It’s apparently the most depressing week of the year and I feel that way right now. Here in Eastern Ontario, Canada it’s been around -10 to -20C for 2 weeks and the same for the next 2 more or less. A whole month below freezing apart from (maybe) the odd hour around 0C. And it’s so fucking dark.
So I apologize, but it makes me want to do a list to distract me.
We have done this before, but top 10 80s albums. Give it a go if you want or call me an idiot if you want
1 The Dreaming- Kate Bush
2 Stone Roses – Stone Roses
3 Dexys MR – Searching …
4 Simple Minds – New Gold Dream
5 Lloyd Cole and the Commotions -Rattlesnakes
6 Talking Heads – Remain in Light
7 Bob Dylan – Oh Mercy
8 Elvis Costello – Imperial Bedroom
9 Paul Simon – Graceland
10 The Smiths – The Queen is dead
Oops, forgot The Boss. 3 great albums. Oh well.
10,000 Maniacs – in my tribe
Steve Earle – Guitar Town
Paul Simon – Graceland
Elvis Costello – King of America
Bruce Springsteen – The River
Talking Heads – Reman in Light
Prince – Sign O the Times
Fleetwood Mac – Tusk
Dexys -, Too Rye Aye
Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms
Just realised Tusk was 1979 – will go with Suzanne Vega self titled instead.
I’ve been listening to that 10,000 Maniacs album a lot this year. I have it on tape but haven’t had access to a player until recently. Once I’d played it, I returned to it again and again.
It is really good, as is my tape I recorded off the wireless of their gig, aka the Cool White Stare bootleg CD. PM me for ‘help’ if required.
Thanks, really I should buy it-in some format. My copy is on the b-side of a C90 tape. Even to listen to it I have to cycle through Morrissey’s Your Arsenal to get back to the start!
Top 10 80s albums? That would be impossible – I started by looking at albums released in 1980 and already have 15 essentials (in release order):
OMD – OMD/Organisation
The Beat – I Just Can’t Stop It
Joy Division – Closer
ACDC – Back In Black
Van Morrison – Common One
Bruce Springsteen – The River
Status Quo – Just Supposin’
Motörhead – Ace of Spades
Bauhaus – In The Flat Field
Whitesnake – Live…in the Heart of the City
ABBA – Supertrouper
Saxon – Wheels of Steel/ Strong Arm of the Law
The Clash – Sandinista!
I could probably do the same for every year of the decade
From 1980, I take the Van Morrison, although there are at least 3 others I could choose if the storm was to wash over the desert island.
1981 wasn’t a great year for albums. I had to stretch to find 10:
The Cure – Faith
Public Image Ltd. – The Flowers of Romance
The Psychedelic Furs – Talk Talk Talk
Joy Division – Still
Bauhaus – Mask
The Human League – Dare
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Architecture & Morality
Soft Cell – Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
New Order – Movement
The Lounge Lizards – The Lounge Lizards
No love for Pirates (Rickie Lee Jones)? Penthouse and Pavement? Tin Drum? Teardrop Explodes’ Wilder? Stevie Nicks’ Bella Donna? Nightclubbing? Tattoo You? Splodgenessabounds?
No.
That’s a shame. On a more positive note, I’ve got out of bed. I’m already really missing it though.
Maybe Tin Drum…a bit.
Sorry, Gary – must have been a bit crotchety on the 16th – yes, I like Tin Drum and the live album – and much of the RTC album, and much solo material thereafter (especially from David Sylvian and Mick Karn)…
I see you put PG 3/Melt, Closer and Avalon on your list. All have been the cause of heated debate between rival factions: 3 or 4? Closer or Unknown Pleasures? Avalon or early Roxy? I agree with your position on the matter in all three cases.
Well…it’s a release date issue.
Early Roxy is 1970s and ruled out.
Unknown Pleasures is 1979 (I think) and ruled out.
If it wasn’t a 1980s thread, I’d have picked the 70s options in both cases.
Really the only debate in terms of 1980s releases is PG3 vs PG4. I would stand by PG3.
Then I’m glad it was an 80s thread and you were forced to make the correct choices.
Let’s face it: any Roxy is superb – and choosing a favourite is invidious. To my mind, their weakest album is Flesh + Blood, mainly due to the two cover versions – but it’s still a great album.
With UP/Closer – two sides of the same coin (choose your favourite cliché) and everyone needs both.
fitterstoke speaks my mind – which given the narrowness of the Venn Diagram overlap between us, is interesting. Heaven 17 and Japan were too cool for school, I only like one Julian Cope album (despite being a namesake), and the rest I have absolutely no interest in.
