The GREATEST SONG of 1980 is JUST 1 BIG NASTY INNUENDO! | Professor of Rock

0:00 ah we got a great one for you today the Year 1980 was a fascinating time for music I mean the decade was ushered in by some bold songs by artists that push their own boundaries to stay relevant but it really challenged their fans you'll see what I mean uh it's also a year that gave us some of the most influential and Timeless Tracks Of The Rock here great albums great bands including two of Rock's greatest bands releasing uh disco influence tracks one by Rock's most Progressive band and then there was another song where a hard rock band ripped off a disco group Baseline but to this day pretty much everyone thinks the Disco group ripped them off there's another one that has a mystery vocalist that shock people when they figured out who it was and then a song that we've all sung for years even though it's so b m hooker it's all coming up next as we count down the top

0:47 10 songs of 1980 I'm professor of rock hey music junkies professor of rock always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time you know if you remember trying to decide between GoBots and Transformers back in the day you're going to dig this channel of deep musical Nostalgia one was cheaper one was better make sure to subscribe below right now click the white button and click the notification Bell also go to Professor of rock.com to sign up for our live streams and other exclusives you're not going to want to miss out so 1980 is often regarded as a pivotal year in music marking a transitional era where diverse genres like new wave and punk and emerging rap and the increasing in use of synthesizers were all making a huge impact we're going to kick off our top

1:34 10 songs in 1980 with a bang and remember I'm only counting songs that peaked in the top 40 in 1980 so even though some great album tracks and things like that that came out uh to make it a little bit easier we only count the ones that hit the top 40 all right like I said we're going to do with the bang and coming in at number 10 we have a female fronted New Way band that killed it in the80s it's the tune that introduced many of us to the Sensational Chrissy hind it's Brass in Pocket by The Pretenders pocket song's title actually came about after The Pretender first ever UK gig when they uh they were in the communal dressing room with a band called the strangeways uh they were supporting The Pretenders so Chrissy

2:21 hind wanted to know whose trousers were sprawled over the back of a chair uh they're kind of in the way in one of the strange ways aah Wilson said I'll have them if they're any brass in the pockets now Chrissy learned that brass is a northern slang term for money she fell in love with that expression and that was when inspired her to write the song and many hear Brass in Pocket as an Anthem of girl power but Chrissy hind she insists that that's so far from the truth she actually sing it from a guy's perspective and finds the empowering label very frustrating speaking the louder sound she vented and I quote people people say there's a strong female Persona driving the song it drives me crazy the girl thing seems to be really important to other people but

3:06 I I'm mystified by [Music] it here comes a surprise that will be kind of a recurring theme in this countdown Chrissy hind was not a fan of brass and pocket you know when it was recorded she actually grew to despise it after it became a massive number one hit in the UK she actually confessed to the magazine cream in 1981 uh saying I hated it it was a phenomenon that evades me completely I was honestly very disappointed it was such a big hit I was embarrassed by it I'm special so special embarrassed or proud it was the song that broke the pretenders around the world now in addition to his chart topping success in the UK brass and pocket went to number one in Ireland and South Africa and Sweden it was a number

3:54 two single in Australia New Zealand here in America brass and pocket peaked at number 14 and ranked number four 41 for the entire year it stayed in the countdown for a long [Music] time so coming in at number nine on our countdown of the top 10 songs at 1980 it's the first solo top 40 hit from one of Rock's greatest guitarists it's Let My Love Open the Door by Pete Townsen I actually like the remix they did in ' 86 a little bit better than the [Music] original your [Music] heart my love open the door to your heart Pete Townson Drew inspiration for this song like many of his songs from the teachings of spiritual leader mayor Baba when uh he

4:39 was uh he actually started following him devoutly in 1968 the let love set you free message reflects the spiritual ideal that Pete strived for though he struggled to maintain it as he grappled with drug and alcohol abuse during this period of his life and he would admit to that uh actually when Keith Moon died in 1978 Pete towns and and the who pressed on but tensions were running high in the band for Pete Townson The Strain was especially intense his entire life revolved around the who from his friendships to his finances now despite the turmoil its creative output remained prolific the band actually the who released albums in the 81 and 82 while Townson dropped solar records in 80 and 82 however his personal struggles nearly led to his downfall as he spiraled

5:24 deeper into substance abuse actually after two stints in rehab Townsen got clean in 82 and began to reflect on that chaotic period he realized that he'd been shutting out his spiritual guide mayor Baba as a sort of defense mechanism to avoid confronting his inner demons and in turn uh doing something about [Music] [Applause] [Music] them in an interview right after the song took off Pete downplay Let My Love Open the Door calling it just a Diddy uh he admitted that he actually preferred another track from The Empty Glass album uh song song a little is enough that one barely made a dent on the charts I think it peaked at number 72 on the [Music]

