90's Nostalgia: Céline Dion - 'Because You Loved Me'

You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me

It was nearly 30 years ago that Celine Dion first hit the top of Billboard's charts with "Because You Loved Me". The song, a power ballad by Diane Warren and David Foster, was from the Up Close & Personal soundtrack and really helped to establish Dion's now-signature style. Big, mushy-gushy ballads became her calling card a' la Titanic. But before Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" shattered records, she garnered critical acclaim with "Because You Loved Me".

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Asia- 'Only Time Will Tell'

"I see it now
Becomes so clear
Your insincerity
And me all starrey-eyed
You'd think that I would have known by now
Now, sure as the sun will cross the sky
This lie is over
Lost, like the tears that used to tide me over"

If you're a classic rock fan then you absolutely have to own Asia's self-titled debut release from 1982. The band formed in 1981 and in my mind, they are one of my generation's first supergroups, with Steve Howe and Geoff Downes of Yes, John Wetton of King Crimson and Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake & Palmer all joining forces.  That roster of talent could only lead to more success and that's exactly what Asia found.

Songs like "Heat of the Moment" and "Only Time Will Tell" did very well on the charts and they got tons of radio play.  The album itself went to number one in a handful of countries and it remains their best selling effort. More importantly, it sounded amazing then and it still does now. Asia is one of those progressive groups that has always had a unique sound, the kind that I can still pick out now as soon as I hear it. 

"Only Time Will Tell" has always been the song that jumps out at me the most. Check out the video below!

Boom Radio: Deep Dives with Patrick Hemming (Aired 5-26-22)

Listen to "Deep Dives Live" on Spreaker.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Night Ranger - 'When You Close Your Eyes'

"A girl in love 
With a gleam in her eye
I was a younger boy 
All dressed in white
We're older now
Do you still think about me"

When I think back to middle school musical artists like Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper had everyone's' attention. They were like the top flight of what you heard every few hours on the radio but there were also a lot of solid rock groups in the mix too. Journey, Foreigner, and Heart did a great job of breaking up the pop music. So did Night Ranger, the powerful rock band formed in San Francisco back in 1979. They were building steadily and getting decent airplay and then "Sister Christian" broke through and became one of the biggest summer songs of 1984.

It seemed impossible for the band to put out a better song but they did, by chasing "Sister Christian" with "When You Close Your Eyes". Singer Jack Blades wrote the song about reflecting on an ex-girlfriend and apparently, a lot of people could relate to wondering if an ex ever thinks of you. The chorus is infectious and whether you're 15 or 50, the sentiment will inevitably strike a chord. When it first came out I was at an age where everyone around me, myself included, was going through some sort of breakup and so the song sat at number one on the local evening radio request countdown for a really long time.

Looking back on Night Ranger's work now I think what I like the most about it is how truly timeless it is. Songs like "When You Close Your Eyes" could be released now and still have the same gut-punch effect. Check out the video below and you'll see what I mean.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Nayobe- 'Please Don't Go'

Please don't go, please don't go
Don't go there tonight
It just isn't right
You may not come back to me
Our future we'll never see
You're throwing our life plans away
Please don't go

While I technically live near the beach now, that feeling of driving "down the shore" as a kid never fades. It was a once a year occasion that amounted to being just about everything to me and my friends. Wildwood, Ocean City, Seaside Heights were all a possibility and I think that memory of hitting the boardwalk at night as a kid is one that I'll never forget.

Spending 4 hours in the car also meant that we were driving to where the coolest music was. In 1985 I alternated between rock and club music and I think the latter just epitomizes boardwalk fun. The songs blaring in all of the t-shirt shops on the boardwalk were ones that I would never hear on the radio at home. In 1985, Nayobe's "Please Don't Go" was hands down THE club hit of the summer and now even 30 years later it is still identified as one of those songs that remind my generation of summer beach fun.

Even if you have no clue who Nayobe is, I'm going to bet that you'll remember this song.

