The Official VJ 1980s Lyrics Quiz
Today is August 1st, which means that it’s 38 years since MTV went on the air, playing music videos 24/7, interspersed with visits with the original five VJs: Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, J.J. Jackson, and Martha Quinn. Celebrate!
Since today is the MTVaversary, and the book I wrote with the aforementioned VJs—VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave—is finally on sale in paperback, it’s time for something I’ve been meaning to do for a while: THE OFFICIAL VJ 1980S LYRICS QUIZ.
Here’s the deal: VJ (a New York Times bestseller, by the way) has 50 chapters. We gave each of those chapters a title drawn from the lyrics of a popular MTV video of the 1980s—with no repeated artists, so by 50 different acts. I’m going to roll out all 50 of them, and your job is to identify them. Give yourself one point if you can name the song and one point if you can name the artist. That’s a maximum of 100 points, which means that it’s easy to grade yourself: anything above 65 is passing, while 99 or 100 makes you an A+ student of 80s music.
Some of these lyrics are fiendishly obscure; some of them are actually the title of the song. Feel free to grade yourself as strictly or leniently as you like. (If there’s a parenthesis in a song title, do you need it to get full credit? Up to you!) But don’t Google—what’s the point of that? I’ll post the answers in the comments here–and you can share your score there.
(By the way, if you haven’t checked out VJ, I recommend the experience. The AP called it “Nirvana for pop culture fans… a totally tubular testament to the excess of the ’80s,” while CBS described it as “Dishy, hilarious, wild, and poignant.” Get it from your local bookstore and learn how all all these lyrics were apropos as titles for their chapters!)
1. Got My Back Against the Record Machine
2. Changes Come Around Real Soon, Make Us Women and Men
3. Welcome to Your Life
4. Step Right Up and Don’t Be Shy
5. Let’s Make Lots of Money
6. There’s Always Something Happening and It’s Usually Quite Loud
7. Don’t Talk to Strangers
8. Sometimes You Tell the Day by the Bottle That You Drink
9. Ain’t Nothing Gonna Break My Stride
10. Here in My Car, I Feel Safest of All
11. I Hope That When This Issue’s Gone, I’ll See You When Your Clothes Are On
12. I’m a Cool Rocking Daddy in the U.S.A. Now
13. Hot in the City
14. Throw Your Arms Around the World at Christmastime
15. Take My Tears and That’s Not Nearly All
16. I’ll Kick You Out of My Home if You Don’t Cut That Hair
17. And Now You Find Yourself in ’82
18. I Know There’s Something Going On
19. Things Can Only Get Better
20. I Spend My Cash on Looking Flash and Grabbing Your Attention
21. She’s Precocious and She Knows Just What It Takes to Make a Pro Blush
22. They Told Him Don’t You Ever Come ‘Round Here
23. I Might Like You Better If We Slept Together
24. You Must Be My Lucky Star
25. Every Time I Think of You, I Always Catch My Breath
26. That’s My Soul Up There
27. I’ve Seen You on the Beach and I’ve Seen You on TV
28. I Want to Be the One to Walk in the Sun
29. You Play the Guitar on the MTV
30. You May Find Yourself in a Beautiful House with a Beautiful Wife
31. My Beacon’s Been Moved Under Moon and Star
32. Jokerman Dance to the Nightingale Tune
33. The Kids in America
34. I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me
35. What a Pity You Don’t Understand
36. I Said to the Man, “Are You Trying to Tempt Me?”
37. I Was There to Match My Intellect on National TV
38. There Comes a Time When We Heed a Certain Call
39. Love Is a Battlefield
40. I Guess I Should Have Known by the Way You Parked Your Car Sideways That It Wouldn’t Last
41. The Kid Is Hot Tonight
42. I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love Tonight
43. Every Now and Then I Get a Little Bit Nervous That the Best of All the Years Have Gone By
44. The Five Years We Have Had Have Been Such Good Times
45. The Party Boys Call the Kremlin
46. I’m a Man Who Doesn’t Know How to Sell a Contradiction
47. We’ll Be Moving on and Singing That Same Old Song
48. After the Fire, the Fire Still Burns
49. Don’t You Forget about Me
50. We Can’t Rewind, We’ve Gone Too Far
posted 1 August 2019 in Buy My Stuff, Excerpts and tagged MTV, Quiz, VJ. 1 comment
August 1st, 2019 at 10:36 am
Answers!
