Top Hits of the 80s: A Musical Flashback

According to About.com, these were the top hits of the 1980s.

1) The Police-"Every Breath You Take"
2) Survivor-"Eye of the Tiger"
3) Foreigner-"I Want to Know What Love Is"
4) Van Halen-"Jump"
5) U2-"With or Without You"
6) Guns N' Roses-"Sweet Child o' Mine"
7) Whitney Houston-"So Emotional"
8) Bonnie Tyler-"Total Eclipse of the Heart"
9) Lionel Richie & Diana Ross-"Endless Love"
10) J. Geils Band-"Centerfold"

Hey, where's the punk rock, new wave, glam rock selections? It matters not, as they would not be appropropriate for this exercise anyway. Unless you have a vivid imagination.

Of these selections, Clay will be dueting with Suzie O'Neil (Rock Star: INXS)on I Want to Know What Love Is on his upcoming release A Thousand Different Ways. Should be nice vox combo. But hey, wouldn't it be fun to imagine how Clay would cover some of these other tunes?

I love Sting, and the Police. Saw them in concert back in the real 80s. Every Breath You Take is, believe it or not, a love song; a classic, well constructed tune about obsessive love, laid down over a sweetly hypnotic melody that belies the dark overtones of the lyrics. If Clay sang this song, he would drive the Claymate masses mad with longing. Wouldn't it be ironic if his first two radio hits were songs having to do with obsessive attraction (see Invisible)? Considering the obsessive nature of some of his own fans, it would be a delicious irony.

Eye of the Tiger, forget about it. Clay would never sing a song about... a cat!

Jump would not be a good choice for Clay, as the song is mostly about the instrumentation and not the lyrical interpretation. But, I do admit I wouldn't mind seeing him do the David Lee Roth *jump!* In fact, I might buy a ticket for that.

Now we get down to business. U2 is a long time favorite; one I've yet to score tickets to see live. Came close when they were in Charlotte last year, but there was a matter of a little "joyful" holiday tour I was attending, in Camden NJ and Washington DC, that fell on the day before and the day after U2 was in Charlotte. Nothing like a kick in the butt by Karma.

Clay opened his solo tour with a rousing version of U2's Where the Streets Have No Name. However, With or Without You is a song made for Clay. According to Wikipedia, not only is it U2's most covered song, but also one of their most overtly emotional ones. A song of love, and loss, pain, and pleasure, the lyrics are simple but the melody builds until it rips your heart out, flings it around a couple of times, then slams it on the ground.

My hands are tied
My body bruised, she's got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you

Insecurity, anxiety, angst - all the requirements for a song of passion. Should Clay ever decide to sing this song, he would have a bunch of wrung out fangirls on his hands.

It wouldn't be the first time.

Next up, the bottom five!