80s 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

Some movie pairings are so good you desperately want to see them happen again. Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta were one of them.

After Grease became a massive cultural phenomenon, putting the two of them back together seemed like a no-brainer. They had chemistry, they could sing, they looked fantastic together, and America was still completely obsessed with them.

So naturally, Hollywood decided to put them together again. And then Hollywood apparently decided to get really weird about it.

The result was Two of a Kind, which landed in theaters in late 1983. And if you don't remember it, there's a pretty good reason for that. It bombed.

Like, really bombed.

Because while Grease gave us leather jackets, poodle skirts, teenage romance and songs that we still know every word to, Two of a Kind gave us... Four angels trying to convince God not to destroy Earth and start over.

Yep. That's the movie.

Newton-John and Travolta play two people whose relationship becomes part of a plan to save humanity from divine annihilation. Because apparently, after Grease, somebody sat around a Hollywood conference table and thought, You know what these two need? Angels. And the possible destruction of the planet. Critics were not impressed. Audiences weren't exactly lining up around the block either.

And honestly, even the combined star power of Newton-John and Travolta couldn't overcome a plot that sounded like someone had mixed a romantic comedy with a leftover Twilight Zone script.

But here's where things get interesting. The movie may have been a dud, but the soundtrack gave us a winner.

"Twist of Fate" was released as the first single from the soundtrack, and Olivia Newton-John absolutely delivered. The song climbed into the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100, giving her another major hit and ultimately becoming far more memorable than the movie itself.

In fact, if you mention Two of a Kind to most people today, there's a pretty good chance they'll respond with, "Oh yeah...that Olivia Newton-John song!"

And "Twist of Fate" is also a pretty great snapshot of where Newton-John was in her career at the time.

The days of the sweet, innocent Sandy from Grease were rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Newton-John was clearly interested in pushing beyond the good-girl image that had followed her for years, and her music and style were becoming considerably more sophisticated—and, let's be honest, a whole lot sexier. She was reinventing herself. Again.

And while Two of a Kind didn't exactly give her the comeback sequel to Grease that Hollywood was hoping for, it did give us a damn good pop song. So let's forget the angels and the questionable plot.

Just turn up "Twist of Fate" and enjoy Olivia Newton-John doing what she did best.

Because sometimes the best thing to come out of a terrible movie is the song you still can't get out of your head 40+ years later.

Currently Booming: 1983 Wildwood Tram Car Ride (Watch)

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Shannon- 'Let the Music Play'

"So we started dancing

And love put us into the groove

As soon as we started to move

As soon as we started to move

Love said

Let the music play

He won't get away

Just keep the groove

And then he'll come back to you again

(Let it play)"

I was always a disco kid. My first 45 single was Disco Duck, followed by Chic's "Le Freak" and Regina Ward's "Ring My Bell".  My dad would let me choose the last song that he played on his stereo every night and for years it was disco, until Pat Benatar came along, anyway.  Disco died a pretty fast death but in 1983 along came Shannon to remind us all that dance music was still cool. 

"Let the Music Play" has the coolest syth and drum machine beat and it drives the song all the way through. Decades later, this is considered one of the first freestyle songs ever made. What I know for sure is that when it comes on now, 32-years after first hitting the charts, everyone still gets up to dance. It's legendary.

As for Shannon, well, she's still out there doing her thing. She is still performing those songs that made her a household name and a whole new generation of freestyle fans have embraced her. More often than not Shannon is seen performing in a Freestyle Explosion show that features a whole roster of popular 80's acts like Expose`, The Cover Girls, Nu Shooz and more. 