6:11 charts funny enough Pete's personal manager he initially hated this song he claimed it didn't sound like Townsen at all and you know towns and's voice did sound different from his other [Music] recordings he even pushed to have it cut from the album all together but after it became a hit their manager called Pete to apologize and you know I guess success has his way of changing opinions song climbed to number five in Canada number 46 in the UK cracked the top 10 here at number nine in the Billboard Hot 100 and I Love the remix from 96 like I [Music] said rolling in at number eight on the

6:57 top 10 songs of 80 uh are countdown here it's the electronic trailblazing song that was really unlike anything in the top 10 in 1980 I'm talking about cars by the great Gary Newman cars is all about how people use technology and material things to shut themselves off from real human connection and of course Gary told me the story behind the song Here's what he said I was driving along and um and some people in front obviously really upset with me so I've always assumed I must have done something and not realized you know back up the road somewhere and and upset them in some way anyway they got out of their car and they're screaming shouting to me and then they trying to open my door and I'm lock locking my

7:43 doors you stay in the car uh and then they're trying to break them in ear it's all in traffic right in front of hundreds Road R yeah yeah it's serious you know and I thought there's no way I'm getting out of this you I'm going to get hammered anyway I ended up driving up onto the pavement actually drove along the pavement um s people leaping out the way a little bit and off the end of that and and and away and so that's the experience that it come from and it it made me realize Again part of my Asbergers and being uncomfortable around people that the car for me was was like a little mini tank for for the civilian the single top the charting Canada and

8:30 the UK hit number five in Ireland number nine in Australia and cracked the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 in early 1980 and it actually was one of the biggest hits of the year when the year end countdown came out we're number seven on the countdown of the top 10 songs here and it's the title track from the biggest selling album of one of Rock's greatest storytellers uh man who's phenomenal alive against the win by Bob Seager and and his Silver Bullet [Music] Band against the wind is all about getting older and you know pushing through life's ups and downs love heartbreak exploration and betrayal the title in the repeated line against the wi really captur the feeling of time

9:17 passing that's what Seager was going for he actually got the phrase from his high school days running track in cross country where he'd literally run against the wind every mile fighting that resistance became a metaphor for his life Journey pushing forward no matter the circumstances were running against wind one of the ingredients that makes Against the Wind so endearing one of the great songs of the year is that it was conceived from a very personal place the Janie and against the win actually refers to Janie Dale Bob seager's longtime partner from 1972 to 1983 now according to Bob Seager the song is about learning to tell the difference between people who genuinely care about you and those were just using

10:02 [Music] you Bob explained it this way he said Jenny always said to me you let so many people walk on you more than anyone I've ever known and I tell her it's just human nature people are going to love you sometimes and they're going to use you sometimes the key is knowing the difference we were running Against the Wind now for Bob Seager against the wind is intended to be mo motivational you know to endure life's challenges and come out even stronger he said the people in that song have weathered the storm and it's made them better getting through it and maintaining their relationships that's the real [Music] Victory I love that quote also it has

10:48 one of the most unforgettable lines of the year it's just mindbending you know when Bob sings wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then and how it fits in the precourse is just brilliant he sings I remember what she said to me how she swore that it never would end I remember how she held me oh so tied wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then a it's so poignant I mean the narrator is longing for you that Carefree moment when he truly believed that he'd be with Janie forever before reality sets in we've all been there it's hard to believe but actually seagar almost scr that iconic line he explained I quote the line wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then

11:34 bothered me for the longest time but everyone I knew just loved it and that included his close friends Glenn Fry and Don Henley The Eagles so he kept [Music] it gets to Wi one the Grammy for Best Rock performance by a doo group uh that was at the 1981 Grammys it's actually the only Grammy the pop Seager ever won it also Advanced number six in Canada a number eight on the billboard AC chart and number five on the Billboard Hot 100 traveling down a path that eventually turn Platinum selling over a million [Music] copies okay it was technically a cover was originally sung by Liza Manelli but the track that we have at number six of

12:21 our countdown was remade by my favorite singer ever old blue eyes and it became the signature version and a pop culture standard talk about Frank son his classic rition a theme from New York New York of course more commonly known as New York New York New York New York the iconic song is from uh Martin scor's 1977 musical New York New York was composed by John cander with lyrics by Fred AB song like I said it's performed by Liza Manelli in the film's dramatic finale it was even nominated for a Golden Globe award for best original S I don't know how it didn't get the Academy Award but John kander and Fred e credited the song success to Robert dairo who actually rejected their original theme for New York New York he thought it was too