Daily Boom Lost Hit: Steely Dan- 'Kid Charlemagne'

Daily Boom Boom 80's Throwback: Bananarama- 'Cruel Summer'

The city is crowded 

My friends are away 

And I'm on my own

It's too hot to handle

So I got to get up and go 

It's a cruel, cruel summer 

Leaving me here on my own 

It's a cruel, 

It's a cruel cruel summer 

Now you're gone

You're not the only one

Since the warmer weather is starting to stick around it only seems right to take a look at one of the most popular summer songs of the 1980's. I'm talking about Bananarama's "Cruel Summer".  Not only is this a popular summer track but it's also probably one of the most easily identified songs to come out of the 80's. I say "Cruel Summer" and you instantly hear the music don't you? It instantly brings me back to the Jersey shore in the early 80's. I remember scorching sun, the smell of Coppertone and this song playing from someone's boom box on the beach.

That's the sign of a great song- when it transports you back in time. Where does "Cruel Summer" take you back to?

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Olivia Newton John- 'Twist of Fate'

It's gotta be a strange twist of fate
Telling me that Heaven can wait
Telling me to get it right this time
Life doesn't mean a thing
Without the love you bring
Love is what we've found
The second time around

Do you remember when Olivia Newton John and John Travolta teamed up onscreen a second time and the result was nothing like the critical acclaim that Grease received?  The film, Two Of A Kind was released in late 1983 and while everyone loved Newton John and Travolta together years earlier, this movie bombed pretty badly. Critics and fans alike weren't buying the far-fetched plotline of 4 angels persuading God not to wipe out the planet earth in favor of a do-over. Even Newton John and Travolta couldn't save this one.

What was good from Two Of A Kind is the soundtrack. "Twist Of Fate" was the first single off of it and it helped Newton John's hot streak to continue. It was a top 5 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 and it quickly became the most memorable part of Two Of A Kind. Check out the video below. This was when Newton John was still working hard to escape her good-girl image. 

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Toto- '99'

"I never thought it would happen. I feel quite the same."

When I was a kid, Saturday afternoon usually meant a trip to the mall in the next city. My mom was always ready to shop and my dad couldn't hit the record store fast enough. There was a shop near our house, but this place was massive and it eventually turned into a local chain of about 12 different stores. But long before The Gallery of Sound was doing in-store hair band signings and meet and greets with freestyle artists, they were all about the vinyl. They also had a string of tv's set up to watch MTV, something that our cable provider wasn't yet offering. So dad would spend two hours talking to all of the same people that he had talked to the week before, clutching his new issue of Billboard as if his life depended on it. That hasn't changed at least. Getting your hands on a newsstand copy of Billboard is fairly impossible because stores that do carry it usually get a maximum of three copies in.

Anyway, I loved Saturdays because they were rooted in music one way or another. The Soap Factory Disco, Soul Train and of course, American Bandstand were all included before we even left the house. It's strange how the little things really with me because those Saturday car rides really make me smile even now. My dad had a huge gold Buick Skylark that felt (and sounded) like it could drive thru a building and come out the other side. In the summer he would drive with all of the windows down and his stereo was bumping. I realize that car radios probably sucked back then but he was forever playing with speakers and things. All I know is that I could always feel the music coming from behind me.

I soaked up Hall & Oates, Aerosmith, Tom Jones and I'm pretty sure my love of Latin rhythms first started with an extra loud extended version of Barry Manilow's Copa. There were also a lot of other songs that I fell in love with like Toto's "99". Yeah, I know there has always been a debate over the lyrics and what the song is really about. The band has changed their story a few times just to continue to throw people off and truth be told, I could care less. I can remember traffic being at a stand still just a few miles from the mall on one afternoon and not carrying because "99" was playing behind me and I could actually feel the guitar and keys. 

It's still a really beautiful piece of music to me. Check it out below.

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: Queensryche - 'Jet City Woman'

"Wonder where I'd be, you're the air to me."

Why crawl into Friday morning when you can kick it off with a great rock track from Queensryche? "Jet City Woman" was the fourth single off of the progressive metal bands' 1990 album, Empire. It was a top ten mainstream rock track and the song that prompted me to buy the album. Pulling the trigger and doing that was a real investment back then. I think that I had really liked the other singles up until this point and so when "Jet City Woman" dropped it was just obvious that I needed a copy of Empire.

The thing was, once I bought it I realized I was absolutely in love with Geoff Tate's voice and so the album was played nonstop for months by me. The band has been around since 1981 and continues to tour but not without a bit of drama. Tate was fired from Queensryche back in 2012 after some questionable clashes with group members. Things got all kinds of ugly before they improved and a court battle left the current roster of Queensryche owning the rights to use the band's name for professional use. Tate now tours with his band under the name Operation: Mindcrime (after Queensryche's popular 1988 release) and sounds really fantastic. 

