"Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley - January 14th 80's Quest Song/Band of the day

Nothing edgy here....just a sharp dressed redhead singing about being a good guy - yet this was a popular song around 1987/1988 when Astley's English pop album, "Whenever You Need Somebody" came out. You heard a lot of Rick Astley back then. He had 5 hits off this album (This one, Whenever You Need Somebody, When I Fall in Love, Together Forever, She Wants to Dance With Me, and It Would Take a Strong , Strong Man).

I remember this being popular over the summer while we were at the beach, and I remember coming back to NH after a semester on exchange in San Diego...I was working at a bakery and sandwich delicatessen on campus called The Wildcatessen. This cassette was played a lot there and I made a ton of subs and pizzas while listening to this. It also makes me think of my friend, Michelle, because she really liked Rick Astley.

I went online to see what became of Rick Astley (He retired from music in 1993 at age 27 to have a family life) and learned about a recent popular phenomenon involving Rick Astley that I guess I missed altogether - Rickrolling. Here's what it is : Rickrolling is an Internet meme involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a bait and switch; a person provides a hyperlink seemingly relevant to the topic at hand, but actually leads to Astley's video. The link can be masked or obfuscated in some manner so that the user cannot determine the true destination of the link without clicking. Persons led to the music video are said to have been rickrolled. Rickrolling has extended beyond web links to playing the video or song disruptively in other situations, including public places, like a surprise appearance of Astley himself in the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.

Lyrics:

We're no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy

I just want to tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand

[Chorus:]
Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it

And if you ask me how I'm feeling
Don't tell me you're too blind to see

[Chorus x2]

(Ooh give you up)
(Ooh give you up)
(Ooh) Never gonna give, never gonna give (give you up)
(Ooh) Never gonna give, never gonna give (give you up)

We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it

I just want to tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand

[Chorus]