“Into the Groove” wasn’t a single? I had no idea. It was on MTV all the time in ‘85, but I just looked in my Top 40 book and it’s not listed. You don’t complete me, Jason, but you do teach me. I don’t remember “Angel” at all.

When I accidentally turn on my little boombox at work but haven’t yet plugged in the headphones, I subject my coworkers to a semi-guilty pleasure like Vertical Horizon, never anything certifiably cool. ‘Til Tuesday used to be first on my iPod as well, but then my first iPod broke in January of ‘06, and I didn’t restore “Voices Carry.” The first song then became “Belleville Rendez-Vous” by -M- (as opposed to “Pop Muzik” by M), but it looks like Apple has improved its iPod alphabetization system since last year, because now a-ha’s “Take on Me” is first.

I still like “Voices Carry,” but I don’t see the Missing Persons connection either, Jeremy. And how attractive are YOU, sir? I went through an Aimee Mann phase seven years ago when I was in a post-college depression that lasted almost four years. Once I came out of that funk, I bought Mann’s 2002 album “Lost in Space,” which was new at the time, and didn’t like it. I still think “Bachelor No. 2″ and “I’m With Stupid” and her songs on the “Magnolia” soundtrack are great, but they also take me back to a time in my life I don’t care to revisit. Sorry, Aimee. But she really is a great songwriter and vocalist. I just wish I’d discovered her at a happier time in my life.

Paul Young’s version of “Everytime You Go Away” is definitely better than Hall & Oates’s. I think it has something to do with those synthesizer sounds and the slightly faster tempo. It’s one of my favorite songs from that time period.

Ahh, Whitney. She really was a great singer (and pretty damn sexy) back in the ’80s and ’90s, even if some of her singles don’t hold up so well anymore. But there is good stuff on that first album, including a number with Jermaine Jackson called “Take Good Care of My Heart.”

Did you know that Steven Bauer’s real name is Rocky Echevarria? Did you care? No. But so what? Of all the actors with major parts in “Scarface,” he was the only Cuban-American, I believe. Pacino, Robert Loggia, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio — the Italian-American interpretation of the Cuban-American dream comes alive!

“A Night in Heaven” sounds great. John G. (not L., sir!) Avildsen seems to have had a “wilderness period” between “Rocky” in ‘76″ and “The Karate Kid” in ‘84. He directed the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd comedy “Neighbors” in 1981, and those two reportedly hated Avildsen so much that they discussed hiring a hit man to kill him. Some of their friends weren’t sure how serious they were. Do I see Jan Hammer and Deney Terrio’s names on the poster? Woo-hoo! And it’s nice to see that Joan Tewkesbury, who wrote “Nashville” and directed Belushi in a movie called “Old Boyfriends,” is the writer of “A Night in Heaven.” Do you think the final film strayed from her original script just a tad?

“Raspberry Beret” did indeed have a colorful, joyous video. I remember MTV playing it on the hour, every hour, the day it premiered. It’s one of my favorite Prince songs. Too bad “Around the World in a Day,” the album it came from, wasn’t all that interesting. But you can’t beat lines like “She wasn’t too bright / But I could tell when she kissed me / She knew how to give a kiss.”

Pat Boone had a problem with “dance into the fire”? Because of the satanic connotations or because he thought kids might try to dance in their own fires? A decade later Pat would be covering heavy metal songs as a joke, only to be smacked down himself by ultra-conservative Christian organizations.

Jason, I like “Sussudio” too. It’s fun, so let it go, cool kids! But I never noticed the “1999″ connection until you mentioned it. Now I’ll never hear “Sussudio” the same way again.

“Now now, Baron Von Snarkypants, avowed Wham fans don’t get to diss on prancing and shoulder pads.” BURN! “That’s ‘Wham!’, dammit.” PROOFREADING BURN!

‘Til Tuesday’s first album is ok, though obviously over-engineered by record label management. Mann really blossoms as a songwriter on the next two. The last ‘Til Tuesday album and her first solo album, Whatever, are excellent.

To me, the Missing Persons rip off tag only fits if you see nothing more than two bands fronted by blonde women in the 80s. Obviously, your mileage or attractiveness may vary.