She was a tough lady, giving birth to her first two children when she was 12 and 14, respectively, but not letting that stand in the way of what would become one of the longest and most successful music careers in R&B/soul/rock history. Of course, she's best known for her legendary reworking of Otis Redding's "Respect," but if you're a child of the '80s, like me, you probably remember her for her cameo in Blue Brothers and her 1987 duet with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)."
Last week, I had that song stuck in my head for a few days after Aretha died, and it got me thinking about the many great one-off collaborations in the '80s. And I'm not talking about big charity collaborations like "We Are The World" or "Do They Know It's Christmas?", nor am I talking about supergroups or bands that might have gotten together to record a full album, nor am I talking about songs that just "feature" another artist (like The Beach Boys on the Fat Boys' "Wipe Out"). I'm talking about true collaborations, where two or three artists or bands got together to make a song or two, and then they go back to their respective careers.
The '80s seemed to be a hotbed of collaborations. Here are my eleven favorite, in alphabetical order by song title.
1. "Close My Eyes Forever" by Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne (1988)
This is one of the best Wikipedia descriptions I've read for a song: "The song was written by Ford and Osbourne as the result of an accident in the studio during which they both drank heavily and inadvertently wrote the lyrics to the song together." Sounds about right. This song was the highest-charting single for both Ford and Osbourne, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. I have been repeatedly asking Lita Ford to accidentally get drunk and write songs with me for years now, but my telegrams have gone unanswered.
2. "Easy Lover" by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins (1984)
What do you get when the frontmen of two future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame groups together? A hit. "Easy Lover" was a Top 10 song on the charts in 13 countries, including #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 in the UK.
This song was a worldwide smash, going #1 on seven different pop charts, including in the U.S. and UK. It was Aretha's last of 17 Top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, and it was released about nine months before Michael released his mega-album Faith. Now they're both dead.
4. "Islands in the Stream" by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers (1983)
All the cheese of '80s pop country is front and center on this mega hit. It was originally written by the Bee Gees, but Rogers and Parton made it into a worldwide hit. In addition to topping the pop charts, country charts, and tadult contemporary charts in the U.S. and Canada, the song hit the Top 10 on the charts in ten other countries. And, of course, it resurfaced in 1998, when Pras reworked the chorus for his hit "Ghetto Supastar" off the Bullworth soundtrack.
5. "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (1987)
Jennifer Warnes was kind of the queen of duets in the '80s. "Up Where We Belong" with Joe Cocker, "As Long As We Got Each Other" (aka the theme song for Growing Pains) with B.J. Thomas, and "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" with the deep half of the Righteous Brothers, Bill Medley. This was one of the songs that catapulted the Dirty Dancing soundtrack to the top of the charts for 18 weeks, on its way to certified Diamond status by the RIAA. It's one of those songs that, even if you have never seen the movie and don't even like the song, you probably know every single damn word.
6. "Opposites Attract" by Paula Abdul and MC Skat Kat (1988)
Just because this was a collaboration with a cigarette-smoking cartoon cat doesn't mean it should be excluded from the list. You may be surprised to learn that MC Skat Kat was actually not a cat, but rather he was voiced by Bruce DeShazer and Marv Gunn, aka The Wild Pair. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it was one of five Top 3 hits from Abdul's Forever Your Girl album, and was the fourth #1 in a string of six consecutive singles for Abdul between 1988 and 1991 that hit #1. MC Skat Kat, however, never reached the top of the charts again.
7. "Please Don't Touch" by Girlschool and Motörhead (1981)
In 1980, two New Wave of British Heavy Metal stalwarts teamed up and recorded a 3-song EP called The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, which was released in February 1981. The best song of the three, in my opinion, is their cover of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates's "Please Don't Touch." My favorite part is the video they filmed on German TV. Motörhead drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor was recovering from a neck injury and just kind of hanging out on the side, singing backing vocals, and dancing like a weirdo on painkillers.
8. "Say Say Say" by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney (1983)
I could have also gone with "The Girl Is Mine," but let's face it, "Say Say Say" is much better. Of course, it was during these collaborations when Paul gave Michael the advice to invest in songwriting publishing royalties. Not too long after that, Michael bought a large chunk of The Beatles' publishing rights, much to Macca's chagrin.
9. "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1981)
This was a song penned by Petty and fellow Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, originally intended to be a Heartbreakers song. Then Nicks's producer Jimmy Iovine got a hold of it and had Nicks sing it, along with Petty, with the Heartbreakers playing on it. Obviously, that was a good idea, as the song went all the way to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. That said, I still prefer Weird Al's version, "Stop Draggin' My Car Around."
10. "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and Queen (1981)
This song is so ubiquitous that I almost forgot it's a collaboration. It's arguably the greatest collaboration song ever made. If you disagree, I'm all ears on what you think is better.
11. "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" by Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield (1987)
I forgot about this one, but it's a solid song. '80s English synth pop meets '60s English chanteuse, and it works.
Other '80s collaborations I considered, but ultimately rejected: "Don't Know Much" by Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt (1989); "Ebony and Ivory" by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder (1982); "Endless Love" by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross (1981); "I Got You Babe" by UB40 with Chrissie Hynde (1985); "Somewhere Out There" by James Ingram and Linda Ronstadt (1986); "That's What Friends Are For" by Elton John, Gladys Knight, Dion Warwick, and Stevie Wonder (1985); "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes (1982)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment