Our Lips are Sealed" is a song written by Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin and Specials and Fun Boy Three singer Terry Hall. It was first recorded by The Go-Go's as the opening track on their 1981 album Beauty and the Beat and served as their debut American single. In 1983 Hall's band, The Fun Boy Three, released it in the UK. In 2000, Rolling Stone named it one of the 100 Greatest Pop Songs of all time.

The Go-Go's were supporting The Specials on the latter's 1980 US tour. According to Wiedlin she and Hall had an affair despite him having a girlfriend back in England and this led to their co-writing the song. The Go-Go's version is significantly more upbeat than the Fun Boy Three one which Wiedlin describes as "gloomier" - arguably this reflects their respective points of view of the relationship.

The video accompanying the Go-Go's recording was an early favorite of the fledgling MTV channel, and helped establish the group's energetic persona. It features sequences of the band members in carefree tableaux (riding around in a convertible, stopping at a lingerie shop and splashing around in a city fountain) interspersed with footage of the band playing a club booking.

Jane Wiedlin says the band was initially unenthusiastic about doing the video when Miles Copeland, president of their label, I.R.S. Records, told them they would be doing it. "We were totally bratty," she recalls. It was funded out of unused funds in The Police's video budget.

The concept was for the band to drive around and be followed by a camera. Belinda Carlisle would sing, and the other members would do cute things. They wanted an older-style convertible and found a 1960 Buick at Rent-A-Wreck. It was, says Wiedlin, the band's idea to end the video by jumping into the Electric Fountain on the corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds, Beverly Hills. "I thought, at any minute the cops are gonna come. This is gonna be so cool."

She still looks back on it fondly. "I have horrible '80s poodle hair in [it]", she recalled in a 2011 history of MTV. "But there's a simplicity and innocence to the video that appeals to me."

Although originally written and performed with three verses, it is an abbreviated version of the song that appears on Beauty and the Beat. This version of the song was released as a single in June 1981 (see 1981 in music) and peaked at number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and fifteen on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. On the dance chart, the song peaked at number ten. A song of unusual longevity as a hit, it remained on the Billboard charts for much of 1982 as well, long after its peak

Stars on 45 was a Dutch novelty pop act that was briefly very popular in the United Kingdom, throughout Europe, the United States and Australia in the early 1980s. The group later shortened its name to Stars On in the U.S., while in the U.K. and Ireland it was known as Starsound. The band, which consisted solely of studio session musicians under the direction of Jaap Eggermont, formerly of Golden Earring, popularized the medley, by recreating hit songs as faithfully as possible and stringing them together, with a common tempo and relentless underlying drum track. T

The Beatles soundalikes were established Dutch singers. John Lennon's parts were sung by Bas Muys of the 1970s Dutch pop group Smyle. Paul McCartney's and George Harrison's parts were sung by Sandy Coast frontman Hans Vermeulen and Okkie Huysdens who had worked with Vermeulen in the band Rainbow Train. Apart from the recreated songs, an original chorus and hook written by Eggermont and musical arranger Martin Duiser called "Stars on 45" was added at intervals to help string differing sections together. The '45' in the title refers to the playback speed of a vinyl record single — 45 rpm, such singles were often simply called "45s". The female vocalist in the chorus was session singer Jody Pijper and later recordings also featured uncredited vocals by Dutch 1970s star Albert West and Arnie Treffers of rock revival band Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers. The Stars on 45 recordings were made before the birth of digital recording technology, which meant that each and every song was recorded separately and the different parts were subsequently manually pieced together with a pre-recorded drumloop, using analog master tapes, in order to create the segued medleys. The specific drumloop heard on most Stars on 45 recordings is often referred to as the "clap track", due to its prominent and steady handclaps

In June 1981 the "Stars on 45 Medley" single also went to #1 in the US where it was released by Radio Records, a sublabel of Atlantic Records. The track list for the 7" edit of the "Stars on 45 Medley" in the US was the names of all the songs that make up the medley as it appears on the actual record label

Medley: Intro "Venus" / Sugar, Sugar / No Reply / I'll Be Back / Drive My Car / Do You Want to Know a Secret / We Can Work It Out / I Should Have Known Better / Nowhere Man / You're Going to Lose That Girl / Stars on 45

He's a Liar" was the first single from The Bee Gees album Living Eyes released in 1981. It had been approximately 2 years (an eternity in that era) since the last Bee Gees single had been released and although this song sounded nothing like the Bee Gees' disco-era singles, the backlash had pigeonholed the Bee Gees as a disco act and radio stations were reluctant to play any new Bee Gees music. After 6 consecutive number-one singles, "He's a Liar" barely cracked the top 40, peaking at #30 in the US, which was a far cry from the dizzying heights of their success in the late '70s.

