I can't figure out why I like Rush Hour quite so much. It uses the same driving 8-beat throughout; the chord progression is bog-standard; the instruments are probably all synthesised; the lyrics aren't particularly inventive or clever; Jane Wiedlin's vocals are nice, but not astounding; you can spot the guitar solo a mile off; and at the end it just repeats to fade.
In fact it's almost stereotypical of a 1980s pop song.
But it is impeccably produced. At no point does either the singing or the backing sound at all jarring or contrived. The entire song flows seamlessly from one part to the next, largely due to the way the vocals spill over from one bar into the next. So by the time the song finishes, you don't realise you've just spent the last four minutes listening to it.
And Jane's singing is nice – very nice – without sounding sugar-coated; her personality hasn't been overproduced away.
And she played Joan of Arc in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure – what more could you want? If you download one song this week, make it Rush Hour. Stay tuned.
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