Sugar Hill Gang's 1981 Hit "Apache!"

Everytime I hear this song it makes me want to bust out and thrown down the cardboards in the street and start trying to do some break dancing! 

I didn’t realize that “Apache" was an instrumental tune that was first written by a guy named Jerry Lordan and was recorded by the British group The Shadows in 1960. It started to get a little more recognition in North America, when it was recorded by Jørgen Ingmann, a jazz guitarist from Denmark in 1961.

Now, it wasn’t until 1973, when the Incredible Bongo Band recorded it with more “bongo” drumming that it really started to gain some momentum. At that time, it was called "hip-hop’s national anthem" even though this version was not a hit when it was first released.

So, in 1981, the Rap Group Sugar Hill Gang covered this tune and took it to a whole different level!! Outside of the lyrics featuring references to the Lone Ranger, the long percussion break in the middle is the reason I got into this song and gets me going everytime!

In 1995, the Sugar Hill Gang's version of "Apache" gained new popularity after being featured in a sixth-season episode of the NBC’s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!!

Still sounds great after all these years!

Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force!! "Far Beyond the Sun!"

Now this takes me back!!

There is no other guitarist quite like Yngwie Johann Malmsteen!!

This Swedish virtuoso guitarist, composer, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader became known for his awesome classical playing approach in heavy metal music which became a new musical style in the early 80s.

In high school, I would play this cassette in my car every single day multiple times a day until my tape was literally ruined!! I saw Malmsteen's "Rising Force" in concert in 1985 and musically, I was never the same again!

Now, only my "Musiac Major Bretheren" would appreciate this. Malmsteen is known for his technical fluency compositions that incorporates high speed picking with harmonic minor scales, diminished scales and using sweep picked arpeggios. He draws heavy influence from Bach and Beethoven.  

In an interview, Malmsteen explained that his regular use of harmonic minor was because in the 1980s he was trying to move away from the blues-based pentatonic scales that were frequently used at the time. Go figure!

All I know is that according to the music world of me, he is considered to be THE most technically gifted rock guitarists of all time!!

Or, a better way to put it?? The pioneer of......oh yeah.......Shred Guitar!!

Rush's 1981 Instrumental Hit "YYZ!"

I happened to catch this particular animated video of Rush’s “YYZ” as I was searching for just the right one to post. This video is amazing! It was created by a guy named Bobby Standridge.

Using himself as a model, Bobby spent a year and a half animating Neal Peart drumming to "YYZ." He posted it on the Web in the summer of 2005. The video became something of an Internet sensation. News of the animation actually reached Peart himself and even asked to post the video on his own Web site.

The title. “YYZ” is the IATA airport identification code for the Toronto Pearson International Airport, of Rush's native area of Toronto. It’s common practice for air navigation aids to broadcast their identifier code in Morse code using VHF omni-directional range (VOR). A plane using VOR equipment would then always know it's tracking the right station. The song's introduction, played in a time signature of 5/4, repeatedly renders the letters "Y-Y-Z" in Morse Code using various musical arrangements.

Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart has said, in reference to the airport code, "It's always a happy day when YYZ appears on our luggage tags!”

Texas Band, Toby Beau and their hit single, "My Angel Baby!"

I have heard this song for two straight days in a row while driving in my car listening to the Love Station on Sirius Satellite. It's such a smooth tune and I couldn't get it out of my mind so I had to write about it!

I remember hearing “My Angel Baby” when I was a kid at least a million times! Funny thing is I always thought this group was a Tex Mex Chicano band that just happened to sing this song in english. In fact, I had one fact right. It was a band from Texas but they only had two chicano band members and they called themselves Toby Beau.  Totally not Chicano. The name is more... well, definitely not Chicano.

These guys formed in the Rio Grande Valley in the early 1970s and released their hit single "My Angel Baby" in 1978. The original members included Danny McKenna, Baldemar Silva, Art Mendoza, Steve Zipper and Rob Young and the song was co-written by Danny McKenna and Baldemar Silva. 

A little known fact- The group name "Toby Beau" was the name of one of the last original wooden shrimp boats docked in Port Isabel Texas.

