John Parr is actually a very nice person. i am disabled, and had pondered riding my powerchair to D.C. as a protest for Disabled Rights. i was able to contact Mr. Parr directly via email, and requested using this song as the song i would use for the protest ride, since it already had that connotation. He emailed me the next day, saying it would be just fine, and to let him know when i would be making the trip, and he would possibly either do a remix or updated version for the protest, and possibly join me for a part of the journey. i was amazed, even though it had been years since he had been in the public eye(at least in the US), that he was so open to helping and lending his song and name to the cause, but indeed, he is a really nice guy. Then my Mother got ill, and i had to set the protest aside so i could take care of her in my home, which i still do to this day. Mr. Parr was completely understanding and supportive, and said again, if you ever do this, just let me know. For showing such humanity (even though i wasn't a real fan of the music), i still will say hell yes he deserved better. -Just wish he had never recorded "Naughty Naughty"
Part of a long tradition.. In the 60s British invasion bands sang with American accents. After the British invasion, American bands tried to sing with British accents.
The Schumacher Batsoundtracks fall into a genre that was VERY popular in the 90s: Soundtrack WAY Better Than The Actual Movie See also: Judgment Night, Spawn, and many, many more!
@@jamesoblivion It really was such a *thing*. A320 is my favorite Foo Fighters song and does not deserve tied to that hideous Broderick Godzilla, and consequently barely available anywhere. At least most of the songs from City of Angels managed to escape it and fly free.
@@jamesoblivion okay when I listened to the spawn soundtrack I thought "hmmm, getting metal/rock acts to collaborate with electronic and hip hop acts for a movie ost? that's pretty interesting and unique!" and then I saw that judgement night did the exact same thing, so... as someone who wasn't alive back then, was this just a weirdly specific *thing*?
John Parr, Stan Bush, Joe Esposito, and Robert Tepper belong to a subgenre I call "hero rock". Inspirational, never-give-up, you-can-succeed movie themes. It's actually one of my favorite subcategories of music. And John Parr was the most successful of the four, simply because of "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)".
Tom Breihan in his "The Number Ones" column on Stereogum I think, hit the nail on the head for why "Man in Motion" was so huge. It was a grandly optimistic, motivational you-can-do-anything rocker that broke through in ways that the St. Elmo Fire movie didn't. The lyrics are when you really look into it, may be ridiculous but they're ridiculous in all the best ways. Like with John Parr, you could genuinely believe that he's celebrating his own striving.
I'd like to point out how Meatloaf is playing a guitar adorned with the Union Jack in that Rock and Roll Merceneries video. He's pretty much openly mocking Parr right to his face.
The film this song is from was absolutely eviscerated by Siskel & Ebert. In fact they hated it so much that they included in in their "10 worst Movies of 1985".
Troodon I’m a big fan of 80s Cinema and this one eluded me for years. Finally saw it on TV several years ago. Absolutely hated it. Connected with none of the characters, felt like lint collecting would’ve been a better use of my time.
To be fair, I think Ebert's biggest complaint was that they made Rob Lowe getting drunk and crashing his car into a joke. It wasn't a perfect movie, but it didn't deserve zero stars.
He actually made the film Tigerland, about a disobedient recruit at a military training base, that was really good. It was Colin Farrell's breakout role. He made it after Batman and Robin.
Dylan Woodson I don't really consider Phantom a dud, per se. The only real problem with it was the casting and the direction. Gerard Butler can't sing and Patrick Wilson gave one of the worst performances of his professional career, but otherwise, it was okay. It certainly followed the story of the musical closely enough.
I'm surprised that you didn't mention some of the powerful magic that propelled this beyond Parr's other songs. Music written by David Foster, production by Foster, with a backing band that included several people from Toto and backing vocals from guys in REO Speedwagon and Mr. Mister. This song is pure 80's to its core.
@@nickrustyson8124 Oddly enough, if you go by which one is covered most on UA-cam, I think it would be Kyrie, not Broken Wings. (Me, I like the whole album both of those come from, so...) But that's the problem right there, they really aren't a one-hit wonder. They are a two-hit wonder, with an additional three somewhat forgettable hits. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing Todd give them the full treatment anyway because I'm sure the video would be great.
Pair of wheels: this song has infuriated me for years because I thought "pair of wheels" was referring to a car ... which would mean the car has only two wheels? or that each two-wheel set counted as one pair? Every time I heard it, it hurt me. Bless you, Todd, for taking the pain away. On a side note, I went through something of a crisis a few months back. I had to stay out of my head, and driving around listening to your best and worst lists for hours at a time turned out to be the best -- really, the only -- way to cope. You didn't know it, but you were at my side during some of the darkest days of my life, and I will always be grateful for it.
