Willie Simpson

Tag: 80s rock

  • Hall and Oates, I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)

    Oh the hits keep rolling for Hall and Oates.  “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do),” was a #1 for Daryl and John in 1981, and another track that set the tone for 80s pop.  Their embarrassing cover art for the single also help set trends of decadent ugliness for the 80s as well. …

  • Hall and Oates, You Make My Dreams Come True, FTW

    I never thought I’d be adding a “Hall and Oates” section to my website, but on December 17th, 2011, it apparently has happened.  Actually, I’ve been slowly enjoying Hall and Oates a bit over the last few years, getting hooked on the single “I Can’t Go For That,” and hearing a fantastic sounding Daryl Hall…

  • George Harrison, All Those Years Ago

    If you’ve read this site enough, you know that I like making declarations, so here is a strong one.  “All Those Years Ago,” is required listening for Beatles fans and one of the best George Harrison songs ever.  It was written by George Harrison as a song for Ringo Starr to sing, but Ringo thought…

  • Pink Floyd, Goodbye Blue Sky, Another Brick in the Wall

    Money, fame, power, and prestige; Pink Floyd had it all, but by their bloated 1977 stadium romp known as the “Flesh Tour,” Roger Waters and company became disgusted with what they had become.  Boorish fans in large intoxicated and stoned numbers were ruining the concerts, and Roger loathed them so much that he literally spit…

  • Dire Straits, Money For Nothing

    Brothers in Arms was one of my favorite albums growing up.  I remember when my dad bought a CD Stereo system in 1989 (a huge awesome piece of audio tech in those days), he bought a boatload of CDs, and this Dire Straits classic was one of them.  It was also right around the time…

  • Bob Marley, Pimper's Paradise

    “Every need got an ego to feed.”  If that’s not the lyric of a master, than nothing is.  “Pimper’s Paradise,” from 1980’s Uprising LP, is one of Bob’s best songs.  Anyone else obsessed with the way he sings “Well-ell aelll..?”  How about the line, “Now she is blusing when there ain’t no blues…?”  I’m not…

  • They Might Be Giants, Particle Man

    I only know two songs by They Might Be Giants (not counting the Daily Show theme).  I posted the “Istanbul” song yesterday, so today I’m posting “Particle Man.”  This song was also famously featured on Tiny Tunes, but due to the dreadfully horrible and arbitrary copywrite laws enforced by youtube, I can’t post that original…

  • They Might Be Giants, The Four Lads, Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

    I had no idea that They Might Be Giants didn’t write this song!  It turns out that the Four Lads, in 1953, came up with this incredibly catchy and insane song.  It was a top ten hit and a certified gold record.  Imagine that!  I learned all this from hearing a tape of Bob Dylan’s…

  • Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Gotta Serve Somebody vs. Serve Yourself

    John Lennon was really offended by Bob Dylan’s latest single, “Gotta Serve Somebody.” Dylan recorded the song for his 1979 album Slow Train Coming.  The album and the song was part of Bob’s short lived conversion to Christianity.  In his diary, John wrote, “The backing was mediocre by Jerry Wexler, the singing was really pathetic,…

  • Paul McCartney, Sloan, Waterfalls, Coming Up

    TLC ripped it off.  No doubt about it.  This song, “Waterfalls,” was a hit in England, but it was the first song of Paul’s unable to reach the top Billboard 100 despite the previous single, “Coming Up” reaching #1 in the US.  Hmm…”Coming Up” is one of my favorite songs ever, but I can’t embed…