"...Yes you're miiiiiiiiine....Angel Baby.........."

Stryper's 1986 hit "Honestly!"

Stryper is a Christian glam metal band from Orange County California.  I got to see them in concert in 1985 and I remember it being one of the best shows I have ever seen!

They formed in 1983 as “Roxx Regime” by brothers Michael and Robert Sweet. They were inspired by bands such as Van Halen, but were distressed by their message so they sought to form a band that would extol their worldview and beliefs. They would later change their message and name to “Stryper” and go on to be the first Christian rock band to be recognized by the mainstream.

The name "Stryper" is derived from the King James Version of the Bible:

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

The band would explain the symbolism of their “stripes” as a direct reference to the whiplash scourges given by Pontius Pilate to Jesus. Isaiah 53:5, is frequently included as part of their logo. Stryper's drummer, Robert Sweet, also created a “backronym” for their name:

 "Salvation Through Redemption, Yielding Peace, Encouragement and Righteousness".

I have to admit, I wish they would have somehow put the actual Plan of Salvation acronym as their logo. HBRCB!! (acronym for Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess and be Baptized). Maybe even changing their name to  “HiBurCeeBee!”....hmmmmm.....has a nice ring to it.

Anyway, I remember vividly their distinctive trademark. During concerts, Stryper would throw Bibles to the concert crowd—specifically editions of the New Testament with the band's logo stickers affixed to them. The audience would sincerely go crazy!

Regardless of how you feel about this band, they were great musicians and wrote some great songs!

One bit of information you might not know is that before their guitarist, Oz Fox, joined the band, a number of guitarists had played with “Roxx Regime/Stryper”, including Poison's C.C. DeVille.

Paul McCartney's 1984 hit "No More Lonely Nights!"

I was driving this evening when this song came on the radio. Wow! I haven’t heard this one in sooooo long.

No More Lonely Nights is a song written by Paul McCartney, which was first released in September 1984. It can be heard on the soundtrack for the movie of the same name, “Give My Regards to Broad Street”.

What I didn’t realize was that David Gilmour of Pink Floyd played the electric guitar on this track. In a radio interview prior to 1990's Knebworth concerts, Gilmour stated that "No More Lonely Nights" was the last thing McCartney recorded for the film, and that he told McCartney to give his session fee to a charity of his choice. Pretty cool.

One bit of info you might not know. There are two versions of this song in the movie and soundtrack album. The first is the version that we all know and love from the hit single. The second is a "dance" version that is played over the closing credits of the film.

Even though Paul McCartney is just absolutely awesome, the “dance” version is not worth listening to. Trust me.

“Babe I'm leavin', I must be on my way, the time is drawing near…..”

"Babe" is one of the coolest super ballads ever! You know, I could actually slip this song in a mix of my other favorite Super Ballad Band, Air Supply, and you might think it’s the same band!

This single was on Styx's 1979 triple-platinum album Cornerstone. The song was Styx's first, and only, U.S. number-one single.

The song was written by Dennis DeYoung as a birthday present for his wife Suzanne. At first, she did not want it released because she thought it was too personal.

The finished track was recorded as a demo with just DeYoung and Styx members John Panozzo and Chuck Panozzo playing on the track, with DeYoung singing all of the harmonies himself.

The song was not originally intended to be a Styx track, but Styx members James "J.Y" Young and Tommy Shaw convinced DeYoung to put the song on Cornerstone. As a result, DeYoung's demo was placed on the album with Shaw overdubbing a guitar solo in the song's middle section. The track became a major hit!

I'm joining VH1 and ranking this the most "softsational" soft rock song of all time!

The Edgar Winter Group! “Frankenstein!”

"Frankenstein" is one of the most famous instrumental Rock songs by The Edgar Winter Group! It hit the top of the charts in 1973. It got its title because of the intense editing that went into the song; it became a monster when it was pieced together in the studio.

