#AtoZ 1981 Songs to Remember – “Z” is for “Zerox”

2022 A to Z 1 Minute

I chose 1981 music as my theme this year. My newest novel The Summer of Princess Diana is set in the summer of 1981, and oh! the music! Let’s take a look back at a pivotal time in the music industry.

Not much to choose from for the letter “Z,” but actually, this song by Adam & The Ants is pretty appropriate. Adam Ant is so symbolic of 1981, with his punk-rock look, his electronic/synthesized music. (By the way, Adam Ant was born Stuart Leslie Goddard, but that name certainly wouldn’t fly in 1981 punk-rock clubs, would it?)

The song title is spelled with a “Z,” but the lyrics do refer to a Xerox copier. According to Wikipedia, whereas Xerox machines are used to make paper copies of documents and other visual images, Xerox (Zerox) is used as a metaphor for plagiarism in the song’s lyrics:

Lock up your brain ‘Cos I’m here again
I’m never bored I’ll steal your chords
Ooh-ooh Zerox Machine Ooh-ooh Zerox Machine

Give me a line Or a middle eight
I’ve got the best So I want the rest
Ooh-ooh Zerox Machine Ooh-ooh Zerox Machine

Let’s get together Before its too late
Collect up the ideas And duplicate
Filling up the forms Send them off tonight
And you’ll be the owner Of the copyright
Of the copyright Of the copyright

Times of the essence Get your ears to the ground
However else Can the hits be found?

I may look happy, healthy and clean A dark brown voice and suit pristine
But behind the smile there is a Zerox Machine

Thanks for coming along on this journey with me! I hope you had fun revisiting some old songs. Many of these were a big part of my life in 1981, especially from April to September, when I was in Switzerland and, yes, working as an au pair for a family very much like the Brusadins.

Published by Martha Reynolds

I am the bestselling author of nine novels, including the Swiss Chocolate trilogy and VILLA DEL SOL, which won the 2018 Book Award in Literary Fiction from the Independent Publishers of New England. My newest series includes the books A JINGLE VALLEY WEDDING, APRIL IN GALWAY, and ALL’S WELL IN JINGLE VALLEY. Find my books online at Amazon, locally at Stillwater Books (Pawtucket, Rhode Island) and Ink Fish Books (Warren, Rhode Island).

Published

25 thoughts on “#AtoZ 1981 Songs to Remember – “Z” is for “Zerox””

  4. Pingback: My First A to Z Challenge Reflection (#AtoZ) – Monty’s Blahg

  5. Not sure if my comment went through. Let me try one more time, using a different browser.

    Zerox? Another one I didn’t know.
    Congrats on finishing A- Z, I sure got to know a couple of oldies but goodies throughout your musical alphabet.

    Watch out for my reflection post, you’ll be featured 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Another one I didn’t know.
    Congrats on finishing A- Z, I sure got to know a couple of oldies but goodies throughout your musical alphabet.

    Watch out for my reflection post, you’ll be featured 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. I’m not familiar with “Zeroxs” gut loved Adam Ant’s “Goody Two Shoes,” on my i-pod.

    This has been a fun ride through 1981 music. Surely not as rich as our coming of age years in the seventies, but some gems nonetheless.
    Thanks for all the work that you do. Your topic choices are unfailingly captivating.
    Until next year. Or sooner. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Now that Adam & The Ants song is a real blast from the past.
    In the UK we knew the name of Xerox but it never really caught on as the generic name for photocopy machines in the way Hoover did for vacuum cleaners.

    Well done on making it to the end of the challenge
    Today’s post: Z Is For Omega

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Same with Prozac–this is actually a trade name, the generic name is fluoxetine. But I still say I am on Prozac, since most people will recognize that name.

        BTW,I don’t remember this song at all. But I remember most of the other ones you shared.

        Liked by 1 person

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