I'm sorry to ruin it again, but most wheelchairs (including Rick Hansen's wheelchair, as is shown in this video) actually do have four wheels, the big, fixed pair in the back and the smaller, maneuverable wheels in the front used to steer
@@GCWeberDammit!! But it's still got two wheels that are really really big. Technically you are correct but I still have peace of mind on the issue :)
In grade 7 I was awarded a Rick Hansen award( pretty much for vein 's good person) and they blasted this song while I was walking on stage. I love this song so much
It cracks me up seeing the cast of the film moping around looking intensely serious in the music video, like it was something really meaningful and poignant they were doing instead of filming a corny music video for a corny Dad rock anthem for a corny brat pack movie no one remembers. Like, I still think about it occasionally and smile, five years after watching this.
'Restless Heart', outro song for 'The Running Man' movie, is another great John Parr song. He played Paris in the musical of the same name and hit it out of the park. He was amazing!
I know this video is old, but I swear I come back for the New Jersey line. Being born and raised in NJ, I can safely say I've seen John Parr look alikes all points north south east and west here in the great Garden State. Hysterical.
My memories of this song are being 8 (and my brother 6 or 7) and having my babysitter make up (extremely literal) interpretive dances to this song and making us perform them for her and her friend's amusement.
his face screamed British to me. when you said something about new jersey I was surprised for a second until you said he was British. and then I was like. "that explains why he looks British".
How is there any difference between Americans, British, new new Zealanders and Australians? It's all the anglo sphere and we all are from the same people.
@@TheRetroManRandySavage Why do Europeans look different then Africans? Why do Asians look different from Europeans? Why do Africans look different from each other? We all come from the same people. It is because of local geographically isolated ethnic groups. Even if two groups of people come from the same group of people originally if they are geographically isolated from each other they will evolve to be at least somewhat unique from each other based on local environment and geography. Also genetic variations of the individuals that formed and then founded those two groups (it is possible for siblings to each be in a separate group and very similar genetics to be in both groups. But even then unless they are identical twins their genetics are still notably varied from each other). This is exasperated by local cultural views on attractiveness and selective sexual mating based on that (meaning while blonds may have lots of kids in one group in the other blonds may have not while red heads or people with brown hair have lots of kids. Meaning after a few generations one group has almost nothing but blonds while the other has almost nothing but brown or red hair).
Johnny Parr's 'Naughty Naughty' was in the movie 'Near Dark'. That is definitely a movie you should check out as this song is in one of the most brutal death scenes an 80's movie can have.
@@sendnewbsskydiving7616 Yeah, fair enough, but people talk about it like it's some sort of under appreciated piece of genius. It's not. Presumably you're talking about the kid dying scene, and yeah it's a really good scene, that evokes genuine emotion, but "one of the most brutal" death scenes from the 80s? Not even close. This was the decade of some of the best horror movies that have been made to this day, that took brutal death scenes (Hellraiser?) to whole new levels of brutality. Unless you're talking about the bar scene, in which case, lol.
That whole summer when SEF came out, it was always the movie the ushers forced us to go see every time we tried to sneak into an R-rated movie after buying tickets for a PG or PG-13, so I wound up seeing it like five times. It was intended as punishment, and it was punishment.
Even before Todd made this joke explicitly, all I could imagine in my head as soon as I first heard this song were highlight clips of Hulk Hogan barreling his way to the ring waving the American flag, and of the Hulkster giving his opponent the leg drop. And I’m a wrestling fan who knows damn sure what Hulk’s actual iconic theme music was; this song just fits that well.
i was high school president when rick hansen came through my canadian hone town 300 miles from the end of his journey ...i still have the pic of me handing him a cheque from our school...and this song played as he came and left the stage...rick hansen did something truly amazing
This song brings back many, happy, proud memories. I competed with Rick Hansen (and Terry Fox) and was in my 20s when Rick did the Man In Motion tour. Very very proud to be a Canadian. I've seen the movie but have no memory of it so this song is all about Rick.
This song was in heavy rotation on MTV for months, like if you left the channel on for more than half an hour for much of 1985 you were almost guaranteed to see it, and it would remain a staple at the channel for years.
I guess you can say John Parr was... Sub-Par! HEEEEEEEEEEE! And where did this come from!? I've been subscribed for quite a while, browsed through his videos on this channel, and I didn't know this existed until it showed up in the Recommended section. Sheesh. Maybe I missed that "Welcome To My Life" review I've been wanting as well...
Interesting fact: John Parr was born in the same Nottinghamshire town (Worksop) as Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of Iron Maiden and Hollwood actor Donald Pleasence (the original Ernest Stavro Blofield in You Only Live Twice and Doctor Sam Loomis in the original Halloween)
LOL 2gether was the fake parody boyband. The funny thing is they actually could sing. They had a rival boyband called whoa!, and if you listen to their song "rub one out" It was about masturbation. I don't think the age demographic was really aware of that unless they really listened to the lyrics lol.