Check out "Let the Music Play" the video that launched Shannon's career:

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Spandau Ballet - 'Gold'

"Thank you for coming home
I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn
I left them here I could have sworn
These are my salad days
Slowly being eaten away
Just another play for today
Oh but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you
Nothing left to make me feel small
Luck has left me standing so tall
Gold
Always believe in your soul
You've got the power to know
You're indestructible
Always believe in, because you are
Gold"

I love those songs that serve as an instant vehicle to take me back in time. Spandau Ballet's "Gold" is most certainly one of those. Every time I hear it (which is actually pretty often) I'm instantly reliving 1983 all over again. To say that this song got a lot of air play would be a real understatement, especially since even now, more than 30 years later it's still in heavy rotation on some stations. "Gold" is the kind of song that you just kind of know all of the words to, even if you don't like it. I remember it always being on in the car and so nearly every time I hear those opening notes, then at least for a second I'm back in my dad's old Buick driving to god knows where.

"True" was actually Spandau Ballet's biggest hit in the U.S. and while they aren't often seen here they do often still perform in the UK. You guys remember this song, right? I'm betting that you start singing along (even if it's just in your head) almost immediately!

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: Men At Work - 'Overkill'

"I can't get to sleep

I think about the implications

Of diving in too deep

And possibly the complications

Especially at night

I worry over situations

I know will be alright

Perhaps it's just imagination

Day after day it reappears

Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear

Ghosts appear and fade away

Alone between the sheets

Only brings exasperation

It's time to walk the streets

Smell the desperation

At least there's pretty lights

And though there's little variation

It nullifies the night from overkill."

I know that when I first say Men At Work you're probably going to think of "Down Under", the song that everyone most associates them with. And for good reason, because it's a great song with a hook that borders on brilliant. Of course it was a hit and it's one of those songs that you know right off the bat. That's where the brilliance comes in to play. Just about every song by the group has a melody that is kind of a mash up of synth and reggae, with the exception of one song, "Overkill".

While I appreciate the humor and fun of most of the earlier songs, Men At Work's "Overkill" from their second album, Cargo, in 1983 proved that the guys could be serious, if not straight up melancholy. I really love this side of the band and it shows lead singer Colin Hay to be a bit deeper then I would have at first believed. While I love a fun song, I equally appreciate the "Overkill" type songs hidden between cheerier tracks on any album. Check out the video below!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Men At Work - 'Overkill'

"Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear

Ghosts appear and fade away

Alone between the sheets

Only brings exasperation

It's time to walk the streets

Smell the desperation

At least there are pretty lights

And though there's little variation

It nullifies the night from overkill."

I know that when I first say Men At Work you're probably going to think of "Down Under", the song that everyone most associates them with. And for good reason, because it's a great song with a hook that borders on brilliant. Of course, it was a hit and it's one of those songs that you know right off the bat. That's where the brilliance comes in to play. Just about every song by the group has a melody that is kind of a mash-up of synth and reggae, with the exception of one song, "Overkill".

While I appreciate the humor and fun of most of the earlier songs, Men At Work's "Overkill" from their second album, Cargo, in 1983 proved that the guys could be serious, if not straight up melancholy. I really love this side of the band and it shows lead singer Colin Hay to be a bit deeper then I would have at first believed. While I love a fun song, I equally appreciate the "Overkill" type songs hidden between cheerier tracks on any album. Check out the video below!

Daily Boom Lost Hit: Paul Young- 'Come Back and Stay'

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Naked Eyes- 'Promises Promises'

"Second time around
I'm still believing words that you said
You said you'd always be here
"In love forever"
Still repeats in my head
You can't finish what you start
If this is love it breaks my heart"

Sometimes there's a particular reason behind the 80's throwback each day and other times, there really is not. Today I can thank Spotify's Discover Weekly for making the choice for me. If you have Spotify then check out your own personalized Discover Weekly. Basically, they curate a special playlist for you each week based on your musical taste and I have to say, I usually love what they put together for me. 

Anyway, Naked Eyes "Promises, Promises" is on my current list and it's a song that I've always loved, It was the second release back in 1983 off of their Burning Bridges album. Ironically, Naked Eyes was actually one of the very first groups to make full use of synthesizers in their music. If you were around in the early '80s then I don't have to explain just how popular the synth sound was and how it really ruled Billboard's Hot 100. 