13:06 weak y New York the duo had been tasked for writing several songs for the film and when they were ready they actually performed him for uh Martin scorsi uh laa Manelli and dairo and afterward I guess dairo pulled scorsi aside and said you know this just got to be a Stronger song that finale the Frank Military a longtime associate and former employee of Frank Sinatra publishing company had an act for selecting the right songs for legendary singer and Military sent sonra recording of New York New York and repeatedly checked with his secretary to see if he'd actually listen to it Sinatra eventually handed the sheet music to his pianist uh Vinnie valone and by October

13:54 of 78 he began incorporating it into a medley alongside New York New York from on the town old movie that he was in in the' 40s York New York York York York the audience went nuts they came onlu they loved it so he kept moving it toward the end of his live show because it got such a reaction he always ended with my way of course but New York New York became such a Hallmark it became the grand finale of his live shows it replaced my way it's always cool when at the end of your career you can replace one signature song with another signature song Only sanatra I'm telling

14:40 you New York New York it actually became his first top 40 hit in years went to number 32 and it was his last top 40 hit up to you New York I mean went to number 32 in the middle of New Wave Punk and hard rock it also hit the top 10 on the AC charts it went to number two in Canada in Mexico it actually topped the charts for 3 weeks and it hit number four in the UK in 86 New [Music] York so coming up next on our countdown it's another track from a movie one of the funniest comedies with a standout performance by Bill Murray I got to go with Kenny Loggins with I'm all right at

15:25 number five [Applause] now Kenny was trying to imitate Bob Dylan and the song has many things that made it a hit few uh I can mention the basic drum beat and another is a mystery singer that people still don't realize sings backup here's what Kenny said about it interestingly enough we were working on the tune and I tried to syncopate the drum part more but the drummer was not extremely Advanced as a drummer he was pretty basic M so I had boil the drum Parts down [Applause] [Music] to and we [Music]

16:11 added which became the heartbeat of that song because that's all he could play really yeah and and thank God because it made the groove really work and when I brought it home I listened to it and I started laughing as one of the few times where I I got it [Music] of course the background vocals and even the bridge part Addie money all right right don't let me forget that I wanted to layer different voices on different lines and so I I asked him if he'd come in and and sing a line you sang the parts on I'm all right yeah you know he made sure that that came off the Record oh really well I was

16:56 showing it to my kids the other day and I said uh who do you think this is and they're like I don't know like that's Eddie Money Man that's Eddie oh yeah they glad he have me on the track actually you know he's he's a good artist but we just don't see eye to eye let me set the record straight because Eddie still holds a grudge that I never put his name on the on the label of that song because well I was recording in uh one room in the studio and Eddie was in another room in the studio this was before to my memory before he was Eddie Money he was this guy who was going to become Eddie Money and I heard him singing in the studio and I said uh yeah you want to come in and sing a line on my song I've got this one thing can you play just that little piece of of I'm

17:42 all right again all right yeah you can startop now that guy had some meat and potatoes on his voice but anyway so now that we're filming this Eddie please forgive me it was actually a lapse in memory that I was not trying to you over Dude grossing over 40 million CAD Shack was a box office hit and so as I'm all right it hit number five in Canada in South Africa number seven on the billboard Hall 100 and to this day a lot of people I point out that it's Eddie Money singing those backgrounds they're like what all right we're up to number four on our countdown it's actually the biggest single of the year and another song from a motion picture soundtrack that's sung by a female from the perspective of a male hooker from the

18:28 movie American jiggalo I got the Blockbuster smash Call Me by [Music] Blondie so after his first choice Stevie Nicks she passed on the song composer and producer georger maroder he approached Deborah Harry of Blondie with an instrumental track called M machine he asked her to write the lyrics for the music it was a task that she said only took a few hours to finish [Music] now the lyrics were written from the perspective of the film's main character a high-priced cowboy played by Richard Gear this was his breakout role Richard Gear Lauren Hutton American jiggalo Debbie explained that the lyrics were

19:15 inspired by her visual Impressions from watching the movie when she was writing the song she pictured the opening scene you know driving on the coast to California Georgio was really impressed by Debbie's quick grasp of what he wanted for Calli but then he later told billboard that recording the track with the group with blondie was very challenging very challenging experience indeed it taught him never to work with rock bands he said there were always fights I was supposed to do an album with him after that and we went to the studio and the guitarist was fighting with the uh keyboard player and I called their manager and I [Music] quit for the American jigo soundtrack album Blondie was only credited for vocals while George marer crew played everything else and it really pissed off

