Aquanet ... Spandex ... Blue eyeshadow ... MTV ... BIG HAIR ... all of these things were part of our childhood and teen years. So was the genre of music that gets a lot of teasing (pun intended) and ridicule known as Glam Metal, Hair Bands, Cock Rock....but these bands and songs are beloved by the two of us. In fact, as we got to know each other, we instantly connected with our mutual love of books and hair bands.
This is not the list of songs that are played in sports stadiums or classic rock stations. C'mon. Admit it. You guys know Welcome to the Jungle, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, and Livin' on a Prayer. You probably even know Pour Some Sugar on Me, Cherry Pie, and Here I Go Again.
This list is not those songs. This list features the songs that you have to turn to a specialty station like SiriusXM's Hair Nation (in the U.S.) for a chance to hear them. Or be an avid fan of this music from days gone by. This list is a combined effort of our favorite forgotten hair band songs.
1. Wait for You by Bonham - 1989 - Do you recognize this name? John Bonham, the drummer of a little band called Led Zeppelin, who died in 1980...he had a son named Jason Bonham. He can play drums too. He had a band that had a song, and this is it.
2. Call to Your Heart by Guiffria - 1984 - Honestly don't remember anything about Guiffria except this song. And, this is a good song.
3. Edge of a Broken Heart by Bon Jovi - 1987 - Back in the day, pop radio had djs and you could actually call and request to hear your favorite songs. The local Houston station (104 KRBE) had a "Top 8 at 8:00" most requested program. From Erin: "I'd wait for this song to play, so I could record it on my cassette tape each night, so I could have an entire cassette of just this song playing over and over." The work and commitment we had to give for our favorites.....
4. Burning Like a Flame by Dokken - 1987 - To be honest, we could give you a whole list of fantastic songs from Dokken, but this is a fave. From Erin: "Is this the time that I tell you about getting my picture taken with Don Dokken when my friend was getting beers or going to the bathroom, and she's the one that really loved Dokken and she missed the photo opportunity??"
5. Tell Me by White Lion - 1987 - Don't know many girls that didn't find Mike Tramp (the lead singer) pretty dreamy back in the day. The last time I (Erin) saw him was 2008, and he was still pretty dreamy.
6. Coming of Age by Damn Yankees - 1990 - Once upon a time, a supergroup was formed with a member of Night Ranger, a member of Styx, and Ted Nugent. Fun fact from Erin: "I saw them open for Poison in Fargo, ND."
7. Bang Bang by Danger Danger - 1989 - From Jana: "They were my favorite and I was obsessed. Meeting Ted Poley and Andy Timmons was the highlight of 8th grade." No other words are needed.
8. Love Song by Tesla - 1989 - Serious now. If you aren't going to listen to any other of the songs on this list, listen to this one. It truly is one of the greatest anthemic love songs ever created. Yes, we are biased about this list, but we speak the truth about this song.
9. Dirty Love by Thunder - 1990 - This British band has 9 studio albums, 7 live albums, and 22 singles released. Sure, they've had a lot of band members in and out during that time...but that's more albums produced than Taylor Swift or Rhianna or One Direction or many of the other big sellers of popular music.
10. Big Talk by Warrant - 1989 - Awww Warrant. The band known for Cherry Pie. In fact, that song was part of the demise of lead singer, Jani Lane, who died a few years ago from an alcohol fueled death. They really were a talented band. (Feel free to fast forward the first minute of this film clip.) R.I.P Jani
11. One in a Million by Trixter - 1991 - This song hit radio airwaves the same year as Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Poor Trixter was just a little too late for any serious music people to listen to them. Wait. We ain't about those music snobs anyway.
12. Mad About You by Slaughter - 1991 - Not sure this song made it to the music charts. There were actually some songs on this album that got more airplay. But, we're rebelling and going with this lesser known gem for our list.
