80s Music A-Z: D

We come to the letter D, and yet another quandary, of sorts. See, I didn't use The Cars or Elvis Costello in the post for the letter C because they came into prominence in the late 70s instead of the 80s. Well, today's band did the same. So, I'm either not going to use them, or I'm going to have to come up with some reason for going against the precedent I've set for myself. You'll which path I chose in a moment.

I said in the last post that you may be surprised with this entry. Let's see, it's a post about 80s music. What song is on EVERY. SINGLE. COMPILATION. of 80s music? Why," Come On, Eileen", by Dexy's Midnight Runners, of course. So, I have to feature that one, right?
Wrong.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love this song. And where else are you going to see a bunch of grown-ups who aren't on a tractor ,or shoveling hay, wearing overalls as unselfconsciously as in the video for the song? But, as I said, that was probably what you expected to see. And, I don't want to be too predictable. So, no hobo-looking- scruffy-bandana-wearing too-rye-ayers today. (Although, re-watching the video and seeing the little lethargic jig the band did almost...almost made me change my mind.) Bye the way, like many of the bands that you'll see during this list, these guys are still around. Although, they've shortened their name to Dexys. Go figure.

Okay, so the next candidate for the letter D were formed before the 80s. (I'm sensing a trend here.) In fact, they were practically a late 60s band. Formed in 1972, Devo were to music what Andy Warhol was to art. They played with conventions and twisted them into their own warped mondo-movie inspired world view. They combined satire, political savvy, and flat-out weirdness to create something that the world had never seen. (And to be frank, may not have been ready for.)
I remember seeing them on SNL in their first appearance, back in 1978. They had a lot of people talking after that, for sure, with their bizarre robotic movements and identical radiation suits.
But, they didn't really make a splash, nationally until a couple of years later, with the song "Whip It", from the album Freedom of Choice. And, like Dexys Midnight Runners, this is the song that is included on EVERY. SINGLE. COMPILATION.  of 80s music. So, I'm not featuring it either.

Now it comes to the actual featured act. As stated above, this band formed in the 70s. In fact, they actually had a pretty big hit in 1978. So, why am I going to feature them? Because their GIANT hit didn't come out until 1985. That song was "Money For Nothing" and the band is Dire Straits. The video for this song was the very first one played on MTV Europe a couple of years later, because of its impact. It's the one that has Sting singing "I want my MTV" in it. So, I know you've heard it.
It was in heavy, heavy rotation for a long time. (I mean, why wouldn't MTV want to run it. It was practically a commercial for them, no matter that the lyrics were satirical, and not necessarily that flattering for them.)

So, D is for Dire Straits, "Money For Nothing".

E is for Elephant. But I don't think there was an 80s band by that name, so tune in next time to see who turns up.
Thanks for playing.