I remember when the movie came out. I think it was MTV's first movie. I bought the soundtrack. I was in middle school at the time. 2ge+her I think was how it was written? It's been a hot minute.
@@Melissa-wx4lu Personally, I've always wondered why the general public of the year 2000 such as yourself took an honest-to-God *parody* of boy bands seriously enough to have them open for Britney Spears
The man in motion is Rick Hansen a Canadian who rolled across the world in his wheelchair and this was his theme song as well as st elmo's fire.....it was allover Canadian radio in the 80s, I remember because he came through the city of moose jaw and visited my school
I’ve seen St. Elmo’s Fire last night, and I can confirm that it is as bad as Todd made it out to be. Like I can’t say Schumacher trying desperately hard to be John Hughes and failing isn’t as awful as Batman and Robin, mainly because St. Elmo’s Fire doesn’t assault the senses with bad puns and obnoxious corniness as Batman and Robin, but it is just as infuriating! Like about ten to fifteen minutes in, Demi Moore tries to force that one guy from Pretty in Pink into a gay relationship when he is straight... Also when I see John Parr flying with angel wings taped to his back, am I the only one that is reminded of Crowded House?
My ex wife used this song as her alarm in the morning. She slept through the whole thing about four times in a row every time. I heard this song every day for four years.
Producer: "Okay john, we need you to write a song for a movie we're making called 'St Elmo's Fire'" John Parr: "OH MY GOSH! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SING ABOUT THAT!"
This my absolute favorite song. The only song that is on my cleaning playlist twice. Been watching your videos for forever and never knew you had done an episode about it/him. Nice!!
I'm sorry, "love grammar" sounds like a okay title..... because I thought he was saying "love grandma" .....yeah..... I appreciate that Meatloaf has a union jack to match the stars and stripes...... I can't help but think ML was taking the pisd.
Man this song used to get me absolutely pumped! I've probably heard it hundreds of times in my life and never known what it was called, or what the majority of its lyrics were. Sweet video!
I recommend the whole John Parr debut album. Aside from St. Elmo's Fire, there are some real slices of hard rocking 80s cheese on there if you don't mind some slightly dumb lyrics. Love Grammar and Naughty Naughty are great products of their time.
Wasn't this the song that plays in the radio in that simpsons episode where Homer and Lisa switch drivers.. cause lisa was tired of listening to that fat Talk radio host? i mean i think that's the only time i've ever heard this song.
Yeah I'm curious to see this St. Elmo's Fire too. *sees directed by Joel Schumacher* Never mind. I felt bad that you had to go through whatever hell you witnessed Todd.
pipboy344 probably hasn’t seen them. It sucks that Shumacher gets shit on for pretty much one bad movie when he made several good ones and a few great ones.
as a Canadian who grew up in the 80s - holy shit yes I have heard of this song. It was EVERYWHERE. They even modified the music video to include shots of Rick Hansen as well as (possibly instead of? I forget) the movie.
The Mainstream Rock Chart measures radio airplay, and Naughty Naughty got a lot of it. It got plenty of exposure on MTV, too. So it was far better known than its #23 Hot 100 peak would suggest.
I have to believe that Parr was in on the joke with his "American" persona, since his duet with Meat Loaf has Mr Loaf playing a guitar with a Union Jack on it to go with Parr's American flag one.
actually Parr's "Naughty Naughty" was used quite effectively in Kathryn Bigelow's underrated Vampire/Road movie, "Near Dark" which is definitely worth a look.
A super American song... sung by a British man about a Canadian...
Hey, we are a nation of immigrants (such as the clearly patriotic John Parr) and Canada is awesome, I can dig it. :)
only in America
Never go Full American. :D
***** Don't tell that to Robert Downey Jr.
Why are you just copying a point he made in the video?
John Parr is actually a very nice person. i am disabled, and had pondered riding my powerchair to D.C. as a protest for Disabled Rights. i was able to contact Mr. Parr directly via email, and requested using this song as the song i would use for the protest ride, since it already had that connotation. He emailed me the next day, saying it would be just fine, and to let him know when i would be making the trip, and he would possibly either do a remix or updated version for the protest, and possibly join me for a part of the journey.
i was amazed, even though it had been years since he had been in the public eye(at least in the US), that he was so open to helping and lending his song and name to the cause, but indeed, he is a really nice guy. Then my Mother got ill, and i had to set the protest aside so i could take care of her in my home, which i still do to this day. Mr. Parr was completely understanding and supportive, and said again, if you ever do this, just let me know.
For showing such humanity (even though i wasn't a real fan of the music), i still will say hell yes he deserved better. -Just wish he had never recorded "Naughty Naughty"
Wow that's really cool of him!!!