Unlike the last three Bee Gees albums which included primarily their established, longstanding studio & touring band, "He's a Liar" features an array of studio musicians; Don Felder of The Eagles on lead guitars, Harold Cowart on Bass, Steve Gadd on Drums and Richard Tee on Piano, concluding the seasoned rhythm section.

A version with slight longer intro was released on 12 Inch Single and later on the the Japan only compilation Rare Collection.

The Bee Gees were a musical group founded in 1958. The group's line-up consisted of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were successful for most of their decades of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s/early 1970s, and as prominent performers of the disco music era in the late 1970s.

The group sang three-part tight harmonies that were instantly recognisable; Robin's clear vibrato lead was a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the late 1970s and 1980s. The brothers wrote all of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists.

Say Goodbye to Hollywood" is a song written & performed by Billy Joel, first released in 1976 on his album Turnstiles. The song achieved greater recognition in 1981 when a live version from Songs in the Attic was released as a single. Joel wrote the song after moving back to New York City in 1975; he had previously relocated to Hollywood to see if it would boost his career.

Joel has stated in his university lectures that he wrote the song with Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes song "Be My Baby" in mind. Indeed, Joel notes that the two songs share a very similar beat. Recognizing Joel's tribute, Ronnie Spector recorded her own cover version of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" in 1977, soon after Joel released his first recording of the song on Turnstiles.

"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" is a country and cowboy-style song. It was written on June 5, 1948 by Stan Jones. A number of versions were crossover hits on the pop charts in 1949. The ASCAP database lists the song as "Riders in the Sky" (title code: 480028324), but the title has been written as "Ghost Riders", "Ghost Riders in the Sky", and "A Cowboy Legend".

The song tells a folk tale of a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, steel-hooved cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the spirits of damned cowboys. One warns him that if he does not change his ways, he will be doomed to join them, forever "trying to catch the Devil's herd across these endless skies". Jones said that he had been told the story when he was 12 years old by an old cowboy friend. The story resembles the northern European mythic Wild Hunt.

The Outlaws are a southern rock band formed in Tampa, Florida in late 1967 by guitarist–vocalist Hughie Thomasson, drummer David Dix, bassist Phil Holmberg, guitarists Hobie O'Brien and Frank Guidry, plus singer Herb Pino. Guidry brought the name Outlaws with him when he joined (he had been in another group that had that name).

The Outlaws' earliest well known songs were "There Goes Another Love Song" and "Green Grass and High Tides", both from their 1975 self-titled debut album. Their 1980 cover of "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" from the album Ghost Riders was their biggest single chart success, reaching #31 on the Billboard "Pop Singles" chart.

Gemini Dream" is a 1981 single by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues. It reached #12 in the U.S. charts. It was the first single released from their 1981 album Long Distance Voyager, which also included "Painted Smile," another track from the album, on the B-side. Two more songs from Long Distance Voyager, "The Voice" and "Talking Out of Turn", were subsequently released as singles after the album's release.

"Gemini Dream" was written jointly by the band's lead guitarist Justin Hayward and bassist John Lodge, both of whom won an ASCAP songwriting award for it. While Hayward and Lodge had collaborated on a duet album outside of the Moody Blues in 1975 called Blue Jays, "Gemini Dream" was the first song performed by the Moody Blues that they had written together.

"Gemini Dream" is also notable for the fact that it was the first Moody Blues single to feature Patrick Moraz on keyboards. Moraz had replaced the original keyboardist Mike Pinder, who left the band shortly after completion of their previous album Octave for personal reasons. Moraz was hired to take Pinder's place in time for the Moody Blues 1979 "Octave World Tour." After the tour, Moraz was then retained as a permanent member of the band, and he recorded with the Moody Blues up until 1991.