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: David Bowie - 'China Girl'

"I couldn't escape this feeling with my China girl

I feel a wreck without my little China girl

I hear her heart beating loud as thunder

Saw these stars crashing

I'm a mess without my little China girl

Wake up in the morning, where's my little China girl

I hear her heart's beating loud as thunder

Saw these stars crashing down"

It has been awhile since anything by David Bowie has made its' way on to DailyBOOM, hasn't it? So let's revisit "China Girl", a song that was first recorded by Iggy Pop in the late 70's with little fanfare. He and Bowie had written it together and when Bowie remade it in 1983, it found commercial success. It's off of the Let's Dance album and the single was sandwiched between the title track and the later release of "Modern Love", so it was basically positioned for success.

The song itself has always had a bit of a double meaning. While the video depicts a romance, China is a term for heroin and girl is a term for cocaine. Bowie supposedly loved the hidden meaning of the song because he loved adding different layers to his music. 

I just remember loving the song as a kid and I still believe it's one of Bowie's best tracks to come out of the 80's. Check out the video below!

Daily Boom Lost Hit: Rick Springfield - 'Souls'

Daily Boom Lost Hit: Ministry- 'Revenge'

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Shannon- 'Let the Music Play'

"So we started dancing

And love put us into the groove

As soon as we started to move

As soon as we started to move

Love said

Let the music play

He won't get away

Just keep the groove

And then he'll come back to you again

(Let it play)"

I was always a disco kid. My first 45 single was Disco Duck, followed by Chic's "Le Freak" and Regina Ward's "Ring My Bell".  My dad would let me choose the last song that he played on his stereo every night and for years it was disco, until Pat Benatar came along, anyway.  Disco died a pretty fast death but in 1983 along came Shannon to remind us all that dance music was still cool. 

"Let the Music Play" has the coolest syth and drum machine beat and it drives the song all the way through. Decades later, this is considered one of the first freestyle songs ever made. What I know for sure is that when it comes on now, 38-years after first hitting the charts, everyone still gets up to dance. It's legendary.

As for Shannon, well, she's still out there doing her thing. She is still performing those songs that made her a household name and a whole new generation of freestyle fans have embraced her. More often than not Shannon is seen performing in a Freestyle Explosion show that features a whole roster of popular 80's acts like Expose`, The Cover Girls, Nu Shooz and more. 

Check out "Let the Music Play" the video that launched Shannon's career:

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Thompson Twins- 'Lies' on Solid Gold

You told me you loved me
So I don't understand
Why promises are snapped in two
And words are made to bend

The Thompson Twins are one of the best known groups to come out of the UK during the early 80's synth-pop movement. They had a number of hits in the states with 1982's "Lies" being one of their first. It his number one on Billboard's dance chart and landed in the top 50 on Billboard's Hot 100. It's one of those songs with an unforgettable hook so you know it almost from the minute it starts.

The only thing that could be better than just the Thompson Twins is featuring their performance from Solid Gold from early 1983.  A classic synth track combined with the Solid Gold dancers is just about as 80's as it gets, don't you think?

Currently Booming: Van Halen Live in Devore- 1983 (Watch)

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Pat Benatar - 'Love Is A Battlefield'

 

"We are strong
No one can tell us we're wrong
Searching our hearts for so long
Both of us knowing
Love is a battlefield

You're begging me to go
Then making me stay
Why do you hurt me so bad
It would help me to know
Do I stand in your way
Or am I the best thing you've had

Believe me
Believe me
I can't tell you why
But I'm trapped by your love
And I'm chained to your side."

Pat Benatar is a female rock legend by probably just about anyone's standards, but believe it or not my favorite song by her features that nifty drum beat. Of course, I'm talking about "Love Is A Battlefield" (which is still fantastic to this day if you're lucky enough to hear it live). The 1983 hit is one of Benatar's best charting songs and it also earned her a fourth Grammy. The video also helped to put her into MTV's record books because it is the first one ever aired that featured a real storyline, with speaking parts.