13. Tainted Angel by Southgang - 1991 - We knew this one was a given. Erin loves Butch Walker (he's the "hunk" of a brunette guitarist in this video clip). Admittedly, most of the love is for the artist that Butch is now. (No joke. He is a hugely talented singer-songwriter-producer-and yes, guitarist.) Jana saw Southgang in concert New Year's Eve 1991. Jana frickin' wins!
14. I'll Never Let You Go by Steelheart - 1990 - This is Jana's "favorite power ballad", and it was going to be left off the list "because his voice may hurt the ears of others", but Erin said "Hell no! I'm totally including Steelheart!", and here you have it. (Get to the chorus - the vocals are seriously insane!)
You really have no idea how difficult it was for us to narrow down this list. It was like selecting our favorite child or something (even though Erin doesn't have a child, but she does have step-children, and Jana has one, so obviously, that one is the favorite). So, really, this was more difficult than picking our favorite child. We're still questioning how Ratt, Cinderella, Mr. Big, Skid Row, Firehouse, Whitesnake, and others didn't make this list. But, we wanted to keep it short enough that you may stay with us.
This is not the list of songs that are played in sports stadiums or classic rock stations. C'mon. Admit it. You guys know Welcome to the Jungle, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, and Livin' on a Prayer. You probably even know Pour Some Sugar on Me, Cherry Pie, and Here I Go Again.
This list is not those songs. This list features the songs that you have to turn to a specialty station like SiriusXM's Hair Nation (in the U.S.) for a chance to hear them. Or be an avid fan of this music from days gone by. This list is a combined effort of our favorite forgotten hair band songs.
1. Wait for You by Bonham - 1989 - Do you recognize this name? John Bonham, the drummer of a little band called Led Zeppelin, who died in 1980...he had a son named Jason Bonham. He can play drums too. He had a band that had a song, and this is it.
2. Call to Your Heart by Guiffria - 1984 - Honestly don't remember anything about Guiffria except this song. And, this is a good song.
3. Edge of a Broken Heart by Bon Jovi - 1987 - Back in the day, pop radio had djs and you could actually call and request to hear your favorite songs. The local Houston station (104 KRBE) had a "Top 8 at 8:00" most requested program. From Erin: "I'd wait for this song to play, so I could record it on my cassette tape each night, so I could have an entire cassette of just this song playing over and over." The work and commitment we had to give for our favorites.....
4. Burning Like a Flame by Dokken - 1987 - To be honest, we could give you a whole list of fantastic songs from Dokken, but this is a fave. From Erin: "Is this the time that I tell you about getting my picture taken with Don Dokken when my friend was getting beers or going to the bathroom, and she's the one that really loved Dokken and she missed the photo opportunity??"
5. Tell Me by White Lion - 1987 - Don't know many girls that didn't find Mike Tramp (the lead singer) pretty dreamy back in the day. The last time I (Erin) saw him was 2008, and he was still pretty dreamy.
6. Coming of Age by Damn Yankees - 1990 - Once upon a time, a supergroup was formed with a member of Night Ranger, a member of Styx, and Ted Nugent. Fun fact from Erin: "I saw them open for Poison in Fargo, ND."
7. Bang Bang by Danger Danger - 1989 - From Jana: "They were my favorite and I was obsessed. Meeting Ted Poley and Andy Timmons was the highlight of 8th grade." No other words are needed.
8. Love Song by Tesla - 1989 - Serious now. If you aren't going to listen to any other of the songs on this list, listen to this one. It truly is one of the greatest anthemic love songs ever created. Yes, we are biased about this list, but we speak the truth about this song.
9. Dirty Love by Thunder - 1990 - This British band has 9 studio albums, 7 live albums, and 22 singles released. Sure, they've had a lot of band members in and out during that time...but that's more albums produced than Taylor Swift or Rhianna or One Direction or many of the other big sellers of popular music.
10. Big Talk by Warrant - 1989 - Awww Warrant. The band known for Cherry Pie. In fact, that song was part of the demise of lead singer, Jani Lane, who died a few years ago from an alcohol fueled death. They really were a talented band. (Feel free to fast forward the first minute of this film clip.) R.I.P Jani
11. One in a Million by Trixter - 1991 - This song hit radio airwaves the same year as Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Poor Trixter was just a little too late for any serious music people to listen to them. Wait. We ain't about those music snobs anyway.