"Gemini Dream" was also the first Moody Blues single released on Polydor Records, who had recently acquired Decca Records. Decca had been the Moody Blues previous record label.

Start Me Up" is a song by The Rolling Stones featured on the 1981 album Tattoo You. Released as the album's lead single, it reached #1 on Australian Kent Music Report, #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Start Me Up" was first recorded during the 1975 sessions for the Rolling Stones' 1976 album Black and Blue. The song was at first cut as a reggae-rock track, but after dozens of takes the band stopped recording it and it was shelved. The band would again try to re-record "Start Me Up" during the 1978 Some Girls and the 1979 Emotional Rescue sessions under the working titles "Never Stop" and "Start It Up" respectively. These recordings would feature a more apparent rock sound, stripped of the earlier reggae influences.

In 1981, with the band looking to tour, Kimsey proposed to lead singer Mick Jagger that archived songs could comprise the set. While searching through the vaults, Kimsey found the two takes of the song with a more rock vibe among some fifty reggae versions. The song opens with what has since become a trademark riff for Keith Richards. It is this, coupled with Charlie Watts' steady backbeat and Bill Wyman's echoing bass, that comprises most of the song. Lead guitarist Ronnie Wood can clearly be heard playing a layered variation of Richards' main riff (Often live versions of the song are lengthened by giving Wood a solo near the middle of the song, pieces of which can be heard throughout the original recording).

"Start Me Up" peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Charts in September 1981, where it remains a significant single as the Rolling Stones have not been back into the UK top 10 since. In Australia, the song reached #1 in November 1981. In the US, "Start Me Up" spent three weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October and November 1981, kept from the summit by "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross and "Private Eyes" by Hall & Oates. It also spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard Top Tracks chart

Watching the Wheels" is a single by John Lennon released posthumously in 1981 after his murder. The B-side features Yoko's "Yes, I'm Your Angel." It was the third and final single released from Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy album, and reached number 10 in the US and number 30 in the UK.

In "Watching the Wheels" Lennon addresses those who were confounded by his "househusband" years, 1975-1980. During this period, he "retired" from the music industry to concentrate on raising his son Sean with Yoko. The acoustic demo of "Watching the Wheels" is featured in the ending credits to the 2009 film Funny People. The song features a hammered dulcimer accompanying the lead piano.

The photograph on the cover was taken by Paul Goresh, a fan of Lennon who also took the infamous photo of Lennon signing a copy of Double Fantasy for his killer, Mark David Chapman. Both photos were taken at the same place, in front of the Dakota building, which was the site of his 1980 shooting. Later, Chapman was recorded in police custody reciting a line "People say I'm Crazy" from the song. This clip was used by the band EMF for the track "Lies" on their 1991 album Schubert Dip, though immediate protests from Yoko prompted the sample's removal on subsequent pressings

Double Fantasy is an album released by John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, in 1980. Though initially poorly received, the album is notable for its association with Lennon's murder three weeks after its release, whereupon it became a worldwide commercial success, and went on to win the 1981 Album of the Year at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards

All Those Years Ago" is a song written by George Harrison, released as a single from the album Somewhere in England. The song was a personal tribute to former bandmate John Lennon, who was murdered on 8 December 1980. It was released on 11 May 1981 in the United States, where it spent three weeks at number2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and on 15 May 1981 in the United Kingdom, where it reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. In addition, the song spent one week at number 1 on the American adult contemporary chart, Harrison's first number 1 on this chart as a solo artist. It has also been included on two Harrison compilations: Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989 and Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison, and in a live incarnation on his Live in Japan album. In 2010, AOL radio listeners chose "All Those Years Ago" as one of the 10 Best George Harrison Songs, appearing at number 6 on the list.

Harrison originally wrote the song with different lyrics for Ringo Starr to record. Although he recorded it, Starr felt the vocal was too high for his range and he did not like the words. Harrison took the track back and, after Lennon's death, the lyrics were changed to reflect a tribute to Harrison's lost friend and colleague, John Lennon. In the song, Harrison makes reference to The Beatles song "All You Need Is Love" and the Lennon song "Imagine" ("you were the one who imagined it all").

