Top 10 Melodies of the 1980s

7. “Walk Like an Egyptian”, The Bangles. (1986). Written by Liam Sternberg.

Surprise! Really? Does this song belong here? How dare I fail to place one of the 1980s’ more respectable artists in this spot? Shouldn’t The Police, or U2, or The Rolling Stones be allocated this precious real estate? Shouldn’t a song that’s less silly occupy spots so high? Sorry, but the entire nonstop flow of the single long phrase that constitutes most of this song’s substance (“Let’s quote the whole thing: “All the old paintings on the tombs, they do the sand dance, don’t you know,” and the repeat, “If they move too quick—oh oh oh!—they’re falling down like a domino”) is one of the great long pop melodic phrases ever delivered, on par with the magic of my per-sonal all-time #1 melodic phrase, the verse of McCartney’s/The Beatles’ “Penny Lane.” The “re-sponse” to this fantastic “call” (“All the cops in the donut shop say—way oh way oh oh!…) is a great answer, but cannot match the cleverness of the main line. That’s all there is, really to this song, other than a terrific, fun-filled production. There was a time when I wanted to make this song #1 based on this terrific phrase alone, but without more substance, I can’t place it higher than this. I do wish, however, that I could consistently find melodies like this to put in my up-tempo songs.