For somebody who grew up listening to rock and roll, rap music or hip hop was like listening too music from out of left field. I'm not sure what defines music as a genre but I tend to define music based on the concept of good or bad. Either it's good and worth listening to or it's not.
So rap or rock and roll really doesn't matter. But since this post is about rap here are some of the original rap songs that I first discovered.
The first rap song I ever heard was Rapper Delight by the Sugar Hill Gang. For some reason it captured the attention of America and sparked the hip hop industry.
Around 1984 Kurtis Blow came to my attention, andI'm not sure what other songs he released, but "Basketball" was one I remember listening to.
In 1986 Run DMC released their Raising Hell album which featured "Walk This Way". The album scored well with both the rock and rap crowd. My favorite, though, from the album was "You be Illin'".
Late in 1986 the Beastie Boys joined the scene with the release of Licensed to Ill. The song that really grabbed peoples attention was "Fight For Your Right", but the one that I enjoyed the most was "Paul Revere".
These four songs are a great representation of the music that was evolving but only a small representation of what was happening. This article of the Top 40 Hip Hop songs of 1986 show that that was much more happening than I was aware of.
One of the bands I discovered in high school was the Scorpions. They had just released their Blackout Album which featured the title song and "No One Like You". That album rocked and I started listening to a lot of their earlier stuff from Animal Magnetism and Lovedrive. Somehow for Christmas I convinced my Mom to pay for someone to airbrush the back of my jacket with the US cover of Lovedrive. I created a little controversy by adding the album name for anotherr album, "Virgin Killers". It looked something like this.
The combination of the guitars, Klase Mein's voice just seemed to fit so well in the early 80's Cold War period. Here are three favorites that show the Scorpions were able to rock, and cool things out with a softer side.
The Zoo
There are a couple of live videos that do the song justice but I wanted to share a studio version of the song. So here is one I found that includes the lyrics.
Always Somewhere
Not an official video but the audio sounds good.
Winds of Change
The final song was released 1990 but just has the feel of a cold war era song.
T/here have been a lot of great duets over the years... Elton John and Kiki Dee, Stevie Nicks and Don Henley, and Stevie with Tom Petty, Queen and David Bowie and the list goes on. Here are three of my favorites.
Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock
Both of them on their own have voices I like, and combined just makes it twice as good.
Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson
I admit I'm not a big Iggy Pop fan but I could listen to Kate Pierson's voice any time. The two combined, though work really well together
Aaron Nevile and Trisha Yearword
Most people are more familiar with Aaron's duet with Linda Ronstadt, "Don't Know Much". This one with Trisha Yearwood from the Country, Rhythm and Blues album is equally good. In the late 80's Aaron came in to a place I was working and it was amazing to see how big of a guy he was yer had such a soft, silky voice. It's on full display and syncs very well with Trisha's.
Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow
I first heard this when I watched the movie. Any movie with Paul Giamatti and Andre Braugher has to be worth watching. And any song with Huey Lewis is worth listening to. This cover isn't as good as the Smoky Robinson original but few covers match up to the original. Still it's a fine effort.
Between 1980 - 1984 I was just discovering music as only a teenager can. As I look back at songs and artists I was into it's interesting to note the Canadian bands that made a mark on the music. Not all of these bands made it to the top but each had a significant impact.
Triumph
Thunder Seven was my favorite album but Lay It On The Line from their Just a Game album showed them in top form.
April Wine
April Wine would achieve more commercial success on 1981's Nature of the Beast but 1979's Harder Faster is probably the better album top to bottom.
Rush
Out of the four bands Rush probably had the most iconic career. Alex Leifeson, Geddy Lee (he did sing with Bob and Doug McKenzie), and most important to me Neil Peart. Tom Sawyer is probably their best known song but 2112 really is the album that I enjoy the most. Still no beating the drum fills Neil plays on this track.
Loverboy
Loverboy probably had the most commercial success for an album out of these four with Get Lucky. When I had just gotten the album I remember thinking how amazing it was that every song on the album was awesome. Not sure if all of the songs have stood the test of time but there are several classics from this album that are still relevant.
Here is a pretty cool story about a audience member being pulled up to the stage to sing when lead singer Mike Reno got sick at a performance. Also a little bit of trivia involving the cover art of the Get Lucky album.
I had just turned 11 a month earlier and was in a car on a 2 hour drive from New Orleans to Lafayette, La. In the middle of our trip the DJ on the station announced that Elvis had died. It's one of those moments where you remember where you were when you heard the news.
I was familiar with a lot of Elvis songs but some how I had never heard Suspicious Minds. I don't think I heard the Elvis original until after hearing Dwight Yoakum cover the song in 1995.
https://youtu.be/rPMaTf0KU0M
I still like Dwight's version better but Elvis's original is pretty good as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBmAPYkPeYU
When I was in 5th grade I discovered Kiss. I really wasn't into music that much but Kiss blew me away. In 1976 Kiss released Destroyer with Detroit Rock City, Beth, and Shout It Out Loud. My brother got the record for Christmas and we played it constantly.
The next year they released Rock And Roll Over and Hard Luck Woman was one of my favorites.
Years later the song would get new life when Garth Brooks, a Kiss Fan and one of the top music artists at the time, recorded Hard Luck Woman with Kiss for the Kiss tribute album "Kiss My Axx".