John Parr is a real american
@@ronniejdio9411 Though born, raised, and lives in Britain.
@@maisiesummers42 the Mother country!
Wait... you reached out to John Parr?
I love how John Parr has an American Guitar and Meat Loaf has a British Guitar.
Just noticed that now, that's pretty funny lmao.
Part of a long tradition.. In the 60s British invasion bands sang with American accents. After the British invasion, American bands tried to sing with British accents.
"The man inside me is as hard as a rock" - Todd In the Shadows, 2016
+Joshua Pearce *2015
"Not like the little broken boy I had inside me." - Todd In the Shadows, 2015
+Amazing Tribol "I feel like I could be wording this better"
-Todd In The Shadows
I knew it sounded bad when Todd said it, but know it looks a lot worse!
The date the video was uploaded is right below the video...
Rick Hansen is still fighting for disabled rights these days, it's always nice to see him on the news doing something new. He really is a great man.
Rick Hansen and Terry Fox made me proud to be a Canadian who is also living with a disability.
Another impressive hit song that is needlessly and inexplicably tied to a Joel Schumacher movie: Kiss From a Rose.
At least St. Elmo's Fire actually shares the movie title
The Schumacher Batsoundtracks fall into a genre that was VERY popular in the 90s: Soundtrack WAY Better Than The Actual Movie
See also: Judgment Night, Spawn, and many, many more!
@@jamesoblivion It really was such a *thing*. A320 is my favorite Foo Fighters song and does not deserve tied to that hideous Broderick Godzilla, and consequently barely available anywhere. At least most of the songs from City of Angels managed to escape it and fly free.
@@jamesoblivion Yup! Lost Boys Soundtrack slaps!
@@jamesoblivion okay when I listened to the spawn soundtrack I thought "hmmm, getting metal/rock acts to collaborate with electronic and hip hop acts for a movie ost? that's pretty interesting and unique!" and then I saw that judgement night did the exact same thing, so... as someone who wasn't alive back then, was this just a weirdly specific *thing*?
John Parr is an Americanboo
Freeaboo
Why does this make sense?
Reminds me of Tommy Wiseau
@@davidspring4003 Well no, because he was already from the West (England). His booism is very specificly tied to America.
David D. 😂
I feel John Parr is the stereotype of every rock singer of the 80s/90s. The kind that supposed to make fun of Bruce Springsteen
+IndyX also reminds me of Mallory Keaton's boyfriend Nick from Family Ties
Granted the difference is John can actually sing
no no no. maybe the 80s but I remind you that nirvana changed the game in 91.
@@nickrustyson8124 yeah right, listen to Bruce at Berkeley '78 and tell me that man can't sing.
"Yakko, can you conjugate?"
"What, who, me? I've never even kissed a girl?"
That's what I thought of too!
Goodnight Everybody!!!
@kevin willems Don't watch.
Hello, Nurse!
[insert pianist joke]
John Parr, Stan Bush, Joe Esposito, and Robert Tepper belong to a subgenre I call "hero rock". Inspirational, never-give-up, you-can-succeed movie themes. It's actually one of my favorite subcategories of music.
And John Parr was the most successful of the four, simply because of "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)".
I dunno, "The Touch" still strikes a chord among us Transformers fans.
John Farnham and Paul Delphi (rip) also deserves to be in this corporate movie rock subgenre
@@FIXTREMEol what farnham song was in a movie? or thats just the vibe you get from him? XD
The Transformers 1986 soundtrack is so fucking amazing man
Tom Breihan in his "The Number Ones" column on Stereogum I think, hit the nail on the head for why "Man in Motion" was so huge. It was a grandly optimistic, motivational you-can-do-anything rocker that broke through in ways that the St. Elmo Fire movie didn't. The lyrics are when you really look into it, may be ridiculous but they're ridiculous in all the best ways. Like with John Parr, you could genuinely believe that he's celebrating his own striving.
"Good decade for inspirationally disabled Canadians the 80's were."
Being Canadian makes this joke even better.
Right! Id never even heard of this Hansen guy. when i read this comment i thought you must have been reffering to Terry Fox.
@@solifuctioncorruption4343 Everyone in Canada knows who Rick Hansen is.
Canadian here, and it really is awesome to hear that.
@@Xondar11223344 except this Edmontonian living in Montreal apparently
@solifuctioncorruption4343 3 years late addition, but rick Hansen was inspired by Terry fox to go on his man in motion tour
in a very strange alternate universe Brian Eno's "St. Elmo's Fire" is his only hit and John Parr had a long career in experimental music
I'd like to point out how Meatloaf is playing a guitar adorned with the Union Jack in that Rock and Roll Merceneries video. He's pretty much openly mocking Parr right to his face.
