FLASHBACK Wave of '80s cover tunes sweeps pop music scene

Childhood memories inspire twentysomethings ruling top 40s lists.
By TERESA GUBBINS
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
The calendar may say 2004, but turn on the radio and you'll feel as if you are totally in the '80s.
Your ears do not deceive you: That is definitely "Take My Breath Away" airing on contemporary radio, though a different version than the one by Berlin (used so dramatically in the film "Top Gun"). And yes, 23 years after the Go-Go's first sang "Our Lips Are Sealed," it's back again -- but this time covered by Hilary Duff, the teen star who is younger than the song itself.
The '80s are back on the radio because there's a wave of bands doing cover versions of these 20-year-old songs. These blasts from the past keep piling up, and they're turning "modern rock" radio into oldies stations: from Don Henley's "Boys of Summer" (as done by the Ataris) to The Cure's "Love Song" (by 311) to No Doubt's remake of "It's My Life" by one-hit wonder Talk Talk.
What next: Flock of Seagulls? Ouch, yes, and we have the band Bowling for Soup to curse for covering the Flock's "I Ran (So Far Away)."
Trend leaders
There's no single villain to blame for leading popular music to this sorry state. But these "pioneers" deserve some of the credit:
UThe Ataris were early perpetrators with their 2003 cover of "Boys of Summer," helping make it OK within the twentysomething set to embrace '80s songs.
UIn late 2003, Sony released a compilation called Never Mind the Originals, Here's the Covers with too, too many '80s tunes, including "Take on Me" by A-Ha (performed by Reel Big Fish) and Nena's "99 Red Balloons" (performed by Goldfinger).
UThe soundtrack to 50 First Dates piled on in early '04 with its own retro collection of covers of '80s acts such as Echo & amp; the Bunnymen, the Police and The Cure.
But in the end, it's a generational thing. Most acts doing '80s covers are in their 20s. The '80s are when they grew up. The '80s are their roots.
Memories
Ataris singer Kris Roe explained his connection to "Boys of Summer" on WB music series Pepsi Smash as a personal thing.
"I used to go down and visit my grandparents in Florida every summer," he said on the show. "And my grandmother, I actually remember asking her to take me out and buy that record. When it came out, I was like 9 years old. And my grandmother, she passed away like three years ago. So that song is kind of personal for me, and kind of reminds me of my grandmother and those summers I used to spend in Florida."
Jessica Simpson had her own first-hand experience with "Take My Breath Away."
"It was a special song for me and my relationship with my husband," she says of Nick Lachey. "We had our first kiss to it. The first time Nick hugged me, I played it in the car after I was driving home. Cheesy stuff like that made me want to do it myself."
Both Simpson and Bowling for Soup have used these covers to beef up albums they've reissued -- and nabbed surprise hit singles in the process.
You know what that means: more '80s covers, coming your way.