Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: George Michael - 'Fastlove'

I won't bore you with the details, baby
I don't even wannna waste your time
Let's just say that maybe
You could help to ease my mind
Baby, I ain't Mr. Right
But if you're looking for fast love
If that's love in your eyes, it's more than enough
Had some bad love
Some fast love, is all that I've got on my mind

There's something really refreshing about a person that just owns their stuff and says exactly what they mean, isn't there? You don't have to agree with or even like the message, but to have the nerve to do it is really something. So back in April of 1996 when George Michael finally put his real cards on the table I was impressed.

Of course I'm talking about "Fastlove" one of the best tracks off of Michael's Older album. Rather than wishing for love or trying to mend a broken heart, he knows exactly what he wants- a no strings attached fling. What's interesting is the way that people really embraced this song in spite of it being about a one night stand. Michael is smooth, risque and kind of at his best on this dance song, probably because of the authenticity.

What are your thoughts on 90's George Michael? Do you prefer this sexier variation or do you rather him from his days fronting Wham?

Good Morning!

Currently Booming: Daily Boom's Old School Poolside Playlist

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Sunday!

Currently Booming: NBC Saturday Morning Cartoons- June 1986

Happy Saturday!

Currently Booming: Daily Boom's Official Old School Dance Playlist

It's Freestyle Friday!

Are you guys ready to dance?

Currently Booming: Throwback Thursday- Miscellaneous Commercials From 1986

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Madonna- 'Into The Groove'

I thought we would kick this morning off with a great classic Madonna song. "Into the Groove" was by many considered to be her first real, bonafide hit. The track was featured on the Desperately Seeking Susan soundtrack and probably one of the best parts of the entire film. The summer of 1985 was all about Madonna and we were all heading to the theater's to catch her performance beside Rosanna Arquette. Not too long ago I happened to get my hands on a copy of the Rolling Stone issue that was devoted to Desperately Seeking Susan and everything else that Madonna had going on back then.

Only when I'm dancing can I feel this free
At night I lock the doors, where no one else can see
I'm tired of dancing here all by myself
Tonight I wanna dance with someone else 

So much nostalgia in that one photo right there, isn't there?

"Into the Groove" became a dance anthem for an entire decade and it certainly transcended the film that featured it. The video also inspired a generation's fashion sense. Even at 14, black lace, crop tops and kitten heels were part of my wardrobe. Check out the video below. How long has it been since you've seen Desperately Seeking Susan?

It's Throwback Thursday!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Whitesnake - 'Is This Love'

I can't stop the feeling
I've been this way before
But, with you I've found the key
To open any door
I can feel my love for you
Growing stronger day by day,
An' I can't wait to see you again
So I can hold you in my arms

While the 80's launched synth rock and the careers of  icons such as Prince and Madonna it also gave us some pretty magical hair bands, didn't it? I know that you all still (maybe secretly) love your glam rockers because posts featuring them both here and on Boom's Facebook page tend to do really well. There's no shame in my game either because I have no problem admitting that at least one headbanger song turns up in my playlist each and every day.

Back in the 80's bands like Motley Crue, Ratt, Dokken and Winger were smart because each and every album included at least one power ballad. If the female audience wasn't into the blaring guitars then these guys hooked them anyway, one love song at a time. I think we all had our favorites and one glimpse of Whitesnake's "Is This Love" video made me not only fall in lust with the song, but also with David Coverdale. It was a dreamy song and even Coverdale's future ex-wife Tawny Kitaen romping around couldn't kill the vibe. In fact it actually MADE it for every guy that I knew. This song prompted me to buy Whitesnake's self-titled release and the cassette lived in my Walkman for years I think. While my friends had Def Leppard and Motley Crue hanging in their lockers mine was devoted to Coverdale (he may still have a spot on my office wall but that's a totally different story).

I mean, to this day you can't deny the hotness. Also to this day, Whitesnake's 1987 release is by far one of the best records to come out of the 80's and "Still Of The Night" is pretty legendary amongst every guitarist I've ever talked to. Do your self a favor and revisit the album if you haven't listened in awhile. Also, the guys are hitting the road next month for a greatest hits tour. Rumor has it that it might be the last time to catch Whitesnake performing live.  In the meantime, check out the stunning Mr. Coverdale below!

