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The Unpurchaseable Songs of The 1980s

These songs have been found, and one day they'll be given the $1.29 purchase

By Samantha ParrishPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 5 min read
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The 80s is my favorite decade of music, my mother is the one to thank for that. My life changed at three years old when she sat me down on the family couch to listen to what it was she found all these years for music. She couldn't wait to show me her songs and share them with me. Ever since then I'm still chasing that retro wave of music. As I got older to chase that wave, I found many hidden gems that never got their day. Even in this day where society is now celebrating the past, these parts of the past haven't been celebrated. If you have been looking for more of the past, I have this to present to you.

Mark my virtual words, you'll never be able to get these songs out of your head and you'll be wishing

Samurai (Did You Ever Dream?) by Michael Cretu

The retro decade had a strange obsession with Japan as their subjects. There was Mr. Roboto by Styx, and the most known I'm Turning Japanese by The Vapors. Then Samurai came out as another add-on to that selection of songs inspired by Japan. This song truly feels like the love child of Mr. Roboto and I'm Turning Japanese. It has fun beats and rhythm, and it also has an essence of emotion to it. You could take out the word Samurai and have that as a soul-searching anthem for oneself. It can have any interpretation to it, that's the beauty about songs, you choose how you see them.

As of this date, the original song is not available on iTunes, only the remixes. Which, that's great, but I want the Samurai and I'll always wonder why.

Power Of The Night by Terrance Mann

This song was created for the 1986 comedy sci-fi horror flick made for the rock star character Johnny Steele. The sole purpose of that character was to show what the alien hunter morphs his face into. Not many horror films have a musical character. The samples of this song play a few times throughout the movie to push how well known this song is and that's why the alien chose this rock star's face to form into. Just one frame of this song is enough to have it stuck in your head. It has all the cheesy generic lyrics about rebels and streets, and it always had to do with nighttime. It all molds together into a masterpiece that is under the retro radar because it was never given the proper release and only exists as a part of the movie, never to venture out of the movie.

Whenever I look at this movie, and I see the tiny parts of the music video that was made solely for the movie, it does make me wonder if the whole music video does exist out there. Because I want to see more of that and so do a lot of people that have seen the power of the night.

This song is not available on iTunes and from the research, I did if you feel like paying $250 for a CD of the movie on Amazon. That's the only way you'll get to have The Power Of The Night. Until then, we have those godsent people on YouTube that have uploaded the song. There truly was a lot of power in that song.

I'm Falling by The Comsat Angels

I've never heard of the Comsat Angels, not many have. But they have made a mark on music history for influencing the post-punk revival. As of 2018, this along with two other songs are not available on iTunes despite being a part of the Real Genius soundtrack. One of the reasons is their music being reissued over and over by various record labels. It's like a whac-a-mole, their music pops up but always goes back in. Who knows when and where The Comsat Angels will pop up again. But you won’t be finding this song anytime soon, it's falling and still falling and we don’t know where.

Love Hates by Marianne Faithfull

There are a lot of songs that give the lyrical imagery of being at night time, but this feels more appropriate, I’ve even played the song at night while I’m driving around and it adds to the ambiance. This is one of the rarest songs that does hit you in your soul. You can say the word betrayal, but to hear the lyrical definition of that word, is encapsulated by this song. It talks about all the feelings when it comes to love and how everything is revealed in the dark.

This song was featured in the opening credits of the 1985 underground film Tuff Turf. You can find this song on YouTube, but it is not available for purchase on iTunes (Believe me, I keep checking more than I should). I love this song but I hate that it's not available.

Steely Man by Frank Musker

This one oozes with cheesy lyrics and I'll admit it's not groundbreaking as it is just another rock and roll song worn with themes of love and rebellious nature coming together. But this song is unbelievably fun, it’s more fun than it should be and I don’t say that about a lot of songs.

This song was a part of a dream sequence for a scene in the movie that has got to be one of the funniest and most enjoyable dream sequences to see the main character dancing around like he’s a star on MTV.

It's impossible not to be quoting this song going, "I'm your steely man! Steely man of aaaactioooon!" It makes no sense, but it doesn't have to, it's just a fun song for a movie, nothing wrong with a fun song that does what it was supposed to.

This song is recognized on Amazon, but it can't be purchased, it is not available on iTunes nor anywhere else.

No matter what or where it is, it's still in action.

Just because these songs aren't known as well as the mainstream media of today's society, it's still known. These musicians not only contributed to the music of the 80s but history. They still worked hard to get their music out there solely for people to listen to. That's what musicians want is that what they created is out there, no matter where it goes, it's out there. And here I am talking about those songs that were made 30 years ago.

80s music
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About the Creator

Samantha Parrish

What's something interesting you always wanted to know?

Instagram: parrishpassages

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My book Inglorious Ink is now available on Amazon!

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