Monday, July 25, 2011

#45. Power Ballads

There's something about the 1980s: John Hughes movies were a bridge back to the 1950s; Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics were saving the NBA; Michael Jackson decided his ebony skin needed an ivory overhaul; bands like Journey, Toto, Bon Jovi, etc., were producing songs and power ballads that have as much power now as they did when thousands crammed arenas to hear them perform live; in essence, whiteness still sold.


People reveled in it.

This is one of the primary reasons contemporary Black rap and R&B artists "sample" songs from this time period in the hopes of creating an iTunes sensation, because the music from this era resonates with people in a way the Black Eyed Peas original songs could only wish to achieve.

Perhaps the ultimate expression of this concept is the Power Ballad, that one love song every band tried to perfect to include in an 80s film and gain immortality through some awkward teenager guy always remembering it fondly as the song they finally got to the second base while listening to.

White Snake, Journey, Poison, Cheap Trick, Foreigner, Jefferson Starship, REO Speedwagon, Boston; all bands that can actually perform live and sound just as good as they do on the radio, CD, or via iPods, all bands that produced Power Ballads that still have an emotional pull modern "artists" could only wish to replicate.

Go to any bar where modern white people - fresh out of college to those still clinging desperately to their fraternity and sorority days and refusing to grow up - congregate and the pulsating noise of rap will make conversation virtually impossible. But if, by chance, a modern-day "juke box"machine is available that streams music then you have the opportunity to resurrect lost Power Ballads that instantly invigorate any evening out on the town.

Confusing people who never knew songs like Alphaville's Forever Young existed prior to Jay-Z's need of something familiar to have an instant 'hit' is a hilarious game that illustrates the Power Ballads appeal.

Black people have never been able to understand the mysticism of the Power Ballad, the concepts that go into producing such songs as Boston's Amanda; Jefferson Starship's Sara; The Scorpions Europe's Carrie; Toto's Rosanna; and Steve Perry's Oh Sherrie are foreign to Black people. Alien.

Just like Nicholas Sparks novels and films, white girls instinctual love these songs knowing that it represents something fundamental. Years will pass from hearing one of these songs, but the feelings present when they first heard them will come pouring back in an emotional dam-bursting and remind them of dreams they once had.

Sentimentality is a distinctly white trait, and though Black people can Act White by trying to enjoy a Power Ballad, it's difficult to find a Black person who can empathize with the emotions that can be drudged up from the hearing of a song 10 or 20 years from when those memories were first created.

The Power Ballad is a uniquely white [and primarily American] phenomenon, a manifestation of hope, love, desire and longing that symbolizes one of the last unifying cultural traits left for white people. Regardless of the geographic location, Power Ballads are still played across America and speak to an epoch that contemporary music seeks to dull, de-legitimize and label as square.

Funny: many of the most popular rap and R&B songs require heavily sampling from this time period in hopes of attracting an audience.

Stuff Black People Don't Like includes Power Ballads, one of the most powerful instruments for keeping Black people from a bar, club, restaurant or place of business.


Power Ballads have the capacity to take white people back to earlier moments in their life that bring a strange mixture of joy and sorrow, loss and happiness. Memories from simpler times when the jitters before a first date could be fixed by listening to the comforting words and music from a Power Ballad that foreshadowed the hope of potentially rounding the bases later in the evening and starting something special with that girl who would ultimately break your heart.

Simultaneously the Power Ballad captures all the emotions that make life worth living and fighting for; you're not supposed to live in the past, but you're not supposed to forget it either.









108 comments:

Stephen said...

I <3 Power Ballads!!!! Songs in this genre are the greatest things to ever grace the airwaves.

I think Steelheart's I'll Never Let You Go is the epitome of White manpower. It is the power ballad to end all power ballads.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-nyeiKk35M

~AV~ said...

I too love music, everything from opera to rhythm and blues. I am a frequent guest on the "Blues Cruise"...what I have learned is that blacks cross over that was most successful was Motown and it was grvien by the blues and gospel. Both wonderfully rich and meaningful music traditions of early Americana, which heavily contributed to country and rock as we now know it today.

I met a black artist on the 2010 October cruise, he was a former "rapper" who said, he found great joy and happiness once he crossed back to the roots of the blues, he picked up a harmonica and mastered it...and said that rap music was so unrewarding and was a dead end to his musical aspirations.

I am also a huge fan of classic Motown.

However,deep down I am a child of the 60s and 70s and though some music from the 80s are memorable, I perfer Janice Joplin, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, Boston, Black Sabbath, Joe Walsh, Robin Trower, Traffic...and I also dig the Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles...

Today I really enjoy James Cotten, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy and Shemika Copeland...to name a few...

I HATE RAP...and the gutter culture that worships it...and especially am disgusted by whites that seek rap garbage...

Anonymous said...

I am in my early 40s but still go to a occasional concert. I went to an Echo & the Bunnymen concert in DC a few months ago and was surprised by how young so many of the kids were. I thought it would be a bunch of 40-somethings but we were in the minority. I don't know if there were any blacks but there were many Asians and Hispanics.

This type of music is never played on the radio so not sure how they hear it nowadays - 25 years past its prime.

Fayette White Guy said...

Damn you Paul, for bringing back memories of an ex by posting "Sara." But you redeemed yourself, as "Oh Sherrie" reminds myself of my loving sister.

Buckeye Copperhead said...

DWLs hate these groups too. Case in point: The absence of any of these groups in the Rock and Roll HOF.

Fayette White Guy said...

