80s Throwback: RUN-DMC - 'It's Tricky'

This speech is my recital, I think it's very vital
To rock (a rhyme), that's right (on time)
It's Tricky is the title, here we go...

I was cruising through the DailyBOOM archives yesterday and realized something that honestly surprised me, there hasn't been nearly enough old-school rap featured here. That's a mistake I plan on correcting immediately, and there really isn't a better place to start than RUN-DMC.

While just about everyone else seemed completely obsessed with the group's legendary collaboration with Aerosmith on "Walk This Way," I was over in my own lane blasting "It's Tricky." It was the third track from their groundbreaking Raising Hell album, and for me, it was every bit as memorable as their biggest crossover hit.

Released in late 1986, "It's Tricky" was everywhere. It received constant airplay on local radio, and MTV had the video in heavy rotation. Back then, MTV still had the power to turn a great song into a cultural event, and RUN-DMC knew exactly how to make an impression. The video was packed with personality, humor, and one of those unexpected celebrity cameos that made you do a double take - magic duo Penn & Teller showed up to add even more fun to the chaos.

What I always loved about "It's Tricky" was that it perfectly captured the energy of RUN-DMC. The beat was infectious, the lyrics were playful, and the chemistry between Run, DMC, and Jam Master Jay was undeniable. It wasn't trying to be overly serious—it was simply cool, confident, and impossible not to sing along with. Even now, it's hard to hear that opening without wanting to shout, "It's Tricky to rock a rhyme..."

Looking back, Raising Hell was one of those albums that helped redefine what hip-hop could be. It introduced countless listeners to rap music while proving that the genre belonged right alongside rock, pop, and everything else dominating the charts in the mid-'80s. RUN-DMC weren't just making hit records, they were changing the landscape of popular music.

Nearly four decades later, "It's Tricky" still has all the energy it did back in 1986. It instantly transports me to afternoons spent watching MTV, waiting for my favorite videos to come on, and reminds me why this era of music continues to hold such a special place in my heart.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Luther Vandross - 'Stop To Love'

"I just wanna be the one that you wanna see

I just wanna have you near me

But you fly away almost everyday

You work a lot but you never stop to love

(Stop) I love you stop (stop)

Come home from the road

(Gotta stop to love)

And let's celebrate (celebrate) the love we got (stop)

Say you're coming home."

Luther Vandross might have one of the most soulful voices to listen to ever. He is quite obviously best remembered for his ballads ("Here and Now", "Superstar", etc.) so I wanted to share something a little different. "Stop To Love" was the first single off of Vandross' fifth album and it was also his first top 20 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The video from 1986 shows a fun side to Vandross, one that those cloesest to him often talked about. Sadly, the singer's life was cut short after a massive stroke left him comatose for two months in 2003. While Vandross did recover somewhat he never performed in public again and eventually died in July of 2005.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Rod Stewart- 'Passion'

Tonight in the city
You won't find any pity
Hearts are being twisted
Another lover cheated, cheated
In the bars and the cafes, passion
In the streets and the alleys, passion
A lot of pretending, passion
Everybody searching, passion

I've already told you guys that music played a huge part in everyday life for me as a kid in the 80's. My dad had the most enviable record collection but of course, there was conflict along the way. My mom didn't exactly love his hobby and she blatantly disapproved of a lot of the artists that he brought in the front door. He got away with a lot but it was fairly well known that dad was expected to keep a close eye on what 45's I wanted. The only problem there was that because music is such a subjective thing he just wasn't inclined to tell me no. 

Dad suffered through several spinning's of "Disco Duck" before being happy to watch me move on to ABBA. Dad might have been a classic rock kind of guy but he had no problem encouraging my love of disco, at least until I discovered Pat Benetar and then my taste was all over the place.

I still can remember this one Saturday afternoon when he and I drove to a record store in a strip mall next to a Kmart (back when the blue light special was alive and well). There were several record stores that we would frequent and if you told me that they wouldn't exist a few decades later I would never have believed it. Anyway, the Saturday afternoon deal was always that I could get a 45 or 2 if it was a really good week. I looked and looked, knowing exactly what I wanted, Rod Stewart's "Passion". It was probably 1980 and not exactly appropriate for a 9-year-old. Dad actually said no, probably because he envisioned my mom's reaction if he bought it for me.