1982 to come next – I bet you can’t wait.
Spooky, wasn’t it?
From 1981, it has to be Architecture & Morality – I prefer the debut, self-titled album, but this is a classic. 1981 feels like a year of ‘cold’ music.
For 1982, a bit easier to find 10 than the year before, ignoring the (un-ignorable) elephant in the room that is Thriller:
Cabaret Voltaire – 2×45
Laurie Anderson – Big Science
The Clash – Combat Rock
Saxon – The Eagle Has Landed
Yazoo – Upstairs at Eric’s
Bauhaus – The Sky’s Gone Out
Prince – 1999
Siouxsie & The Banshees – A Kiss in the Dreamhouse
Led Zeppelin – Coda
The Gun Club – Miami
Bauhaus seem to be figuring a lot – never knowingly heard one of their songs.
Personally I think the 80’s has dated more than any other decade.
Which is that Christopher Brookmyre book where the psychopathic killer-for-hire had hidden his love of Queen’s music and pretended to love Bauhaus in his student days, because they were “cooler”?
Can’t be arsed to check, at 7:20 on a Sunday morning.
Only ever heard Bela Lugosi’s Dead. That was enough for me to swerve Bauhaus.
Well I liked them because they were cool. It was a time of Subway, Betty Blue, Rumblefish, Maxell tape adverts, The Face – style over substance, or possibly substance with style (as that New Order best of could have been called). I loved the way the albums looked, the logo, the clothes, the spiky hair and cheekbones. The music got increasingly silly, but it was still pleasurable.
Also, I have a thing for music from Northampton – see also The Jazz Butcher and Spacemen 3.
Also, the opening scene of The Hunger, with Bauhaus, Bowie & Deneuve, is one of the best opening scenes ever.
Bauhaus have done a bunch of cracking songs. Kick In The Eye used to pop-up at the student indie disco and was always welcome. She’s In Parties is a great single. Their cover of Third Uncle is excellent. I could go on. They weren’t ever cool though. Too arty farty – pretentious basically. All pose.
I think a lot of that has to do with producers insisting on slathering everything with that horrible echoey Fairlight sound.
1982 – it’s going to be Big Science – Laurie’s first and possibly best album. An interesting year of endings – Led Zep, The Clash (effectively) and Yazoo, and also beginnings – Laurie Anderson and Prince (the forst of the pop albums,I would say).
Here’s 1983
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Dazzle Ships
Tears For Fears – The Hurting
New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies
Mike Oldfield – Crises
Bauhaus – Burning from the Inside
Public Image Ltd. – Live in Tokyo
Cyndi Lauper – She’s So Unusual
Lionel Richie – Can’t Slow Down
Eurythmics – Touch
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Nocturne
Perhaps you could confirm in advance whether Boat To Bolivia will be included in your list for 1986? I would prefer to face disappointment now rather than endure another second of the anxiety of anticipation.
While Martin and his Daintees flickered on my radar during my years of listening to Peel and Long of an evening, that never translated into ever listening to the album or any others.
Well, curses be upon thee, as Quakers probably say. I hope your harvest fails.
Edit. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I apologise. I let my emotions get the better of me.
They absolutely don’t, but you knew that.
I suppose provoking a strong reaction is better than no reaction at all. Should I listen to B2B, then?
Of course! Everyone should! It’s brilliant! (You should listen to it before you get to 1986.)
OK, I will. But there’s stiff competition for a place on the 1986 list.
Can you do every year you have been a music fan? But preferably not here.
I’m guessing you are asking me not to do any more of my 80s polls. Sure. Probably nobody else is interested either.
No I was joking. Probably didn’t come across that way. Apols.
No worries. Tone is almost impossible to read in text quite often, and I often get Mary Bennet syndrome.
I think the Eurythmics are the best example of 80’s music dating badly. Loved them at the time – think they sound awful now.
I can only agree.
Their second and third albums I still have a lot of time for. They got bloated and self-indulgent and pompous after that.
Thanks to Diddley for not minding me continuing this enjoyable (for me at least) romp through the 80s. Quite self indulgent, I know, and I hope dai doesn’t mind this cuckooing (or at least mistletoeing) of his thread.
1983’s favourite, then. Although New Order’s PC&L has an enduring place in my heart, not least for its classy cover, it is (whisper it), sometimes a bit dull. I remember that at the time, Under The House, This Is Not A Love Song and in particular Religion just struck me to the core. Live In Tokyo is such an amazing album for showcasing how Lydon does cathartic mainlining of dark emotions. It is thunderous.
