The Look Of Japanese Love

When I first started buying Japanese singles for those early MTV hits, I kind of assumed that it would be a fleeting obsession. I figured that I would burn out on it rather quickly. Yet, here we are, and after going a few rounds with these things, I still have a desire to keep this collection growing.

In continuing my obsession with these MTV singles, my first move was to pick up another 7 inch from Hall & Oates. I'm not sure exactly what it is about their songs, but man, I really dig them. It has to be some kind of deep connection to my childhood, or maybe it is just John Oates mustache, because that thing is glorious. Either way, their early 80's singles are mandatory, and the 1981 7 inch for Private Eyes is no exception.

As I was listening to the Early MTV playlist on Spotify, the song Abracadabra from Steve Miller Band came up in the rotation. Holy shit. I'd completely forgotten about this song, and it was a lot of fun to hear it again...plus the video for the song was state of the art technology for 1982.

I had no interest in Rod Stewart, and if someone had mentioned the song title for Young Turks, I would have shrugged my shoulder in indifference. Nope. I didn't recall that song at all. When it popped up on the Early MTV playlist on Spotify, I had my finger ready to hit the "skip" button and move on to the next song...then once I heard the familiar synth sounds, I figured that I'd ride it out and give it a chance. As the song progressed, it all came back to me, and unbelievably the lyrics were rolling off my tongue as if I'd been hearing this song regularly since the 80's. Honestly, this song was a huge surprise. I'd forgotten how much I'd loved it as a kid. As an awkward eleven year old, this song about teenage runaways, and the lyric "there ain't no point in talking when there's nobody listening, so we just ran away" was like a wild and dangerous fantasy at the time. Man, it was cool to discover this song again.

Before I closed out this run of MTV singles, I wanted to pick up a song that basically defined those early 80's MTV years. Big synths and wild videos defined that time, and I needed that represented in my collection. I really didn't care for the synth pop stuff at that time, as I preferred stuff with more of a kick, but going back and listening to those songs, I can't help but get sucked into them. I remember that the Poison Arrow video was kind of big on MTV during those early years, but once I started checking out the other ABC hits, I was surprised to find that I not only remembered them, but I was also fucking loving them. The video for The Look Of Love is a perfect snapshot of the time. It is just so over the top and weird...I can't look away from it...so I definitely needed the 7 inch single.