Kind of feels a bit more well-intentioned than that.
@@JasperJanssen It's like when athletes exchange jerseys.
I don’t think it’s meant as mocking, personally.
@Michael Persico I still can't figure out how long that damn song is...
There are more than a few Americans with Union Jacks on their guitars.
I heard this song a MILLION times in the 80s. It was, indeed, waaayyyy more popular than the movie was.
That chorus slaps. This song couldn't possibly be stopped in this era of 80s
"too sincere to be ashamed by anything he's saying" You stabbed me in the heart with this one...
"I before he except after she"... SOMEONE HELP ME. I AM CRYING TEARS.
IndigoPhoenix21 😂😂😂😂😂
When was this?
@@NinjaDash360 about ten minutes and thirty seconds in. "Love Grammar" the failed follow up.
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
I was so unprepared for that line, I almost fell on my face as I was getting on the bus
The contrast between John Parr's fake American accent when singing and his British accent when talking is brutal
Whatever you think of this song, I can tell you that it's been proven to increase inspiration by 57% (source; The University of Bro-Science).
The film this song is from was absolutely eviscerated by Siskel & Ebert.
In fact they hated it so much that they included in in their "10 worst Movies of 1985".
+Hammerhead547 'I AM A MAN IN MOTION!' (punch)
Bless them!
+darkrage6 There were absolutely right. That movie was terrible.
Troodon I’m a big fan of 80s Cinema and this one eluded me for years. Finally saw it on TV several years ago. Absolutely hated it. Connected with none of the characters, felt like lint collecting would’ve been a better use of my time.
To be fair, I think Ebert's biggest complaint was that they made Rob Lowe getting drunk and crashing his car into a joke. It wasn't a perfect movie, but it didn't deserve zero stars.
Hey, hey, hey! Not all Schumacher's movies are bad! He's made plenty of good movies! Like The Lost Boys or Falling Down or ... The Lost Boys!
He actually made the film Tigerland, about a disobedient recruit at a military training base, that was really good. It was Colin Farrell's breakout role. He made it after Batman and Robin.
And of course we should never forget the second movie he made with Colin Farrell, Phone Booth
I thought 8MM was pretty good as well. Honestly, Schumacher I think is a pretty decent director outside of some duds like Phantom and Batman.
Also, The Number 23 was kind of a cluster...
Dylan Woodson I don't really consider Phantom a dud, per se. The only real problem with it was the casting and the direction. Gerard Butler can't sing and Patrick Wilson gave one of the worst performances of his professional career, but otherwise, it was okay. It certainly followed the story of the musical closely enough.
I'm surprised that you didn't mention some of the powerful magic that propelled this beyond Parr's other songs. Music written by David Foster, production by Foster, with a backing band that included several people from Toto and backing vocals from guys in REO Speedwagon and Mr. Mister. This song is pure 80's to its core.
Also Mr Mister would be a great One Hit Wonderland pick
@@nickrustyson8124 Which "one" hit, though? They had *five* songs in the US top 100 pop charts, and *two* #1 singles, "Broken Wings" and "Kyrie".
@@dyacktman Broken Wings because no one remembers the other 4
@@nickrustyson8124 Oddly enough, if you go by which one is covered most on UA-cam, I think it would be Kyrie, not Broken Wings. (Me, I like the whole album both of those come from, so...) But that's the problem right there, they really aren't a one-hit wonder. They are a two-hit wonder, with an additional three somewhat forgettable hits. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing Todd give them the full treatment anyway because I'm sure the video would be great.
Ah Gilette, a timeless classic. How can a man get any better than that? You can't; it's the best you can get.
The best that he could do....
Only women can get something better, apparently.
@@tommylakindasorta3068 Gotta be PH balanced, bro.
That New Jersey line just kills me every time. So incredibly accurate...
I've seen St. Elmo's Fire, and I will still complain about Bat-Nipples (TM) until the day I die.
Colin Wilson I agree
Against All Odds is one of Phil's best songs thank you very much.
The unresolved chord at the end of Against All Odds makes it memorable.
@@Hubajube I agree.
That's not saying much😂
My best poop was my best poop.
I can't put my finger on it, but half of John Parr's songs sound like Ninja Sex Party songs to me.
Tim's right. NSP are trying to summarise the entire 80s into their career, and John Parr's music is possibly the most 80s sound ever to have 80sed.
Man, Danny's voice would actually lend itself really well to St. Elmo's Fire. Idea for Under the Covers Vol. 3 perhaps?
Nahh NSP is wayyyy better than John parr
I gave you the 69th like. Treat it well. 6969
Once you accrue over 5lbs of frizzy curly hair you just naturally sound like this.
He's from that group of late 70's-80's singers who were told to stand on the other side of the room from the mic and yell into it.