The recording of the song featured all three remaining Beatles (Harrison, Starr and Paul McCartney), though this was expressly a Harrison single. It is one of only a few non-Beatles songs to feature three members of the group. Harrison and Starr recorded the song at Harrison's Friar Park studios between 19 November 1980 and 25 November 1980. After Lennon's death the following month, Harrison removed Starr's vocals (but left Starr's drumming track) and recorded his own vocals with rewritten lyrics honouring Lennon. McCartney, his wife Linda and their Wings bandmate Denny Laine visited Friar Park to record backing vocals. The lineup was rounded out by Al Kooper on keyboards. The album's liner notes also thank the Beatles' producer George Martin and the Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick, although what contribution (if any) they made to the track is unclear

Woman" is a song written and performed by John Lennon from his 1980 album Double Fantasy. Lennon wrote it as an ode to his wife Yoko Ono, and to all women. The track begins with Lennon whispering, "For the other half of the sky ...", a paraphrase of a Chinese proverb, once used by Mao Zedong.

"Woman" was the second single released from the Double Fantasy album, and the first Lennon single issued after his death on 8 December 1980. The B-side of the single is Ono's song "Beautiful Boys". The single debuted at number 3 in the UK, then moving to number 2 and finally reaching number 1, where it spent two weeks, knocking off the top spot his own re-released "Imagine". In the US the single spent three consecutive weeks at number 2. After its first week at number 2, "Woman" appeared ready to rise to number one for the week ending 28 March 1981; however, Rapture by Blondie unexpectedly leaped from number 6 to number 1 that week preventing Lennon from having his second chart topper from Double Fantasy. The single was also a commercial success in New Zealand where it spent five weeks at number 1.

In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine on 5 December 1980, Lennon said that "Woman" was a "grown-up version" of his song "Girl". In 1965, Lennon's then-songwriting partner and fellow Beatle band mate, Paul McCartney, had written a different song entitled "Woman" for Peter & Gordon using a pseudonym. Thus, both Lennon and McCartney have individual credit for writing different charting songs with the same title

Diesel was a Dutch pop/rock group that became one of the few Dutch acts to chart in the U.S. when their song "Sausalito Summernight" entered the U.S. Top 40 in 1981.

Diesel was created in October 1978 by ex-Kayak drummer Pim Koopman. The group, at first no more than a hobby project, initially consisted of Koopman (drums, keyboard and vocals) and Rob Vunderink (guitar/lead vocals, composer and lyricist), Mark Boon (guitar, composer and lyricist), and Frank Papendrecht (bass). Their first album, Watts in a Tank, was released in the Netherlands in 1980. One of its tracks, "Going Back to China", was released in the Netherlands as a single in 1979 and became a top 40 hit. Two other singles from this album, "Down In The Silvermine" and "Sausalito Summernight" (also misspelled "Sausolito Summernight"), were released in 1980 and also became charted hits. Late 1980 Boon and Papendrecht left to join Meike Touw's Tutti Frutti. They were replaced by bass player Wijnand Ott and guitarist Hugo de Bruin. Mid 1981 Koopman left the band and Kim Weemhoff took the drumseat.

In 1981, Watts in a Tank was released in the United States. The single "Sausalito Summernight" rose to #25 on the U.S. Top 40. It reached #1 in Canada. Watts in a Tank itself went up to #68 on the Billboard 200. This success prompted the return of Mark Boon and an American tour. At Boon's suggestion, guitarist Bas Krumperman joined the band just before the North American tour, moving the band's sound in a country-rock direction. The band got a distribution deal with Atco Records and recorded another album, Unleaded, in 1982, but it was not a success. In the next few years the group had many new members, such as Leen Barbier (guitar/vocals), André Versluijs (bass), Jan Loomans (guitar/vocals), and Henk Hager (guitar/vocals), before disbanding in 1985

Hold On Tight" is a song written and performed by Electric Light Orchestra.

The song is track twelve on the band's 1981 album Time and was the first song released as a single, becoming ELO's last major hit single. The song went top ten in most countries, hitting the top spot in Switzerland, number two in Germany, number four in the UK, and number ten on the US pop chart, as well as number two on the US rock chart. It is known for having a verse sung in French; translated, the verse is essentially a French-language reprise of the first verse of the song. It also helped launch the roots rock revival of the 1980s.

