Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Song #25: "Walkin' Down Your Street"--The Bangles (1987)

This song has the distinction (I believe) of being the last 45 RPM record I ever bought, way back 30 years ago.

Now, in the heyday of buying singles, they are always 86 cents each, whether you bought them from Woolco, or from Dee, the very pretty and very nice employee in the record department at Woolworth, both in Azalea Mall.

My Dad was such a trooper, going shopping on Thursdays while my brother and I headed to school. He would be armed with a list of records for the week (there was a limit!), and he'd generally get Dee to help him find them since, of course, Dad knew nothing about Top 40 music back in the day.

Fast forward to 1987, and the first time this song graced the airwaves, a year or so after the band burst onto the scene with "Manic Monday", then seized the charts at the end of 1986 with "Walk Like An Egyptian", with its must-see video.

But "WDYS" is my favorite Bangles song of all. The opening guitar work and the beat that is set up by it is phenonemal. The bass work is crazy good. And, if you can't sing along to this one, well, you just can't sing along.

It's the story of a lady who knows what she wants, more specifically, who she wants, and won't stop until she wins.

Today's video, the official one for the song, features a music icon from the early days of rock 'n roll. :)


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