Pop Song of the Week: "La Isla Bonita"

They borrow from us; we borrow from them. What category this song falls into depends on your definition of us and them.

However, I do remember driving my late father up the wall back in 1987 by continually switching the car radio to this song when we were driving cross-country. I also remember the sister of my second Mexican-born girlfriend showing off a tape of the album from which this song was taken when my father and I visited her family during that same trip. So those are at least two reasons why I'm likely to remember this tune in a way that most people never will.

Pop Song of the Week: "Industrial Disease"

I'm kinda surprised that it took so long to post this song. And I find it kinda depressing that so many of the lyrics still ring true.

Pop Song of the Week: "What You Don't Know"

Talk about your subtle subtext!

It's a good thing times have changed so much since the 1980s...

Pop Song of the Week: "Dear Prudence"

My favorite Beatles cover. Gracias a Dios that Richard Curtis didn't make me forget it.

Pop Song of the Week: "Kiss Off"

Who doesn't have their little moments when they forget what eight was for -- especially around this time of year?

Pop Song of the Week: "Poison"

Alice Cooper has issues with women? Surely you jest.

Pop Song of the Week: "Gone Daddy Gone"

It's a good thing that my friend C____ never read this blog because she would have hated this video. And as much as I like the song itself, I can't help wishing for C____'s sake that the video wasn't such a FU to epileptics.

On the plus side, I can't help agreeing with the YouTube commenter who lamented the acute shortage of xylophone solos in modern music.

Pop Song of the Week: "The Passenger"

Someone hinted on another site that I was a necromancer because of my tendency to "resurrect" old discussion threads and between that and my rather obvious affection for site like For the Gothic Heroine, I obviously have more than a few Gothic tendencies. Or at least as many as one would expect from someone of my age and ethnic background. So why not play this song by Siouxsie and the Banshees? it's not exactly a Christmas song but in my mind, it could be.

Besides, could you think of any song lyrics that capture the spirit of Christmas shopping in the age of Trump better than "la la la la la-la-la la! La la la la la-la-la la! La la la la la-la-la la la-la!"?

Pop Song of the Week: "Russians"

Just when I thought a particular song was out-of-date, some politician had to go and prove me wrong.

Pop Song of the Week: "Too Young to Fall in Love"

No, this is not an excerpt from a recent Matt Damon film but I would not be surprised to learn that the makers of said film were inspired by this video.

For that matter, I was surprised to see Liv Tyler making an appearance in this video, but given the fact that it was made in the mid-1980s, it was more likely that her character was being played by someone who just looked like her.

Pop Song of the Week: "Life Sucks...Then You Die"

This tune is one of the few songs from the 1980s that you rarely hear on the radio nowadays. I wonder why.

Pop Song of the Week: "Two of Hearts"

I have been thinking of this tune ever since I watched the last episode of Doctor Who. I guess that means I'm evil.

Pop Song of the Week: "No One Lives Forever"

This song by Oingo Boingo may not be what most people consider to be a Halloween song but it should be.

Pop Song of the Week: "Downbound Train"

Because I'm all about the happy tunes.

But seriously, folks...

Who doesn't feel like a rider on a downbound train nowadays?

Pop Song of the Week: "Rapture"

This was one of the first and most popular official examples of blue-eyed rap.

Pop Song of the Week: "Bread and Butter (Remix)"

As always, the Waitresses were ahead of their time. Unless you care to believe that it is only a coincidence that a song originally written about the Reagan recession still seems relevant today.

Pop Song of the Week: "Mickey"

This week I wish an early "¡Feliz Cumpleaños!" to Toni Basil, who turns 70 tomorrow. This tune I am posting is her most famous song but it is not her only attempt at music video. Nor is it the high point of a career that involved working with Annette Funicello, Peter Fonda, Teri Garr and even David Byrne. Ms. Basil even managed to be one of the few women to appear in both Pajama Party and Easy Rider. Not bad for a woman whom some poor souls would dismiss as an one-hit wonder.

Pop Song of the Week: "Somebody's Watching Me"

Ladies and gentlemen, the most prophetic music video of the 1980s.

Pop Song of the Week: "Vacation"

Hey! Let's all go water-skiing with the Go-Go's!

It's what the late Esther Williams would have wanted.

Pop Song of the Week: "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

Yes, it is rather an obvious choice for a George Jones song but then it was one of my late father's favorite country tunes so why shouldn't I post it? Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it. If you're still mourning a lost love, please try to get over it in a less drastic fashion than the guy in the song.