Pair of wheels: this song has infuriated me for years because I thought "pair of wheels" was referring to a car ... which would mean the car has only two wheels? or that each two-wheel set counted as one pair? Every time I heard it, it hurt me. Bless you, Todd, for taking the pain away.
On a side note, I went through something of a crisis a few months back. I had to stay out of my head, and driving around listening to your best and worst lists for hours at a time turned out to be the best -- really, the only -- way to cope. You didn't know it, but you were at my side during some of the darkest days of my life, and I will always be grateful for it.
You never thought it could've been a motorcycle?
@@BrendanJSmith lolol noooooo and it would have saved me so much pain, thank you!
I'm sorry to ruin it again, but most wheelchairs (including Rick Hansen's wheelchair, as is shown in this video) actually do have four wheels, the big, fixed pair in the back and the smaller, maneuverable wheels in the front used to steer
@@GCWeberDammit!! But it's still got two wheels that are really really big. Technically you are correct but I still have peace of mind on the issue :)
Wow, that 'Love Grammar' song sounds like a joke song 'The Simpsons' would perform.
"CAN I BORROW A FEELING!?!?!"
To me this is one of those songs where you won't recognize the name of it but as soon as it starts playing you instantly recognize it
Against All Odds is a great song and I would listen to it many times.
In grade 7 I was awarded a Rick Hansen award( pretty much for vein 's good person) and they blasted this song while I was walking on stage. I love this song so much
One of the most insanely catchy choruses ever imo.
It cracks me up seeing the cast of the film moping around looking intensely serious in the music video, like it was something really meaningful and poignant they were doing instead of filming a corny music video for a corny Dad rock anthem for a corny brat pack movie no one remembers. Like, I still think about it occasionally and smile, five years after watching this.
'Restless Heart', outro song for 'The Running Man' movie, is another great John Parr song. He played Paris in the musical of the same name and hit it out of the park. He was amazing!
is it just me or does this guy look like Mel Gibson????
afrocoleman Isn't he? lol
That's what I thought immediately!
poor mans mel gibbson
@@buckypreseau7349 I think Mel Gibson is the poor man's John Parr, seeing as how the latter didn't ruin his career by being crazy and offensive.
No, it’s just you that looks like Mel Gibson!
lol. At first I heard "Love Grandma". Pretty disturbing
me too.
Hey now, don't be ageist. ;P
DOSRetroGamer 😂😂😂😂😂
I know this video is old, but I swear I come back for the New Jersey line. Being born and raised in NJ, I can safely say I've seen John Parr look alikes all points north south east and west here in the great Garden State. Hysterical.
My memories of this song are being 8 (and my brother 6 or 7) and having my babysitter make up (extremely literal) interpretive dances to this song and making us perform them for her and her friend's amusement.
I was so sure he was singing "Love Grandma"
-Baby, let's conjugate.
-Let me decline.
Heh? Heh? Decline? As in declensions? Noun declensions... like in Latin and Russian?
No?
I'll see myself out.
I thought it was funny...
🤣🤣🤣🤣
his face screamed British to me. when you said something about new jersey I was surprised for a second until you said he was British. and then I was like. "that explains why he looks British".
How is there any difference between Americans, British, new new Zealanders and Australians? It's all the anglo sphere and we all are from the same people.
@@TheRetroManRandySavage Why do Europeans look different then Africans? Why do Asians look different from Europeans? Why do Africans look different from each other? We all come from the same people.
It is because of local geographically isolated ethnic groups. Even if two groups of people come from the same group of people originally if they are geographically isolated from each other they will evolve to be at least somewhat unique from each other based on local environment and geography. Also genetic variations of the individuals that formed and then founded those two groups (it is possible for siblings to each be in a separate group and very similar genetics to be in both groups. But even then unless they are identical twins their genetics are still notably varied from each other). This is exasperated by local cultural views on attractiveness and selective sexual mating based on that (meaning while blonds may have lots of kids in one group in the other blonds may have not while red heads or people with brown hair have lots of kids. Meaning after a few generations one group has almost nothing but blonds while the other has almost nothing but brown or red hair).
"Love Grammar" sounds like an 80s Spinal Tap song.
It definitely belongs on Smell The Glove. Or the A-side to Lick My Love Pump.
St Elmo's fire is a fantastic movie and this is the hill I will die on.
Great song too
Johnny Parr's 'Naughty Naughty' was in the movie 'Near Dark'. That is definitely a movie you should check out as this song is in one of the most brutal death scenes an 80's movie can have.
Why do people always say this stuff about Near Dark? It tanked for a reason - it's really not very good.
@@paulhilton6426 because we like it?