Says Winter: "When we were editing it in the studio, back in those days when you edited something, you physically had to cut the tape and splice it back together, so it was all over the control room, draped over the backs of chairs and the couch. We were making fun of it, trying to figure out how to put it back together, saying, ‘Here’s the main body; the leg bone’s connected to the thigh bone…. ‘Then Chuck Ruff, my drummer, says, ‘Wow, man, it’s like Frankenstein.’ As soon as I heard that, I went, ‘Wow, that’s it!’ The Monster was born.”

Dick Dale and the Del-Tones! "Misirlou" (Hint: The Black Eyed Peas used this song)

This song might sound a little familiar to you. In 2006, The Black Eyed Peas' recorded a song called "Pump It" but they used a 1962 original recording of a song called “Miserlou” by American Surf Guitarist Dick Dale! He’s known as The King of the Surf Guitar.

You might be surprised at how long this song has been around.

The song was first performed in Athens, Greece in 1927 by Michalis Patrinos. The original composer has never been identified. Michalis Patrinos, who originally lived in Smyrna, named the song Mısırlı or Misirlou which means specifically a Muslim Egyptian girl.

In 1941, Nick Roubanis, a Greek-American music instructor, released a jazz instrumental arrangement of the song, crediting himself as the composer. Since his claim was never legally challenged, he is still officially credited as the composer today worldwide, except in Greece where credit is variably given to Patrinos.  

The song was then rearranged as a solo instrumental guitar piece by Dick Dale in 1962. During a performance, Dale was bet by a young fan that he could not play a song on only one string of his guitar. Dale's father and uncles were Lebanese-American musicians, and Dale remembered seeing his uncle play "Misirlou" on one string of the oud (a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North Africa and Middle Eastern music).

He vastly increased the song's tempo to make it more Rock'n'Roll.  It was Dale's version that introduced "Misirlou" to a wider audience in the United States as "Miserlou."

Pretty interesting stuff! Oh, you might have also heard Dale's version in the Guitar Hero II game.

What’s really cool?  Dick Dale is 73 years old, is left-handed, plays a right-handed guitar upside down, and is still jamming this song today!

Robert Tepper's 1985 hit "No Easy Way Out!" from the movie Rocky IV.

As I was searching for the right video to post of Robert Tepper’s 1985 hit, “No Easy Way Out”, I had this song cranked up and I asked my wife if she remembered this song.  She said, “Is it from “The Legend of Billie Jean?” I said, “No!” She said, “Is it from Footloose?” I said, “Nooo!” she said, “It’s not from one of those Dance movies is it?” I said, “Noooooooooooooooooooo!!”

Then I thought, “Wait! She’s not the Rocky freak (gasp!) that I am!

Yes. Yes, it’s true. “Yes” is the answer to your question. Yes, I have the Rocky Anthology. I have all 6 movies in my “Gold Collection”. Rocky IV is one of my favorites! Especially the soundtrack (of course the first Rocky is my all time favorite).

Did you know that Rocky IV made $127.8 million in United States and Canada and $300 million worldwide? That was the most of any Rocky film!  It was the highest-grossing sports film of all time until 2009's The Blind Side which grossed $309 million!

“I Must Break You!” Remember that line? Now that was a classic scene!!

But, one of the best scenes in the movie is the “car scene” where Rocky is having a flashback of events that occurred in his past.  I remember watching the movie and hearing this song and thinking, “Hey…..when did Rocky learn how to drive?” Anyway, I remember getting all pumped up wanting to go to the gym or go running!!

You know, wouldn’t it be cool if, when we’re really going through some crisis, we could actually hear a song out loud in real life that everyone could hear that makes us reflect, look back and think about making the right decisions and gets us pumped up wanting to go to the gym or go running?

I think I’ll go watch it again for the 60 millionth time!

U2! 1983's "Two Hearts Beat as One!"

For years I have been listening to U2 songs and I’ve noticed something I’ve never really noticed before.  That most of their songs don’t have real complicated guitar parts. It’s cool sounding, but I never paid attention to the details.

So I started researching The Edge’s guitar playing and why he likes simplicity so much.

He says he loves a sound that typifies a low-key playing style that consists of ringing, chiming, shimmering and echo sounds that he achieves with extensive use of digital delay effects and reverb.