Looking back, 1983 was a good year for fraught, somewhat angsty pop, apart from Lionel, Good bless Lionel – an augur of what was to come. Speaking of which, here’s 1984:
1984
The Pretenders – Learning to Crawl
Laurie Anderson – Mister Heartbreak
Marillon – Fugazi
The Cars – Heartbeat City
Prince – Purple Rain
Sade – Diamond Life
The Psychedelic Furs – Mirror Moves
The Cocteau Twins – Treasure
Alison Moyet – Alf
Laurie Anderson – United States Live
1984 was a great year for pop music, possibly the best ever. Diamond Life would have to be my pick, as it’s timeless and perfect.
1985
The Sisters of Mercy – First & Last & Always
Prince & The Revolution – Around The World In A Day
New Order – Low-Life
Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen
The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy & The Lash
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
The Cult – Love
Big Audio Dynamite – This Is Big Audio Dynamite
The Jesus & Mary Chain – Psychocandy
Propaganda – A Secret Wish
1985 is definitely a peak year for albums for me. Every single one of these could be my favourite and I wouldn’t feel short- changed if the 1985 choices were my 80s top 10 completely. However, if I have to choose just one, it is going to be FALAA – it couldn’t be anything else, really…
1986 list now
Cocteau Twins – Víctorialand
The Sisterhood – Gift
Spacemen 3 – Sound of Confusion
This Mortal Coil – Filigree & Shadow
New Order – Brotherhood
The Pretenders – Get Close
Big Audio Dynamite – No.10 Upping Street
Kate Bush – The Whole Story
Diamanda Galás – Saint of the Pit
Red Box – The Circle & The Square
Sorry, Gary, no Boat to Bolivia. I did listen to it this morning. Little Red Bottle was very appealing, and there’s a wide range of styles of music across the record, but it wasn’t an improvement on the Kane Gang, China Crisis or Prefab Sprout, to name but a few light-voiced folky pop acts from the north east.
I get the definite impression that Bejesus (below) won’t agree with you at all one little bit regarding B2B. I just hope things can remain civil between you is all.
I’m sure we can remain perfectly civil – out tastes seem to be completely different, so no overlap at all.
The Whole Story – cracking collection, and does include a remixed/reworked guitar part on Wuthering Heights … but are compilations allowed?
Yes, see Hatful Of Hollow and Louder Than Bombs lower down
It’s definitely enough Kate for me. I’ve tried her albums, and found them all quite… trying. Same with The Smiths and Echo & The Bunnymen – Songs To Learn & Sing is quite enough for me.
Kate Bush quite trying? Precisely why I love her!
Wuthering Heights contains a completely new vocal on the compilation! An inferior one in my opinion.
1986 feels like a breather after the excellence that was 1985. A lot of ambience and noise as I look back at my choices. If I could have the extended version with True Faith, Bacon Lettuce & Tomato, 1963 (effectively a mini Substance), I think Brotherhood wins this one for me. Though I made one omission – The Communards debut album – let’s take out Kate Bush, put that in, and give it first place.
1987
Prince – Sign of the Times
Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician
The Young Gods – The Young Gods
The Cure – Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Dead Can Dance – Within the Realm of a Dying Sun
New Order – Substance
The Jesus and Mary Chain – Darklands
Spacemen 3 – The Perfect Prescription
Pop Will Eat Itself – Box Frenzy
The Sisters of Mercy – Floodland
1987 was a year of some of my favourite acts going big and going pop. It’s a clear win for Substance here – such a mighty canon of beautiful uplifting music – peerless.
1988
Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man
Pixies – Surfer Rosa
The Jesus and Mary Chain – Barbed Wire Kisses
Fairground Attraction – The First of a Million Kisses
Wire – A Bell Is a Cup
Billy Bragg – Workers Playtime
The Waterboys – Fisherman’s Blues
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
Dead Can Dance – The Serpent’s Egg
Galaxie 500 – Today
1988 the year I went to university and my musical horizons widened significantly with the tastes of friends I still have today making an imprint on my pop goth tendencies, not least Laughing Len could be the best album of all time (including Jazz Police), except I didn’t know it at the time. I’m Your Man is this year’s choice.
1989
Fine Young Cannibals – The Raw and the Cooked
Pixies – Doolittle
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
The Cure – Disintegration
Peter Gabriel – Passion
Neneh Cherry – Raw like Sushi
Van Morrison – Avalon Sunset
Neil Young – Freedom
Galaxie 500 – On Fire
Eat – Sell Me A God
I think I know who is winning this one.
