Tuesday, January 8, 2019

#90. "To Live and Die in L.A." - Wang Chung (1985)



The only band I'm aware of that has a verb named to honour it, you wouldn't expect a synth-pop outfit like Wang Chung to produce the title track to the gritty crime film "To Live and Die in L.A."

Turnout to be a perfect fit: Wang Chung perfectly captures the icy cool atmosphere with an under the radar tune to go with an equally underrated movie. 

Fave lyric: "I wonder why we waste our lives here. When we could run away to paradise".

Bonus video #1:

Everybody Have Fun Tonightis a light-hearted slice of sprinkles and rainbows and a must play at 80s retro parties. Be careful not too stare too long at the seizure-inducing video or your night may become curtailed. 

Fun flashback: "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" was playing on the video screen when I sneaked underage into Bogart's on Argyle St. and ordered my first rum and coke. It's also when I learned about the concept of tipping: after having pocketed the four quarters I got back as change. What a noob!



Bonus video #2:

Wang Chung's first single and new wave classic "Dance Hall Days" from 1983 almost made my top 100. I only later discovered years later after a Google search that I'd been singing the lyric "We were cool and crazed" incorrectly. In actuality it is the even more ridiculous: "We were cool and cries"... and probably why the tune was scuttled off the list altogether...

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