20:01 the band song Hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 6 weeks and it remained on the Hot 100 for nearly six straight months they ranked number one for the year for the biggest single we sung along for years and we don't know that we're talking about a [Music] callboy coming in at number three it's one of a few bands who embrac disco with a baseline that everybody ripped off after talking about Queen with another one bites the dust the dust now Another One Bites the Dust was John Deacon's moment to really shine he conceived and wrote the song himself while all four members of Queen contributed their own songs each creating at least one hit John also

20:46 panned the classic you're my best friend John Deacon played most of the instruments on the track including lead and Rhythm guitars uh Bass reverse piano and extra percussion Brian May did add some guitar effects with a harmonizer during the interlude and Roger Taylor contributed the drum loop it's pretty cool that Deacon played all those instruments surprisingly though there's no synthesizers involved s John's inspiration for another one by sedus came from his love of the dance hit Good Times by [Music] Sheik he always been honest about that problem is everybody else thinks that

21:32 Sheik ripped them off in an interview with new musical Express Sheik basis the late Bernard Edwards candidly expressed his opinion of another one bis to dust he held nothing back he said well that Queen track happened because their bass player hung out with us at our studio for quite a while and that's fine what's not fine is when the Press started claiming that we ripped them off can you believe that good times came out more than a year earlier but people couldn't wrap their head around the idea that black musicians could be that Innovative instead they just thought these dumb disco guys were copying a rock and roll song Those were his exact words what a basist Freddy Mercury was very passionate about another one bites the

22:18 dust in the group and his energy on his vocal performance really manifested his exuberance for the song Brian may actually said that Freddy gave it so much Gusto his voice actually bled and bled a lot Freddy and John Deacon felt the power of Another One Bites the Dust but Roger Taylor and Brian May did not share their [Music] opinion get this it wasn't originally slated to beat a single I mean as ridiculous as that sounds it wasn't going to be until Michael Jackson told Freddy Mercury uh and they were pretty tight at the time it had to be a single from the game the album came from at after getting a private preview of the album before it was released the King of Pop told Freddy that another one by said

23:04 D was the smash hit on the record no question actually released two singles first they did okay and the game wasn't doing very well at that point but when they finally put out another one bites the dust it blasted up the pop charts to number one number one here and in Israel and Spain and [Music] Canada and actually until Bohemian rap city became so huge in the last uh 30 years because of its use on Wayne's World and going forward Another One Bites the Dust was Queen's biggest song ever their biggest chart hit for sure and it became a huge Stadium Anthem and uh it almost didn't get [Music]

23:52 released all right we're all the way up to number two the bridesma position and it's another song influenced by Disco made by Rock's most Progressive band back-to-back songs that were influenced by disco starting with the word another it's another brick of thewall part two by Pink Floyd man Pink Floyd busted the prag rock categorization With Another Brick in the Wall for sure I mean who would have thought that old pink would create a song with a disco BackBeat that would dominate pop radio like it did it hit number one and it would do so without really alienating their core fans a lot of people don't realize that it's got that disco beat in that guitar line I mean disco beat that runs through

24:37 another brick in the wall that was suggested by producer Bob ezren who like Queens John Deacon was a big fan of chic we UC it was especially unexpected for Pink Floyd to use a disco beat since they were you know known for creating albums were meant to be listened to thoughtfully not danc to [Music] right ezrin got the idea while it was in New York after hearing the music of NY Rogers and Bernard Edwards of schic uh particularly their hit good times one of the most influential songs ever Roger Waters the lyrical force behind Pink Floyd wrote Another Brick in the Wall as a reflection of his complex feelings about formal education shaped by his experiences at the uh uh was it

25:25 Cambridge Shire school for boys I think it was during his time there he developed a deep resentment for his grammar school teachers he felt they were more you know focused on keeping the students in line and quiet than actually teaching them anything meaningful to Waters school wasn't a place of learning it was a place of control the wall he refers to in the song symbolizes the emotional barrier that he built around himself you know a way of disconnecting from reality each event in his life that contributed to the growing sense of isolation became Another Brick in the Wall and in the story is oppressive school teacher was just one more brick in that you know ever expanding