1. Got My Back Against the Record Machine
(Van Halen, “Jump”)
2. Changes Come Around Real Soon, Make Us Women and Men
(John Cougar, “Jack & Diane”)
3. Welcome to Your Life
(Tears for Fears, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”)
4. Step Right Up and Don’t Be Shy
(The Tubes, “She’s a Beauty”)
5. Let’s Make Lots of Money
(Pet Shop Boys, “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)”)
6. There’s Always Something Happening and It’s Usually Quite Loud
(Madness, “Our House”)
7. Don’t Talk to Strangers
(Rick Springfield, “Don’t Talk to Strangers”)
8. Sometimes You Tell the Day by the Bottle That You Drink
(Bon Jovi, “Wanted Dead or Alive”)
9. Ain’t Nothing Gonna Break My Stride
(Matthew Wilder, “Break My Stride”)
10. Here in My Car, I Feel Safest of All
(Gary Numan, “Cars”)
11. I Hope That When This Issue’s Gone, I’ll See You When Your Clothes Are On
(The J. Geils Band, “Centerfold”)
12. I’m a Cool Rocking Daddy in the U.S.A. Now
(Bruce Springsteen, “Born in the U.S.A.”)
13. Hot in the City
(Billy Idol, “Hot in the City”)
14. Throw Your Arms Around the World at Christmastime
(Band Aid, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”)
15. Take My Tears and That’s Not Nearly All
(Soft Cell, “Tainted Love”)
16. I’ll Kick You Out of My Home if You Don’t Cut That Hair
(Beastie Boys, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)”
17. And Now You Find Yourself in ’82
(Asia, “Heat of the Moment”)
18. I Know There’s Something Going On
(Frida, “I Know There’s Something Going On”)
19. Things Can Only Get Better
(Howard Jones, “Things Can Only Get Better”)
20. I Spend My Cash on Looking Flash and Grabbing Your Attention
(Adam and the Ants, “Stand and Deliver”)
21. She’s Precocious and She Knows Just What It Takes to Make a Pro Blush
(Kim Carnes, “Bette Davis Eyes”)
22. They Told Him Don’t You Ever Come ‘Round Here
(Michael Jackson, “Beat It”)
23. I Might Like You Better If We Slept Together
(Romeo Void, “Never Say Never”)
24. You Must Be My Lucky Star
(Madonna, “Lucky Star”)
25. Every Time I Think of You, I Always Catch My Breath
(John Waite, “Missing You”)
26. That’s My Soul Up There
(The Police, “King of Pain”)
27. I’ve Seen You on the Beach and I’ve Seen You on TV
(Duran Duran, “Rio”)
28. I Want to Be the One to Walk in the Sun
(Cyndi Lauper, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”)
29. You Play the Guitar on the MTV
(Dire Straits, “Money for Nothing”)
30. You May Find Yourself in a Beautiful House with a Beautiful Wife
(Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime”)
31. My Beacon’s Been Moved Under Moon and Star
(Golden Earring, “Twilight Zone”)
32. Jokerman Dance to the Nightingale Tune
(Bob Dylan, “Jokerman”)
33. The Kids in America
(Kim Wilde, “Kids in America”)
34. I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me
(Rockwell, “Somebody’s Watching Me”)
35. What a Pity You Don’t Understand
(Toni Basil, “Mickey”)
36. I Said to the Man, “Are You Trying to Tempt Me?”
(Men at Work, “Down Under”)
37. I Was There to Match My Intellect on National TV
(“Weird Al” Yankovic, “I Lost on Jeopardy”)
38. There Comes a Time When We Heed a Certain Call
(USA for Africa, “We Are the World”)
39. Love Is a Battlefield
(Pat Benatar, “Love Is a Battlefield”)
40. I Guess I Should Have Known by the Way You Parked Your Car Sideways That It Wouldn’t Last
(Prince, “Little Red Corvette”)
41. The Kid Is Hot Tonight
(Loverboy, “The Kid is Hot Tonite”)
42. I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love Tonight
(The Outfield, “Your Love”)
43. Every Now and Then I Get a Little Bit Nervous That the Best of All the Years Have Gone By
(Bonnie Tyler, “Total Eclipse of the Heart”)
44. The Five Years We Have Had Have Been Such Good Times
(The Human League, “Don’t You Want Me”)
45. The Party Boys Call the Kremlin
(The Bangles, “Walk Like an Egyptian”)
46. I’m a Man Who Doesn’t Know How to Sell a Contradiction
(Culture Club, “Karma Chameleon”)
47. We’ll Be Moving on and Singing That Same Old Song
(Joan Jett, “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”)
48. After the Fire, the Fire Still Burns
(Roger Daltrey, “After the Fire”)
49. Don’t You Forget about Me
(Simple Minds, “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”)
50. We Can’t Rewind, We’ve Gone Too Far
(The Buggles, “Video Killed the Radio Star”)