Hello my favorite Monday peeps! It’s June already! How’d that happen?! Meanwhile, it’s Monday, and you know that Monday means music! This week’s theme is “It’s the year you graduated, what song is playing in your head?” Let’s just say I graduated during the best decade for music (in my opinion, and especially my late BFF’s opinion), so we’re rockin’ the 80s today. 😉Let’s get this graduation party started!
Let’s start with this big song from the 1985 movie The Breakfast Club (the song was specifically written for the movie, by the way). One of the songwriters was a big fan of this Scottish Band, so he tried to get them to record it by delivering a cassette demo.
At the time, the band was gaining traction in the UK with three modest hits from their 1984 album, so they wanted nothing to do with recording this song because they didn’t want to record a song they didn’t write, and one of the bandmembers didn’t like the lyric (especially the “vanity… insecurity” line).
They wanted to use one of their songs instead, but didn’t realize this song was actually written to the script, and was the only option. They said:
“We were young, we were a bit brattish, we were insecure. We were loving what we were doing and thinking, ‘Hang on a minute, you want us in ’cause you love us because we write these songs, but you want us to do your song?’ We weren’t even willing to listen initially.
We were like, ‘No, we don’t do other people’s songs. End of story.’ And of course, later on it was explained, but the song was written to the script and every time they tried to make it more amenable, it sounded worse, because they would say, ‘It sounds really like Simple Minds,’ and we would be infuriated. ‘How dare you rip us off and then try and sell us on an idea!'”
Getting the band into the studio to record this song was the hard part, but when they plugged in, the magic happened.
“Once we go into the studio, we don’t know how to do things by half measure. The band was on fire anyway. Anything we jammed on sounded great.”
The intro was especially inspired, with the guitarist landing a big riff and the lead ad-libbing the “hey, hey, hey, hey” part.
“Suddenly it was game-on and we weren’t thinking about ourselves, we were just thinking about what’s coming out of the speaker, and every time someone did something that was cool, that encouraged us more. We were kinda looking at each other going, ‘It’s good this? isn’t it?’
This is the thing with music: You can analyze it and you can come with an attitude – and bands are notorious for politics – but once you start playing and you like how it makes you feel, everything else goes out the window. That’s all that counts.”
Get ready to dance, here’s Simple Minds with “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”:
Next up is one of my favorite bands from the 80s – they had eleven Top 40 US hits, five of which have the word “Love” in the title. This song deals with the unrequited love of a singer who feels lost without the object of his affection.
This song was used in the movie National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, and also in the rather dark film Happiness, where a couple dances to it in a bar. The song was this group’s only chart entry in the UK – they fared much better in the US.
Get ready for goosebumps, here’s Air Supply with “All Out Of Love”:
Next up is an iconic artist from the 80s who sings about a love that will never fade or fail, no matter how much time has passed. The artist croons about her patience in romance in this emotional ballad. Released in 1983, this song was frequently used as a slow dance song at weddings, proms, and other events throughout the 80s.
Give a listen to the one, the only Cyndi Lauper with “Time After Time”:
Last but certainly not least is a pop song from this English singer released in July 1987 as the solo debut single, which was a number one hit on several international charts, including the Billboard Hot 100. The music video was also this artist’s first, which simply features him performing the song while dancing.
This song resurged in popularity in 2007 and again in the early 2020s due to an internet meme created from it.
Give a listen to Rick Astley with “Never Gonna Give You Up”:
You’ve just been Rickrolled! 😆
That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday! See you on the dance floor!
Now, onto the particulars of Monday’s Music Move’s Me: 
I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohort, the awesome Cathy from Curious as a CAThy, and Alana of Ramblin’ with AM!
Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it and link up – don’t forget to grab Xmas Dolly…er, um, I mean her button…over at her place here. Check out Xmas Dolly’s sidebar for the random themes we sport each week – and you can always ask for a specific theme of music you like, too. Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!
Great choices! I don’t even mind getting rickrolled. And Cyndi Lauper … yeah.
I agree the 80s was one of the best decades for music. It’s hard to think of it as the oldies now. Thanks for sharing such good music. Have a boogietastic week, darlin’! xo
Very great songs. Love of all of these.
I enjoyed this set so much, especially Don’t You Forget About Me and Time after Time. I never knew the backstory of the song. Believe it or not, I’ve never seen The Breakfast Club, and, in fact, it’s only been about 20 years since I found out that the Simple Minds song was in that movie, which I learned when I listened to someone’s Breakfast Club playlist. I really do need to see that movie one day. And, it’s been some years since I’ve been rickrolled so I’m glad you included that song, too.
Love Cyndi who had some great songs back in the day. That last song…my ex hates that song…hahahaaaa. that singer has such a deep voice with an Andy Hardy face.