Top 20 Hair Band Songs of All Time
Top 20 Hair Band Songs of All Time
by Troy Brownfield
Nothing captures the essence of late-’80s cheese so much as the “hair band.” Here’s twenty prime slices from the dairy of arena rock.
20) I’ll Never Let You Go (Angel Eyes)–Steelheart. Keening falsetto and unabashed sentiment. These guys were really trying to get laid.
19) Up All Night–Slaughter. I briefly dated a girl in college during the fall of ‘92 whose favorite band was Slaughter. She had a six foot tall poster of them on her wall. What’s worse is that I saw them open for Kiss, sans make-up.
18) House of Pain–Faster Pussycat. Another power ballad, this one about generational disconnection. Call it Cat’s in the Cradle on Aqua Net.
17) 17–Winger. The Humbert-esque Kip Winger, former Alice Cooper bassist, now composes for the New York Ballet. Life is weird.
16) New Thing–Enuff Znuff. I seem to remember Howard Stern really liking these guys.
15) When You Close Your Eyes (Do You Dream About Me?)–Night Ranger. One of the great “They did that?!” songs of the ’80s, from the artists who brought you Sister Christian and Sentimental Street.
14) Rock Me–Great White. Is this song a demand, a request, or a plea? I am unsure.
13) Kiss My Love Goodbye–L.A. Guns. I eschewed the more conventional Ballad of Jayne in favor of this rocker. I hear that in the early days of Seattle, they would cover Teen Spirit live. *snicker*
12) Bang Bang–Danger Danger. I I kind kind of of like like this this one one.
11) Still of the Night–Whitesnake. This epic track from their eponymous multi-platinum disc nudges out the more popular Here I Go Again mainly because Here was remixed for pop radio, removing some of the guitar. Just another example of the man trying to take away our music.
10) Cum On Feel The Noize–Quiet Riot. Very few songs make me want to yell “Whoooooo!” like this one.
9) We’re Not Gonna Take It-Twisted Sister. Except this one.
8) Don’t Treat Me Bad–Firehouse. Any song that references getting kicked in the face automatically scores points with me.
7) Wait–White Lion. Late, great Terre Haute radio station WPFR once played this song three times in one hour during the peak of its popularity. Yes, I’m serious.
6) Shout at the Devil–Motley Crue. Remember when Motley Crue was kind of scary and angry? Now they’re all sober and married to hot blondes. I guess the message here is that maybe Satan isn’t so bad.
5) Talk Dirty to Me–Poison. My pal Shawn has played in lots of bands. One time, I hung with him as a band of his practiced at a frat house. The frat brought a keg. I was handed a cup. Fifteen refills later, I was singing lead. On this song. Ah, college.
4) Down Boys–Warrant. I will never, ever forget that Warrant performed this song on the first episode of Rock Rock Rock’N Rollergames.
3) I Remember You–Skid Row. When Sebastian Bach croons “I looOooOOOOVE YOU!” with a register that falls somewhere between a blow to the groin and a cat in a blender, you believed him.
2) Photograph–Def Leppard. Featuring one of the all time greatest hooks in metal (”I see your face every time I dream”), this is one full-on party-hearty song, man.
1)Sweet Child O’ Mine–Guns N’ Roses. How dare Sheryl Crowe cover this? The original will never be replaced. Quo vadis, Axl?