Both groups do a version of that great catalog you'll no doubt remember so well. Check out "Jet City Woman" below!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Miami Sound Machine - 'Rhythm Is Gonna Get You'

"At night when you turn off all the lights

There's no place that you can hide

No no, the rhythm is gonna get'cha

In bed, throw the covers on your head

You pretend like you are dead

But I know it, the rhythm is gonna get'cha"

Conga. That song was everywhere for months on end back in 1985. Gloria Estefan and the rest of the Miami Sound Machine made it impossible not to sing and dance along to their very first U.S. hit. If you got in the car it was on the radio, it was playing in the mall and you better believe there was a tamer instrumental version of "Conga" that played in doctor's waiting rooms. It really was everywhere and the energy was infectious.

I didn't think that the Miami Sound Machine could even potentially put out another song that I'd like nearly as much, but, they did it. In the summer of 1987 "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" dropped and I loved it. The synth, the Latin rhythm, her voice it was just all perfection. Every once in awhile a song is perfectly crafted to be strong across the board. There is nothing missing on "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You". It still holds up as a great dance classic. Check it out below!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Billy Squier - 'In The Dark'

"Life isn't easy from the singular side

Down in the hole some emotions are hard to hide

It's your decision, it's the chance that you take

It's on your head, it's a habit that's hard to break

Do you need a friend, would you tell no lies

Would you take me in, are you lonely in the dark

In the dark"

Wayyyy back in the very early 80's there was a young rocker named Billy Squier that was kind of like a shooting star. He could sing and play and perform with the best of them. His earliest songs like "The Stroke" and "My Kinda Lover" did great on the charts and they were pop-ish enough to get a whole lot of top 40 airplay as well. 

"In The Dark" was my absolute favorite though. It has such a great edge to it and when I hear it now 37 years later I still really dig it. It was considered a no-brainer that Squier would have a long-standing career in rock, at least until 1984 album Signs of Life was released. The lead single, "Rock Me Tonight" was the biggest hit of his career but the video that accompanied it was so awesomely bad that it is often viewed as the thing that all but killed Squier's career. He is still around and you might catch him playing but his career just never was the same.

I've always kind of wondered if it was the negativity that did him in or if it was his reaction to it. If it somehow ate away at him and made him a little fearful of creating some new stuff. Either way, it's a shame because this dude is pretty great. Check out "In The Dark" below!

Daily Boom Lost Hit: Graffiti Rock Pilot Episode - June 29, 1984 (Watch)

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Kate Bush - 'Running Up That Hill'

You don't want to hurt me,
But see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware I'm tearing you asunder.
Ooh, there is thunder in our hearts.

Is there so much hate for the ones we love?
Tell me, we both matter, don't we?
You, it's you and me.
It's you and me won't be unhappy.

I've always been a bit of a Kate Bush fan but I think my appreciation for her has definitely as I've gotten older. Back in 1985 her video for "Running Up That Hill" was in pretty heavy rotation on MTV and it featured Bush doing an interpretive dance to the haunting song. It was quirky and kind of unusual which helped to make the song memorable. Supposedly when it was first released record executives worried about how people would react to it. The original title was "Make A Deal With God" and they flipped it to "Running Up That Hill" to be safe.

The lyrics were what were in question and eventually Bush explained the song, proving there really was no reason for concern. The gist of "Running Up That Hill" is that relationships are hard and if men and women could make a deal with God to switch places even for a little while the result would be pretty enlightening. That notion still holds true now, more than thirty years later!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Sweet Sensation - 'Sincerely Yours'

"Dear I write you this letter

To show you how much your love means to me

I wish we could be together

I need you in my life oh can't you see

You promised we would be together

But you still haven't answered my letter

Oh, oh, I'm sincerely yours

The one my heart beats for, the one I adore

Oh, oh, I'm sincerely yours

The love that you gave I've never felt before."

Latin freestyle seems to go hand in hand with Friday, at least in my mind. If Friday is really the day to celebrate the weekend ahead then that means club songs, freestyle, and old-school house music are the very best way to kick it all off. Let me take you back to 1988 when Betty Dee and her girls stepped out from the shadow of Expose` and The Cover Girls and made their own mark in the dance world. 