Anonymous at 8:59---

We find out about such music through older siblings (in my case), the internet, and sometimes music magazines. The Bunnymen are great; I hope you enjoyed the gig. If you did see any blacks there, they probably were somewhat removed from the ilk that is described on here.

Dissident said...

I'm a child of the 80's! Loud and proud of my 80's music.

I especially like the "New Wave" genre. I cut my teeth on the Fixx, Saga, Big Country, Talk Talk, etc. I wouldn't trade any of today's nonsensical tripe for just one cool 80's tune.

That music was innovative, provocative and it stood the test of time, as you so succinctly put it.

Just saw Rush a month ago, and let me tell you that power trio can still kick em' out!

Modern music is a cacophony of pointless noise, nothing more, nothing less. I wouldn't pi$$ on "Lady Gagme" is she was on fire!

Modern "music" and modern "artists" are sorely lacking, at least the mainstream ones that are promoted heavily by the PTB. Mtv is a cess-pool of filthiness and debauchery, the M is fitting, as in MORON television.

Viva La 80's!

Dissident said...

Here's another power ballad Paul:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5xS0LEiruc&feature=related.

Europe's Carrie.

Anonymous said...

The Scorpions did "Still Loving You", "Send Me An Angel", and "Wind Of Change", but NOT "Carrie".

IMO, "Sara" and "Rosanna" and "Oh Sherrie" are good songs, but NOT power ballads.

From 1983, "Burning Heart" by Vandenberg is awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGSrv1GnXMM

From 1987, "Alone" by Heart!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cw1ng75KP0&ob=av2e

Sheila said...

Although I grew up in the 60s listening to classic rock via my older brother(Beatles, Stones, Cream, Doors, etc.), I wasn't particularly "into" music in high school and primarily remember music from my college years (plus one ballad from the summer before). We're talking late 70s here, so my workout songs still include Boston, Meat Loaf, Cheap Trick, Blondie, and the ubiquitous "My Sharona" (one guy must have played that thing 1,000 times the summer of 1979 that I spent up in Maine). I never listen to the radio, and disdain "nigger noise."

Ryu said...

Truth. Blacks have never understood this, outside of a strange sort of doo wop like Boys To Men.

10mm AUTO said...

You hit on another interesting trait lacking of the negroid race, sentimentality toward objects.

You would never see a negroid rebuilding to Stock a 1970 dodge Challenger, paying attention to date coded parts or proper paint marks. Precision, nostalgia, detail oriented restoration, preservation, etc. is simply a foreign concept. In fact, the term "Bling" is a negroid word which means modifying something (anything!) but not in the sense of moving toward perfection but in terms of detrimental individuality. (LOL Who can explain fitting a retainer to ones mouth, setting it with gold and jewels and putting it in ones mouth, so starkly reminiscent of the lip plates of Africa.)

It maybe that negroids never kept a tool or engineered a device or understood any technology long enough or deeply enough to develop a fondness for fine workmanship. Perhaps not being a creative people, they have no interest or understanding of the concept of "originality".

Anonymous said...

"I think Steelheart's I'll Never Let You Go is the epitome of White manpower."

"She's Gone", another great Steelheart power ballad...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICJs1CxCRt0&ob=av2n

Midwestern said...

I remember high school slow dancing to these songs, and listening while crying over a broken heart.

My favorites, "Waiting For a Girl Like You" Foreigner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XItieIMcsKg&feature=related

and "Faithfully" by Journey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMD8hBsA-RI&ob=av3n

Anonymous said...

Music takes me back to good times mostly, or some bad times, just like you said. I love the 80's music, and nothing beats a power-ballad. In elementary school we had "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever". Then we went through the leg-warmers. We had dancing competitions on the playground and would make up routines like we were in 'FAME' or something. Then came the teen years, Parachute Pants and 80's Hair Metal which I still listen to this day. There was also nothing like wearing some spandex and going to a Bon Jovi concert, lol. Journey was the first rock group I ever heard. It was 'Open Arms' one of the best love songs to this day.

You are right, black people just don't get it. They can't. It's a White thing. Some of them had some good music back in the day, but they certainly don't now. They have devolved musically.

Steve said...

Dissident. I'm a big fan of Rush as well. Just three guys and the music is incredible. Niel Pert is arguably the best drummer on earth.

Far more complex than Raps grunts and whistles. Primitive music for primitive brains.

Victor said...

I swear, I have the most racist Ipod - the few songs I have on it (out of 7000+) by black artists are all reggae or calypso numbers. I hate how many young white artists feel the need to 'black up' their songs with 'runs' and all that crap.
While you do get a lot of white people going to black musicians shows, you almost never get black people going to concerts by white artists. And I don't just mean country - I once went to a Peter, Paul and Mary concert and didn't see a single black person.
There are still some artists today who do good power ballads - I love Jimmy Eat World, for example, but to many of them are like Justin Timberlake and trying to out black the black artists.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I'm just being honest here...if you've never heard "Voyage To Atlantis" by the Isley Brothers, it's kinda like a soul power ballad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh6lGI1bOkw

Freakin' awesome tune!! And it doesn't hurt that Ernie Isley was heavily influenced by Hendrix.

Dissident said...

Yea! Can anyone imagine an African orchestra? Has there ever been such a thing as Classic African music? I'll admit many years ago blacks churned out some fine tunes, like Lionel Ritchie, Kool and the Gang,Stevie Wonder but today's (c)RAP music is detrimental to the psyche.

RAP has been a corrosive force in the black community and in the white as well. We've had to live with the repercussions of all that dark, negative, caustic music that tells blacks it's alright to kill, rape, plunder.