Happy Hair Band Hump Day!

Currently Booming: Nu Shooz 'BagTown'- [Listen]

I've been talking about Nu Shooz returning with their first album in years for what seems like an eternity and it's finally hear. Check out BagTown for yourself below. 

Happy Tuesday!

Currently Booming: Dance and House Mega Mix (1989)

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Currently Booming: 80's and 90's Dance Playlist

This will get you moving on this Monday morning!

It's Monday....

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Howard Jones - 'Everlasting Love'

She wasn't looking for a cuddle in the back seat
He wasn't looking for a five minute thrill
She wasn't thinking of tomorrow or of next week
This vacancy he meant to permanently fill
I need an everlasting love
I need a friend and a lover divine
An everlasting precious love
Wait for it, wait for it, give it some time.

Howard Jones is an interesting 80's icon. Despite having 15 songs to hit the top 40 from 1983-1992, he was hardly a media darling. Jones is to this day widely considered to be one of the most defining figures from the syth pop era but back then he was a bit of a misfit. There were always guys that looked cooler and acts that were splashier and in the end Jones actually admitted that it was just fine with him. He never necessarily was taking aim at fitting in anyway.

Instead of being known for his look, it's his music that has lasted for decades. Catchy songs like "What Is Love" and "No One Is To Blame" still get plenty of blame. I happen to still love "Everlasting Love"- a nifty little tune about a guy looking for a whole lot more than just a quick fling. Check out the video below!

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Currently Booming: Prince Performs on 'American Bandstand' (1980)

Prince first visited American Bandstand way back in 1980. Check out his performance of "I Wanna Be Your Lover" below!

Right??

Currently Booming: Pat Benatar Covers 'When Doves Cry'

If you haven't had an opportunity to see Pat Benatar and her husband, Neil Giraldo live then trust me when I say that you really need to do it. Whether it's a stripped down acoustic show or a hard rocking set these two are just fire together. They're currently criss-crossing the country and have added a bit of a Prince tribute in. Check out their cover of "When Doves Cry" above!

Happy Saturday!

TGIF!

Remember these?

Daily Boom 80's Lost Hit: Bardeux - 'When We Kiss'

"There`s a real fine line
Between love and hate
And I`m not the type
To just sit and wait
I`ve made up my mind
I can`t wait for you anymore"

Ya know that one song that you remember so well years (okay decades) later that no one else can recall? Bardeux's "When We Kiss' fits that bill for me. I have never mentioned it to another soul that has any idea what I'm talking about and if I play it for them, they still don't remember it. Bardeux was actually a dance duo from OC, Stacy "Acacia" Smith and Lisa "Jaz" Teaney (at least on this song), who released their first album, Bold As Love in 1988.

While Bardeux is often described as a one-hit-wonder, they actually had a few singles that charted on Billboard's Hot 100 and they did really well on the dance charts during their short time together. I've always loved "When We Kiss' because it's almost more of a spoken word song than anything else and that really made it stand out back in 1988. Check it out below. Do you guys remember Bardeux?

Currently Booming: Ultimate 80's Playlist

It's Throwback Thursday!

Happy Hair Band Hump Day!

Currently Booming: First Look- Fox's Reboot of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'

Currently Booming: 80's Two For Tuesday Playlist

Happy Tuesday!

Currently Booming: Janet Jackson Turns 50 Today!

Janet Jackson is turning the big 5-0 today and she is also expecting her very first child. Girlfriend has had a long list of hits over the last three decades. What song is your favorite?  "If" and nearly everything off of Jackson's 1993 self-titled album are mine.

Currently Booming: The Festival You HAVE to Attend!

Currently Booming: 80's One-Hit-Wonder Playlist

Am I Right?

Currently Booming: 80's Soundtrack Playlist

What were your favorites?

Currently Booming: Richard Marx Releases New Single 'Last Thing I Wanted'

It's Sunday...Already!

