This is topic TOP 80s SAX HITS in forum The Anywhere Machine at Legion World.


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Posted by MLLASH's back on :
 
Sax hits of the 80s have long been a passion of mine! Sax solos of the 80s are like rap solos of today, except sax solos don't suck!

I've been trying to determine just WHAT are the top SAX HITS of the 80s... of course, this is all going to be subjective... a sax solo I like might NOT please you!

So-- you MUST help me determine just WHAT were the top sax hits of the 80s anyway???

Here's what I have so far, PLEASE add your favorites:

KENNY G - Songbird

Now before you laugh-- this sax-heavy instrumental hit number 4 on the US Hot 100 in 1986! I have the 45 myself! I can vaguely recall playing it driving home in one of my young, drunken, angsty, bisexual stupors in 1986... I credit (or blame) it with getting me home alive that night!

ONLY THE LONELY - The Motels

I do think this song would have been a hit without the sax-- (it hit # 9 in 1981) but I also think the sax makes it complete. One of my favorite songs to come out of the 80s to this day.


OVERKILL - Men at Work

I have to admit, when this song originally came out in 1983 (it peaked at # 3 btw) I was pobably too young to appreciate just how magnificent it was. Fortunately, the SCRUBS creators were big fans, and focused an entire episode around this song guest-starring lead singer Colin Hay. Let's just say I was hooked from then on, and I think the sax plays a creepy part in the charm of this song.


But enough out of me for now... what 80s sax songs drive you wild??
 

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Posted by Harbinger on :
 
Baker Street is sublime, and Harden my Heart was good for the time though for years I was sure the lyrics were "im gonna harden my heart, I'm gonna swallow my TEETH"
 

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Posted by MLLASH's back on :
 
HARDEN MY HEART - Quarterflash (# 3 in 1981 US) is totally on my personal list of top 10 80s sax hits!! Non-sax pluses: The way she sings, "words for you are lie-hies" and "darling in my wildest dreams"!
 

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Posted by cleome45 on :
 
Maybe that "The One You Love" song qualifies.

[turns in hipster badge forever]


 

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Posted by Set on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by MLLASH's back:
HARDEN MY HEART - Quarterflash (# 3 in 1981 US) is totally on my personal list of top 10 80s sax hits!! Non-sax pluses: The way she sings, "words for you are lie-hies" and "darling in my wildest dreams"!

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Oh, I love that song! Also Only the Lonely! Good stuff!

Other saxy stuff;

I Still Believe, from the Lost Boys soundtrack.

That saxaphonist also wailed a bit during Tina Turner's 'We Don't Need Another Hero.'
 

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Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Candy Dulfer and Dave Stewart - Lily was here.
 

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Posted by He Who Wanders on :
 
On the subject of Men At Work, and in honor of Greg Ham, here's a nod to their first hit: "Who Can It Be Now?"--still one of my favorite videos for its combination of humor and paranoia (!), not to mention that soaring sax, which made the saxophone appealing to me, even though I normally don't care for the instrument.
 

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Posted by Jerry on :
 
Everything about Duran Duran's Rio is 80s perfection. Right down to the sax solo about 3/4 of the way through.

Rio
 

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Posted by MLLASH's back on :
 
Cle, THE ONE YOU LOVE - Glenn Frey simply does NOT exist without the sax and it's definitely on my top 10 80s sax songs! (BTW, it hit # 15 in 1982)

Sade was another who drew me in with her sax-uality... and YOUR LOVE IS KING was always one of my favorites (# 54 in USA in 1985). See also WHEN AM I GOING TO MAKE A LIVING. Her big hit SMOOTH OPERATOR is a given of course!
 

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Posted by Jerry on :
 
Love the comment from the 14 year old below the "Your Love Is King" video - "i guess i got old persons ears." Either that kid, or you were just born with good taste.
 

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Posted by MLLASH's back on :
 
Jerry, I just scrolled down the posts and am tickled by all the youngsters liking Sade! Coolness! Thanks for pointing it out, I usually don't read the YouTube comments because they tend to... well, you know.
 

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Posted by He Who Wanders on :
 
I occasionally read the Youtube comments, and one recurring theme is that someone who is very young (teenage or younger) is discovering these old songs and thinks they're real music.

I guess there is hope for the world, after all.
 

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Posted by rickshaw1 on :
 
As i read out loud your first post to Carol, she immediately said "Harden my heart" by Quarterflash. then, there it was. You two are secretly havin' a pink flamingay affair, aren't ya?
 

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Posted by rickshaw1 on :
 
Rick James... Superfreak.
 

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Posted by rickshaw1 on :
 
carol says donna summer she works hard for the money. She's evil.
 

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Posted by Harbinger on :
 
Echo beach, Martha and the Muffins! OMG, can't believe I forgot that one, or Waiting for the star to fall by Boy and Girl (i think).
 

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Posted by cleome45 on :
 
Okay, it's Seventies, but still at 2:54 and 4:50, you can't go wrong!

"Time Passages"

"...Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight..."


 

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Posted by cleome45 on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by He Who Wanders:
I occasionally read the Youtube comments, and one recurring theme is that someone who is very young (teenage or younger) is discovering these old songs and thinks they're real music.

I guess there is hope for the world, after all.

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I started listening to Count Basie in earnest around the age of 25.
 

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Posted by cleome45 on :
 
[gasp!] How could I forget?!

"Just the Two of Us"?

Grover Washington, Jr. + Bill Withers = Heaven on a disc.


 

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