50
Used, New, and Out of Print Books - We Buy and Sell - Powell's Books
Cart |
|  my account  |  wish list  |  help   |  800-878-7323
Hello, | Login
MENU
  • Browse
    • New Arrivals
    • Bestsellers
    • Featured Preorders
    • Award Winners
    • Audio Books
    • See All Subjects
  • Used
  • Staff Picks
    • Staff Picks
    • Picks of the Month
    • Bookseller Displays
    • 50 Books for 50 Years
    • 25 Best 21st Century Sci-Fi & Fantasy
    • 25 PNW Books to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Books From the 21st Century
    • 25 Memoirs to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Global Books to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Women to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Books to Read Before You Die
  • Gifts
    • Gift Cards & eGift Cards
    • Powell's Souvenirs
    • Journals and Notebooks
    • socks
    • Games
  • Sell Books
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Find A Store

PowellsBooks.Blog
Authors, readers, critics, media − and booksellers.

Playlists

Portia Kane's '80s Metal Mix

by Matthew Quick, June 15, 2015 2:27 PM
The Powell's PlaylistTwo of Love May Fail's main characters, Portia Kane and Chuck Bass — now in their early 40s — still love the metal music that was popular in their youth. Love May Fail isn't about music, but examining what shapes us in our early years. Primarily, I wanted to underscore the difference a single high school teacher can make in the lives of students even decades after they have left the classroom. As Portia and Chuck attended high school in South Jersey during the late '80s, I present below a big-haired, spandex-adorned, make-up wearing, and wonderfully over-the-top soundtrack that just may have you wanting to dust off your codpiece. (The songs with an asterisk on either side of the title appear in Love May Fail.)

1. *Looks That Kill* by Mötley Crüe

Portia wants to be a good feminist. Unfortunately, her love of '80s metal clashes sharply with her feminist values. She argues that this song actually places the unnamed woman — whose looks "kill" — in a position of power over men. For this reason, Portia considers Looks That Kill a personal theme song.

2. *Shake Me* by Cinderella

Had to give a nod to this hair metal band from the Philadelphia suburbs. Hometown love.

3. *Talk Dirty to Me* by Poison

Perhaps the epitome of glam metal, it's a song I openly loved when I was 13 and secretly still love at 41. Chuck Bass names his truck in honor of a lyric that appears in this song.

4. "Breaking the Chains" by Dokken

Switch the genders in this one and you'd have Portia's theme song for chapter one, as she tries to break away from her abusive husband and start over alone.

Note: In order to listen to the playlist, you will need to log in
to Spotify. You can sign up for a free account here.
5. *Livin' on a Prayer* by Bon Jovi

My sister's wedding band covered this song. I remember being boozed up on the dance floor with my best South Jersey friends, immediate family, and even my 90-year-old grandmother, all of us screaming about holding on together and giving it a shot regardless of whether we'd make it… or not. Silly as it sounds now writing this sober, I remember being a little weepy while I shouted out Bon Jovi lyrics that night and promised myself I'd write "Livin' on a Prayer" into my next novel.

6. *Patience* by Guns N' Roses

Like Chuck Bass says in Love May Fail, "[G N' R Lies'] is one of the best late night B-sides to put on after a party."

7. "Hungry for Heaven" by Dio

The late Ronnie James Dio is often credited with popularizing the devil horns hand gesture that metal heads raise proudly while headbanging. Lyrics like, "We can sparkle and shine. And our dreams are what we're made of," speak to Portia and me, who are just "dreamer[s] but that's alright."

8. *Cum on Feel the Noize* by Quiet Riot

They play this song at the Eagles home games when the Birds are winning, and I sing along. It's an upbeat anthem — a call to "get wild, wild, wild" and play some air guitar or air drums or both, which is exactly what my characters and I do whenever it's played

9. "Bark at the Moon" by Ozzy Osbourne

Recovered addict Chuck Bass has managed to rein in his wild side, but the werewolf is an apt analogy, as drink and drugs are his moon capable of transforming him back into a monster.

10. "Wasted Years" by Iron Maiden

Bruce Dickinson sings, "Face up...make your stand," and that's exactly what Portia is finally doing.

11. "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by Scorpions

One of the greatest and most easily identified '80s metal songs despite lyrics such as "the bitch is hungry…so give her inches and feed her well." Portia concludes you can't intellectualize hair metal. Sometimes you just have to let it scratch the primal itch.

12. *On with the Show* by Mötley Crüe

This is the last song on the Crüe's first album, Too Fast for Love, which is near and dear to my heart. I listened to that album endlessly when I attended junior high school just outside of Philadelphia. At the same time, unbeknownst to me, there was a girl living just outside of Worcester, Massachusetts, who was also listening to Mötley Crüe (and most of the songs above) repetitively — a girl I would someday marry. Alicia and I have always bonded over music. Portia and Chuck do, too.




{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##

Most Read

  1. Best Books of 2022: Fiction by Powell's Staff
  2. The Big List of Backlist: Books That Got Us Through 2022 by Powell's Staff
  3. 25 Books to Read Before You Die: 21st Century by Powell's Staff
  4. Powell's 2023 Book Preview: The First Quarter by Powell's Staff
  5. 7 Essential Authors Recommend Their 7 Essential Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books by Powell's Staff

Blog Categories

  • Interviews
  • Original Essays
  • Lists
  • Q&As
  • Playlists
  • Portrait of a Bookseller
  • City of Readers
  • Required Reading
  • Powell's Picks Spotlight

Post a comment:

*Required Fields
Name*
Email*
  1. Please note:
  2. All comments require moderation by Powells.com staff.
  3. Comments submitted on weekends might take until Monday to appear.
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram

  • Help
  • Guarantee
  • My Account
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Security
  • Wish List
  • Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Shipping
  • Transparency ACT MRF
  • Sitemap
  • © 2023 POWELLS.COM Terms