We’re back to listening to the in-car CDs I’ve created over the past 12 years to introduce my son to as wide a range of quality pop music as possible... before I lost him to Imagine Dragons and Juice WRLD.
Ernie was the next to suggest a CD number for me to go through track by track, and (given that I advised people to only choose a number between 30 and 150) he picked one of the earliest compilations available. This means, of course, that the following CD will feature more obvious radio hits and serious pop “bangers” than either of the CDs we’ve looked at so far. Although there might be a few surprises along the way…
Track 1: Queen – Flash
I’m going to try as hard as I can from now on to avoid commenting on other people’s musical prejudices and pretend that everyone likes everything I do. Besides, I’ve probably expressed my disappointment, frustration and bewilderment at the Anti-Queen Bias that exists in many areas of the blogosphere too many times before, and you can't change the course of mighty rivers by using nice words.
Flash, then. The theme tune to the 1980 movie version of Flash Gordon, starring former American footballer Sam J. Jones, with some actual acting support from Max Von Sydow, Topol, Timothy Dalton, and… of course… Brian Blessed. I was eight when this movie came out, so I’m pretty sure I saw it at the cinema and thought it was great. In retrospect, it’s not a classic, but the average eight year old isn’t Mark Kermode, is he?
When my sister bought me Queen’s Greatest Hits a few years later, Flash was nestled away in the middle of side two. Because that was the first album I owned, I played it till the grooves wore out, till I knew every song by heart, till they were indelibly scratched into my psyche. Soon after I began tracking down the albums these songs originated from… and of those, Flash was the biggest disappointment. Because it’s a soundtrack album really – it shouldn’t have been marketed as Queen’s 9th Studio Album. Most of the tracks are instrumentals, not full songs, designed as exciting background music to the film, but not really what a teenager wants to listen to in their bedroom when they’re used to proper Queen albums like A Night At The Opera or New of the World. No wonder Flash was the only single released – it’s the only proper song, although even then that's mostly down to John Deacon's bassline and the occasionally flash of Mercury/May overkill.
There’s also a liberal peppering of dialogue from the movie, which brings us to the best thing about this song… and probably the best thing about the whole flick: Brian Blessed. As Prince Vultan, ruler of the Winged Bird-Men, he gets to bellow* the iconic two word line: “GORDON’S ALIVE!” and even Freddie Mercury has to take a back seat to that.
(*Actually, in our memories, that's a bellow. But actually, it's more like a whisper. Except... well, it's a Brian Blessed whisper.)
Finally, if you can’t bring yourself to listen to this song because of Years of Insidious Indoctrination by the Arbiters of Cool, here’s another fine tune with the same title, but no obvious connection to the Alex Raymond comic strip…
No? There's just no pleasing some people.
"Flash! Flash I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!"
Track 2: Toni Basil – Mickey
Children of the 80s rejoice! Here’s one of the best pop songs of 1982, criminally held off the Number One spot by Tight Fit. It was originally, as I’m sure you’re all aware, a track from Racey’s 1979 album Smash and Grab, where it sounded like this…
…but Antonia Christina Basilotta made it her own, adding cheerleader chants, uniform and pigtails… long before Britney Spears tried any of that nonsense. Basil has denied she changed the title because she was infatuated with Mickey Dolenz, and she’s also gone to court a few times over the years to stop people using it without her permission (or without the proper reimbursement). But then, if you’re a One Hit Wonder, you’ve got to fight for that legacy, haven’t you? If I were her, I’d be sending my lawyers to have a word with Rosé and Bruno Mars, because their 2024 smash hit APT. owes a serious debt to Mickey if you ask me, and specifically the bits Toni added to the Racey original.
(As an aside, I think it’s curious that Racey only ever released one studio album, but have since released half a dozen separate Greatest Hits collections. Talk about milking a dead horse.)
Whenever I hear Mickey, I’m ten years old again. I wasn’t a huge muso at ten*, but this was everywhere in 1982. I’m guessing even Terry Wogan must have been playing it.
(*"Clearly!" cry the Cognoscenti.)
Track 3: Timbuk 3 - The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
Another huge 80s One Hit Wonder, and one I remember buying on 7” when I was 15, helping it achieve the mediocre chart placing of #21 in the UK. It managed a couple of places higher in the US, but really deserved better.
Timbuk 3 were husband & wife duo Pat & Barbara MacDonald, and together they released six albums between 1986 and 1995, after which they got divorced and pursued solo projects. Considering how much I like this track’s quirky indie rock sound and lyrical playfulness, it’s a wonder I’ve never investigated any of their other material. That’s gone on my To-Do list.
In the US, The Future's So Bright was embraced as a college graduation theme tune, but Pat MacDonald claims the song has a much darker subtext, about a Nuclear Scientist who saw a very bright future indeed… one that even the best UV-filtering sunglasses wouldn’t protect us from.
Unlike Toni Basil’s hit, you won’t have heard this tune in any adverts, since Pat and Barbara have resolutely rejected all offers to license it for promotional purposes. Now that’s what I call principles.
This scores bonus points for the harmonica.
Track 4: The Zombies - She's Not There
You will have heard this one in a TV advert though, one for Chanel perfume, starring Keira Knightley, back in 2014. Let’s not hold that against the Zombies, eh? Poor lads have got to eat.
She’s Not There was The Zombies’ debut single in 1964, and according to bassist Chris White, it may well be the first proper song Rod Argent ever wrote. Imagine writing this as your first song!
A tale of adolescent angst, featuring a young man who’s been burned by a relationship with a girl who wasn’t what she seemed, this is arguably The Zombies’ finest hour. He’s still in love with her, not with the actual girl, just the idea of who he thought she was. Colin Blunstone’s yearning vocal is perfect for this kind of thing…
Well, let me tell you about the way she looked
The way she acts and the colour of her hair
Her voice was soft and cool, her eyes were clear and bright
But she's not there
Caveat emptor, fellas.
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