Liam Kinnon

Well it’s another Friday and another top five for you all. I’ve been listening to more music but don’t think I have enough new songs to give you a good new selection of music. This week instead will be the top 5 things to come out of the eighties. That is right, I’m under the impression that we can do some work at redeeming the 80s this week.

#5 Peter Gabriel. An artist who can trace most of his biggest hits to the 80s Peter Gabriel may be one of the more brilliant songwriters and arrangers out there. While songs like 99 red balloons dominated the air Peter Gabriel released subversively intelligent music like “Red Rain” and “In Your Eyes”. I say subversive because it also did quite well on the charts. He is someone I hope I get to see live.

#4 Footloose. A fun movie about dancing, rock n’ roll, and the small town mentality. Also has a great song by Kenny Loggins.

#3 The Police. As you can read here I love the Police. They came from the eighties. That is all.

#2 The Princess Bride. I really don’t think you can talk about this movie. All I can say is that it is hilarious, fun, and an all around good time. I heartily recommend it. I’ve linked to what may be the greatest scene in any movie ever. Which also features a line that I frequently use in Risk.

#1 U2. I throw them here because they too are amazing. It’s hard to call a band that has managed to stay relevant and continues to have chart topping albums an “eighties” band. But if you have such classic albums as “The Joshua Tree” released in the eighties there is no choice but to place these guys at the top of the list. The song I linked to has one of my favorite solos of all time in it. As well as my favorite Edge solo.

Notable Mentions… MTV, Michael Jackson, and I was born in ’87, so you can throw me on this list if you want.

In a promise that mirrors the one I made about posting every day, I now plan every friday to give you my top five somethings. It will most likely be music, but if every friday was a top 5 songs it might get repetitive fast. Anyway here are my top five songs this week. (Videos linked to where available)
#5 If I Never See Your Face Again, Maroon 5: Apart from lead singer Adam Levine’s obsession with sex Maroon 5 is a fantastic band. I am currently jealous of Rylan and Kaili’s (my siblings) who are going to see them when they come through Toronto in the fall. I will be on the east coast. The best part about their live shows is that Adam Levine will actually play solos, which never (except for kiwi) appear on their records.

#4 Plastic, Rob Mathes: My sister loves this song, which is from the album evening train. Rob Mathes is a lesser known artist but is behind the scenes doing arrangements for everything from rap to rock to pop. I’m not sure where to classify this one, some soft rock, some jazz, and some pop all make their appearance in this tune. I’m trying to figure out an arrangement of this song for my sister.

#3 Umbrella, Rihanna: I have an obsession with pop. I don’t necessarily like hip hop or R&B but I’m a sucker for a great melody and great hooks. Both of which this song has. I don’t really need to say much about it because you’ve already heard it.

#2 Paperthin Hymn, Anberlin: If you don’t already know I’m kind of a big fan of Anberlin. I hadn’t listened to this song in a while but rediscovered it this week. They are excellent songwriters and this song represents a great part of what they do. Heavy Riffs, Stephen Christian’s haunting vocals and lyrics both poetic and slightly incomprehensible (unlike the Tragically Hip, which are just incomprehensible). The video is pretty good too.

#1 The Clincher, Chevelle: This song is another rediscovery of mine. The melody for the chorus popped into my head last week and I put it back on my iPod. This is Chevelle’s greatest song of all time, from my least favorite album of their’s: “This type of thinking (could do us in)”. Heavy riffage, screams, and amazing vocals and two part harmonies are what make this song so good.