To Hell with that bombastic noise, I denounce it as antagonistic and dangerous to civilized people everywhere.

Anonymous said...

"Survivor -- Is This Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIDsmBS4Eys"

WTF???

This is lightweight pop/rock fluff, this is NOT a power ballad.

And "I'll Be Over You" by Toto is a POP BALLAD, but not a power ballad.

Anonymous said...

Here is one of my favorites;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1se8_-fcxZs

RIP brother Liam we miss you so.

Maple syrup said...

I also love to reminisce to the 80's song: Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now by Jefferson Starship. I loved the movie "Mannequin" in which the song is featured.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5s6V8rQH4

" If You Leave " by OMD, featured in "Pretty in Pink" is just awesome as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGawOk107eU

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds" which is the main theme song of " The Breakfast Club " has to be one of the best 80's movie theme song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpc7TBhilFI

" Alive & Kicking " by Simple Minds" is also a great power ballad.

The song "True" by Spandau Ballet is an awesome slow ballad/love song of the early 80's. Spandau Ballet were also known for their phenomenal hit " GOLD" in 1983, it was a huge hit in certain parts of Canada.
Those songs are dear to my heart and ears and I never stopped loving them. I always listen to them with renewed enthusiasm. I've basically abandoned listening to mainstream music in the late 80's.

RAP and Hip Hop are musical genres( if they can be called that ) that always deeply annoyed me at best, or brought on downright revulsion upon hearing the first notes.
The quality of music has devolved so much since the late 80's to become at it's lowest in the last 10 yrs.

Stephen said...

While we're adding power ballads to the list, here's a few that I could listen to forever.

Don't Know What You Got (till it's gone) by Cinderella
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-nyeiKk35M

Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbRL57E4_G4&feature=related

High Enough (live) by Damn Yankees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qbSTATrnWI

I'll Be There For You by Bon Jovi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh8MIp2FOhc&ob=av2e

Always (live) by Bon Jovi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn8XfKnDPlg

The Ballad of Jayne by L.A. Guns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6198qSm0Y0&ob=av2e

Anonymous said...

Your numbered posts are really your meat and potatoes...please never forget this. Whether they be humorous or sentimental, perhaps both, your loyal readership greatly enjoys them. Keep them coming, SBPDL.

Northlander

Anonymous said...

Paul, you forgot "Hungry Eyes" by Eric Carmen circa 1986, I consider it a power ballad with a wonderful sax accompaniment.
Let's not forget Dirty Dancing's love ballad!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oKUTOLSeMM

Anonymous said...

"Big Iron" by Marty Robbins is a cool song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MAz9NY44Qc

Anonymous said...

I grew up in the 80s...fond memories indeed. The Reagan Revival after the misery and hopelessness of the 70s...

I got into ambient and orchestral for some reason. Vangelis being one of my faves. Now THAT'S some music you don't find many blacks liking... for much of the same reasons already mentioned in your fun and melancholic piece today...

Anonymous said...

26 years ago, in 1985, I worked as a bouncer in a night club, and the DJ would often play Alphaville's "Forever Young" as the last song of the night.

The memories are amazingly vivid and powerful.

What I wouldn't give to be able to go back...

I guess I'm getting old, because I was completely unaware that Jay-zee had done a re-make.

Anonymous said...

From one your greatest admirers.

That music was complete bullshit.

Anonymous said...

At anon. at 2:29 PM

"That music was complete bullshit. "

And according to you, which music ISN'T bullshit?

Anonymous said...

"I guess I'm getting old, because I was completely unaware that Jay-zee had done a re-make. "

I must be getting old too because I was unaware of it also. But that's what artists from the 90's up to now have been doing, the re-recording and adding the minimal allowed seconds of a catchy yesteryear song is an epidemic, since most of today's artists lack talent & imagination. It's a shame!

Steve said...

Oh man thinking about Rush you guys have to hear this. One of the best drum solos ever!

You will never see this form of skill from the Race of Failures (RoF)

These guys are having fun making music..Perts solo is about midway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa0C5Uxpd3c&feature=channel_video_title

Anonymous said...

Good epic music!

Anonymous said...

@ ~AV~

Yes the funk era was great as well, one great soul artist of the 70's is Boz Scaggs.
Here's Lowdow :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65EoK4OelZU

Anonymous said...

There was a lot of good music in the 80s. This isn't it.

Dean said...

The Scorpions did "Send Me An Angel"

Real Life sang Send Me An Angel (1983)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6zBjYIyz-0

Anonymous said...

I grew up in the 80's and graduated in 1992 just as the good music died out and crap took over the scene. I went to concerts by Chicago, OMD, and Duran Duran in the past few years. Not a black person in sight out of the thousands in attendance. I loved it.

People are always saying how musically talented black are, yet how many can play a guitar or carry a note these days? Much like whatever culture they had decades ago, their music also devolved into anarchy and chaos. All they can do is push a play button to get their recorded beat going and then sputter out a bunch of profanities. Even the old black women I work with listen to that garbage.

Discard said...

Thirty some years ago, I was reluctantly taken by a younger friend to hear the ultimate group, a rockabilly punk band from Los Angeles called X. I don't know that anyone's ever heard of them, nobody else I know has, but they played serious ass-whipping music. Power ballads are girlie. High-pitched crooners with bouffant hair and skin tight pants. As my younger friend said, "chicks with dicks".

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, I must be REALLY old, because who the heck is Jay-Zee? I assume he's black by the name.

Now, Aldo Nova "Fantasy" rocks, and everyone needs a leopard suit like he wore in the video for pajamas.

Anonymous said...