Happy Saturday!

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: Lil Suzy- 'Take Me In Your Arms'

You came & made my life complete

With your love so sweet

You gave your love to me (You gave your love to me)

(Chorus)

Take me, take me in your arms

And don't you let me go

I need you more & more

Let's be honest, freestyle music has never really been about the lyrics has it?  It is mainly about the beat and back in 1991 Lil Suzy's "Take Me In Your Arms" really did rule the dance charts. Barely a teenager herself at the time, Suzy quickly found herself a force to be reckoned with in freestyle music. While follow up songs never charted quite as well as "Take Me In Your Arms" the success of that single has paved the way for Suzy to continue performing regularly across the U.S. and Canada to this day. 

Currently Booming: Exposé - 'Let Me Be The One' New Remixes!

Currently Booming: Old School Freestyle Megamix

It's Freestyle Friday!

Currently Booming: The Best Ballads of The 80's Playlist

Currently Booming: Check Out My Celeb News Report

Mixed in with all of the great throwback pop culture I know that once in awhile you guys want some new entertainment news so click here to catch up on all the latest with me on Dana & Jayson In the Morning!

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: Mariah Carey - 'Always Be My Baby'

Can you believe that this was the number one song on Billboard's Hot 100 chart TWENTY years ago??

It's Throwback Thursday!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Mötley Crüe - 'Wild Side'

Gang fights
Fatal strikes
We lie on the wild side
No escape
Murder rape
Doing time on the wild side
A baby cries
A cop dies
A day's pay on the wild side
Wild side, wild side
Tragic life on the wild side
Wild side, wild side
Kickin ass on the Wild Side

Motley Crue's "Wild Side" always takes me back to high school- on one day in particular. When I was in 11th grade I'd spend my morning cramming in all of my academic classes so that my afternoon could be spent at a vocational school. Cosmetology seemed like a dream job for a 16-year old girl that spent plenty of time teasing her own hair and being in beauty school meant that I had a little card that gave me access to every professional beauty supply store around. My supply of Apple Pectin shampoo was endless and eventually I traded in a big can of Aqua Net for an even larger can of Vavoom which cemented your hair in place AND made it smell like coconut.

Anyway, the afternoon bus was filled with headbangers that had zero desire to go to college when they could be learning how to take a car engine apart, cook like a pro or even become a medical assistant, all while in high school. This bus ride was the high point of most days because we truly became a family and had each others backs, no matter what. Most days the same 3 people sat in the very last row trying to hide the fact that they were smoking a blunt. It was normal. We kept the windows open in the dead of winter and usually had an ancient bus driver that was more concerned with how loud the boom box was than anything else. 

On this particular day there was a fill-in, much younger bus driver, one who didn't care if the music was blaring. Motley Crue had just released Girls, Girls, Girls and the song "Wild Side" was our new anthem. Since the driver told the guys to play it as loud as they wanted to, our bus was rocking, with that one song playing on repeat. The guys decided to be extra brave and they lit up a bowl in the back seat. We figured that might be pushing it and halfway to the school the driver pulled over and came storming up the aisle. We thought we were dead. Since no one would dime anyone out I was expecting to go down for pot that I hadn't even touched. The guys hit the switch on the radio as the rest of us braced for hell. Instead, the young driver had come to the back of the bus to smoke with the guys!

After a minute or two he galloped up the aisle, sat back down in the drivers seat and delivered us all to school, with Motley Crue still blaring, of course. Talk about taking a drive on the wild side!

Currently Booming: 80's Hair Band Playlist

Currently Booming: 80's Monster Ballads Platinum Edition

Currently Booming: The 80's Called...

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: Zhane - Hey 'Mr. DJ'

Happy Tuesday!

Currently Booming: Nu Shooz 'Bagtown' Album- Preview

Currently Booming: Top 80's Songs with a Great Sax Solo

Besides acid wash jeans, big hair and neon everything, a really popular 80's video usually featured a killer sax solo. It was a decade that decided that saxophone players could singlehandedly make or break a track. Here's a clip of some of the best 80's songs that were heavy on the sax.

