We Cast Music: Take Me Home Tonight

Song: Take Me Home Tonight
Artist: Eddie Money
Album: Greatest Hits: The Sound of Money

For me, the majority of 80’s rock can be classified as a guilty pleasure… if I didn’t loathe it all so much. Bands like Air Supply, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Van Halen, and Huey Lewis and the News comprise what I consider to be a real low point in music history. (I am sure some of you will argue with me over the merits of Van Halen, and argue that Eddie Van Halen is one of the best guitar players alive, but I never ever liked them. And while Eddie’s guitar playing may be technically impressive… it’s just noise to me. And David Lee Roth may be THE most annoying front man in the history of music. Now THERE’S a big statement!)

Now I know a lot of you may have fond memories of this genre, I just wasn’t there. Actually, I had a roommate in college that was a Huey Lewis fan, and use to put five (FIVE!) of his albums in our CD player and put them on repeat shuffle. He may have enjoyed it but it was literally like torture to me. I’d rather be caned. I retaliated with putting in five PJ Harvey records on shuffle… ha!

But despite my distain of this kind of dopey pub rock I do have my moments. I of coursed owned Def Leopard’s “Hysteria” back in the day, and while I see the connection one might make between these aforementioned bands and 80’s Bruce Springsteen (Whom I love, and consider “Born in the U.S.A.” one of the best records of that decade) you can not tell me that something like “Hip to be Squared” is even in the same league as even “Glory Days” or “Dancing in the Dark.”

So despite all of this and my recognized pretensions when it comes to 80’s rock I will say there are a few songs that I do in fact find fun in the right setting. None typifies these guilty pleasures more than Eddie Money, and specifically… “Take Me Home Tonight.” “Two Tickets to Paradise” is a keeper too, but “Home,” which reached #4 on the Billboard hot 100 and features the vocals of none other than Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes is pop-rock perfection. It’s one that everyone seems to know (doubled by the singing of the chorus to “Be My Baby”) and is always a crowd pleasure.

Eddie still performs and has continued with his career despite not being culturally relevant within the music business. I really respect that… in an industry that likes to build up the next big thing and then tearing them down once the glitter fades, it’s nice to know that someone can just work, and not let fickle fame make them crash and burn.

Do you have any 80’s rock favorites that you might not blare in the car at an intersection?

Enjoy.

Take Me Home Tonight