Blast from the Past: The Lost 80s

What exactly is The Lost 80s? Its those songs from the 80s that are most often overlooked, even by "We play the 80s and MORE!" stations. These are songs that were maybe the second or third hit song by a minor artist. The second hit by a group that is now regarded as a "one hit wonder" because everyone forgets the second one. They're the third- or fourth-tier hits by groups much more famous for other songs. And they're songs that just somehow got lost in the shuffle. What they are not is the number one song then and now in retrospectives. They're not the main ones, the songs you remember. And they're not the songs that really weren't hits in their day, but get played all the damned time now (I Melt With You, Turning Japanese, Just Can't Get Enough, etc., etc. No, this is The Lost 80s:

1. No Myth by Michael Penn - Great song, haven't heard it much, even though he's Sean Penn's brother and Madonna's ex-brother-in-law.

2. Lost in Emotion by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam - Lisa Lisa was popular for about 10 minutes in the eighties, enough time for a string of four or five hits (sometimes with Full Force).

3. Touch Me (I Want Your Body) - by Samantha Fox - Sam Fox had a similarly small run of hits in the 80s, with confections like this one.

4. Love is Like a Rock by Donnie Iris - A minor hit by a minor artist,  but a fun  one, nonetheless.

5. Crazy in the Night by Kim Carnes - A terrific song by an underrated singer, who is much more famous for Bette Davis Eyes.

6. State of Shock by Michael Jackson & Mick Jagger - These two singers couldn't be more famous. But ther duet is relegated to the dustbin of history.

7. Torture by The Jacksons - Not coincidentally from the same album as the one above, The Jacksons are not remembered for this one, which has a video that is torturous!

8. Come as You Are by Peter Wolf - The J. Geils Band was very famous. Its lead singer had a pair of hits including this one, but that's about it.

9. One of the Living by Tina Turner - Everyone knows that Tina Turner was in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and had a hit song We Don't Need Another Hero from it. But who remembers this one?

10. C'est la Vie by Robbie Nevil - This was one of the many two-hit wonders of the 80s, this one being his more successful. In my next edition, I'll include the other one.

And that will wrap it up  for this week's edition of Blast from the Past. I hope you all got enough out of your weekend. It always seems to become part of the past too quickly, doesn't it? Happy Moonday!