The next weekend I had a plan. I had 179 pennies in a sandwich bag because if it was my money he probably wouldn't stop me. I walked up to the counter with "Passion" in one hand and the pennies in the other. The shop owner made me count them out and then he scooped them up and dumped them into his register drawer. I think my dad secretly liked how nervy I was, but warned me that my mom would be pissed & he would likely get blasted too.

I don't remember her words exactly but I do remember him defending me and saying I probably just loved the music (true story) and he wasn't going to stop me if I had the nerve to bust my piggy bank for it. Needless to say, "Passion" got thrown in the garbage but about a week later my dad bought it and magically gave it to me after he was done with it. For years afterward my dad would buy 45's, put them on tape & I'd inherit the vinyl. 

It's 35 years later and yes, not only do I have that 45 but I also have the album that is was on. "Passion" is played fairly often in my house, to this day.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Samantha Fox 'Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)'

I've been told time and time again

That you can't treat love like a game

But I play rough with hearts that never mend

'cause some guys like you do the same

Love was just a four-letter word

Never heard, how absurd, how could it be

But now I can't believe this is real

How I feel, now you steal my heart away from me

"Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)" was one of the best guilty pleasure songs of the late-80's. Samantha Fox  first burst onto the music scene with "Touch Me" back in 1986, raising many eyebrows. Lyrically she was the first chick to sing entire songs about sex in the bluntest way possible and there was something really ballsy about her doing that.

"Naughty Girls" quickly became an anthem of sorts in the summer of 1988 with the message being that everyone needs love, even when they think that they don't. Fox's videos were really slick and this one cut between a sexy bedroom scene and then her and her crew dancing in front of a graffiti wall. The video walked the line without ever going to far and the result kept Fox's music in heave rotation both on the radio and MTV.

In between listening to a bunch of hair bands, I was definitely a big Samantha Fox fan. Even now, when one of her videos comes on I inevitably stop what I'm doing to watch in spite of already having seen it a million times. 

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. 

Boom Daily Throwback: Winger- 'Headed for a Heartbreak'

Kip Winger. Just stare at the photo for a minute because doing that will likely drag you back in time. I stumbled onto an interview with the rocker in a (GASP) 25-year-old issue of Sassy magazine and was kind of sucked in. I was 17 when he and his band, Winger, first broke through and even then he struck me as smarter than the average bear. I'm not sure what drives this interview more, his intelligence or the reporter's love for him.  I think you had to be there to be sure.

But he is smart and back then he had a clear direction of what the bands' second album would be. It was pieced together in a pretty painstaking way, which I appreciate. I've loved their catalog of music over the years, but Winger's self-titled debut remains my favorite. It was one of those albums that I played almost all the way through and it followed me everywhere. It was in my Walkman, in my stereo, playing on the bus to school and then one of the things that we listened to at the end of the night at work.

Winger was everywhere. That first album spawned four singles and spent well over a year on Billboard's Hot 200 album chart. It also recently was named one of Rolling Stone's Top 50 metal albums of all time, kind of proving that this band still stands out from the mountain of hair bands that came and went over the years.

Winger has released several albums over the years and they are still together and touring as I type. I could have chosen several videos to feature but I need to take you guys back to "Headed for a Heartbreak" but done with the Colorado Symphony.   It's still gorgeous, don't you think?

Daily Boom 80's Throwback- Skid Row 'Youth Gone Wild'

"They call us problem child
We spend our lives on trial
We walk an endless mile
We are the youth gone wild
We stand and we won't fall
We're the one and one for all
The writing's on the wall
We are the youth gone wild"

The year was 1989 and you probably were walking around in acid-washed jeans with a huge vat of Aqua Net in your purse, for both your hair AND your boyfriend's. Hairbands ruled the airwaves of Skid Row burst on the scene and instantly felt like they belonged amongst heavy hitters such as Whitesnake and Guns & Roses. They announced their presence with a single called "Youth Gone Wild" which instantly became an anthem for teens everywhere. Ironically, it didn't make the same impression on Billboard's Hot 100 and only charted as high as #99. Not that it really mattered. "Youth" was re-released by Skid Row a few years later and did well. It also became an anthem at sporting events and has been covered by numerous other hard rock bands.

Sidenote, lead singer Sebastian Bach's poster hung in many teen girl's bedrooms way back then. Total hotness.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: The Human League- 'Don't You Want Me'

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
That much is true
But even then I knew I'd find a much better place
Either with or without you
The five years we have had have been such good at times
I still love you
But now I think it's time I lived my life on my own
I guess it's just what I must do
Don't. Don't you want me?
You know I can't believe it when I hear that you won't see me
Don't. Don't you want me?
You know I don't believe you when you say that you don't need me

I have to admit, I don't really remember a ton about being 11-years-old but there is one thing that does stick in my head and that's that 1982 was the year of The Human League in my house. I'm not sure if my dad was still working in radio at the time but he certainly still had his radio buddies and the ability to get his hands on any new music from just about anywhere. In late 1981 The Human League released Dare, their third studio album which didn't really strike too much of a cord here in the states, until they dropped "Don't You Want Me" and it's unforgettable video.

I'm really not sure what it was about the video that made it become so iconic but for whatever reason, the visuals really stuck and somehow felt way ahead of their time. My dad didn't just love "Don't You Want Me" but he had to get his hands on a special German (I think) extended mix import that featured machine guns on the track during the chorus. Dad had a stereo that rivaled whatever you'd find in any radio station and he always cranked things up as loud as he could get away with. This version of this song, drove my mother completely out of her mind. It was the heavy artillery fire mixed in with those synth beats that drove her out of her mind and caused some serious fights.  She would complain and it seemed for awhile there like The Human League was in some serious heavy rotation.

"Don't You Want Me" is one of those songs that I seriously connect to grade school and it seemed to pop up on a regular basis for several years of my life. I talked to my dad recently to try and convince him to come for a visit. Some health issues prevented that from happening but he recently made a point of telling me that he was listening to The Human League, making it pretty clear that I'm not the only one that remembers the drama that their song caused.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: D-Mob featuring Cathy Dennis 'C'Mon And Get My Love'

 I was on Facebook yesterday and saw a posting that reminded me of a long-forgotten song. "C'Mon and Get My Love" was the track that introduced us to Cathy Dennis way back in 1989.

This thing was a club kid's dream and Dennis had a string of hits off of her Move To This album, all in a pretty similar vein. She released a follow up a few years later and then appeared to disappear from the charts. While she's not front and center onstage now Dennis has actually had an extremely successful career writing and producing pop songs. She is responsible for penning such tracks as Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head" and Britney Spears "Toxic".

Dennis has worked with just about every major pop princess within the last 15 years, but check her out here in her video debut.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Luther Vandross - 'Stop To Love'

"I just wanna be the one that you wanna see

I just wanna have you near me

But you fly away almost everyday

You work a lot but you never stop to love

(Stop) I love you stop (stop)

Come home from the road

(Gotta stop to love)

And let's celebrate (celebrate) the love we got (stop)

Say you're coming home."

Luther Vandross might have one of the most soulful voices to listen to ever. He is quite obviously best remembered for his ballads ("Here and Now", "Superstar", etc.) so I wanted to share something a little different. "Stop To Love" was the first single off of Vandross' fifth album and it was also his first top 20 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The video from 1986 shows a fun side to Vandross, one that those cloesest to him often talked about. Sadly, the singer's life was cut short after a massive stroke left him comatose for two months in 2003. While Vandross did recover somewhat he never performed in public again and eventually died in July of 2005.

