British music, my brother John and I suddenly started laughing and telling everyone about our experience in Budapest last year---which takes us to the topic of this blog: Europe's obsession with cheeky 1980s music.   But first Budapest.

 

The setting: Budapest, Hungary, 2011.  My brother John and I are sitting in a rathskeller drinking beer and eating authentic Hungarian food--in case you do not know, this means an 'all meat' menu, with not a shred of lettuce anywhere.  Nobody in this establishment speaks more than a few words of English.  We communicate with the waiters almost entirely by gesture and through our embarassing attempt to speak Hungarian.  And yet, the entire time we are there, the waiter and chefs are playing 1980s music.  And, this is the coolest part of it, they (along with this American woman sitting in the corner by herself) are all singing along to it.  (Mind, you, there is only the staff and we three Americans in the place.)  John and I begin to play 'name that tune,' seeing who can identify the song they are playing first, the loser forced to drink.  The woman in the corner, looking over at us every now and then, seems to be quietly playing our game, laughing to herself, as she almost always seems to get the name before either of us do.

Second setting: Oslo, Norway, 2009.  My family and I are walking through the City of the Noble Prize; a grand old city.  It took us two very long days of travel to get here, including planes, trains and bus.  One would say, in short, a bit of travel.  However, we are no sooner walking down the main boulevard when we are assaulted by Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer.  What? 

Final setting: Durham, England, 2012, about two weeks ago.  The City of Durham is having its Christmas lights celebration. Several hundred people are gathered in our little market square, as the countdown to turning on the lights begins.  The MC on stage is getting everyone all excited and shouting and having lots of fun by turning on the music.  First, a sort of "Disney World like" orchestral piece comes on and people are getting all worked up.  Then, the MC, who is a singer, yells to everyone, "Common folks, sing along."  And what was their first song?  Journey's Don't Stop Believing.  What?  I traveled all the way to northern England to experience my first British Christmas and this is their first song, out of the gate, Journey?  Oh well, nothing to do but start singing baby, cause i'm a believer!


Okay, I know there are a lot of "1980s music" haters out there.  In fact, one of my favorite bands--which is, admittedly, known to be cranky and a bit uppity--is Steely Dan.  I saw an interview with them once and they nastily quipped that they almost stopped playing music because of the wretchedness of 1980s music.  Whatever, get over yourselves.  I am not listening.  I have my fingers in my ears. 

So, here it is.  I am here to proclaim to the world that, along with the rest of Europe, I love 80s music.  I can sit down and watch hours of VH1 Classics with the old VJs from MTV.

And, me and the Europeans are not alone in our love.  My family is the same.  Jay, John and Maggie, upon hearing about this posting, sat down last night and generated the list below.  They all got out their computers, ipads and iphones and lots of wine, scotch and vodka, and started shouting out names and singing the songs.  In fact, we even started arguing about 80s music authenticity and could one-hit wonders be listed?  (To the haters out there, there are worse things to do on a rainy, cold evening in Scotland, after it goes dark at 4:00pm and you have had enough of British food TV.)

Here is our short list: Micheal Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Duran Duran, Bow Wow Wow (I want Candy), The Clash, INXS, Cindy Lauper, Aha (Take on Me), The Bangles, Pet Shop Boys, Police, Sting, Journey, Bon Jovi, Foreigner, Lover Boy, Night Ranger, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Psychedelic Furs, 1980s Van Halen, U2, Elvis Costello, The Cure, Talking Heads, The Eurythmics, Pat Benatar, John Cougar Mellencamp (he still had the middle name at the time), Guns n Roses, REM, Human League, New Order, The Smiths, Violent Femmes, Wham, Go Gos, Bananarama, 1980s AC/DC, Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet, B52s, Katrina and the Waves (I'm walking on Sunshine baby), Paul Abdul, Blondie, Cutting Crew (I just died in your arms tonight), Naked Eyes (Always something there to remind me), Simple Minds, 1980s Tina Turner, Crowded House, J Geils Band, and, last but not by any means least, Tom Petty.       

Long live 80s music and long live Europe's love of it!  Nothing better than walking into some small town in eastern Europe only to hear "A little Ditty about Jack and Diane; two American kids doing the best they can.  guitar, mmmmmmmm.  mmmmmm, mmmm, mmm, mmn.  ddnt.