I've listened to and enjoyed every song linked here today, and while not every song is necessarily a power ballad [mine included], they're still great songs and definitely stuff that most black people don't like. And that's alright with me.

Anonymous said...

Hey Anon at 4:22PM

There was a lot of good music in the 80s. This isn't it.

_________________________________________

According to you, what was good 80's music? Come on, don't be shy, tell us what you liked!

Anonymous said...

Black guy in Inglewood, CA that dug Rosanna and Toto....and Adam Ant and Dexy's midnight runners and Stray Cats, the Fixx etc. Remember, we looked at MTV too, it was the only place that had videos and we liked them like you did. Black people do not control the airwaves, we are consumers like you are. I hate the bs that is on radio now. I liked the old 8-'s rap when it was telling black people to do better. The thought was if you knew better, you would do better. Don't forget there are no black owned radio stations really. It is your own people playing the bs they call rap now. You would be surprised at how many black people disdain nigger music also. I do love BLACK music though.

Analytical said...

Power Ballads, one of the most powerful instruments for keeping Black people from a bar, club, restaurant or place of business.

Classical and baroque are just as good, and work on young white punk-types too.

Anonymous said...

"a rockabilly punk band from Los Angeles called X"

Billy Idol was a member of X before going solo.

Anonymous said...

"Don't forget there are no black owned radio stations really."
This is irrelevant, the playlists at black radio stations are compiled by black program directors and black music directors.
And of course, the "artists" themselves are black, and they are well-aware that they are poisoning the minds of black children, yet they do not give a shit.

"It is your own people playing the bs they call rap now."
This is also irrelevant, because although there is a significantly white youth audience that listens to rap music as a means of expressing "rebelliousness", they do not embrace or celebrate the rap lifestyle. White kids can listen to rap, yet still finish college, find a job, get married, and raise a family.

"You would be surprised at how many black people disdain nigger music also."
No, but I'd be shocked if black people ever organized the way they did in support of 6 black thugs in Jena, Louisiana...to protest against the adverse effects that disgusting rap music has on black youth.
Black people are strangely silent when it comes to criticizing bad black behavior.

Anonymous said...

I might be a total fag for admitting this, but...

I always liked "Into The Night" by Benny Mardones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMRKMf6_WY8

It was released in 1980, then again in 1989, both times it reached the top 20.

Anonymous said...

Oh for the seventies...

Anonymous said...

At anon. at July 25, 2011 7:22 PM

Don't be shy to say you love "Into The Night" circa 1980 by Benny Mardones, it's awesome!
I was a teenager in the early 80's and when I went to Discos they would also have the "slow moments". When the slow moments came on, you'd get to dance close to some very handsome, classy and virile men. I thought it was a good way to get closer to someone and get better acquainted. Nothing naughty just some sexy romanticism.
And no, you're not gay for liking it! B. Mardones has a very husky, scratchy, sensual warmth in his voice, he sings from the soul!

Justin Bierber is the antithesis of Benny Mardonnes.

Anonymous said...

@ Black guy in Inglewood,

I'm glad you bring this up. I think you have great taste in music. I loved black artists in the 60's, 70's and 80's . I was a big Disco fan and among my favorite groups were Brothers Johnson, Earth, Wind and Fire, Rose Royce, Voyage, Sister Sledge and single artists such as Billy Ocean, George Benson, Lionel Ritchie, Donna Summer just to name a few.
Rap artists like Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy were respected by both black and white music lovers.

Gangsta rap and its horrid Autotuned derivatives are simply products that appealed to the media entertainment industry because they cost nothing to produce, and could be sold at full value to a gullible, mostly white public. Needless to say, it is not blacks who run that industry.

Nobody in that business gives a hoot anymore about promoting black artists with real talent. That loss is keenly felt by all.

Anonymous said...

It’s been a lot of fun reading the comments and checking out some of the tunes listed. Here’s my 2cents. Oh, and “Into The Night” guy..there’s no shame in liking a song with beautiful lyrics. I like that song, too. Thanks!

Def Leppard-Love Bites http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQSkIFhuli0

Boston-More Than A Feeling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSR6ZzjDZ94

The first time I heard this song I was a child. It struck me then that these were some of the most beautiful lyrics I would ever hear. I’m 45 now. I was right.
George Rafferty-Right Down The Line http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSfOB8ANdWU

I know this was Jimi Hendrix’s song, but this White boy rocked this thing like nobody’s business.
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) http://www.youtube.comwatch?v=1GSpbuFSr2o

I know this is power ballads and heavy duty songs To me, this is a heavy duty song and I never tire of it.
Patsy Cline-I Fall To Pieces http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuZTk1hdpMs

Darayvus said...

Tears For Fears, "Head Over Heels". I still feel the urge to sing along to that one when I hear it.

Maple syrup said...

Do any of you remember the song "Come Undone" by Duran Duran, it was a big hit here in Canada in 1993. I could listen to it for hours, it's not a power ballad but a melancholy one.

I feel so moved by this song, if any of you are curious and would like to check it out, here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICnlyNUt_0o&ob=av2e

"Ordinary World" by Duran Duran was also on that same album , it's excellent as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_7DnHbcgn8.

Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats and the New wave genre were among my favorites as well.

Anonymous said...

Air Supply had some of the best power-ballads in the 80's!

Anonymous said...

Steve & Dissident, you are so right on Rush. I am a big fan of those three as week. However, one sort of has to have some brain activity to understand their music. It isn't mindless muttering of today's music (black music specifically)!