Currently Booming: Top 10 Horror Movies of the 1980's

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: The Human League- 'Don't You Want Me'

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
That much is true
But even then I knew I'd find a much better place
Either with or without you
The five years we have had have been such good at times
I still love you
But now I think it's time I lived my life on my own
I guess it's just what I must do
Don't. Don't you want me?
You know I can't believe it when I hear that you won't see me
Don't. Don't you want me?
You know I don't believe you when you say that you don't need me

I have to admit, I don't really remember a ton about being 11-years-old but there is one thing that does stick in my head and that's that 1982 was the year of The Human League in my house. I'm not sure if my dad was still working in radio at the time but he certainly still had his radio buddies and the ability to get his hands on any new music from just about anywhere. In late 1981 The Human League released Dare, their third studio album which didn't really strike too much of a cord here in the states, until they dropped "Don't You Want Me" and it's unforgettable video.

I'm really not sure what it was about the video that made it become so iconic but for whatever reason, the visuals really stuck and somehow felt way ahead of their time. My dad didn't just love "Don't You Want Me" but he had to get his hands on a special German (I think) extended mix import that featured machine guns on the track during the chorus. Dad had a stereo that rivaled whatever you'd find in any radio station and he always cranked things up as loud as he could get away with. This version of this song, drove my mother completely out of her mind. It was the heavy artillery fire mixed in with those synth beats that drove her out of her mind and caused some serious fights.  She would complain and it seemed for awhile there like The Human League was in some serious heavy rotation.

"Don't You Want Me" is one of those songs that I seriously connect to grade school and it seemed to pop up on a regular basis for several years of my life. I talked to my dad recently to try and convince him to come for a visit. Some health issues prevented that from happening but he recently made a point of telling me that he was listening to The Human League, making it pretty clear that I'm not the only one that remembers the drama that their song caused.

Ironically enough, my sister visited this past weekend and while we game planned how to get dad to travel a bit, "Don't You Want Me" was on in the car no less than four times out of sheer coincidence. I'm pretty sure dad's presence was indeed here in some way.

Currently Booming: 80's Style Halloween Costume Ideas: Pac-Man

Items Needed
Black t-shirt and tights/pants, white paint, markers, rope, heavy paper, scissors

Steps
1. Paint white circles down your pant or tight legs.
2. Cut out your desired Pac-Man character and decorate if necessary.
3. Attach a rope.

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 80's 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: Samantha Fox 'Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)'

"I've been told time and time again

That you can't treat love like a game

But I play rough with hearts that never mend

'cause some guys like you do the same

Love was just a four-letter word

Never heard, how absurd, how could it be

But now I can't believe this is real

How I feel, now you steal my heart away from me"

"Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)" was one of the best guilty pleasure songs of the late-80's. Samantha Fox first burst onto the music scene with "Touch Me" back in 1986, raising many eyebrows. Lyrically she was the first chick to sing entire songs about sex in the bluntest way possible and there was something really ballsy about her doing that.

"Naughty Girls" quickly became an anthem of sorts in the summer of 1988 with the message being that everyone needs love, even when they think that they don't. Fox's videos were really slick and this one cut between a sexy bedroom scene and then her and her crew dancing in front of a graffiti wall. The video walked the line without ever going too far and the result kept Fox's music in heavy rotation both on the radio and MTV.

In between listening to a bunch of hair bands, I was definitely a big Samantha Fox fan. Even now, when one of her videos comes on I inevitably stop what I'm doing to watch in spite of already having seen it a million times. 

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: The Human League- 'Don't You Want Me'

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
That much is true
But even then I knew I'd find a much better place
Either with or without you
The five years we have had have been such good at times
I still love you
But now I think it's time I lived my life on my own
I guess it's just what I must do
Don't. Don't you want me?
You know I can't believe it when I hear that you won't see me
Don't. Don't you want me?
You know I don't believe you when you say that you don't need me

I have to admit, I don't really remember a ton about being 11-years-old but there is one thing that does stick in my head and that's that 1982 was the year of The Human League in my house. I'm not sure if my dad was still working in radio at the time but he certainly still had his radio buddies and the ability to get his hands on any new music from just about anywhere. In late 1981 The Human League released Dare, their third studio album which didn't really strike too much of a cord here in the states, until they dropped "Don't You Want Me" and it's unforgettable video.

