DCV Top Bands of the 80's: 20-16

#20 Replacements:
With most, if not all, of the previous 20 entries there's either been a high school reference or a college reference associated w/ the song. There were two other years in the 80's that were spent at an educational facility that holds a lower place in Dolberry's memories than either Trinity H.S. or Saint Louis U. That would be the University of Chicago. (As an aside, the U of C has called us every night between 7p and 8p for the past two weeks. Having answered in the past, I know it's the Geophysical Sciences Dept. They want money. In the past, I've always politely declined to provide it for them. I think if they had exhibited as much interest in me while I was a student there, it might have gone better for both of us.) Anyway, the Replacements pretty much perfectly fit the overall feel of my time at U of C. As I was over my head there, the 'Mats pretty much seemed to be over their head in terms of making professional music. But for whatever reason I was in Hyde Park and the Replacements were making albums. And we both went at w/ a similar slacker attitude. Whereas I got half-hearted C's in most of my classes on subjects I had no clue on (e.g., fluid dynamics), Paul Westerberg and company were releasing albums titled Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash and (most unfortunately) Tim. My penultimate Replacements moment was their free WXRT 4th of July show which the lovely KMD (at the time the lovely KMB) taped for me. It was the band's second to last show ever. After about an hour, they got tired of playing, so for the song "Hootenanny" each band member switched instruments, before eventually leaving the stage to the roadies, who also left, leaving wailing guitar feedback ... all on live radio. The DJ who rushed onto the air (after about 25 seconds of sirenous feedback) intoned somewhat cautiously "Um ... I believe the Replacements have left the stage." Anyway Dolberry survived this period as did most of the Replacements (3 out of the original 4 ... one died of an overdose).

Best Songs: I Will Dare, Take Me Down to the Hospital, Can't Hardly Wait
Worst Songs: Attitude

19. John Hiatt:
Well, how about that ... here's another U of C favorite. And another one who was frequently playing live shows on WXRT (an awesome radio station at the time ... I listened to it a bit when I was in Chicago in February ... still seemed to be playing an eclectic mix of mostly rock). After maybe a minute of thought, I can't think of any existential link between Hiatt's music and the dreariness of those U of C days. A native Hoosier who relocated to Nashville, to me Hiatt was one of the earlier forerunners of the so-called alt.country genre. Most of his songs are touching fables about subjects like family ("Your Dad Did", "Georgia Rae"), or his optimistic recovery from alcoholism ("Slow Turning", "Paper Thin"), or more humorous topics like stealing cars from Elvis ("Tennessee Plates") or a couples that rob banks w/ their child in an infant seat ("Trudy and Dave"). Hiatt seemed to be on the verge of decent commercial success after his 1995 Grammy-nominated Walk On album, but his work since that one has been kind of disappointing.

Best Songs: Dust Down a Country Road, Georgia Rae, Tennessee Plates, The Rest of the Dream
Worst Song: Little Head

18. Def Leppard
Not a whole lot to say here. Def Leppard was big on the Trinity cross-country team. The "Gunter glieben glauchen globen" opening to "Rock of Ages" was a semi-catchphrase back in the day. According to Wikipedia, the phrase doesn't mean anything in German and was only used because Joe Elliott wanted something other than "one, two, three, four". Pyromania and Hysteria were both solid albums that can still be enjoyed to this day. Def Leppard seems to have some credibility even w/ kids of today. Even APD knows the tale of their one-armed drummer.

17. Bon Jovi
I guess you can make the Top 20 even by only having one really good song. Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" is in my opinion a requisite resident on any list of classic '80's songs. From the mumbled Star Wars-y opening "Once upon a time ... in a land not so far away", to the sweet 4-beat rhythm of the bass, to Jon Bon Jovi's growling "Tommy used to work on the docks ..." and "Gina works the diner all day", through the soaring anthemic chorus of "We're halfway there ... OH OH ... LIVING ON A PRAYER" ... stumbling a little thru a 2nd and last stanza about Tommy having to hock his guitar (evidence of the toughest times a young couple could go through in the 80s, apparently) ... before completely recovering by singing the great chorus several more times. Just a classic song.

Best song: Living on a Prayer, any of their other songs that sound a lot like "Prayer" (e.g., It's My Life)

Worst Song: Wanted Dead or Alive, Bad Medicine

16. Tears for Fears
This English duo dominated the charts in 1985 w/ "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Head Over Heels", and "Shout". It took them four years to release a followup to the huge-selling Songs from the Big Chair. In that time, the world had sort of moved on, at least I had, and the strongly Beatles-influenced The Seeds of Love were sown on rocky ground and the band split shortly thereafter. Anyway, cooler than all that is that in Relient K's classic ode to our favorite decade "In Love with 80's (Pink Tux to the Prom)" they sing the following lyrics that capture the entire decade in about 25 words ...

and I only want to pierce my left ear

I've been working on this mustache all summer long

and my favorite band will always be Tears for Fears

and I'm gonna wear a pinx tux to the prom