I am unashamed to admit that my new favorite song is Rooney’s “When Did Your Heart Go Missing?” and am endlessly delighted by the myriad of classic 80s pop songs that it either pays direct homage to, or merely sounds an awful lot like.   

Here are the top four 80s contenders that me and my sister (and other people I have forced to listen to the song and then demanded that they concur with my opinion) have come up with:

1)      “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins.  The drumming is very “Footloose”-esque, but it was the post-bridge instrumental bit that really sold me on it.  You can sing “You’ve got to turn it around / And put your feet on the ground” to it without missing a beat.  I am living proof.

2)      “Take On Me” by A-ha.  You know the pretty, beach-y, wavy synths that “Take On Me” has backing the chorus of the song?  They kick in right at the beginning of “When Did Your Heart Go Missing?” and give it a really summer-y feel.  I really think that the synths give this song something extra – another layer, or something to differentiate it from all the other songs by boys with shaggy-but-kept-up hair.  

3)      “Modern Love” by David Bowie.  With regard to the drumming in the song, I think it’s actually a pretty close tie between “Footloose” and “Modern Love.”  It’s really thatclose.  But I would think that rather in direct homage to Bowie, the singer from Rooney (I love that I don’t even know his name…ok fine, I just looked it up and it’s Robert Schwartzman, and aren’t all the lads in Rooney quite dashing?) has a little monologue at the end that is reminiscent of Bowie’s “I don’t want to go out…” at the beginning of “Modern Love.”

4)      “Tenderness” by General Public.  If you can believe it, and if you haven’t heard the song yet I’m sure wondering what on earth it sounds like, but it’s got the overall feel of this song.  Trust me. 

P.S. I also wrongly enjoy Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend,” which in places sounds like she is ripping off “Hey Mickey” rather unabashedly.  (Note: I find the video reprehensible, for reasons which I may get into in another post.)