12. Mad About You by Slaughter - 1991 - Not sure this song made it to the music charts. There were actually some songs on this album that got more airplay. But, we're rebelling and going with this lesser known gem for our list.
13. Tainted Angel by Southgang - 1991 - We knew this one was a given. Erin loves Butch Walker (he's the "hunk" of a brunette guitarist in this video clip). Admittedly, most of the love is for the artist that Butch is now. (No joke. He is a hugely talented singer-songwriter-producer-and yes, guitarist.) Jana saw Southgang in concert New Year's Eve 1991. Jana frickin' wins!
14. I'll Never Let You Go by Steelheart - 1990 - This is Jana's "favorite power ballad", and it was going to be left off the list "because his voice may hurt the ears of others", but Erin said "Hell no! I'm totally including Steelheart!", and here you have it. (Get to the chorus - the vocals are seriously insane!)
You really have no idea how difficult it was for us to narrow down this list. It was like selecting our favorite child or something (even though Erin doesn't have a child, but she does have step-children, and Jana has one, so obviously, that one is the favorite). So, really, this was more difficult than picking our favorite child. We're still questioning how Ratt, Cinderella, Mr. Big, Skid Row, Firehouse, Whitesnake, and others didn't make this list. But, we wanted to keep it short enough that you may stay with us.
If you're actually still with us, tell us some of your favorite songs from big hair bands.
YES! Two other humans who actually know BJ's Edge of a Broken Heart! When I say that title to ppl I usually get this response, "Oh, yes... Shot Through the Heart, I love that song, and you're to blame, you give love a bad name..." When I try to stop them and tell them 1) No, that is not the song I am referring to, 2) BJ really has a song titled Shot Through the Heart and 3) that song is not to be confused with You Give Love a Bad Name, I get "the look" like I have worms coming our of my ears or something. LOL! In my personal favorite 80s hair metal playlist, I would also add: Round and Round by Ratt, Now You're Gone by Whitesnake, Cryin' by Vixen, Wasted Time by Skid Row, All Over Now by Great White, and She Don't Know Me by Bon Jovi. Gread blog entry, btw! It was fun!
ReplyDeleteYES! Wasted Time is an outstanding Skid Row song.
DeleteForgot to add - Poison by Alice Cooper! :)
ReplyDeleteMy cousin is in a band that does A LOT of hair band covers, it's awesome!
ReplyDeleteLove Song and I'll Never Let You Go are two of my favorites from this list. I also love The Ballad of Jayne by L.A. Guns, Same Ol' Situation by Motley Crue, Use To Love Her by G-N-R, and Don't Treat Me Bad by Firehouse.
ReplyDeleteExcellent choices! I actually almost added Ballad of Jayne to my list but it was getting away from me :)
Deleteok i won't deny it - i haven't heard of a lot of these! but i love expanding my horizons so i'll def add some to my list!
ReplyDeletexoxo cheshire kat
I was telling Jana in my comment on her post that I got to see Bon Jovi in concert as an adult and it was like the best thing ever!!!!!! I have several big hair bands on my playlists on Spotify because you can never get enough!
ReplyDeleteI literally don't think I know any of these songs...I think my age is showing!
ReplyDeleteI loved doing this and I can't wait for more of our intercontinental playlists because we obviously have amazing taste that needs to be shared.
ReplyDeleteThis is so much fun! I have to admit that I do not know most of these songs. Shame on me! I blame Germany. I am sure most of these songs were not very popular in Germany. Period.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'll admit that I'm one of those "music snobs" you mentioned. (Well, mostly ... I do have several guilty pleasures!) I never got into hair metal too much, but I love love LOVE the song "Nobody's Fool" by Cinderella. I remember borrowing that CD from my uncle and listening to that song on repeat the summer before my freshman year of high school. It's such a good one!
ReplyDeleteI love music posts, and I love the collaboration with Jana!