@@sendnewbsskydiving7616 Yeah, fair enough, but people talk about it like it's some sort of under appreciated piece of genius. It's not. Presumably you're talking about the kid dying scene, and yeah it's a really good scene, that evokes genuine emotion, but "one of the most brutal" death scenes from the 80s? Not even close. This was the decade of some of the best horror movies that have been made to this day, that took brutal death scenes (Hellraiser?) to whole new levels of brutality.
Unless you're talking about the bar scene, in which case, lol.
That whole summer when SEF came out, it was always the movie the ushers forced us to go see every time we tried to sneak into an R-rated movie after buying tickets for a PG or PG-13, so I wound up seeing it like five times. It was intended as punishment, and it was punishment.
Even before Todd made this joke explicitly, all I could imagine in my head as soon as I first heard this song were highlight clips of Hulk Hogan barreling his way to the ring waving the American flag, and of the Hulkster giving his opponent the leg drop. And I’m a wrestling fan who knows damn sure what Hulk’s actual iconic theme music was; this song just fits that well.
Written by an artist featured in another one hit wonder episode
i was high school president when rick hansen came through my canadian hone town 300 miles from the end of his journey ...i still have the pic of me handing him a cheque from our school...and this song played as he came and left the stage...rick hansen did something truly amazing
Love his voice. Really gets me hyped.
The name "St. Elmo's Fire" makes me think of a church burning down. HOLY SMOKES!
I think of Elmo from Sesame Street becoming a saint then becoming an insane pyromaniac.
Ha. Smoke.
St. Elmo's sounds like a bar to me. "we're goin over to st elmos for drinks and pool"
Should be the name of a Burzum song.
It's a literal baptism of fire.
This song brings back many, happy, proud memories. I competed with Rick Hansen (and Terry Fox) and was in my 20s when Rick did the Man In Motion tour. Very very proud to be a Canadian. I've seen the movie but have no memory of it so this song is all about Rick.
I too am a proud Canadian who is living with a disability. RIP Terry.
A well seasoned slice of 80s cheese
I could listen to you talk about 80's music for days.
This song was in heavy rotation on MTV for months, like if you left the channel on for more than half an hour for much of 1985 you were almost guaranteed to see it, and it would remain a staple at the channel for years.
1:37 I call this genre 80s sweat rock
This song plays at the grocery I work at aaaaaall the time. So I had to see if you had reviewed it. I'm so happy!
I guess you can say John Parr was... Sub-Par! HEEEEEEEEEEE!
And where did this come from!? I've been subscribed for quite a while, browsed through his videos on this channel, and I didn't know this existed until it showed up in the Recommended section. Sheesh. Maybe I missed that "Welcome To My Life" review I've been wanting as well...
Interesting fact: John Parr was born in the same Nottinghamshire town (Worksop) as Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of Iron Maiden and Hollwood actor Donald Pleasence (the original Ernest Stavro Blofield in You Only Live Twice and Doctor Sam Loomis in the original Halloween)
LOL 2gether was the fake parody boyband. The funny thing is they actually could sing. They had a rival boyband called whoa!, and if you listen to their song "rub one out" It was about masturbation. I don't think the age demographic was really aware of that unless they really listened to the lyrics lol.
I remember when the movie came out. I think it was MTV's first movie. I bought the soundtrack. I was in middle school at the time. 2ge+her I think was how it was written? It's been a hot minute.
...i would buy that if it was for a female demographic, since masturbation tends to come more slowly to those with vulva
@@Melissa-wx4lu Personally, I've always wondered why the general public of the year 2000 such as yourself took an honest-to-God *parody* of boy bands seriously enough to have them open for Britney Spears
I love that movie and the show
Fif Gallag says a guy who is going off his own experience not being able to finish the job
"woooho, he's an alien, he's a legal alien, he's a englishman in New Jersey..." XD
The man in motion is Rick Hansen a Canadian who rolled across the world in his wheelchair and this was his theme song as well as st elmo's fire.....it was allover Canadian radio in the 80s, I remember because he came through the city of moose jaw and visited my school
I’ve seen St. Elmo’s Fire last night, and I can confirm that it is as bad as Todd made it out to be. Like I can’t say Schumacher trying desperately hard to be John Hughes and failing isn’t as awful as Batman and Robin, mainly because St. Elmo’s Fire doesn’t assault the senses with bad puns and obnoxious corniness as Batman and Robin, but it is just as infuriating! Like about ten to fifteen minutes in, Demi Moore tries to force that one guy from Pretty in Pink into a gay relationship when he is straight...
Also when I see John Parr flying with angel wings taped to his back, am I the only one that is reminded of Crowded House?
Naughty Naughty was a song in the soundtrack in 1987's Near Dark
Also I'm pretty sure rock 'n' roll mercenaries was intended to be a joke. Meat was always known for his dark sense of humor.
