What originally started as a one-week idea somehow turned into four weeks plus of soundtrack singles, rare 12-inch mixes, forgotten gems, familiar favorites, and quite a few surprises along the way.
And I have loved every minute of it.
The response to Ladies Of The 80’s: Soundtrack Edition has been fantastic, and your comments, memories, stories, and enthusiasm are a big reason the series kept going much longer than I originally planned.
But all good soundtracks eventually reach the closing credits.
This week will be the final chapter… for now.
I will be posting three final entries this week:
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Then, beginning Friday, August 21, I will be taking a two-week vacation and giving both myself and the turntable a little rest.
Do not worry, though.
There are still plenty of soundtrack records sitting in the collection waiting for their moment.
So while this edition is coming to an end, I think it is safe to say…
Ladies Of The 80’s: Soundtrack Edition II will happen at a later date.
A sequel?
Of course.
This is the ’80s.
Everything gets a sequel.
For now, we still have three records left, and I have saved some fun ones for the finish.
Thank you to everyone who has followed the series, downloaded the transfers, shared memories, discovered something new, or simply stopped by to listen.
For today’s Ladies Of The 80s: Soundtrack Edition, we return to 1980 for a terrific UK 12-inch pairing from the original motion picture soundtrack to Fame.
On one side we have Linda Clifford with “Red Light.”
Flip it over and Irene Cara is waiting with “Hot Lunch Jam.”
Two ladies.
Two songs.
One soundtrack.
Not a bad way to spend twelve inches of vinyl.
Directed by Alan Parker, Fame follows a group of students through their years at New York City’s High School of Performing Arts, from auditions through graduation. Irene Cara stars as Coco Hernandez, alongside Gene Anthony Ray, Lee Curreri, Paul McCrane, Barry Miller, Maureen Teefy, and others. The film received its national US release on June 20, 1980.
Of course, the music became almost as important as the movie.
The soundtrack gave us Irene Cara’s “Fame” and “Out Here On My Own,” along with “I Sing The Body Electric,” “Dogs In The Yard,” “Never Alone,” and the two tracks featured on today’s 12-inch. The album itself reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200.
First up is Linda Clifford.
“Red Light” was written by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford and produced by Michael Gore and Gil Askey. Linda was already well established in the disco world thanks to records such as “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “Runaway Love,” and her dramatic disco remake of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
“Red Light” gave her another substantial hit.
The single reached No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 40 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.
But the dance floor liked it even more.
Billboard’s Disco chart grouped “Red Light” with Irene Cara’s “Fame” and “Hot Lunch Jam,” and the three tracks reached No. 1 together.
Now that is one crowded dance floor.
The version on this UK 12-inch is the full-length “Extended Version,” running considerably longer than the edited single version. It is essentially the version that lets Linda stretch out and do what Linda Clifford does best.
Sing big.
Dance big.
And apparently ignore the red light completely.
Then we turn the record over.
Lunch time.
“Hot Lunch Jam” is performed by Irene Cara and was written by Michael Gore, Lesley Gore, and producer Robert F. Colesberry. Michael Gore produced the recording.
The history behind the song is particularly interesting.
According to Alan Parker, “Hot Lunch Jam” grew out of an all-day session in which the young performers contributed ideas as the number took shape. In other words, the loose, spontaneous energy we hear in the finished recording was not entirely an illusion. The song really did evolve as something of a jam.
And it sounds like one.
Piano.
Percussion.
Horns.
Handclaps.
Voices flying everywhere.
Irene right in the middle of it all.
It feels less like a carefully assembled soundtrack recording and more like somebody opened the cafeteria doors and an entire performing arts school broke into music.
Which, come to think of it, is basically Fame.
The UK 12-inch labels Irene’s side “Hot Lunch Jam (Vocal And Melody Arrangement),” while other listings describe it as the Full Length Version. Unlike some of the records we have featured during this series, there is no newly constructed club remix hiding here. The appeal is having these two full-length soundtrack performances together on one 45 RPM 12-inch.
And what a pairing.
Linda Clifford brings the polished disco fire.
Irene Cara brings the spontaneous school-cafeteria chaos.
Somehow, it works.
Fame went on to become much more than another 1980 musical. Michael Gore won the Academy Award for Original Score, while “Fame,” written by Gore and Dean Pitchford, won Best Original Song. “Out Here On My Own” was nominated in the same category. The film was later selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2023.
But today we are moving away from the title song and digging a little deeper into the soundtrack.
That is what this series is all about.
Sometimes the real fun is hiding one or two tracks away from the obvious hit.
Yesterday we were playing with some very weird science.