The previous year, David Bowie had released his "Ashes to Ashes" music video which was considered as the most innovative to date at that time. But ELO were largely regarded to have surpassed that with their music video for "Hold On Tight". At the time it was the most expensive ever made at around £40,000. It was filmed in black-and-white and pays homage to old serial films with ELO playing in the scenes

Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. After Wood's departure following the band's debut record, Lynne wrote and arranged all of the group's original compositions and produced every album.

Ah! Leah!" is a song by American rock musician Donnie Iris from his 1980 album Back on the Streets. The song was released as a single in late-1980 and reached #29 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #19 on the U.S. Billboard Top Tracks chart.

A full complement of eight musicians appeared in the early live performances to include lead singer Donnie Iris, a drummer, three guitar players, one keyboardist and at least two backing vocalists, one female & one male. The song has an infectious, hard-edged driving beat underscoring a passionate, all-out singing performance by Donnie Iris himself that well nigh reaches the highest notes attainable by a human male voice.

The title of the song has been referenced in the form of puns on a few of Iris' later albums - the 2009 live album Ah! Live! and the 2010 Christmas album Ah! Leluiah!.  

Donnie Iris (born Dominic Ierace on February 28, 1943) is an American rock musician known for his work with The Jaggerz and Wild Cherry during the 1970s, and for his solo albums during the 1980s. He wrote the #2 Billboard hit, "The Rapper", with the Jaggerz and was a member of Wild Cherry after the group had a #1 hit with "Play That Funky Music."

In addition to performing on the first three Jaggerz albums and the third and fourth Wild Cherry albums, Iris as a solo artist has released eleven studio albums, one EP, two live albums, and two compilation albums. He continues to release new material and tours throughout the Ohio River Valley

Don't Stand So Close to Me" (also called "Don't Stand So Close" or "Don't Stand") is a 1980 song and hit single by the British rock band The Police. It concerns a schoolgirl's crush on her young teacher and the teacher's nervousness about the situation. The Police won the 1982 "Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" for this song. A re-recorded version of the song was released in 1986 as "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86".

The song deals with the mixed feelings of lust, fear and guilt that a female student has for a school teacher and vice versa, and inappropriateness leading to confrontation. The music and lyrics of the song were written by the lead singer of The Police, Sting, who had previously worked as an English teacher. In a 2001 interview for the concert DVD ...All This Time, Sting denied that the song is autobiographical. The line "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" alludes to Vladimir Nabokov's famous novel Lolita which covers somewhat similar issues.

"Don't Stand So Close to Me" appeared on The Police's album Zenyattà Mondatta (A&M), and became a hit 'No.1' UK single along with a corresponding music video. In the US, it reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #10. In the UK, the track was confirmed by the end of 1980 to have been the biggest selling single of that year.

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" is a song by The Police, released as a single in December 1980. It was the second single from the album Zenyattà Mondatta and a top ten hit in the United Kingdom and the United States, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart and number ten on the Billboard Hot 100.

According to Sting, the song is about the attraction that people have to simple songs:

I was trying to make an intellectual point about how the simple can be so powerful. Why are our favourite songs 'Da Doo Ron Ron' and 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy'? In the song, I tried to address that issue. But everyone said, 'This is bullshit, child's play.' No one listened to the lyrics. Listen to the lyrics. I'm going to remake it again and put more emphasis on what I was talking about.

—Sting, Rolling Stone, 2/1988

The song was prominently featured in the 1982 film, The Last American Virgin, and on its soundtrack.

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" is a song by British rock group The Police from their album Ghost in the Machine. It was also a hit single that reached the top of the charts in the United Kingdom in November 1981 and hit number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year.

Although recorded in 1981, Sting wrote the song as early as 1976. An early (1977) demo of the song can be heard on the Strontium 90 album Strontium 90: Police Academy. The piano part was added by session keyboardist Jean Roussel, whom Sting invited to play on the track against the wishes of his bandmates Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland.

Sting reprised the lyrics of the second verse to the end of the song "O My God" issued on the band's next album. These lyrics were repeated once more in "Seven Days" on Sting's solo album Ten Summoner's Tales