Hello and welcome back to the 1984 Hideaway 200. Today we're featuring ten songs in part sixteen of the countdown. Half of them are artists who have previously appeared. We are 75% of the way through and if you missed any of the previous parts, click HERE.
187
Despite releasing ten albums as Ashford & Simpson before 1984's Solid, we only knew Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson as songwriters. Their songs "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "You're All I Need to Get By", and "I'm Every Woman" are timeless tunes. Despite this, I was not a fan of "Solid" while she was and immediately bought the album. We've since compromised and agreed that the 3:45 single version of "Solid" could be on the 1984 Hideaway 200. Our favorite sounding version of the single version of "Solid" is on a 1989 Australian compilation disc Eighties Chart Toppers Volume Two.
123
"The Heart Of Rock & Roll" kicks off the album Sports. The song is straight-ahead rock showing the News in top form while Huey belts out the tune like his life depended on it. Based on an informal poll of our peers, we appear to be in the minority as fans of this song but there's no shame or guilt on our part. The best-sounding version of the single edit of the Huey Lewis and the News song "The Heart Of Rock & Roll" is on the 1992 Netherlands pressing for the European market of the compilation The Heart Of Rock & Roll (The Best Of Huey Lewis And The News).
102
Before it became the theme song for a hundred smooth jazz radio stations named The Oasis, the funky jazz electro of "Rain Forest" was a listener favorite on R&B stations late in 1984 and early 1985. We picked up the 12" single on the Profile label and then the U.S.-only Rain Forest album which sadly remains unreleased in the digital realm after forty years. There are several edits and versions of "Rain Forest" and our allegiance to any given one is purely based on our mood. Sometimes we like the longer, more atmospheric mixes, and other times we want the built-for-the-dancefloor thump of Ben Liebrand's Extended Edit. Other times, we throw the Rain Forest album and let it play from the Remix that opens side one through to the Original Mix that closes side two. Today, our favorite-sounding version of Paul Hardcastle's "Rain Forest" is the one found on the 1985 U.K. compact disc pressing of the compilation Zero One.
118
When it was released just ahead of the Victory album in June 1984, "State Of Shock" made a brief run on rock station KLPX appearing a few times over just a couple of weeks before disappearing just as "Beat It" had a year earlier. This was not indicative of the song's performance on Top 40 or R&B stations nor in clubs or record stores. An obligatory 12" single was released with an uncredited Dance Remix we actually laughed at the first time we spun it as Michael broke down into a "da-da-diddley-dong" freestyle. The song was more popular than we knew outside of our insular bubble. To our ears, the best-sounding version of "State Of Shock" is not the recently released and very loud remasters but rather the 1984 Japanese pressing for the U.S. compact disc of Victory.
105
For us, it's that bouncy country-flavored guitar riff and Joe Pizzulo's almost-too-good-for-this-song vocals that make "Alibis" so enjoyable. We don't recall ever hearing the song until the late Nineties when we finally acquired a copy of the K-Tel double album Formula 20, which had been released in 1984 and contains more than a few of the songs here on the 1984 Hideaway 200. Our admiration for the song has steadily grown and when we were putting together the music library for The Drive, we made sure to include "Alibis" thinking it was the perfect kind of under-the-radar song that listeners would enjoy hearing again, the kind of song that others might refer to "lost" or "forgotten". As of November 1, 2024, The Drive has played the song more than any other radio station in the country this year by a wide, wide margin, according to Mediabase. Our favorite-sounding version of "Alibis" can be found on the 2008 Japanese compact disc pressing of Confetti.
54
We sing along with the lyrics despite their dark mood and when "Downbound Train" breaks down for a minute so Bruce can share his vivid nightmare from the night before, we are right there with him as he runs through the yard and busts through the front door. By all definitions, this song is more depressing than "Bobby Jean" yet "Downbound Train" doesn't provoke any tears from this listener. It grabs and holds our attention each time it plays. The best-sounding version of Bruce Springsteen's "Downbound Train" we've yet to hear is from the 1984 Japanese compact disc pressing for the U.S. of Born In The U.S.A.
97
One of the artists we took a deep dive into over the past few years was Paul Weller. The journey through his output with The Jam followed by the hard left turn of The Style Council was nothing short of magnificent. Few songs ooze sunny day energy like "My Ever Changing Moods" from The Style Council. It's a blast from start to finish. Noodling guitar, whirling organ, blaring horns, and that gurgling bass all topped with Paul Weller's soothing voice. Make sure you get the right version of the song as the solo voice with piano accompaniment 3:38 original version on the Café Bleu album is a duller shadow version of the full-band version that followed. Our favorite-sounding version of the 4:04 full-band version is the 2006 U.K. box set pressing of Hit Parade.
154
The Honeydrippers were an A-list assemblage of artists whose single mission was to re-record some of their label head's favorite songs. With lead vocals from Robert Plant and guitar assistance from Nile Rodgers and Jimmy Plant on the lush-sounding "Sea Of Love", they accomplished their mission. Dad loved the song from the moment he heard it on American Top 40 and bought the mini-LP ASAP. We love the way Plant's vocals sound on this track and the best-sounding version we have of The Honeydrippers' cover of "Sea Of Love" is on the 2003 U.S. pressing of the Robert Plant compilation Sixty-Six to Timbuktu.
142
Jackie Jackson had written and originally recorded the lead vocals on "Torture" with his brother Michael before their brother Jermaine decided to be a part of the Victory album at the last minute and had vocals dubbed over Jackie's. Jackie also co-wrote and sang "Wait" with Michael adding some sweet ad-libs as the song faded out. A quick check of the liner notes shows that four members of Toto played on "Wait" as well with keyboardist David Paich listed as Jackie's co-writer. "Wait" is great bubbly fun, more synth-pop than the synth-funk of "Torture". Our favorite-sounding version of the full-length album version of "Wait" by The Jacksons is on the 1984 Japanese pressing for the U.S. compact disc of Victory.
86
KLPX had been big proponents of ZZ Top's songs from before we started listening in 1981. The songs "Tush", "La Grange", "Tubesnake Boogie" and "Party On The Patio" soon became our favorites. When Eliminator was released in the spring of 1983, KLPX began playing several tracks from the album and even featured it on an all-ZZ Top edition of the Sunday Six-Pack with all six albums played in their entirety. (The band released their own controversial Six Pack in 1987.) One of the tracks the station played off of Eliminator was the original 4:35 album version of "Legs" more than a year before it was released as a proper single in May 1984. When it was eventually released as a single, two new versions of the song were also released: a 3:35 remixed single edit and a 7:48 Dance Mix. Things got wonky when the remixed single edit began appearing on pressings of the album, both vinyl and compact disc. In 2008, the 25th Anniversary 2CD+1DVD Collector's Edition of Eliminator restored the original album version - it's heralded on the disc's hype sticker. The best-sounding version of that original full-length album track of ZZ Top's "Legs" is on the first compact disc we bought it on, the 1985 Japan target-label pressing for the U.S. compact disc of Eliminator.
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