Now the video is really well down but watching Benatar dance has always seemed a bit odd to me. But the song itself is really pretty fantastic. A great rock song with a beat that makes it hard to stay still and lyrically, well, we have all been there. Love is hard. Check out the classic video below!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: New Order- 'Blue Monday'

Those who came before me lived through their vocations

From the past until completion, they'll turn away no more
And still I find it so hard to say what I need to say
But I'm quite sure that you'll tell me just how I should feel today

Any idea what the most successful 12" single of all time is? That honor belongs to New Order's "Blue Monday", with its many reissues, remixes and dance club vibe. While it was first released in 1983 and became an underground dance hit, it was "Blue Monday's" reissue in 1988 that seemed to launch the song into orbit. Suddenly every DJ played it and we all loved it because it was different. The sound is totally unique and so rather than blending in with the house music that was taking over the late 80's, New Order's songs stood out in a good way. 

"Blue Monday" has lived on since its 80's introduction because numerous artists have either sampled or covered the tune. I know that you've heard it often, but have you ever actually seen the video? Check it out below!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Madonna - 'Lucky Star'

"You must be my Lucky Star
'Cause you shine on me wherever you are
I just think of you and I start to glow
And I need your light
And baby you know
 Starlight, star bright first star I see tonight
Starlight, [star bright] make everything all right
Starlight, star bright first star I see tonight
Starlight, [star bright] yeah."

It's funny because when I hear the name Madonna the first visual that comes to mind is the early-80's version. Something about the "Lucky Star" video has stuck with me for all of these- decades! I still associate Madonna with her dancers doing choreography to the heavy synth and drum track- and that's just fine with me. I loved those days of suddenly needing lace bows and lace gloves. Piling neon and rubber bracelets on my arms and thinking just about everything in my closet would look better if I chopped off the bottom of it and turned it into a belly shirt! I love the era of my own life that vintage Madonna conjures up for me!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Spandau Ballet- 'True'

With a thrill in my head and a pill on my tongue

Dissolve the nerves that have just begun

Listening to Marvin (All night long)

This is the sound of my soul

This is the sound

Always slipping from my hands

Sand's a time of its own

Take your seaside arms and write the next line

Oh, I want the truth to be known

I love those songs that serve as an instant vehicle to take me back in time. Spandau Ballet's "True" is most certainly one of those. Every time I hear it (which is actually pretty often) I'm instantly reliving 1983 all over again. To say that this song got a lot of air play would be a real understatement, especially since even now, more than 30 years later it's still in heavy rotation on some stations. "True" is the kind of song that you just kind of know all of the words to, even if you don't like it. I remember it always being on in the car and so nearly every time I hear those opening notes, then at least for a second I'm back in my dad's old Buick driving to god knows where.

"True" was Spandau Ballet's biggest hit in the U.S. and while they aren't often seen here they do often still perform in the UK. You guys remember this song, right? I'm betting that you start singing along (even if it's just in your head) almost immediately!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Michael Sembello - 'Maniac'

"You work all your life for that moment in time, it could come or pass you by

It's a push-shove world, but there's always a chance

If the hunger stays the night

There's a cold kinetic heat, struggling, stretching for the beat

Never stopping with her head against the wind"

I really appreciate one-hit-wonders. I like the fact that these little songs by people that we've usually never head of, can collectively make such a huge impact. Then they keep it too. A great one-hit-wonder now will be, not only remembered in thirty years, but it might also be getting pretty decent airplay as well. In 1983, the Flashdance soundtrack was loaded with goodies that fell into this category. 

Michael Sembello's "Maniac" might be the best song on the soundtrack. Full of so much energy- and that's before you see the video that's mostly ripped straight from the film. Jennifer Beals (or her body double) dances her ass off to the hard driving synth. I watched the movie for the first time in decades recently and I was happily surprised by how good it still is. Flashdance has 35 years worth of hype attached to it and I think that it really does live up to it.

"Maniac" is the kind of song that just makes you feel good when you hear it. Sometimes it really is that simple and that's all that a one-hit-wonder really needs. Check out the video below.