It’s 90 degrees in Western NY–Real Feel temp is 98. We rarely get this warm in June. Gee, I wonder what’s causing this unusual hot weather…
Cool Rock, a 2-CD set from 1995, presents a variety of musical styles from Naked Eyes’ “Always Something There to Remind Me” and Taylor Dayne’s “Love Will Lead You Back.”
I could do without Wilson Phillips’s “Hold On” which shows up on a number of compilation CDs from this era. Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B-
TRACK LIST:
| 1-1 | Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes– | Up Where We Belong | 3:55 |
| 1-2 | Naked Eyes– | Always Something There To Remind Me | 3:41 |
| 1-3 | Club Nouveau– | Lean On Me | 3:58 |
| 1-4 | Thompson Twins– | Hold Me Now | 4:42 |
| 1-5 | Glass Tiger– | Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone) | 4:05 |
| 1-6 | Teddy Pendergrass– | Love T.K.O. | 5:00 |
| 1-7 | Kool And The Gang*– | Joanna | 4:22 |
| 1-8 | Christopher Cross– | Think Of Laura | 3:22 |
| 1-9 | Tiffany– | I Think We’re Alone Now | 3:47 |
| 1-10 | Joey Scarbury– | Believe It Or Not (Theme From Greatest American Hero) | 3:11 |
| 1-11 | Roxette– | It Must Have Been Love | 3:51 |
| 1-12 | Culture Club– | Time (Clock Of The Heart) | 3:42 |
| 1-13 | The Motels– | Suddenly Last Summer | 3:38 |
| 1-14 | The Tubes– | She’s A Beauty | 3:58 |
| 1-15 | Ashford & Simpson– | Solid | 5:07 |
| 1-16 | Sergio Mendes*– | Never Gonna Let You Go | 4:15 |
| 1-17 | Wilson Phillips– | Hold On | 4:24 |
| 1-18 | Ambrosia (2)– | Biggest Part Of Me | 4:09 |
| 2-1 | Toto– | Africa | 5:01 |
| 2-2 | REO Speedwagon– | Can’t Fight This Feeling | 4:10 |
| 2-3 | Chris DeBurgh*– | Lady In Red | 4:16 |
| 2-4 | Tina Turner– | Private Dancer | 4:00 |
| 2-5 | Cutting Crew– | (I Just) Died In Your Arms | 4:34 |
| 2-6 | John Waite– | Missing You | 4:27 |
| 2-7 | Little River Band– | Cool Change | 5:14 |
| 2-8 | Corey Hart– | Never Surrender | 4:55 |
| 2-9 | Blondie– | Call Me | 3:32 |
| 2-10 | Spandau Ballet– | True | 5:35 |
| 2-11 | Marty Balin– | Atlanta Lady (Something About You) | 3:27 |
| 2-12 | Mr. Mister– | Broken Wings | 4:45 |
| 2-13 | Vangelis– | Chariots Of Fire | 3:29 |
| 2-14 | Dan Hartman– | I Can Dream About You | 4:09 |
| 2-15 | Taylor Dayne– | Love Will Lead You Back | 4:37 |
| 2-16 | James Ingram & Patti Austin– | Baby, Come To Me | 3:35 |
| 2-17 | Al Green– | Let’s Stay Together | 3:18 |
I know most of theses and wish I hasn’t . I like Al Green and Blondie. A few others are okay. Really dislike Lady In Red, Christoipher Cross, Reo Speedwagon, Joey Scarborough, Little River Band. Too much easy listening. D+
Actually, I find this a surprisingly not terrible compilation, thanks to the unexpected inclusion of music from some of my favorite 1980s Alternative/New Wave acts: Thompson Twins, Culture Club (“Time” is my absolute favorite CC song), the Motels, the Tubes, Spandau Ballet, and Blondie. I also like “I Can Dream About You”—although I always think it’s Hall & Oates (I think they did record a cover version). Most puzzling is the inclusion of “Let’s Stay Together”: don’t get me wrong, I like Al Green, but in the midst of all this 1980s/1990s “chill” music, we finish with a soul classic from the early 1970s? Very odd choice.