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking a lot lately about how the most popular music in America - white, black, eskimo, whatever - has NO melodic improvisation like it had for decades. This has coincided with the population getting dumber, more easily led and propagandized, and incapable of critical reasoning. It seems to me there's a connection there.

There were great black composers and musicians like Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix, etc. White counterparts like Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Duane Allman, Stan Getz - too many of all colors and varieties to name.

Now? Rap music is crappy sounding synthesizers with electronic drum tracks backing the most no-talent shitheads in the world talking trash over the top of the whole mess. And even the newer rock bands just bang out the most basic chords with no spark of originality. You could pick almost any previous time in American history and the music would be better than it is now.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs38lKxmtI4

Sheila said...

As far as music that blacks really don't listen to, my son is a fan of "folk metal" (I think he calls it opera rock at times) sung by primarily European bands in languages other than English. There was an interesting post on this some months back at "Faith and Heritage" blog; the post also lists a number of the bands and their music (most of which my son has):

http://faithandheritage.com/2011/05/folk-metal/

Anonymous said...

At David Glenn :

Let's not forget the Hit " Never " by Heart. To me that's a power ballad. Plus the Wilson sisters were among the edgiest but classiest female group of the 70's & 80's.
Also, the attractiveness of the 2 sisters is certainly a + factor. Hot looking and multi-talented, they had it all!

Here's "Never":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWzy5q_M5Ho&ob=av2e

Anonymous said...

Re: the band "X", performs the best version of the song "wild thing" ever. Joan Jett does a rockin' cover of that as well.

Left coast white guy

Anonymous said...

what do you all think of this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOIxW44UhN4&feature=related

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7_NbkL6t_U&feature=related

"It's a gamble, double down or don't"

Fayette White Guy said...

Maple Syrup,

how ironic you mentioned "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World." I played both songs multiple times on the way to work this morning. Great selections.

One Radical said...

We used to play the "power ballad drinking game". When you feel like you're going to puke from the cheese spewing out of the mouths of former rockers, you shoot the radio and start drinking.

Stuff Black People Don't Like said...

Big fan of Heart. Great comments. I might have been born in the mid-80s, but there's something about the music from this decade that I really like.

Good to see I'm not the only one...

Swamp Thizzle said...

I will admit that I am not crazy about power ballads," but they're still way better than fucking rap and now you're telling me they are nigger-repellent too? Suck it, schwoogies!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Nigger%20Repellent

Maple syrup said...

@ Fayette White Guy

Uncanny, but it just goes to show great minds think alike :~D

P.S. I listened to these 2 songs again this morning as well even though other ones mentioned above are equally as good.

Anonymous said...

The music of the current generation has followed the general dumbing down principals of education.

Rap music is very simplistic at its base and reflects the thought processes those who enjoy the same.

Sadly, indoctrination seems near 100% for the coming generation and many people over 30 seem to fall into the trap too.

If anyone reading this is a rap music fan, here is some context: You attend your first day of real life and you are given a comic book as your how-to guide. Good luck, you own it.

Anonymous said...

"Big fan of Heart."

In the 70's Heart played hard classic rock ("Crazy On You", "Barracuda"). In my opinion, this was by far their best music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27IW08mC3zE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4nWy8pmIM4

In the 80's they modifed their sound, they became more of a pop/rock band, with greater emphasis on ballads ("These Dreams", "Alone").
Although this was their most commercially successful and profitable period, IMO the songs are pleasant but less memorable.

The only song I recall from the 90's ("All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You") was horrible.

Fayette White Guy said...

I'm into stuff like Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, R.E.M., but the power ballad stuff beats the hell out of rap music any day. That Duran Duran cd is pretty good beginning to end.

Anonymous said...

INXS "Never Tear Us Apart" is one of those you can really let lose and sing with.

SBPDL, I bet your fond of 80's music because maybe your mom listened to it while she was pregnant, singing in the car.

RobbieC said...

Graduated high school in east Texas in 1986, and was heavily influenced by a lot of the music already mentioned here. Here's a few more of my favorites not already listed:

November Rain - Guns N’ Roses
I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing - Aerosmith
Every Rose Has It’s Thorn - Poison
Heaven - Warrant
Love Bites - Def Leppard
I Remember You - Skid Row

Maple syrup said...

@ Fayette White Guy

I am also a big fan of Depeche Mode and New Order.
In fact I love the 80's 2nd British invasion in pop/rock. Do you remember the New Zealand group Split Enz and their big 1980 hit " I Got You "?

Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmQlBfxh4Us

There were so many excellent groups and performers in those days who were under the banner of alternative-pop/rock-New Wave-New Romantic- Glam rock. So much choice and enormous talent marked that era, too bad it ended.

Anonymous said...

Mike & The Mechanics - The Living Years ( 1988 )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDA0Hecw1k&feature=related

The Living Years lyrics


Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door

I know that I'm a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I'm afraid that's all we've got

You say you just don't see it
He says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defence

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye

So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts

So Don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you don't give up, and don't give in
You may just be O.K.

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye

I wasn't there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say

I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye

Anonymous said...

There's a very lovely soft pop rock song that I just adore titled " Him" by Rupert Holmes circa 1980.
This song is dedicated to every man that ever had his heart broken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OJE7m__kAY

Anonymous said...

It's the guitar solos that are like poison to the black ear. Even the biggest Hendrix fans I know are all white.

Anonymous said...

Phil Collins, a great figure of 80's pop/rock hasn't been mentioned yet.
The 80's couldn't be remembered without his enormous contribution, here's "Against All Odds"a powerful love ballad. "In the Air Tonight" is also another emblematic 80's song ( think Miami Vice ).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW71En5Pa5s&feature=related

Anonymous said...