Today we are going back to where the streets were dirty, the music was loud, and Times Square actually looked like Times Square.
For our next Ladies Of The 80s: Soundtrack Edition selection, we travel all the way back to 1980 for Suzi Quatro and “Rock Hard,” from the original motion picture soundtrack to Times Square.
Directed by Allan Moyle, Times Square stars Trini Alvarado and Robin Johnson as two teenage girls from very different backgrounds who run away together and find their own form of rebellion on the streets of New York City. Tim Curry co-stars as radio DJ Johnny LaGuardia. The film opened in October 1980 and was shot on location around New York, including the wonderfully grimy Times Square that existed long before the neighborhood was cleaned up and transformed.
And then there is that soundtrack.
What a soundtrack.
The double LP reads like somebody raided one of the coolest record stores in 1980. The Pretenders, Roxy Music, Gary Numan, Talking Heads, Joe Jackson, XTC, the Ramones, The Cure, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Garland Jeffreys, and more all appear alongside music recorded specifically for the film.
And right there at the beginning of Side One is Suzi Quatro.
“Rock Hard.”
In fact, “Rock Hard” is identified in the film as a favorite record of Nicky and Pamela, which makes it more than just another song dropped onto the soundtrack. It actually belongs to their world.
Written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, “Rock Hard” was also the title track from Suzi’s 1980 studio album of the same name.
The song marked a return to the tough, guitar-driven sound that had made Suzi such a distinctive presence during the 1970s.
And she sounds fantastic.
The guitars grind.
The drums pound.
Suzi attacks the vocal like she has something to prove.
This is not background music.
This is Suzi Quatro reminding everybody why she was one of rock’s original tough ladies.
Mike Chapman produced the track, continuing a partnership that had already produced some of Suzi’s biggest records. The backing-vocal lineup is interesting too, with Michael Des Barres among the singers adding muscle behind Suzi’s lead.
Yes, that Michael Des Barres.
Actor, singer, later frontman for The Power Station, and apparently available in 1980 when somebody needed a little extra shouting behind Suzi Quatro.
I love these credits.
“Rock Hard” did considerably better in some countries than it did in Suzi’s native United States. The single reached No. 5 in South Africa, No. 9 in Australia, No. 19 in Zimbabwe, No. 26 in West Germany, No. 46 in the Netherlands, and No. 68 on the UK Singles Chart.
In the United States, however, Dreamland Records took a different approach.
And that brings us to the record I am featuring today.
My copy is the US promotional 12-inch labeled:
AOR SPECIAL
For anyone who remembers FM rock radio, those three letters tell the story.
AOR stood for Album-Oriented Rock, and this 12-inch was sent to American rock radio programmers in an attempt to get “Rock Hard” into rotation. Contemporary trade coverage shows the song receiving AOR airplay and being added by stations including KBPI, WABX, KLOL, WBAB, KZEL, and WSHE.
But if you are waiting for me to tell you about the Extended Version…
There isn’t one.
The Special Dance Mix?
Nope.
The Dub?
Keep dreaming.
This promo contains “Rock Hard” on one side.
Then you flip the record over…
and you get “Rock Hard” again.
That is dedication.
No remix. No alternate vocal. No bonus beats. No seven-minute breakdown designed for a club at two in the morning.
Just Suzi.
Rocking hard.
Twice.
And honestly, I love records like this.
The 12-inch single was not always about remixes. Sometimes it existed because a record company wanted radio stations to have a promotional copy of one particular track, and an AOR 12-inch like this is a little snapshot of how rock records were promoted in 1980.
It also makes an interesting addition to this series because Times Square itself was so closely tied to music.
The soundtrack was heavily promoted as a showcase for contemporary rock, punk, and new wave, and it eventually reached number 37 on the Billboard album chart.
The film may never have become the blockbuster its producers hoped for, but the soundtrack developed a life of its own.
And more than four decades later, that collection of records still captures a moment when punk, new wave, hard rock, and mainstream pop were all crashing into one another.
Suzi Quatro belonged right in the middle of it.
So no extended mix today.
No dub.
Not even a bonus beat.
Sometimes you do not need any of that.
Sometimes you just need to…
Rock Hard.
SIDE A: Rock Hard (Intro: :17) 3:21
SIDE B: Rock Hard (Intro: :17) 3:21
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
Chart (1980)
Peak Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)
9
Germany
26
Netherlands
46
South Africa
5
UK Singles Chart
68
Zimbabwe
19
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Dreamland Records, Inc. – DPR – 1204, Dreamland Records, Inc. – DPR – 1204 AS
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, 33 ⅓ RPM, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1980
Genre: Rock
Style: Hard Rock
NOTES:
Came in die-cut sleeve with hype sticker: From the original motion picture soundtrack “Times Square”
Labels read: Suzi Quatro AOR Special
Promotion Copy – Not For Sale
Yesterday Luba told us that “The Best Is Yet To Come.”
