Squeeze - "853-5937"

(Debuted December 19, 1987, Peaked #32, 11 Weeks on the Chart)

The telephone has been a popular device for song lyrics throughout the years. Whether the telephone line itself, the operator, telephone servicemen, numbers and even answering machines have been included in popular songs throughout the years. It's even been used in songs to heighten a sense of anticipation, as well as fear and paranoia.

In the case of "853-5937," the song began as a message for an answering machine, which can be heard in the refrain. That refrain also includes the English colloquialism "she'll give you a ring when she gets home," a term few Americans are ever heard saying. A lady named Angela, it seems, isn't able to answer the phone after several tries (this was before Caller ID was widespresad), but her failure to pick up is only making the narrator worried that she is no longer interested in him.

"853-5937" was the secong single from Squeeze's LP Babylon and On, a pun that could also be applied to a telephone conversation. Following the group's biggest American hit "Hourglass," it reached into the Top 40 briefly. They never made the U.S. pop chart again.

The Georgia Satellites - "The Hippy Hippy Shake"

(Debuted October 22, 1988, Peaked #45, 13 Weeks on the chart)

"Hippy Hippy Shake" was a tune that was originally recorded in 1959 by Chan Romero and had been a hit in 1964 by The Swinging Blue Jeans. In 1988, it was re-recorded by The Georgia Satellites and included in the soundtrack for the Tom Cruise film Cocktail. How that soundtrack saw both "Kokomo" and "Don't Worry, Be Happy" go to #1 while this song and The Fabulous Thunderbirds' "Powerful Stuff" both stiffed is an unfortunate commentary on the music business as it was in 1988.

While the 1988 hit single was performed by Dan Baird, the original lead singer of The Georgia Satellites, the video below is from a performance of the band after they reformed in 1993. Rick Richards handles the vocals here, but it matches up with the original hit quite nicely. As a straightforward rock tune that features the basic instruments, there really isn't a bad way to do the song.

Europe - "Cherokee"

(Debuted November 28, 1987, Peaked #72, 10 Weeks on the chart)

One of the benefits of writing a blog is that sometimes you can just toss something out simply because you feel like it. And that's what brings me to the song featured here today. "Cherokee" wasn't Europe's biggest hit, nor was it the best or even the most memorable song they ever recorded.  A historian could rip apart the video below, as the Cherokee tribe didn't live in the high Plains and didn't use tepees as the natives shown.

That said, the video was taped in Spain, not far from where Sergio Leone filmed some of his famous "Spaghetti Westerns" with Clint Eastwood two decades earlier. And Europe was from Sweden anyway, so their exposure to American Indians came through Western movies and TV shows, which weren't exactly noted for their attention to detail.

"Cherokee" was written by Europe's lead singer Joey Tempest as the final song for the band's LP The Final Countdown. It was their fourth charted single from that album in the U.S., fizzling out at #72. At the time it came out, I was living in eastern Tennessee (the original home of the Cherokee tribe), a place where many people -- myself included -- have Cherokee in their bloodline. There, it received more radio airplay than might have been expected.

The Robert Cray Band - "Smoking Gun"

(Debuted February 7, 1987, Peaked #23, 14 Weeks on the chart)

As a blues guitarist, Robert Cray didn't have the same look and feel of what was then considered to be the norm. He was young and his voice didn't carry that world-weary experience. However, "Smoking Gun" was about dealing with a lover's adultery, which is a very common topic in blues songs. Despite the depressing nature of the subject, the music is given an uptempo arrangement.

Among the lauded "new generation" of blues artists, Cray's influences ranged from the old-time bluesmen but also from Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and even The Beatles. Despite his relative youth, he had been performing with his own band for more than a decade before his major-label debut Strong Persuader, and was even part of Otis Day's band in the movie Animal House.

"Smoking Gun" would be Cray's only Top 40 pop single. He managed to get two more songs into the Hot 100 through 1988. Despite having no hit singles in more than 20 years and failing to chart any albums on Billboard's LP charts since 1999, he is still recording and touring and remains a big draw on the concert circuit.

Smokey Robinson - "Just to See Her"

(Debuted March 28, 1987, Peaked #8, 21 Weeks on the chart)

I was born in 1972, which means that Smokey Robinson had already left The Miracles by the time I was around. Similarly, I was way too young to pay any attention to his mid-70s solo material and only remember his early 80s songs "Cruisin'" and "Being With You" as songs that played on the radio but weren't anything I would pay attention to at 8 or 9 years old. However, I would be hooked on oldies radio when I was 13 years old and would get an education on who Smokey was through that. In the spring of 1987, I was 14 and interested in girls...and here comes Smokey with a song that helped me understand that the ladies liked a smooth-talking dude.

"Just to See Her" is another one of those songs that I can easily identify with the late spring and early summer of 1987, because it was played all over the place. In addition to being a Top 10 pop hit, it was a #2 R&B single and topped the adult contemporary survey as well. That multi-format (a word that once was "crossover") success marked one of the final high points of Motown before Berry Gordy sold the label in 1988.

Breakfast Club - "Right on Track"

(Debuted March 14, 1987, Peaked #7, 19 Weeks on the chart)

Fans of 1980s culture remember The Breakfast Club as a 1985 John Hughes movie, but it was also the name of a New York City-based band who were using the name long before the film's script was written. Their first national hit was "Right on Track," a Top 10 single that showed a lot of promise, but they weren't able to capitalize on it. No further singles made the Top 40 and their second album wasn't released by their record company. Today, the band is better remembered because Madonna was a drummer during its pre-fame days.