Currently Booming: Sunday Playlist

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Boom Daily Throwback: 'Sassy' Magazine

Do you guys remember Sassy magazine? It was the alternative to typical teen magazines, created by the incredibly talented Jane Pratt way back in 1987. Instead of looking for the perfect outfit to wear on a date with the perfect all-American-boy, Sassy readers were more invested in actual social issues and dealing with real life rather than the fairy tale that the other pubs served up each month. 

Sassy was the first thing that I looked at that made me want to write, just like that. It seemed like a dream career to be able to use my voice to make people think by challenging the ideas that the had already formed on their own. Back then I had no idea that being a writer would also be a somewhat devastating career path because it is filled with self doubt, rewrites, brutal editors and did I mention self doubt? And that's on the good days!

Researching a project that I'm working on has meant actually getting my hands on some of the things that shaped me as a teen and this week, that included old copies of Sassy. 

I actually remembered one of the issues, dated 1989. I remember buying it and carrying it with me for an entire month until Pratt rolled out the next issue. Once I picked it up I think the instincts just kicked in because I automatically flipped it over to read what was written on the binding, because there was always a message.  This time I looked at Sassy from a different perspective. 25 years later I know that I've made it. I know that whatever inspiration was in those pages, it stuck It has pushed me through years of wondering on-and-off why I chose this business in the first place.

I couldn't put my finger on any one thing now that obviously sucked me in all of those years ago. Instead I just ended up making peace with the idea that back then, Sassy was supposed to be that catalyst that gave me a clue about what my career might be.

When I'm stuck up against a deadline for a job I don't level, it's likely Sassy's influence that helps me to keep pushing through. When I tackle serious topics and the feedback is wonderful, well I owe all of that to Sassy as well. It was Pratt that first taught me how to talk about uncomfortable things and to trust that I'd survive on the other side of them. 

I have teen daughters now and ironically enough, I found myself handing over the 26-year-old issues of Sassy to them yesterday. Not only does the advice still stand, but the conversational style still beats anything at all currently on the market for this generation. 

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Eurythmics 'Here Comes The Rain Again'

Here comes the rain again
Raining in my head like a tragedy
Tearing me apart like a new emotion

I'm not sure how it is wherever you're reading this from, but it looks like I'm about to have a few days of rain. Not that I mind it. I actually seem to be more productive when it rains. The weather also reminded me of a favorite 80's song by the Eurythmics. "Here Comes the Rain Again" hit the charts back in 1984, you know, when synth music was in its heyday and for good reason.

I still remember the very first time that I heard this song. I was in middle school and had gone to a friend's to do homework. We were watching Entertainment Tonight and back then the show would often end with a video premiere. Truth be told, they really would only show one verse of the video but it was still kind of a big deal. One verse was plenty for me though and by the end of that same week my allowance was being spent on the 45 which I played constantly.

"Here Comes the Rain Again" easily remains one of my favorite Eurthmics songs to this day. Check out the video below and tell me, is it one of yours too? 

Happy Saturday!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Cover Girls - 'My Heart Skips A Beat'

My heart skips a beat

Every time we meet

I don't know what to do

Can't you feel it beat, feel it beat?

If you've been reading Daily Boom for any length of time then you've probably pretty easily caught on to my love of freestyle music. Those same songs that had me on my feet as a teen now almost instantly put me in a better mood. That tells me that whatever power freestyle once had, still remains at least for me. The Cover Girls have undergone line up changes over the years and regardless of who hits the stage, I still adore them. 

When "My Heart Skips a Beat" first was released in 1989 it really looked like this group was ready to skyrocket towards serious mainstream success. Instead, lead singer Angel Clivilles left in the middle of their tour to pursue a solo career, leaving the group in a bit of chaos. Evelyn Escalera stepped in as lead singer and she continues that role to this day. "My Heart Skips a Beat" has always been one of my favorites by The Cover Girls and the video mix of the song really is a classic example of what great freestyle sounds like.

Currently Booming: Ultimate 80's Freestyle Playlist

Happy Freestyle Friday!