I'm really not sure what it was about the video that made it become so iconic but for whatever reason, the visuals really stuck and somehow felt way ahead of their time. My dad didn't just love "Don't You Want Me" but he had to get his hands on a special German (I think) extended mix import that featured machine guns on the track during the chorus. Dad had a stereo that rivaled whatever you'd find in any radio station and he always cranked things up as loud as he could get away with. This version of this song, drove my mother completely out of her mind. It was the heavy artillery fire mixed in with those synth beats that drove her out of her mind and caused some serious fights.  She would complain and it seemed for awhile there like The Human League was in some serious heavy rotation.

"Don't You Want Me" is one of those songs that I seriously connect to grade school and it seemed to pop up on a regular basis for several years of my life. I talked to my dad recently to try and convince him to come for a visit. Some health issues prevented that from happening but he recently made a point of telling me that he was listening to The Human League, making it pretty clear that I'm not the only one that remembers the drama that their song caused.

Ironically enough, my sister visited this past weekend and while we game planned how to get dad to travel a bit, "Don't You Want Me" was on in the car no less than four times out of sheer coincidence. I'm pretty sure dad's presence was indeed here in some way.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: RUN-DMC - 'It's Tricky'

This speech is my recital, I think it's very vital
To rock (a rhyme), that's right (on time)
It's Tricky is the title, here we go...

I was cruising through Boom's archives yesterday and realized that there hasn't been very much old school rap featured and that is something that I need to correct immediately, starting with RUN-DMC.  While everyone else was semi-obsessed with the boys appearing with Aerosmith in their video for "Walk This Way", I was all about "It's Tricky" the third track off of their Raising Hell album.

 "It's Tricky" was released in late 1986 and got tons of airplay in my area. Plus the video was constantly playing on MTV, in part because of it featuring a cameo with Penn & Teller. Do you guys remember this one? Check out the clip below, 30 years later it's still one of my very favorite RUN-DMC tracks!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Luther Vandross - 'Stop To Love'

"I just wanna be the one that you wanna see

I just wanna have you near me

But you fly away almost everyday

You work a lot but you never stop to love

(Stop) I love you stop (stop)

Come home from the road

(Gotta stop to love)

And let's celebrate (celebrate) the love we got (stop)

Say you're coming home."

Luther Vandross might have one of the most soulful voices to listen to ever. He is quite obviously best remembered for his ballads ("Here and Now", "Superstar", etc.) so I wanted to share something a little different. "Stop To Love" was the first single off of Vandross' fifth album and it was also his first top 20 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The video from 1986 shows a fun side to Vandross, one that those cloesest to him often talked about. Sadly, the singer's life was cut short after a massive stroke left him comatose for two months in 2003. While Vandross did recover somewhat he never performed in public again and eventually died in July of 2005.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback- Skid Row 'Youth Gone Wild'

"They call us problem child
We spend our lives on trial
We walk an endless mile
We are the youth gone wild
We stand and we won't fall
We're the one and one for all
The writing's on the wall
We are the youth gone wild"

The year was 1989 and you probably were walking around in acid washed jeans with a huge vat of Aqua Net in your purse, for both your hair AND your boyfriend's. Hair bands ruled the air waves of Skid Row burst on the scene and instantly felt like they belonged amongst heavy hitters such as Whitesnake and Guns & Roses. They announced their presence with a single called "Youth Gone Wild" which instantly became an anthem for teens everywhere. Ironically, it didn't make the same impression on Billboard's Hot 100 and only charted as high as #99. Not that it really mattered. "Youth" was re-released by Skid Row a few years later and did well. It also became an anthem at sporting events and has been covered by numerous other hard rock bands.

Sidenote, lead singer Sebastian Bach's poster hung in many teen girl's bedrooms way back then. Total hotness.

Currently Booming: 80's Style Halloween Costume Ideas: Rubik's Cube

Items Needed

Three boxes, scissors, sharp knife, different colored construction paper, black tape, hot glue gun, rope
Steps
1. Cover the boxes with construction paper.
2. Go over the seams with black tape, so it forms a square pattern.
3. Arrange the boxes in a stacked formation and glue together. You can also add some tape to doubly secure it.
4. Once dry, cut a hole in the boxes large enough that you can fit in them and move around. Attach a rope to go around your neck.