Bryan Adams "The Canadian" is also a singer blacks don't like at all. Too much guitar I guess;))

Here's Summer of 69 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f06QZCVUHg

stari_momak said...

One of my favorite subjects, as I was raised at a time when the supposed 'theft' of black music by white musicians was constantly harped on. Then you do a little digging, and you find out that the exchange was not nearly so one sided as is portrayed. (BTW I do think that music is probably the single area -- maybe with the exception of food also -- that whites have benefited from the presences of blacks in the US).

Some examples -- Ray Charles supposed signature tune -- Georgia on my Mind -- was written by white Hoosier Hoagy Carmichael, as was Nate King Cole's signature 'Stardust'. Hoagy's versions here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSKfkJUKbOc [Georgia --the band is made up of early, white jazz greats like Bix Beiderbeck and Joe Venuti ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em3xyZz_mow [Stardust]

Ledbelly's famous 'Gallis Pole' is actually an old European song, which made its way to England as Gallows Pole, so when Led Zep did a version they weren't ripping off the black man, but reappropriating their own Heritage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsgGNWlNAfA [Ledbelly]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xJ9f3HjmwY [Page and Plant]

And of course half of early hip hop practically lived by scrounging Kraftwerk samples

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxchf1DBMs8 [Afrikaa Bambataa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBGNlTPgQII [Kraftwerk]

Anonymous said...

On a more retro & mellow note here's " Move over Darling" by "America's Darling":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxAjIqKbeDg

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, "I Remember You" (Sebastian Bach had quite a voice!), "In the Air Tonight", "Every Rose Has it's Thorn", and "Summer of 69" were all great. I also remember when the Def Leppard drummer got in that accident and it took his arm off. What a great bunch of band members to wait for him to learn electronic drums where he only needed one arm, and thus "Hysteria" was born. Great album! (CD now)

Anonymous said...

Glass Tiger was big in 1986 with the hit song Don't Forget Me ( When I Gone ).

"Their single "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" features Bryan Adams on background vocals. Adams is also featured on their song "I Will Be There."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl1DtF_5dkU

and "Someday":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvvFJnQLbAg

Anonymous said...

anon July 26, 2011 9:11 AM said:

"Let's not forget the Hit " Never " by Heart. To me that's a power ballad. Plus the Wilson sisters were among the edgiest but classiest female group of the 70's & 80's.
Also, the attractiveness of the 2 sisters is certainly a + factor. Hot looking and multi-talented, they had it all!"
=================================================

- Very well stated. You're right, "Never" is a great song by two mega-talented White women.

And I don't know how a woman can possibly be more attractive than Nancy was in that video; she was just blazing hot. She still is.

Fayette White Guy said...

@ Maple Syrup

Thanks for introducing me to a new song! It is indeed a shame that time period ended. I'm fortunate enough to have older siblings who were of age around that time, and they've blessed me with some good tunes. What I would give to be their age...

Anonymous said...

Your 80s obsession is disturbing, as is your ignorance about your overall blog topic, LOL. The hairband 'power ballad' was one of the best things from the 80s but it, in general, is esoteric. And by 'esoteric', I don't mean for whites; I mean for people who grew up or were in there teens/early 20s in the 1980s. (I guess you could also add 'white' but it's ancillary, all things considered.)

Not (at all as) esoteric, however, is that other little phenomenon: rap. Before you say something such as, "Rap is tolerated by whites because white girls like it," au contraire; that is not exactly true because the rap white girls like is not actual rap but a derivative of it called 'hip-hop'. The hairband power ballad died in 90s and was supplanted by grunge and angst. Rap, on the other hand, got better in the 90s, although the historians and aficionados of the genre might kick my ass for saying that...

"Funny: many of the most popular rap and R&B songs require heavily sampling from this time period in hopes of attracting an audience."

This is usually trumpeted by people who do not know anything about rap and R&B and do not listen to rap and R&B. A quick side note: our very own Flavor Flav of one of the most important raps group ever, Public Enemy, taught himself and can play pretty much any popular instrument (piano, guitar, bass, drums, etc.). I didn't know that. Anyway, real R&B died in 1998, with sporadic revivals since then. It's mainly infused with hip-hop--which is a different genre than rap, mind you--and ceases to be actual R&B. Real rap, apparently, is confused with hip-hop, and is mainly done underground now because Tipper Gore said it was 'bad' for you!

As for 'sampling', the aforementioned quote by you is odd. First of all, sampling is common in the music industry, period. However, I don't think you understand (not a surprise) why producers sample. Sampling, like doing covers and remakes, as part of a vision for a project is a compliment. Good music becomes a part of the culture, everyone's culture. If a song lyric or a sound is sampled and built upon, it's nothing short of a hat tip to the originator. You'd know that if you were in the industry.

And you say 'this time period' like the 1980s is the be-all, end-all, which just shows your limited knowledge about music and that you are basing your specious reasoning on emotional connection, not objective intelligence. I'm partial to the 90s rap but that doesn't make it the best, objectively speaking. For example, Seth MacFarlane obviously thinks the 1980s was the pentacle of music and, as such, puts ton of it in his shows (including power ballads); but that's emotional, not scientific. My grandmother thought nothing touched blues/gospel and Tina Turner... You need to expand your paradigm, and quick. No one is selectively sampling to get white folks' attention, especially given the fact many of the most popular hip-hop tracks today that do contain sampling sample from 'non-white' genres...

"Stuff Black People Don't Like includes Power Ballads, one of the most powerful instruments for keeping Black people from a bar, club, restaurant or place of business."