Today we are getting a little more private.
Private Joy, that is.
For our next Ladies Of The 80s: Soundtrack Edition selection, we head back to 1985 for Cheyne’s “Private Joy,” from the soundtrack to one of the decade’s most wonderfully ridiculous teen comedies, Weird Science.
Written and directed by John Hughes, Weird Science stars Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith as Gary and Wyatt, two teenage boys who use a computer, a doll, and a little lightning to create their idea of the perfect woman.
Naturally, they get Kelly LeBrock.
Because apparently computers worked much better in 1985.
The movie also features Bill Paxton as Wyatt’s nightmare older brother Chet, along with Robert Downey Jr., Suzanne Snyder, Judie Aronson, and Vernon Wells. Weird Science opened in the United States on August 2, 1985.
And, of course, there was a soundtrack.
Oingo Boingo supplied the unforgettable title track, while the album also included Kim Wilde’s “Turn It On,” Max Carl’s “The Circle,” Wall Of Voodoo’s “Deep In The Jungle,” Killing Joke’s “Eighties,” The Lords Of The New Church, Taxxi, and others.
Then there was Cheyne.
Her contribution, “Private Joy,” has another very important name attached to it.
Prince.
“Private Joy” was written and originally recorded by Prince for his 1981 album Controversy. It was one of those wonderfully playful Prince tracks filled with synthesizers, rhythm machines, attitude, and just enough weirdness to make it unmistakably his.
Cheyne was not the first woman to cover it. La Toya Jackson recorded “Private Joy” for her 1984 album Heart Don’t Lie.
But Cheyne’s version takes the song somewhere else.
Produced by Greg Phillinganes and Jimmy Iovine, with vocal production by Louil Silas Jr., the Weird Science recording gives “Private Joy” a harder, more electronic 1985 makeover. AFI’s official film credits confirm Phillinganes and Iovine as producers and Silas as vocal producer.
The result fits Weird Science beautifully.
It is bright.
Synthetic.
Playful.
A little strange.
In other words, perfect for a movie about two teenagers creating Kelly LeBrock with a computer.
Cheyne herself is another interesting part of the story.
Earlier in 1985, she had topped Billboard’s Dance Club chart with “Call Me Mr. Telephone (Answering Service).”
And here is a great piece of 1980s pop trivia.
Before Madonna recorded “Into The Groove,” the song was originally intended for Cheyne, who was working with producer Mark Kamins at the time. Madonna ultimately decided to keep the song for herself.
Considering what happened to “Into The Groove,” that has to qualify as one of pop music’s great “what if?” moments.
Later that same year, MCA released “Private Joy” as a single from the Weird Science soundtrack.
Billboard featured the record as one of its Dance Picks in October 1985, listing the 5:28 version and crediting Greg Phillinganes and Jimmy Iovine as producers.
Despite the push, “Private Joy” does not appear to have reached Billboard’s major national singles charts.
Another one that slipped through the cracks.
Fortunately for us, MCA gave the song a US 12-inch release, and this is where things get especially interesting.
The 12-inch gives us the Extended Version, an Instrumental, and something wonderfully labeled “Bonus Beats Plus Bass.”
Now that is a title designed to get my attention.
Louil Silas Jr. handled the remix, taking the already electronic production and giving it considerably more room to move. The Extended Version runs 5:28, while the Instrumental stretches even longer at 5:46. “Bonus Beats Plus Bass” clocks in at 4:30.
The Instrumental is particularly fun because without Cheyne’s vocal, you can really dig into the machinery underneath the record.
And then there are those Bonus Beats.
Plus bass.
What else do we need?
“Private Joy” is exactly the kind of record I hoped to uncover when this series began.
A Prince composition.
A singer who had already topped the dance chart.
Production by Greg Phillinganes and Jimmy Iovine.
A remix by Louil Silas Jr.
A cult-classic John Hughes movie.
And a US 12-inch filled with versions that rarely get mentioned today.
Yet somehow, the record has become little more than a footnote.
Not here.
Gary and Wyatt needed a computer, a government mainframe, a Barbie doll, and a lightning storm to create their fantasy.
All we need is a turntable.
Welcome to my Private Joy.
SIDE A: Private Joy (Extended Version) 5:28
SIDE B: Private Joy (Instrumental) 5:46 Private Joy (Bonus Beats Plus Bass) 4:30
