Do you remember Level 42?  Sure you do.  I know you do.  They were a British pop band with a lead singer who played slap-bass.  Don't remember?  "Lessons in Love"  and "Something About You" were their two hits.  AH, now you're with me, aren't you?  

Here is "Lessons in Love," a great one for your '80s playlist.

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x71ja

And it doesn't get much better than this.  I cannot tell you how much I adore "Something About You" and have since the first time I heard it on the radio in 1985.  This song still makes me melt. The alliteration, the way he sings "million," and the sense of desperation.  Good music makes you feel.  It's not that music is supposed to make you feel good, it's that good music is supposed to make you feel.  

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k4PZVC5S1tyJ5A2icZ&related=1

I do love the first part of this song, so here are the lyrics for you. 

now
how can it be
that a love
carved out of caring
fashioned by fate
could suffer so hard
from the games
played once too often
but making mistakes
is a part
of life's imperfections
born of the years
is it so wrong
to be human after all?

I'm in a mood and I've been listening to the smiths all day, which is usually good music for working in Photoshop, but I can't get anything accomplished today due to my foul mood.  I'm also working on another post for later, but for now — here are a few videos I don't believe I've put on the blog before.  Y'all know I love my Morrissey.  

"Shoplifters of the World Unite" is a great song.  I picked this video because the smiths original vids where you actually see Johnny Marr playing guitar are few and far between and I do love the guitar in this song, although the audio is not the best.  As always, Morrissey's lyrics are fantastic: "learn to love me and assemble the ways, now, today, tomorrow, and always."

Next up is "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish."  Love this one, but you know — typical me, typical me, typical me.

Can we talk about how much I love a man in a velvet blazer?  Don't judge me.  I'm not having it.  

There are minutes left in Sunday, so here's a fast post.  Tomorrow is my oldest child's 9th birthday, so this is the birthday '80s Sunday Rewind.  So, here's the upbeat Altered Images "Happy Birthday."  Happy birthday, Molly Kathleen!

But just in case you want to wish someone an unhappy birthday (you know, if they're evil and they lie), here's a song to love — "Unhappy Birthday" by the smiths.  Enjoy!

In my '80s iTunes playlist, my favorites are generally the British synthpop bands, which you've probably figured out by now if you've been reading the Sunday Rewind for any length of time.  My favorite of the Brit synthpop bands being ABC, Thompson Twins, Human League, and Naked Eyes.  Naked Eyes is probably the last of the ones I have yet to feature for one simple reason: I could not find their best song on video anywhere.  Until today.

For this fan, Naked Eyes three singles from their 1983 album Burning Bridges, are their best.  "When the Lights Go Out," "Promises Promises," and my favorite, "Always Something There to Remind Me" are the three songs from the band that you will remember.  I simply love the last song.  It is one of my favorite songs of all time.  It was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1963 and has been recorded by nearly everyone, including Dionne Warwick, The Carpenteres, and the wonderful Dusty Springfield.  It's a beautiful song and has always reminded me of something that sounds like it belongs in The Beatles catalog, but isn't.  It just sounds like a McCarney song.  It's a song of desperation and longing, but it's upbeat and catchy — really a perfect little love song.  

And so, I present to you today, a post over a year in the making, the '80s Sunday Rewind with Naked Eyes.  

http://d.yimg.com/m/up/fop/embedflv/swf/fop.swf

The drive back from my hometown was '80s (of course) and since it is a four and a half hour drive, I listened to the all-purpose '80s playlist.  Here for your reminiscing pleasure are two choice videos of said playlist.  

First up, The Gap Band's "You Dropped A Bomb On Me."  If you don't like this song, something's wrong witchu.  Yes, I said "witchu."  If Bush would have played this after 9/11, Bin Laden would have not only surrendered, he would have come out dancin'.  

I like the camo combined with sequins.  That works for me.  The dancing and special effects are awesome.

I defy anyone to find a better '80s video than Cameo's "Word Up."  Not only is "Word Up" one of my favorite phrases, it's one of the best songs evah.  Oh yeah.  Not only does the video feature Levar Burton (hell yeah!), unitards, fingerless gloves, stripping cops, handcuffs, cage dancing, and the spelling of the word WORD, you'll see that the lead singer is wearing a giant red codpiece.  Fanfreakingtastic.  

The music industry today needs more codpieces.  If I'm sure of anything, that's it.

Ever eager to please, today's 80's Sunday Rewind fulfills the request for an Erasure post.  Nothing like a little synth-pop for your Christmas weekend.  I loved some Erasure back in the day, with the release of 1988's The Innocents.  "Chains of Love" and ""A Little Respect" were fantastic songs, as was their rendition of "River Deep, Mountain High."  I remember a mix tape I'd made with Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, and Electronic that would blow your synth-pop socks off.

Here's a little Erasure for your Sunday.

This is the video for "A Little Respect" with live audio — best I could do, folks.

And shut up — here's Erasure in drag doing Abba's "Take a Chance On Me."  Love this.

If you have a request, put it in the comments.  I'd love to hear it.

It's an 80's Christmas Sunday Rewind.

Let's start it off right with Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis."  It's the best Christmas song of all time and I'm thinking of carolling in the neighborhood this year with this one.

 Another favorite of mine, "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" by U2..  Love the old school U2.

One of the best, "2000 Miles" by The Pretenders.  This is pure fabulous.

And because I like George Michael best with feathered hair and tinsel, it's Wham's "Last Christmas."

Lastly, it's The Waitresses with "Christmas Wrapping" from 1981,  set to seizure-inducing Christmas lights!  

How fun are 80's Christmas songs?  Super fun.

As I've said in a previous post, sometimes music is just supposed to be fun.  Thank God for The B-52s for days when fun is what you need.  The B-52s are quintessentially a party band from Athens, GA.  Between Fred Schneider's spoken-word vocals and Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson's harmonies (they also shared lead vocalist duties with Fred on half the songs), The B-52s made something special in the 80's.  They started as New Wave, played only on college radio and became part of the mainstream by the time Cosmic Thing came out.  I've loved them since my pre-teen days when their style meant as much to me as their music.  I identified with the style and the quirky style, and I'd still like to wear my hair as high as Kate's.  

The B-52s are precisely the fun we need today and thought you'd enjoy a few videos for this Sunday's Rewind.  

First up: "Private Idaho." 

"Legal Tender" is about counterfeiting money.  What?  You got a problem with that?

This is "Song For a Future Generation" and it's lovely in a bizarre way.  I adore the way the band members introduce themselves.  If I were in The B-52s I'd say: "I'm Kerry, I'm a Cancer, I love the Google and enchiladas!" You'll have to watch the video for that to make sense.   What a fun way to meet the band.  If you're unfamiliar with the early days of The B-52s, guitarist Ricky was Cindy Wilson's brother who was in the band and passed away from AIDS in 1985.  A lot of bands would have folded upon such a devastating loss, but The B-52s soldiered on and became a household name.

My favorite B-52s song has been "Deadbeat Club" for 20  years now.  Writing that sentence makes me feel so damn old.  Ah, youth.  Keith is supercute in this video, he has a Morrissey thing going on with the hair and glasses, and that's never a bad thing in my opinion.  Oh, and check out Michael Stipe's cameo.  

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x1x9s4&related=0

So, that's The B-52s for today.  If you enjoyed it, check out "Dance This Mess Around," "Planet Claire," and "Rock Lobster" on You Tube.