Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Interview with David McLees
Aired September 06, 2002 - 06:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Remember the '80s? Yup, we're going to remember them right now.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, no.
COSTELLO: Junk bonds, Pacman, the birth of MTV. It was a marvelous decade of tackiness and excess. The era of pastels and parachute pants is back in this new CD collection like, oh my god, the '80s Pop Culture Box totally.
It comes from Rhino Records, a division of AOL Time Warner.
David McLees produced this compilation and he joins us live from New York to tell us more.
Good morning.
DAVID MCLEES, RHINO RECORDS: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Seven discs, 142 songs, has '80s music become an obsession?
MCLEES: Well, you know, it's getting to be more of an obsession. You know, your musical tastes are formed between the time your 10 and 20 years old and the people who are 10 and 20, you know, 10 in 1980 and maybe 20 in 1990 are now, have enough money to make the '80s, it's a big phenomenon again.
COSTELLO: The '80s, the '80s was known as a time when awful music was in, though.
MYERS: It seems like I remember some of it.
COSTELLO: I mean do you think, I mean isn't that the general perception of the younger generation?
MCLEES: Well, I think the '80s gets a bad rap. Obviously there were a lot of fun, guilty pleasures like, you know, what we got going on with the synth pop. But you have REM and U2 and Madonna and Bruce Springsteen, who all came to, you know, their peak in the '80s and since they still exist as cultural forces in good music today, they're not associated with the '80s.
COSTELLO: Got you.
MCLEES: So, you know, I think it's unfair to look at it that way. COSTELLO: So how did you decide which songs to put on these discs?
MCLEES: Well, it was a pretty long process. We started with 900 songs and, you know, obviously we went for a lot of hits, but we went for things that were quintessentially '80s or, you know, associated with '80s pop culture. You know, anything from Don Johnson singing "Heartbeat" to...
COSTELLO: Oh, no. Not that Don Johnson song.
MCLEES: But it's very '80s.
MYERS: Yes.
MCLEES: So, you know, and a lot of one hit wonders like "Padgid Goo-Goo," "Too Shy" and, you know, of course, the, what inspired the title for our box, Frank Zappa and Moon Unit Zappa's "Valley Girl."
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
MCLEES: So things that you only remember as '80s were given more weight than maybe things that would last longer.
MYERS: Are we going to know about a sound? Are we going to talk about the '80s like we talk about the '50s? I mean I'm looking at it, the number one song on the first disc, "Whip It," by Devo. And then I go all the way over here to the seventh side and we've got "Tough Enough" by The Fabulous Thunderbirds. There's such a mix on this. Where do we go? What do we remember this as?
MCLEES: Well, you know, I think most people remember the '80s as sort of the synth pop thing, you know, "Caught You, Goo-Goo," "Too Shy," "Soft Sell," "Tainted Love," the Eurthymics' "Sweet Dreams." And that's the cliche music of the '80s. But, you know, as you point out, it's much broader than that and it's fun.
MYERS: It sure is.
MCLEES: There's a lot of one hit wonders.
COSTELLO: OK...
MYERS: "Man Eater." COSTELLO: Oh, gosh, I remember...
MYERS: Daryl Hall and John Oates.
COSTELLO: That was my mantra in college...
MYERS: Oh, man.
COSTELLO: Anyway, you talk about one hit wonders, who do you think was the most under appreciated artist of the '80s era?
MCLEES: They're not quite a one hit wonder, but, you know, I'd say it would be Tears For Fears, who had, you know, had "Shout" and "Sowing The Seeds Of Love," and I just think they made great albums and, you know, very Beatlesque but they only made three records. I don't think they really got the recognition they deserved.
COSTELLO: Yes. That's sad, isn't it?
MYERS: I'm looking at some of these.
COSTELLO: It is. I know, we're looking through this book and the book comes with the compilation.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: There it is. Where can you buy this, by the way?
MCLEES: Any record store and it's available everywhere.
COSTELLO: It's available everywhere. And you have this little book in here and it's got so many cool things.
MYERS: It's a great, yes, it has a great time line on here. 6/4, 1984, "Born In The USA," Bruce Springsteen's home spun record and album, I guess it's called an album still back then, came out. Yes, a great time line through here, great pictures, all kinds of great stuff in here.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your thoughts on the '80s.
MCLEES: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
MYERS: That's a great thing there. Thanks.
COSTELLO: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
