Top 10 Duets From the 1980's - Part 2

Continuing the countdown from last week.

5.) Next Time I Fall - Peter Cetera and Amy Grant

I've talked about this song before but I'll say it again...I love this song. Amy Grant was an unknown at the time and Peter Cetera was just starting a solo career after leaving Chicago. Two things I really like about this song...1.) the chorus is just musical heaven and the lyrics, though corny, show that they've learned from the their past mistakes and...2.) The awesomely bad synth noise that ties the whole song together. At least I think its a synthesizer. The video can also cause seizures since its hard to figure out what's going on some of the time. I love Amy Grant's jean jacket though and Cetera's freeze frame smile at the end.



4.) I Knew You Were Waiting - George Michael and Aretha Franklin

George and Aretha had a ton of hits over their career and this is one that you don't hear that much on the radio. Its a great song though and the end where they try to out do each vocally is pretty neat. Notice how skinny Aretha is here (compared to Obama's inauguration).

(Sadly I can't post the video...darn you You Tube) but you can check it out below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuU0cJ_iW8w


3.) Under Pressure - David Bowie and Queen

AWESOME song, great little bass riff (Vanilla Ice owes his entire career to John Deacon) and a top notch vocal performance from Freddie Mercury. The line "why can't we give love, one more chance" is almost as good as anything he sang in Queen and the scream beforehand is perfect for the song. Sadly the video is terrible as it doesn't feature either David Bowie or Queen but I'll post anyway.



2.) Say, Say, Say - Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney

This song doesn't get much airplay any more and its a 1,000 times better than the other duet these two did, "The Girl Is Mine". One of my favorite songs, I had no idea who Paul McCartney was when it first came out. The video is halfway decent as it shows Paul and MJ conning small towns out of their monies. Classic MJ dance moves throughout and McCartney holds his own. The major creepy moment comes though at the 3:23 mark when MJ is smitten by the girl in the bar....doesn't he realize that that's his sister Latoya Jackson? At least Paul ends up with his real life wife Linda...oh MJ, what happened to you?



1.) Money For Nothing - Dire Straits and Sting

A definite top 25 song of all time for me. I had no idea that Sting sang on this song until years after it came out. Sting also basically sings the main chorus from the Police song "Don't Stand So Close To Me" but instead sings "I want my MTV". The video is one of the first animated videos and still holds up today...but barely. Seek out the album version of this song for a much longer intro and a very extended guitar solo at the end. Nobody rocked out in headbands like Dire Straits.