Sweet Sensation had the hair, the clothes, and all the moves. But they seemed like the chicks down the street. This was the girl group that you really could have gone to school with or partied with. And their music rivaled other dance floor anthems. Songs like "Take It While It's Hot" and "Hooked On You" was featured on Open House Party and Dance Party USA, making the ladies a pretty hot commodity leading up to their number one single, "If Wishes Came True". 

Betty Dee, Jenae Colon, and Belle Ritter reunited a few years ago and on any given weekend you're likely to find Sweet Sensation hitting the stage somewhere on the east coast. "Sincerely Yours" remains one of their most popular hits. Check out the video below.

Currently Booming: Latin Freestyle Friday Playlist

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Skid Row - '18 And Life'

"Ricky was a young boy, he had a heart of stone

Lived 9 to 5 and he worked his fingers to the bone

Just barely out of school, he

came from the edge of town

Fought like a switchblade so no one could take him down, oh no

He had no money, no, no good at home

He walked the streets a soldier and he fought the world alone

And now it's 18 and life, you got it

18 and life, you know

Your crime is time and it's 18 and life to go"

Sebastian Bach. He was a bit of an obsession of mine back in 1989. I remember the very first time that I heard "Youth Gone Wild" by Skid Row was on Headbanger's Ball after work one night. It was a MOMENT. The song just clicked in my brain and Skid Row was instantly placed in my top three fav hairbands (behind Whitesnake & Ratt). I bought the tape and had a bit of a battle over it with my mom. She was super religious and would toss out any music that looked or sounded questionable, so Skid Row was a goner. I probably bought the cassette four times before the band released their second single, "18 And Life".

That is the song that most people remember and it was THE song that caused them to charge up Billboard's hot 100 charts into the top five. By the time all of my friends caught on to them, I had already invested six months (and probably $50) in them. "18 And Life" is the cautionary tale of a teen named Ricky who is serving life for murder. Thirty years later, it remains a worst-case scenario, cautionary tale. It was also the highest charting song for Skid Row. Check out Sebastian & the rest of the band below!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Bananarama - 'Do Not Disturb'

"We took the late flight 
Close to heaven in the cold half light 
All the pleasures of that very first night 
Crystal clear in my mind 
No complications 
Just another reservation 
In a beach hotel 
We found a room with a view 
Lock the door and change the sign 
Do not disturb" 

If you were to ask the ladies which song they least liked, Bananarama would probably tell you "Do Not Disturb". It was released in 1985 ahead of their True Confessions album that came early the following year. They've said in the past that it's a song that has never felt right to them but I have to say, I'm really glad that they recorded it. 

It feels like the standard blueprint for a great mid-80's song. It's super catchy, the synth is on point and the video is really cute. But the remix? That's really what gives this thing legs. I recently ordered the 12" and was thrilled to discover that I love the extended version. I also remember dancing to it back in the day.

The True Confessions era of Bananarama is probably my favorite. They grew up and had traded in some of the boyish clothes for a bit of a sexier vibe. You may not remember "Do Not Disturb" but if you like what you hear then you need to check out the rest of the album. "Venus" was their next single after this. Need I say more?

Currently Booming: M3 Rock Festival Live Performances

Boom Radio: Mojo Rocks with Mojo Moomey (Aired 5-6-22)

Currently Booming: Billboard's Top 40 for 5-12-1984

Boom Radio: Deep Dives with Patrick Hemming (Aired 5-6-22)

Listen to "DeepDives 2001-2021 AOR & Melodic Rock" on Spreaker.

Currently Booming: Debbie Gibson- 'Electric Youth' (Livestream)

Currently Booming: Club MTV Feb. 1988 (Featuring Pebbles)

Daily Boom Lost Hit: Irene Cara- 'Breakdance'

Soundtrack Sunday: Footloose

It has been more than 38 years since a little ditty called "Footloose" arrived in theaters. The year may have been 1984 but I actually remember the build up and excitement surrounding it as if it were yesterday. I was in 7th grade and my friends and I were obsessed with everything and anything connected to this important contribution to pop culture history.

I still have the soundtrack on vinyl and gave it a spin today. I think "Footloose" remains one of the best soundtracks ever because it's one of the few that you really can listen to all the way through.