Episode IV: A New Hope, Some More Old Songs

Here's more of the '80s and '90s countdown I've been running the last few weeks. There's some good ones here.

#425-401

425. "Tom's Diner," DNA featuring Suzanne Vega (1990)
Tom's Diner is, of course, the "Seinfeld" restaurant. If you go there, order off the breakfast menu. Their sandwiches and burgers are pretty mediocre.
424. "Simply Irresistible," Robert Palmer (1988)
Realizing his "band" wasn't actually playing their instruments in the "Addicted To Love" video, here Palmer lets his backup do what they do best.
423. "Manic Monday," Bangles (1986)
422. "Cover Me," Bruce Springsteen (1984)
421. "Baby Baby," Amy Grant (1991)
This is almost certainly my mom's favorite of these 500 songs.
420. "Never Say Goodbye," Bon Jovi (1987)
As I wrote a few weeks ago in my post on song titles, this is my favorite JBJ ballad.
419. "Soldier Of Love," Donny Osmond (1989)
Ah yes, Donny's brief pop resurgence. My younger sister is a huge Donny fan, so when I worked for Marie Osmond I asked if she could get my sister a signed picture of her brother. Instead, Marie gave a signed picture of herself, saying my sis Chelsea should think of it as "Donny with long hair." Chelsea framed it and still keeps it in her room. It's weird, because Donny obviously has no problem giving away his picture--his son Brandon was once in my ward, and one night his dad brought a life-sized picture of himself in his Broadway Gaston get-up for Brandon to hang in his apartment. Sorry to cram all this Donny stuff into one entry, but he will definitely NOT be making another appearance on this countdown.
418. "One," U2 (1992)
417. "Send Me An Angel," Real Life (1983, 1989)
Just last night, I heard someone say "send me an e-mail," and immediately broke out into this song, replacing the last word of the title. It was definitely not the first time this has happened.
416. "Something Happened On The Way To Heaven," Phil Collins (1990)
415. "Purple Rain," Prince (1984)
414. "Walking On Broken Glass," Annie Lennox (1992)
This is a very good song. I have no jokes.
413. "Photograph," Def Leppard (1983)
412. "You Gotta Be," Des'ree (1994)
411. "Second Chance," .38 Special (1989)
I never realized until just now that this song is from the same group that did "Hold On Loosely." You learn something new every day.
410. "Don't Turn Around," Ace of Base (1994)
409. "Forever Young," Alphaville (1985, 1988)
This was the theme to one of the big formal dances in high school, but I can't remember which one.
408. "She's A Bad Mama Jama," Carl Carlton (1981)
With a name like that, I figured he'd be from Wales (the land of Evan Evans, William Williams, etc.), but it turns out he's not. I think it's great that that link points out he is not to be confused with this guy.
407. "I Go To Extremes," Billy Joel (1990)
Off the album "Storm Front"...the first cassette I ever purchased.
406. "How Will I Know," Whitney Houston (1986)
405. "The One I Love," R.E.M.
404. "Close To You," Maxi Priest (1990)
403. "Crazy," Aerosmith (1994)
402. "Come Undone," Duran Duran (1993)
Parts of this song sound just like Kelly Clarkson's "Miss Independent," which was probably the most popular song on the radio station at the time they compiled this list in 2003. There's a new guy in my ward named Dan Duran. I assumed he receives many comments about his name's similarity to Simon Le Bon's band, but I wanted to be original...so on the last fast Sunday I asked him if he was "hungry like the wolf." He said he had never heard that one before. Mission accomplished.
401. "Burning Up," Madonna (1983)
I don't know if I had ever heard this one before.

Back with more songs next week!