I was getting ready to re-launch my “Guilty Pleasures” blog when I stumbled upon a recent live performance from an 80′s singer who hasn’t done much of anything since. So then I started wondering how many artists from the 80′s were still around performing.
So where are they now? They’re still singing!!
The first one is one of the most recent. Remember the classic “Safety Dance” by Montreal-based band Men Without Hats? Well…Ivan hasn’t done much since his follow-up “Pop Goes The World” (trust me…it was a HUGE hit in Canada) but for some reason showed up for a concert at the SXSW event last month in Texas.
Luckily for him, he really didn’t sing a whole lot in the original song so it’s not like you have to worry about his voice holding up…
Y’know who else has been out-and-about in the last year? None other than Rick effin’ Astley!! And honestly…he doesn’t sound too bad.
And one of my all-time favorite songs from the 80′s is by Billy Ocean, who I thought was an amazingly talented pop singer/songwriter who seemingly disappeared after a pretty darn successful career.
Well fear not, kids…Billy is still doing concerts at venues all around the world singing some of the best pop hits of the 80′s like this one…
And what about everybody’s favorite dreadlocked Reggae sensation, Eddy Grant? From what I can tell, he doesn’t tour very often but every once in awhile will pop up at a music festival or open up for an act like UB40 (really? isn’t he bigger than them??). You gotta love the showmanship and interplay with the crowd at the end of the song…
God I love his music. Anyway…where was I? Oh yeah…
I decided to look around for a couple of artists that I really thought wouldn’t still be touring. The first one was Wang Chung. I really liked these guys. From “Dance Hall Days” to “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” to “Let’s Go” (my personal fave even though the video sucks major ass) to…well, that’s about it. But still…they had three or four songs that really were great. And yes, they’re still touring around…
Remember Nik Kershaw? Remember that mullet and the video with him glowing? Well, he actually went on an acoustic tour last year and is still playing some great music (I’ve always been a fan of his). It’s amazing how much better some of these guys sound today, 30 years later, than they did when they first started…
Going through some musical possibilities and found OMG…why in the hell is this one-hit wonder still performing as recently as December 2009???
And this one is for Sunshine. Apparently, Rick Springfield has been hosting CRUISES for the last few years now (on Carnival, at that!!), and this song features both him and another of her 80′s crushes, Richard Marx. This is from the 2009 cruise, but they both still tour every year.
So what about you? Ever look up a favorite artist from your youth to see if they still perform live today? Anybody REALLY good? Anybody out there who should really stop?