26:13 Fortress so let's talk about the Children's Chorus on another brick in thewall it was made up of 23 kids from a school in Islington England and it was chosen because it was nearby the studio the kids were aged between 13 and 15 and they were recorded 12 times create that effect of a much larger choir that we're [Music] hearing the inclusion of the choir convinced Waters the song was really coming together he told Rolling Stone and a quote suddenly made it sort of crate Pink Floyd's producer Bob ezren came up with the genius idea for the Children's Choir I mean it definitely validated the song's authenticity now after Another Brick in the Wall grew to you know the Monstrous proportions there were some huge huge backlash when it

26:59 came to light that the kids in the course weren't paid and they recorded it without the principal knowing kind of snuck out of the school teachers were also upset about the fact that the kids were singing an anti-school song in fact right before the song was released producer ezon was so scared he would hide the master tapes at night worrying that they'd be taken away and [Music] destroyed ezin talk guitarist David Gilmore to going into a disco to listen to the music before wrote it first he fought it he didn't want to do it he finally relented and he came back with that incredible guitar line it helped sell 23 million copies of the wall and it hit number one internationally sort to number one in 15 countries across the globe including four weeks here in

27:50 America all right we're at the moment of P Glory the revelation of the track that we're naming is the best of 1980 can you guess what it is was a very easy choice at number one I Got You Shook Me All Night Long by ACDC what other song is better there's [Music] not it was the first ACDC single with their new lead singer Brian Johnson who replaced Bon Scott after his tragic death on February 19th 1980 following a drinking binge actually Bon's father was the one that encouraged the band to find a new singer and continue on with their music Bon himself is the one who said if anything happens to me hire this guy Brian [Music] Johnson already there so Brian shared with UK's absolute radio the story

28:36 behind the song's inspiration he said they quote now the boys had a title Malcolm and Angus said listen we got this song it's called Shook Me All Night Long that's the name that we want for this and if you listen to the chords the chorus just fell into place so I can't take any credit for that one Brian said that writing You Shook Me All Night Long was as quick as it had to be um which was the same night that the young brothers gave him the title uh he felt a little bit of pressure because he was determined to impress his bandmates with a song that really fit the ACDC image perfectly Brian remembered that the inspiration for You Shook Me came from seeing images of American girls and their thighs while the band was recording back and black in the

29:24 Bahamas knock me out those amican the singer came up with the opening verse she was a fast machine she kept her motor clean you know when he theorized that cars and women were pretty similar his words were both can go fast they let you down but then they make you happy again when you see a new [Music] model again his words uh acdc's lyrics have never been about deep sensitive themes but you know what who cares just rock and roll I've always contended that Malcolm Young doesn't get enough credit though for how critically vital he was to the ACDC sound and how he really should be regarded as one of rock and roll's greatest Melody makers truly You Shook Me is evidence of this claim

30:12 Malcolm's thick rhythm is perhaps the most powerful component of the [Applause] [Music] track and I'll tell you what um top three riffs of all time easy I mean the combination of Malcolm's Rhythm and angus's Lead riff it rank is one of the most potent onew punches of the rock [Music] [Applause] era if you're evaluating the merits That You Shook Me All Night Long you have to throw away the trades because it wasn't a huge hit in 1980 but it's arguably the most popular song that was a single in that year and its Legacy should be elevated to one of the all-time greatest rock songs which it has I mean being the chgeek that I am I'll tell you that the highlights for yes Shook Me All Night

30:58 Long was its peak at number eight in acdc's homeland of Australia it also went to number 19 in Ireland and number 29 in West Germany to end on I've got a one of the funniest parts of an interview that I've ever done was with Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads he said when Talking Heads went in to record their album during the time that mutl was doing back and black they recorded the same studio in the Bahamas uh I just got to have him to it here's what he [Music] said well that's our number one our top 10 songs of 1980 I got to give some honorable mentions though this was tough coming up with these 10 songs My honorable mentions go to Sailing by

31:44 Christopher Cross longer by danam Fogelberg and trained in Vain by the only band that matters to [Music] clash Takes Me Away longer than there have been fishes in the [Music] ocean my choice for solo artists of the Year Billy Joel who killed it with a pseudo Rock New Wave album glass houses album of the year was really tough but I'm going to give it to back and black by a hair uh for ACDC over Pink Floyd's The Wall and the band of the year for 1980 ACDC who else it's rock and roll me

32:31 rock Ro leave us a comment about 1980 what are your top 10 songs who are your greatest artist bands and albums of the Year let's have a great discussion what are your memories of these songs man what a Time the 80s beginning if you like our content we invite you to subscribe also let us know what other years should we cover next uh until next time three chords and the truth my friends