In hindsight, Madonna may have been a big help in getting the band signed to a major label, and the fact that she was once a member was definitely included in the promotional materials that were sent to stations to promote their self-titled debut album. In fact, I remember Rick Dees introducing "Right on Track" in his weekly countdown show by saying it was by a group "who once slept with Madonna."

Today, "Right on Track" is one of those songs that always takes me back to 1987 when I hear it. I can remember details from my life as it was then: the place I was living, the friends I hung out with, even my girlfriend at the time. They're fond memories of a time that is passed, so my thoughts on the song are similarly kind.

World Party - "Ship of Fools"

(Debuted February 14, 1987, Peaked #27, 15 Weeks on the chart)

Although World Party is billed as a group (and is shown as one in the video below), it is essentially Karl Wallinger's solo project since he left The Waterboys in 1986. Despite the use of some studio musicians and backing singers -- including Sinead O'Connor -- Wallinger played most of the instruments on the Private Revolution LP. The first single from the album was "Ship of Fools," which would end up being the only Hot 100 listing World Party ever ended up with.

"Ship of Fools" is a song that strongly identified with the environmental activists who were then a small but vocal group that became much more visible as the next decade began. Normally, activist politics and music rarely mix well but "Ship of Fools" is an exception because its message isn't as blatant as it might have otherwise been. However, lines like the hook "You will pay tomorrow" let the sharp-eared listener clue in on the fact that there is a message in between the pop sheen of the music.

I remember "Ship of Fools" from watching the video on MTV in 1987, but didn't hear it often on the local Top 40 station. In fact, a couple of years later I was asking some friends if they remembered it and they were certain I was talking about Robert Plant's song of the same name (released on his 1988 Now & Zen LP) despite my insistence that it was a totally different song. I eventually found the World Party song for my music collection, and it's a song that is just as fresh today as it was when it was released. That's not something that can be said for a large amount of stuff that was recorded in 1987.

The Chicago Bears Shuffling Crew - "Super Bowl Shuffle"

(Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted January 11, 1986, Peaked #41, 9 Weeks on the Chart)

As we go into the weekend, there are many of us who are paying attention to the NFL playoffs and will watch the games as they get underway. If you're an 80s music fan who was also a sports fan growing up in the era, chances are you'll remember today's song.

The 1985 Chicago Bears were arguably the best football team of the decade. With a 15-1 record, they went on to roll over the teams in their way through the playoffs and on to a Super Bowl where they demolished the New England Patriots. They featured an explosive offense that included the eccentric quarterback Jim McMahon and one of the game's best all-time runners in Walter Payton, but it was their defense that was truly dominant. Head coach Mike Ditka became a legend that year and rookie defensive lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry was a short-lived superstar, selling the McDLT for McDonald's on television commercials and was available through the mail as a GI Joe figure.

As they rolled through that magical season, several members of the team recorded a rap song called "The Super Bowl Shuffle" that had been written by Richard Meyer, a fan of the team. Rather than bragging about their on-field dominance, the players were doing the song for charity: the record raised more than $300 thousand  for the Chicago Community Trust, an organization that helped needy families. That generous spirit makes up for the fact that the music behind the lyrics is generic 1980s synthesized stuff.

Good intentions aside, it was a big risk to record the song before the team had secured its spot in the Super Bowl. However, it proves the old saying (sometimes attributed to Julius Caesar) that there's no such thing as hubris unless you lose.

Nu Shooz - "Point of No Return"

(Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted July 5, 1986, Peaked #28, 22 Weeks on the Chart)

Nu Shooz was a Portland, Oregon-based duo made up of the husband-and-wife team of John Smith and Valerie Day. Their brand of electronic dance music caught quickly, with a #3 pop hit in their first major-label single "I Can't Wait." Their follow-up was called "Point of No Return," which returned them to the Top 40 and went to #1 on the Billboard dance chart.

A catchy single, "Point of No Return" was one of those songs that stood out even at a time where radio was becoming inundated with synthesized pop-dance tunes. Its video (shown below) featured a stop-motion film where hundreds of pairs of shoes "crawled" out of a closet and stampeded over Day. The video (like the song itself) is a relic today, but had its charm at the time.

Fads and trends being what they are, the duo lost favor when the casual fans turned their attention elsewhere. Their third single just missed the Top 40 in 1988, and they were soon cut free from their obligations with their label. Despite the long time away from the charts, Smith and Day are still performing today.

Timex Social Club - "Rumors"

(Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted June 14, 1986, Peaked #8, 19 Weeks on the Chart)

When the song "Rumors" came out, there were several rumors that seemed to pop up about the song. One was the identity of the people mentioned by name in the lyrics -- Michael, Tina, Susan -- and whether they were directed at celebrities like Michael Jackson, Tina Turner or Susan Anton. On the other hand, I read somewhere that the names were people from high school. Another rumor about the song was that there was a problem with the group's name that prevented royalties from being paid to them because the Timex watch company hit them with an injunction. Though that fact seems to be missing from any "official" biographies about the band, it might have some truth to it, as the group disbanded shortly afterward and a new group made up of different members called Club Nouveau popped up to take their place.

In any case, the word of mouth generated about the song was helpful enough to push it into the pop Top 10. The song was an early example of the R&B form that would soon become known as New Jack Swing. The group was formed during the members' high school days in Berkeley, California in 1982, with some rotation before "Rumors" was a hit. It ended up being their only hit, but it sure was memorable.