Obsession 1984

[Inell Krolick]

Obsession" is a 1983 song by Holly Knight and Michael Des Barres, covered in 1984 by American synth-pop band Animotion. The song hit number six in the United States, and number five in the United Kingdom in June 1985, helped by a distinctive video that MTV played frequently. "Obsession" also hit the top 40 on the US dance chart, twice: once in 1984 (the single reached No. 35 the week ending November 24);[4] then in 1986, as a double-sided hit, along with the track "I Engineer".

Co-writer Michael Des Barres was recovering from a heroin addiction in 1983, so "Obsession" was a familiar word to him. But although drugs were familiar territory to him, he wanted to write about something that would appeal to a much wider audience, like love. The line, "Like a butterfly, a wild butterfly, I will collect you and capture you" was inspired by The Collector, a film Des Barres had watched about a man who kidnapped a beautiful woman. Co-writer Holly Knight would often practice or write riffs on the bass E-string of her guitar, which spawned the bass rhythm of "Obsession".[5]

"Obsession" was originally written and recorded as a duet by songwriter Holly Knight and musician Michael Des Barres in 1983. This version was played in the 1983 film A Night in Heaven, during a scene in which Christopher Atkins bumps and grinds in Lesley Ann Warren's face in sync with the rhythm of the song. The song was featured on the film's soundtrack and was also featured in the theatrical trailer to the 1986 film 9 Weeks, starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger.[6]

The Los Angeles-based synthpop band Animotion recorded a version of the tune for their self-titled debut album, released in 1984. This version became a success, and it remains Animotion's biggest hit.

Animotion's version is featured in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the fictional in-game new wave radio station "Wave 103" as well as in a Strip Club in the game called "The Pole Position Club". [citation needed] It has also been used as the theme song for World Wrestling Federation's Saturday Night's Main Event (aired on NBC as the introduction theme from May 1985 - Jan 1988) and FashionTelevisionChannel, as well as MTV's House of Style.[citation needed] The song has been used as the opening theme for the internationally syndicated Canadian program FT - FashionTelevision since it premiered in 1986. The Animotion version was also featured in 1985 episodes of the daytime soap operas Days Of Our Lives and Guiding Light. It also featured in the 2016 video game Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare as a part of the soundtrack to the zombies mode map "Zombies in Spaceland".

It was also featured prominently in the 2018 Australian film The Second, the first feature film ever produced by an Australian streaming service (Stan). The movie, about a troubling incident in the past of a successful novelist, used the song throughout to highlight the themes of jealousy, envy, and most obviously obsession.

English girl group Sugababes covered "Obsession" for their fourth studio album Taller in More Ways (2005). Group member Heidi Range initially recorded it as a demo with Ashley Hamilton, although the Sugababes later decided to record it as a group. It was produced by Dallas Austin, one of the album's primary producers. The cover is similar to the original and had a polarizing effect on critics; some criticised it as mediocre, while others called it one of the album's standout tracks. The Sugababes performed it on their tours in support of Taller in More Ways and Overloaded: The Singles Collection (2006).

The Sugababes' cover of "Obsession" had a polarizing effect on critics. Harry Rubenstein of The Jerusalem Post felt that the group added nothing new to the track and instead stuck to a "straight up" cover, which he considered disappointing.[39] Nick Southall of Stylus Magazine regarded it as a "pleasant but unspectacular cover".[40] A journalist from The Scotsman considered it a "less engaging non-song" and criticized the group's decision to cover it.[41] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian felt that the Sugababes' version "sands off the edges rather than amps up the lunacy", and concluded: "what's left is like 1980s night at karaoke".[42] On the positive side, BBC's Talia Kraines named it the album's standout pop track.[35] Similarly, Peter Robinson of The Observer described the "spirited gambol" as one of the album's highlights.[43] Anna Britten from Yahoo! Music thought that the cover was even better than the original, and appreciated the "gorgeous, perfumed menace on the song's subject" which she felt resembled Sin City's "gun-toting Valkyrie-hookers".[44] Simon Price of The Independent praised the song as "instant pop",[37] and a writer from The Liverpool Daily Post & Echo considered it a "brilliantly seductive reworking" of the original.[45]

"Obsession" was included in the set list for the Sugababes' tour supporting Taller in More Ways.[46] It was one of three tracks from the album that was not released as a single to be performed on the tour.[46] Gurdip Thandi of Birmingham Mail regarded the song's performance at the NIA Academy as "polished".[47] "Obsession" was also included in the set list for their 2007 tour in support of Overloaded: The Singles Collection, the group's 2006 greatest hits album.[48]

Whether that fixation is evidence of guilt or merely a true-crime obsession will be decided by a Weld County jury at the end of an approximately five-week trial that began with opening statements Wednesday.