If an establishment plays ONLY power ballads, it probably is a place that attracts a certain clientele that blacks--or minorities in general--would not want to be around. Kind of like if an establishment that plays country music. It has nothing to do with musical ignorance or unrefined tastes (LOL at that thought about the 1980s).

ANYONE would be attracted to an establishment spinning soul...

Anonymous said...

At Anon. July 25, 2011 4:58 PM

I am a also a fan of Aldo Nova, the multi-talented artist, guitarist, keyboardist,vocalist, singer-songwriter and producer is greatly respected in Canada. Here's a great Rock Ballad written by him and performed by Alan Jordan - Mind to Mind 1991

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbLz8uu7D-c

A sadly underrated performance. For guitar solo fans, it's a must.

Anonymous said...

@Anon 7:02
Diarrhea why are you still posting here? Aren't you banned?

Great topic Paul. I would like to humbly add The Love And Rockets--Yin and Yang The Flower Pot Man to the list!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5vDWDUXwlM

Oh, and just to clarify, the band "X" kicked some serious ass, but Billy Idol was never in it. That would be "Generation X".

Anonymous said...

@ Anon. at 7:02 PM

"If an establishment plays ONLY power ballads, it probably is a place that attracts a certain clientele that blacks--or minorities in general--would not want to be around. Kind of like if an establishment that plays country music. It has nothing to do with musical ignorance or unrefined tastes (LOL at that thought about the 1980s)."


This is kind of funny because the minority ( Non-Black )elites ARE THE VERY ONES that are often found listening to 80's Glam/Rock and also enjoy frequenting THESE establishments. Only Chavs and Guidos like hip hop and low brow black commercial artists. Most of today's black music caters to the dumb masses.

Maybe you should adjust your little " Mainstream Views " type of mentality. What is sold as CHIC in your circle is just vulgar bling in the minds of the EVOLVED ONES.

Maple syrup said...

@ Fayette White Guy

You're quite welcome! I am probably around the age of your older siblings and I never stopped loving the 80's. That decade was to me the best I've ever lived in.

Dissident said...

To anon (Desiree) above.

Don't try to convince us of the legitimacy of RAP as a valid music form. WE DON'T CARE!

If you want to be a music critic, then go elsewhere. Leave we whites alone here to reminisce about the good ol' days. Before the scourge of blackdom and all it's entailing problems caused whites to retreat to our positions of sanctuary on these blogs and forums.

Take your asinine opines elsewhere and take that narcissistic "music" with you.

Give me the power ballad and the 80's.

Anonymous said...

Country music hit its peak in the 90s. Especially for Disiree and her 153 IQ.

I like country music
I love country girls
I like Willie Nelson
and don't forget about Pearl

There's only one thing that I hate
Cuz it's a bunch of crap
I I I hate rap

I like NASCAR racing
Richard Petty's still the king
Yeah, they call me a redneck
But you know, that's a beautiful thing!

There's only one thing that I hate
Cuz it's a bunch of crap
I I I hate rap

There's only one thing that I hate
Cuz it's a bunch of crap
I I I hate rap

raaaaaaap is crap
raaaaaaap is crap

Anonymous said...

We all know that the word RAP is actually an acronym, right?

Retards
Attempting
Poetry

Anonymous said...

"Your 80s obsession is disturbing"

Actually, your obsession with this blog is disturbing...along with the black violent crime rate, the black illegitimacy rate, the black graduation rate, the black illiteracy rate, etc etc etc...

Aren't you banned?

Carl said...

It's weird how people like Paul Kersey, who couldn't have been more than seven years old when the 80s ended, fondly reminisce about the decade.

Discard said...

Anon at 7:02 PM: I think you are wrong to say that "power ballads" are esoteric. I never bought any of these records, never tuned in the stations that played them, I generally detest them, but I know of them, and not through my kids. Some I can even hear in my head from reading the titles. If I know about them, they must be pretty popular.

Anonymous said...

@ Anon. at July 27, 2011 8:32 PM

Hell, I know The band "Love and Rockets" ' Ball of Confusion is also a great pick! Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ALRLZQf42s&feature=related

Anonymous said...

@ Anon. at 7:02 PM

"Your 80s obsession is disturbing"

__________________________________________



You're so JEALOUS of the 80's because the Negroes we not “ Overrepresented “ in the music & video industry. Posts like this one especially makes you froth at the mouth with envy, doesn't it Diarrhea?

I would like to suggest an excellent video of the “ electronica sound “ so representative of the 80's eclectic musical genres.

Here's Gino Soccio with The Visitors : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1QdySCT-PE

" Turn it Around " by the same artist is worth checking out as well.

TC said...

Hey anonymous I guess the 80's was "the pentacle"[sic] as evidenced by many bands faux satanism.

How can any list of power ballads be complete with out Dokken's "Alone Again"?

Anonymous said...

"Retards
Attempting
Poetry"


You haven't delved deep into the genre, have you? LOL.

Anonymous said...

"Some I can even hear in my head from reading the titles. If I know about them, they must be pretty popular."


Yes, they were popular but they largely did not leave the 1980s.

I think your recognition of these songs is mainly due to many TV and movie people sticking them into their products, which (a) can give the songs new life and (b) is reflective of these TV and movie people emotionally clinging on to music of their 'youth'.

I know many power ballads in the same way you do but I was, at the oldest, less than a year old in the 1980s. These songs simply get a redux.

Anonymous said...

@ Diarrhea

"You haven't delved deep into the genre, have you? LOL. "

We don't need to delve deeply into lowbrow entertainment to know that RAP/HIP HOP is aimed at mentally stunted individuals like yourself! Lolol!

