Intros Quiz – 1981 edition
We continue on our five-yearly cycle of intros quizzes, revisiting 30 years ago: 1981.
It was the year of failed assassination attempts on Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, and a successful one on Anwar Sadat. The word “Internet” was first used and Microsoft introduced MS-DOS. Prince Charles married Diana Spencer and they lived happily ever after. In Poland, the Solidarity trade union took on the might of the communist state. In Northern Ireland the IRA”s Bobby Sand died while on hunger strike, while in London, Liverpool and Manchester riots broke out. Scientists discovered the AIDS virus. And ““ here”s one to make those of us who remember 1981 well feel really old ““ Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were born.
As always, twenty intros to hit songs from that year of 5-7 seconds in length. All were single releases and/or hits that year (and if you think #17 sounds more than a lot like the intro to Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark, you are not the only one). The answers will be posted in the comments section by Monday (so please don”t post your answers). If the pesky number 15 bugs you, go to the Contact Me tab above to request the answers, or better, message me on Facebook. If you”re not my FB friend, click here.
By the way, seeing as we are having a cover of Smash Hits from July 1981 in this post (yes, Depeche Mode once were young), I must mention the great work Brian McCloskey ““ a pale skinny Irish transvestite with great hair, apparently ““ is doing on his Like Punk Never Happened blog. The great man is meticulously scanning every page of successive editions of the great UK music magazine, and publishes them on his blog on the 30th anniversary of publication, so that you and I can go on a nostalgia trip. It’s one of the great things about the Internet (now, if only someone would do the same with Germany’s Bravo magazines from the 1970s!)
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couldn’t download
Works fine for me, but you have to open the link in the browser.
Might confuse some with one of the songs, which was only a hit in the UK in 1982 on it’s re-issue.
Meanwhile, I was 12 in 1981, but the first intro on your quiz was number one the day my wife was born. I quite often feel old thanks to that!!!
Ah, come on, you’re only as old as the woman you feel.
Oh Synth Drum, where have you gone? :)
The answer:
1. Adam & The Ants – Stand And Deliver
2. Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’
3. Olivia Newton-John – Physical
4. Rick James – Super Freak
5. Christopher Cross – Arthur’s Theme
6. George Harrison – All Those Years Ago
7. Odyssey – Going Back To My Roots
8. Ultravox – Vienna
9. Juice Newton – Angel Of The Morning
10. Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes
11. Rolling Stones – Start Me Up
12. ELO – Hold On Tight
13. Ottawan – Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart)
14. Talking Heads – Once in A Lifetime
15. Yoko Ono – Walking On Thin Ice
16. Men At Work – Land Down Under
17. Rod Stewart – Young Turks
18. Champaign – How ‘Bout Us
19. Hall & Oates – Private Eyes
20. John Lennon – Watching The Wheels
The song that Simon referred to is, of course, Men At Work’s ‘Down Under’, which was released in Australia and, I think, the US in 1981.