The Edge has stated that he views musical notes as "expensive", in that he prefers to play as few notes as possible. I found this fascinating!

He said in a 1982 interview of his style:

“Notes actually do mean something. They have power. I think of notes as being expensive. You don't just throw them around. I find the ones that do the best job and that's what I use. I suppose I'm a minimalist instinctively. I don't like to be inefficient if I can get away with it. Like on the end of 'With or Without You'. My instinct was to go with something very simple. Everyone else said, 'Nah, you can't do that.' I won the argument and I still think it's sort of brave, because the end of 'With or Without You' could’ve been so much bigger, so much more of a climax, but there's this power to it which I think is even more potent because it's held back... ultimately I'm interested in music. I'm a musician. I'm not a gunslinger. That's the difference between what I do and what a lot of guitar heroes do."

Next time you hear a U2 song, listen closely to the guitar. Even with its simplicity. It’s still..Pure Talent!

The Fixx! "One Thing Leads To Another!"

Wow! Sit back and think about how it was back in 1983. No cell phones or internet to distract you! Just the radio to crank up songs like “One Thing Leads to Another” by the band, The Fixx. After hearing this song, it’ll be stuck in your head for hours!

It was 1979 when two college friends Cy Curnin (vocals) and Adam Woods (drums) decided to start a band in London. They initially called themselves The Portraits.

After adding additional members , Rupert Greenall (Keyboards), Tony McGrail (guitar) and Charlie Barret (Bass) to the group, they changed their name to “The Fix” after writing band names on pieces of paper and drawing names out of a hat. It was Adam that had come up with the name. ‘The Fix” was meant to mean “Focus” or “Direction”.  In other words, “Fixing” your sights on something.

What’s interesting is that their record company wouldn’t sign them until they changed their band name because they thought the name had a negative connotation. So, they added two x’s and kept the name….The Fixx!

DeBarge! 1983 Hit "Time Will Reveal!"

Back in the late 70s and 80s, we had our version of Walmart in Corpus Christi.

It was called Kroger’s.

We could get all of our shopping done in one fell swoop. Groceries AND clothes.  Only problem? There was only one brand of pants. Dickies!

Awwww No!  They couldn’t have the Levi’s brand like all my other friends had.

So there I am.  Trying to be stylish in Dickies! Cheap copycat version of Corduroys and jeans. They had generic Hush Puppy shoes and thinly made turtle necks. Oh well. Looking back, at least I had clothes, huh.  :)

The thing I remember the most though was being able to buy individual hard copy 45 records for under a dollar. Ahhhhhh, vinyl.  I’d always run over to select the latest releases. It’s funny now that you don’t even have to leave your house to spend money on a song. You just download it off of iTunes. You don’t even get to hold the song.....sniff sniff. 

Or better yet, you can just go to YouTube! For free!

 I can quickly bring up tunes like DeBarge’s 1983 smash hit, "Time Will Reveal".  A song which was written and produced by El DeBarge and his sister Bunny.

Brings back soooo many memories.

One wish? Would love to have my record player back to play this 45 for old memories sake.

Michael Jackson's, "Got To Be There". The Legend.

No other artist in my lifetime has had more musical influence on me than Michael Jackson. I remember growing up listening to everything he and his brothers ever recorded.  I was a huge Michael Jackson fan.

One thing I was never able to do was see him live in concert. I just recently had the opportunity to see the documentary/concert film, “This Is It”. It documents Michael Jackson's rehearsals and preparation for the concert series of the same name.

The shows were intended to be Jackson's first major series of concerts since the HIStory World Tour finished in 1997. Jackson had suggested possible retirement after the shows; he said it would be his "final curtain call". 

The concerts would have started on July 13, 2009, and finished on March 6, 2010.

Sadly, Jackson passed away after suffering cardiac arrest less than three weeks before the first show was due to begin in London and with all concerts being sold out.

I hadn’t seen the film earlier because I thought it might be too sad. But I was pleasantly surprised at how it was put together. He will be remembered as a true musical genius. The best singer, performer and entertainer of all time.