The latest Star Trek film, Star Trek Into Darkness, opens in theaters this weekend, and with that, it’s worth noting the many references to the franchise that have appeared in popular music.  In the late 1980s, the band Information Society incorporated lines of dialogue from the original series in their Top 10 hits “What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)” and “Walking Away.”  Earlier in the 1980s, Nena made reference to Captain Kirk in their classic hit “99 Red Balloons.”  In the last couple of decades, artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beastie Boys, the Refreshments, Pink, and more have made references to Star Trek or various elements of the franchise.  For some lists of Star Trek references in popular music, check out here and here.

Perhaps my favorite Star Trek reference in popular music, as seen above, is the band T’Pau, who scored a Top 5 hit in 1987 with “Heart and Soul” and whose name comes from a Vulcan character who appeared in the original series.

In October 1985, Miami Sound Machine first hit Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart with “Conga,” which would peak in February 1986 at number 10.  The band would follow this initial success by hitting the Top 40 with each of its next six singles, though none of those reached higher than number 5.  Then, exactly 25 years ago, the band reached a new level of success as their seventh consecutive Top 40 hit, “Anything For You,” spent two weeks at number one.

By this time, capitalizing on the visibility of their lead singer, they were known as Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, and by the release of her next album, in 1989, Estefan was marked as a solo act.  Though the “Miami Sound Machine” name had been dropped, the success continued.  Miami Sound Machine hit the top 40 with an eighth straight single, “1-2-3,” as a follow-up to “Anything To You,” and Estefan’s first three singles while billed as a solo artist hit the top 40 as well, meaning that, in total, Estefan’s first 11 Hot 100 singles all hit the Top 40.

The first of Estefan’s solo singles, “Don’t Wanna Lose You,” hit number 1 for one week in 1989, and she would also return to the top of the Hot 100 for two weeks in 1991 with “Coming Out of the Dark.”  Still, “Anything For You” remains her biggest hit of Estefan’s career.

Usher – Numb

U2 – Numb

The other day Chris Kelly from Kriss Kross passed-away at the age of 34 and in memory Billboard produced a chart history of the group. Per Wikipedia, “The duo was best known for their hit 1992 song “Jump”, which was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and certified double platinum as a single.” The tune “Jump” was on the charts 21 years ago. Rest in peace Chris.

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Jim “Kimo” West is the guitarist for “Weird Al” Yankovic. You may be surprised, or perhaps not, the music he personally creates is slack key guitar.

Per Jim’s website, “Hawaiian slack key guitar (ki ho’alu) is one of the great acoustic guitar traditions of the world, dating back to the 1840′s when guitars were first brought to Hawaii and relatively unknown outside the islands until recently. “Slack Key” means that some of the strings are slacked from standard tuning, with the bass, melody, and improvisation played at the same time, and is often played to accompany traditional dance or song. Many players use their own special tunings that often remain proprietary secrets.”

If you are looking from some mellow instrumental sounds, then check out Jim’s music.
http://www.jimkimowest.com

If you know about popular music artists in the early 1990s, if I say, “Divinyls,” I’d bet the first thing that pops into your head is “I Touch Myself.”  That makes sense because that was the band’s only major hit in the United States.  The song peaked at number 4 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 in 1991, and is accompanied only by the song “Pleasure and Pain,” which rose to number 76 in 1986, as Hot 100 singles for the band.  Of course, you may know even more about the band if you’re from Australia, where Divinyls had a series of top 20 hits between 1981 and 1995, beginning with their debut single “Boys in Town,” which rose to number 8.  Still, even in Australia, “I Touch Myself” marked their greatest success, as the song became their only number 1 hit.

All of this bears significance today as news circulates that Divinyls’ lead singer, Chrissy Amphlett, passed away yesterday at the age of 53. It’s certainly worth listening to “I Touch Myself” today in memory of Amphlett.

In the 1980s Molly Ringwald became a Hollywood hit and the crush of many an American teenager while starring in a trio of John Hughes films:  Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink.  Though her profile faded after that, Ringwald has consistently continued her acting career in the more than two and a half decades since.  Most recently, she can be found in a major role on the television show The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Meanwhile, this month Ringwald ventured into the world of jazz recording by releasing a CD titled Except Sometimes that contains ten jazz tunes featuring her on vocals.  Perhaps most notably, the final track on the CD is a jazz version of the mega-hit from The Breakfast Club, Simple Minds’ “(Don’t You) Forget About Me,” which can be heard above.

What do you think of Ringwald’s version of the Simple Minds’ tune?

Amid one-hit wonders from the 1990s, New York-based band Marcy Playground certainly deserves mention.  They hit Billboard’s Hot 100 exactly once, and exactly 15 years ago, that song — “Sex and Candy” — peaked at number 8 after debuting on the chart at number 13 the week before. After rising to number 8 for that one week, the song would bounce around in the Top 20 for a few months before beginning its more consistent descent down the chart.

“Sex and Candy” came from Marcy Playground’s self-titled first album, which was released that same year.  In the 15 years since, the band has released five more studio albums, with the most recent being “Lunch, Recess & Detention,” which they released in June 2012.  For more on the band, check out their official website.