Pankey was home with his family when Jonelle went missing, Viorst said, and he did not own a gun at the time. But starting just weeks after the disappearance, Pankey for years claimed to have information about the case and sought immunity in exchange for sharing that information with police.

On the morning of August 17, 1984, Darlene Hulse was at home in rural Argos, Indiana with her three young daughters when a stranger came to the door and forced himself on her. The two oldest girls ran for help while the man continued to attack Darlene on the floor of...

With several movies and TV shows taking place in 1984, Hollywood seems to be obsessed with the year, and there are a few reasons for that. A recent slew of movies and TV shows have either been set entirely (or partially) in 1984. Indeed, two of the most high profile projects, Wonder Woman 1984 and American Horror Story: 1984, proudly incorporate the year in their titles because it's important to their looks, tones, settings, and stories. But what is it, exactly, about this particular year in the Me Decade that Hollywood keeps focusing on?

Along with WW84 and AHS 1984, other recent 1984-set movies and TV series include Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, director Jason Reitman's Gary Hart biopic The Front Runner, Stranger Things season 2, and The Americans season 5. Parts of Bohemian Rhapsody, Netflix's Motley Crue biopic The Dirt, Terminator: Genisys, and Cobra Kai are also set in 1984. Indeed, Terminator: Genisys recreates scenes from James Cameron's original The Terminator, which was released in 1984, while Cobra Kai is a direct sequel to 1984's The Karate Kid, with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) even retelling the events of the film from his point of view, painting Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) as the true villain.

One of the main reasons for 1984's resurgence is nostalgia. Many of today's most prominent filmmakers came of age in the early 1980s: for instance, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch creator Charlie Brooker were 13 in 1984 while AHS's creator Ryan Murphy and Bohemian Rhapsody's director Bryan Singer were both 19 and in college during that year. So, 1984 is a seminal year for those filmmakers, who look back fondly at that formative time in their lives. They then bring their memories and nostalgia for that relative innocent era to their movies and TV series set in 1984.

However, while 1984 seems like a "simpler time" compared to 2019, 1984 was very much a tumultuous year. The Cold War continued between the United States and the Soviet Union, which boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympic Games held in Los Angeles. 1984 saw a contentious Presidential election where Ronald Reagan won a second term over Walter Mondale, the AIDS virus was discovered and made public, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated, and the threat of nuclear war hung over the world. 1984 didn't play out the way George Orwell predicted in his novel 1984 but that year was a scary time, in its own way, and many movies and TV series set in 1984 definitely reflect that feeling of dread and unease.

And yet, 1984 was also a significant year for pop culture that created many enduring franchises. Ghostbusters, Gremlins, and The Terminator all premiered that year and continue to make their mark a generation later; Jason Reitman's Ghostbusters 3 promises to be the true continuation of the franchise while James Cameron himself finally returned to producing a Terminator sequel, the Tim Miller-directed Terminator: Dark Fate. Transformers toys and the beloved cartoon arrived in 1984, Hulk Hogan (who will soon be played by Chris Hemsworth in a biopic) became WWE Champion in January and helped change professional wrestling forever, Bruce Springsteen released his iconic album Born In The USA, and Apple Computers premiered their infamous George Orwell-inspired commercial announcing the Macintosh personal computer.

1984 is an era long before the Internet and social media where no one had a smartphone and people weren't constantly connected, which allows greater opportunity for today's filmmakers to incorporate mystery and tension in their storytelling. The technology of 1984 was forward-looking but still primitive by today's standards, so that science fiction could lean more heavily towards "fiction" instead of "science". And, thanks in large part to Orwell's novel, 1984 carries an ominous aura that separates it from the other years of the Me Decade; 1984 was winding down the first half of the 1980s and seemed to predict both a brighter second half of the decade but also foretold more problems to come. All told, 1984 is fertile ground for compelling movies and TV for everyone from Wonder Woman to the kids from Stranger Things, and Hollywood is smartly reaping the benefits of that fateful year.

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