I could have done a whole month of bad 80's songs, but I wouldn't want people to stop reading my blog. Instead, I decided to stop after a week and post a list of songs that should have made the cut, but didn't.  Here they are in no particular order:

1) "Too Shy" by Kajagoogoo - I don't know why I hated this song. I think I hated the lyrics "hush, hush eye to eye."  Plus the singer kinda sounds like Kathy Lee Gifford. (I kid you not! He sounds like Kathy Lee! Click the links to compare the timbre of their voices.)

2) "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats - Where do I start? What was this song about and how do you do this dance?  I heard it was supposed to be about saving the environment but what does "You can dance, you can dance. Everybody look at your hands" have to do with the environment?

3) "Hangin' Tough" by New Kids on the Block - No explanation necessary. It's just bad and corny as hell.

4) "New Attitude" by Patti LaBelle - Ms. LaBelle's voice was wayyyy too strong for this song. The song was too much of a campy 80's song for her powerful voice.  When she sings true soul / R&B ('Lady Marmalade' and 'Love, Need and Want You') or Gospel ('You Are My Friend'), her voice can take you on a spiritual journey, but when she sings pop it is too, overbearing.

5) "Heartbeat" by Don Johnson -  Another song on the list that needs no explanation other than it's just bad.

6) "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Whitney Houston - A song that is again too, pop and too corny for one of the best vocalists of the 80's. I don't care how drugged out she is, the woman can SANG and this song was a really bad attempt to cross her over into a pop audience. I wish music executives would realize that most if a talent is genuinely good or interesting they will eventually crossover anyway.  Case in point; how many little white kids snuck off to buy Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A.?

7) "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Lionel Richie -  Lionel Richie is actually a great songwriter / composer, but, you wouldn't know it from this song.  Yuck! Is this truly the guy who helped churn out great hits like "Brick House" and "Easy"? 

8) "Neutron Dance" by the Pointer Sisters - If I'm reading the lyrics right, the song is about a person going through hard times. Is she comparing herself to a neutron star because she feels heavy? I don't know. All I know is that the song has a bad melody and I found it annoying. 

9)  "Mr. Roboto" by Styx - This song reminds me of a bad acid trip or a dream someone would have after eating a ham sandwich before going to bed.  Japanese 101 + futuristic fantasy plot + strange WWII reference (I'm Kilroy) = One of the worst songs of the 80's.

10) "I Wanna Know What Love Is" by Foreigner - Overplayed, overly dramatic, complete with a gospel choir singing the chorus at the end. 

This mountain I must climb

Feels like the world upon my shoulders
Through the clouds I see love shine
It keeps me warm as life grows colder.

Geez man, is it really that bad? There are Negro spirituals that aren't a sorrowful as this song.