This song was on the radio in Boston about constantly when it came out for 3 years. You couldn't escape it! All stations, all the time.
"Let us never speak of that again" was the most epic thing ever. And he's not wrong.
My ex wife used this song as her alarm in the morning. She slept through the whole thing about four times in a row every time. I heard this song every day for four years.
as soon as Todd said "i'm a bad widdle boy", I realized I need to fight the nostalgia chick over him..
+BlueSnowfox 'Conjugate? I've never even kissed a girl.'
+BlueSnowfox They aren't dating anymore.
+Joseph Corridon what happen again?
Jose lastname They were dating, then they weren't. They're still friends and they still appreciably share a dog.
Joseph Corridon i thought they were married?
Producer: "Okay john, we need you to write a song for a movie we're making called 'St Elmo's Fire'"
John Parr: "OH MY GOSH! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SING ABOUT THAT!"
Speaking of Joe Esposito, when will he get his turn under the interrogation lamp?
This song is an EXCELLENT EXERCISE JAM!
Take a Look at Me Now is actually called Against All Odds.
Correct.
This my absolute favorite song. The only song that is on my cleaning playlist twice. Been watching your videos for forever and never knew you had done an episode about it/him. Nice!!
A Bat Credit Card?!!!
**shoots wildly**
Oh dear this comment didn't age well.
Todd got so sick of hearing about the Bat Credit card that he left Channel Awesome.
I'm sorry, "love grammar" sounds like a okay title..... because I thought he was saying "love grandma" .....yeah.....
I appreciate that Meatloaf has a union jack to match the stars and stripes...... I can't help but think ML was taking the pisd.
Man this song used to get me absolutely pumped! I've probably heard it hundreds of times in my life and never known what it was called, or what the majority of its lyrics were. Sweet video!
I honestly feel like the film is WAY underrated, I actually love that movie!
Rock n roll made a British man American. That's how powerful this music is 🤘
I was born in 87 and yet this song seems to have been played all the time on the radio my parents listened to while I was growing up.
I thought his failed follow up was called "Love, Grandma"
I love this song too! One of my many favorites from the 80's.
"The man inside me is hard as a rock"
You might want to rephrase that.
What makes you say that?
That was hilarious to hear.
I recommend the whole John Parr debut album. Aside from St. Elmo's Fire, there are some real slices of hard rocking 80s cheese on there if you don't mind some slightly dumb lyrics. Love Grammar and Naughty Naughty are great products of their time.
13:12 Wait... Meatloaf has a british flag guitar... what is going on here!?
I think he might be mocking Parr.
Like, if the Brit is playing a Stars & Stripes guitar, I guess that's how we're doing things.
No That’s Robert Paulson
"Did he desereve better?"
Saintnick90 Nooooo!!!!
Loved the fact they included this song in spider-verse
Wasn't this the song that plays in the radio in that simpsons episode where Homer and Lisa switch drivers.. cause lisa was tired of listening to that fat Talk radio host? i mean i think that's the only time i've ever heard this song.
Yeah, it was the Rush Limbaugh parody character Homer was listening too.
Jordan Williams he was birch Barlow
Yeah I'm curious to see this St. Elmo's Fire too.
*sees directed by Joel Schumacher*
Never mind. I felt bad that you had to go through whatever hell you witnessed Todd.
shadowlinkbds what about The Lost Boys or Falling Down?
pipboy344 probably hasn’t seen them. It sucks that Shumacher gets shit on for pretty much one bad movie when he made several good ones and a few great ones.
as a Canadian who grew up in the 80s - holy shit yes I have heard of this song. It was EVERYWHERE. They even modified the music video to include shots of Rick Hansen as well as (possibly instead of? I forget) the movie.
The Mainstream Rock Chart measures radio airplay, and Naughty Naughty got a lot of it. It got plenty of exposure on MTV, too. So it was far better known than its #23 Hot 100 peak would suggest.
I have to believe that Parr was in on the joke with his "American" persona, since his duet with Meat Loaf has Mr Loaf playing a guitar with a Union Jack on it to go with Parr's American flag one.
Between this song and Theme From St. Elmo's Fire, that film had the greatest music!
Was that Lisa Rinna in the Naughty Naughty video?
Yes!
John Parr is a rich mans Joey Buttafuoco. Love this channel!🎈
sound mixing in this was all over the place.
The legacy of this movie is that is mentioned in 1985 by Bowling for Soup.
Seriously St Elmos fire is awesome!
actually Parr's "Naughty Naughty" was used quite effectively in Kathryn Bigelow's underrated Vampire/Road movie, "Near Dark" which is definitely worth a look.
5:55 Uh-Oh, There goes The Nostalgia Critic raging over 'The Bat Credit Card'.
If you'd heard that single before it on the radio, you would have heard "Love Grandma, the Grandma of love".