Deb, I wondered about including Al Green’s classic, too. Maybe it was affordable and the compilers needed “filler.”
Also, a more popular and memorable song than most here. (Indeed, a lot of Top 40 from the early ’80s. Not much here I actively dislike…Blondie’s and a few others are old favorites.)
Todd, I like the variety of songs on COOL ROCK. A few duds but mostly listenable music.
Wow, with the exception of the Rev, Al Green, as Deb noted, this is a real ’80s nostalgia fest. I remember nearly all of these from drive-time radio. “Lean On Me,” “Died in Your Arms,” “Always Something There,” and “Africa” get frequent replay on one of our local ’80s-’90s-Today stations.
Fred, I remembered all of these songs from the 1980s. Some of the songs on COOL ROCK get more airplay on our local Oldies radio Station than others.
I’ve probably heard most of them on the radio while driving but I just remember Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes as well as Roxette and …
My wife and I had the chance to go to Frankfurt ( a friend let us stay overnight) for Tina Turner’s Private Dancer!
The hall was full, standing room only and once the people went crazy:
She started singing “Tonight” and suddenly David Bowie appeared somewhere, totally unexpected, at least for us.
Wolf, Tina Turner and David Bowie! Wow!
I’m not sure about the title “Cool Rock,” although for me many of the songs are an Absolute Zero…
I recognize about a half dozen songs. I think if I heard them, I might recognize a few more. (As I have mentioned elsewhere, I was pretty busy in the 80s having an actual life.)
My absolute favorite here is Joey Scarbury’s “Believe It or Not,” not because it i great music (it isn’t) but because it brings back fond memories of the television show.
Since when did “Chariots of Fire” by Vangelis become a rock song?
Excuse me, I think it’s time to get on Jeff Meyerson’s geezer bus.
Jerry, Vangelis’s “Chariots of Fire” got radio airplay and continues to used as background music for the Olympics.
Jerry, you have a seat reserved for you behind the driver.
Jackie used “Believe It Or Not (Theme From The Greatest American Hero)” in her class to get the kids to exercise.
I always got a kick of Chris DeBurgh writing “Lady in Red” for/about his wife, then having an affair with his kids’ 19 year old nanny while his wife was in the hospital recuperating from a broken neck. Oops. Oh well, she did take him back. The “syrupy ballad” may not be “the most annoying song ever written,” but it’s not good.
As you know, I don’t listen to ’80s music now (as a rule), nor did I then, for the most part. I listened to people from the ’60s and ’70s and even ’50s doo wop. A few I don’t mind: Always Something There to Remind Me (though I prefer the Dusty Springfield version), Lean on Me, Missing You (the pick of the litter).
Jeff, scumbags like Chris DeBurgh, John Edwards, and Newt Gingrich are a disgrace to Men. Cheaters never prosper.
Both the title and track list have a manatees-with-beachball randomness to them but if it takes your mind off this beastly heat for an hour or two then good for you. I spent four solid days landscaping my front and side yards last week to get all of my plants in before the heatwave hit. Some of the plants are already growing like crazy with this tropical weather so it was all worth the effort.
I’m dealing with the weather by finally getting around to reading “Picnic at Hanging Rock” by Joan Lindsay which is so far quite as wonderful as the film adaptation. Stay cool.
Byron, we have a Capital Heat plumbing team here today. Our central A/C unit would drain excess water into a hole in our basement concrete floor. That worked for over a decade. But, the last couple of summers, with increased Heat and Humidity, caused the water to spill onto the floor. Diane and I put towels down to absorb the water. We thought this might just be a temporary problem. This summer, even more water is spilling onto the floor and we’re changing the towels a couple times per day. We got tired of the towel routine so Capital Heat is here to install a pump that will take the water from the Air Conditioner and dump it in the sump.
Most of those songs just roll off my back! Not good but not terrible! I happen to like Lady in Red, but I didn’t know about the singer being such a bozo!
Bob, bozos are a dime a dozen in ROCK!