I don’t always understand why my brain makes certain connections, but two of my favorite “one-off” songs from the mid-80s were “Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)” by Icicle Works, and “We Belong” by Pat Benatar.
“One-off” meaning they’re not one-hit wonders (I am intimately familiar with “Love Is a Battlefield” and its video, thank you very much), but that I’m not that crazy about the rest of the artists’ songs but would still rank these among my favorites.
There are lot of other jangly guitar and/or percussion-heavy songs that might pair better with “Whisper to a Scream,” but my mind keeps going back to Pat Benatar’s anthem. Which is part of the connection; they both feel like anthems. They’re also both from 1984, and their videos were both filmed on white sound stages where the directors insisted the band play despite hostile if not outright dangerous working conditions.
How in THE HELL are we supposed to make music to inspire the youth of today when we’re BURIED under FLYING LEAVES or GAUZY WHITE FABRIC?