Anonymous said...

Hey Anon

"I think your recognition of these songs is mainly due to many TV and movie people sticking them into their products, which (a) can give the songs new life and (b) is reflective of these TV and movie people emotionally clinging on to music of their 'youth'.

Well then, I wonder what classical music lovers cling to. Also, the 80's period you're deriding included most of the higher-quality rap music. You don't seem to well versed in the history of your own popular culture.

I wonder then why so many black "so-called" artists are sampling 80's music to "add a catchy sound" to their otherwise unremarkable contribution to today's music scene.

Anonymous said...

As much of a fan of SBDL as I am, I gotta disagree with this claim: "sentimentality is a distinctly white trait."

If you want to see black people waxing nostalgic over soft R&B hits of the past, you need go no further than the comments section on a Whitney Houston youtube video. Aside from the sadly common poor command of the English language, comments there won't be dramatically different from comments left for Journey videos or Jefferson Starship videos, i.e. "music was soo much better then!" and "this song really takes me back" and so on.

Not quibbling with Kersey's argument that blacks don't like power ballads - I think that's true. But the idea that sentimentality over cheesy cultural artifacts from the past is purely the domain of whites doesn't seem quite right. Every American, including non-whites, are raised steeped in pop culture, and as a result the phenomenon of getting misty eyed over the pop junk of one's childhood is a particularly American phenomenon.

That being said, mawkish sentimentality towards the kitsch of one's youth, is definitely a white-led, white-created phenomenon that non-whites glom onto. To "not act white" would be to reject this attitude. Blacks and others often do this, as you can see in how, when blacks, asians and hispanics aren't trying to make money off irony-obsessed white hipsters, they make plenty of fun of irony-obsessed white hipsters.

Anonymous said...

"If you want to see black people waxing nostalgic over soft R&B hits of the past, you need go no further than the comments section on a Whitney Houston youtube video. Aside from the sadly common poor command of the English language, comments there won't be dramatically different from comments left for Journey videos or Jefferson Starship videos, i.e. "music was soo much better then!" and "this song really takes me back" and so on."

Good points all.

moderniste said...

I'm mixed race: 3/4 Swedish and 1/4 Black (Kenyan). I was born in Sweden and my mixed-race mother had a Swedish mum and a Kenyan Dad (kind of like our President!) So my black background is very different than other Black Americans.

My teenage years were in the mid-1980s. I grew up in a household that listened to some great 60s and 70s rock--the Beatles, Stones. the Who, Jefferson Airplane, The Faces, David Bowie, Traffic, and Led Zeppelin are just a few of the artists in my parent's amazing record collection, all of which I loved. I discovered New Wave and post-punk in Jr. High, and became a full-fledged mod around that time, listening to the mod/punk bands like The Jam and Sham 69, and 2Tone 80s ska like The English Beat and the Specials. That led to the whole world of mostly British "alternative" music of the 80s like the Smiths, the Cure, P.I.L., Echo and the Bunnymen, and a whole slew of bands that changed the sound of rock and roll.

In Britain, there were plenty of black people in the mod/punk movement. But not here in America. Back in the 60s, Jimi Hendrix endured a boatload of crap from his fellow Black musician colleagues who were very close-minded and resisted the future of the emerging sounds of hard rock and psychedelic. This close-mindedness endured, and Black Americans are some of the most conservative, unadventurous music fans there are.

I look pretty white, and didn't really stand out when I went to shows where there would be zero other black people. I noticed their absence. But I encountered a lot of criticism from black people in high school and college who accused me of somehow letting down the black race by not listening to rap and current R&B. (Ironically enough, my fascination with mods led me to the world of 60s Jamaican ska and rock steady, as well as the somewhat obscure but totally catchy genre of Northern Soul, both black genres of music beloved by mods because you could really dance to it--and mods *loved* dancing.)

I don't know why black people are so anti-rock. But America is the only white-majority country whose musical charts are totally lacking in rock music. Current American rock bands have to go to Britain and Europe to be appreciated. I'm not a fan of most rap and modern R&B--both genres have become highly derivitive, and the quality of songwriting and musicianship has plummeted. Talent and originality in new music can be found in huge amounts in the electronic music scene, which is mostly white and European. I'll give props to Black Americans for originating the sounds that became blues, soul and rock and roll, but they've totally dropped the ball.

flavia said...

The best nights out for me have always ended at some dingy bar or nightclub, with my husband and I using the other for support (in order to stay vertical), belting out 80s and 90s power ballads (to each other) and sloppily swaying around the dance floor. I am sure we looked ridiculous, but damn what fun times!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow!! Some of you have us all figured out haha especially 10mm auto... what a JOKE. So did the writer of this article go hang out with all black people, or is he assuming this is how it is. Much to learn folks smh

Anonymous said...

"Wow!! Some of you have us all figured out"

Yes, we do. It's not difficult.

1. Blacks commit more than half of all murders in this country.
2. More than 70% of black children are born out of wedlock.
3. More than half of black males do not finish high school.
4. Blacks are at the bottom of the IQ ladder.
5. Almost half of all prison inmates are black.
6. Blacks have the highest abortion rate.
7. More than half of all new AIDS cases are blacks, who spread AIDS like wildfire.
8. Black students are also two and a half times as likely to be held back a grade, 85 percent of black fourth graders can’t read.
9. There is not a place on earth where the black crime rate is low.
10. There is not a place on earth where quality of life has improved with an increased black population.

Anonymous said...

You are a racist