Were you right?
Yes.
Prove it!
It has to be Eat, surely?
Extraordinary! That’s right. I’ll never know how you knew.
1989 – the year I got to know Neil Young, much more of that in the nineties. The end of the decade – fun to revisit, if indulgent. It has to be Eat – Sell Me A God as the favourite. I loved the music, especially live. Nothing topped them.
So, here, finally is my top 10 80s albums chart, chronological, of course:
Van Morrison – Common One
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Architecture & Morality
Laurie Anderson – Big Science
Public Image Ltd. – Live in Tokyo
Sade – Diamond Life
The Sisters of Mercy – First & Last & Always
The Communards – The Communards
New Order – Substance
Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man
Eat – Sell Me A God
Im sure Ive forgotten some bangers – but here is my list FWIW
Skylarking
Remain in light
Steve Mcqueen
My life in the bush of ghosts
Swordfishtrombones
Doolittle
Spirit of Eden
Green
Old Rottenhat
With the usual proviso that I have forgotten some must includes and the choice and order will be different tomorrow, here goes…..
1. Hounds of Love – Kate Bush
2. Love Over Gold – Dire Straits
3. Skylarking – XTC
4. Hats – Blue Nile
5. Duke – Genesis
6. Kite – Kirsty MacColl
7. Welcome Home – ‘Til Tuesday
8. PG4 – Pater Gabriel
9. Colour Of Spring – Talk Talk
10. Rattlesnakes – Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
Far too many to choose from. Unless… I limit myself to albums with one word titles, thus
Closer
Countrymen
Uprising
Dare
Nightclubbing
Treasure
Lowlife
Psychocandy
Unity
Hup!
This might not be my official top 10 – as others have said, there are too many to choose from, given that the 1980s was of course the best decade for music* – but here are 10 that came quickly to mind:
Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
Marillion – Fugazi
Pink Floyd – The Final Cut
The Psychedelic Furs – Mirror Moves
Depeche Mode – Music For The Masses
Ultravox – Rage in Eden
Simple Minds – New Gold Dream
FGTH – Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Talk Talk – It’s My Life
Jethro Tull – The Broadsword and The Beast
* Admittedly, this might not be scientifically proven with evidence and all that malarkey, but this is an absolute fact, and any argument to the contrary is futile. So there.
*I think I’ve said something similar about the 1970s…
Dai – you are an idiot
Idaiot?
Thank you
1. Music for the Masses – Depeche Mode
2. Remain in Light – Talking Heads
3. Architecture and Morality – OMD
4. Difficult Shapes…- China Crisis
5. Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret – Soft Cell
6. New Gold Dream – Simple Minds
7. A Secret Wish – Propaganda
8. Dare – Human League
9. Back in the DHSS – Half Man Half Biscuit
10. Hounds of Love – Kate Bush
Also singles compilations from The Smiths, Squeeze, UB40, Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, Madness, Housemartins
Stone Roses – Stone Roses
UB40 Signing Off
Japan – Tin Drum
Rickie Lee Jones – Pirates
J.J. Cale – In Shades
Van Morrison – Beautiful Vision
Everything But The Girl – Eden
Aztec Camera – High Land Hard Rain
Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen
Paul Simon – One Trick Pony
It’s far too cold to get out of bed.
Beautiful Vision should be in mine probably
With you all the way on our first choice, Dai
Kate Bush – The Dreaming
Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
Julian Cope – Fried
The Smiths – The Queen is Dead
Talking Heads – Remain in Light
Rush – Moving Pictures
Nic Jones – Penguin Eggs
Talk Talk – Spirit of Eden
David Sylvian – Secrets of the Beehive
Bert Jansch – Avocet
What? Is that ten already? But I wanted to list Del Amitri – Waking Hours
Hounds would have made mien too, but I stuck to 10 different artists
REM – Murmur
Paul Simon – Graceland
Cowboy Junkies – The Trinity Session
XTC – Skylarking
Elvis Costello – Blood and Chocolate
Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique
Pretenders – Learning to Crawl
Tom Petty – Full Moon Fever
Prince and the Revolution – Around the World in a Day
Peter Gabriel – So
I forgot about Full moon fever which should have been in my list.
Tracy Chapman
New Order up to Technique (but maybe not Movement)
REM up to Green
Cocteau Twins up to Blue Bell Knoll (but maybe not Garlands)
The Cult – up to Sonic Temple. Love and Electric, anyhow.
Diesel Park West – Shakespeare Alabama
The Blue Nile – AWATR and Hats
I’ll probably add to the list as the morning progresses.
Oooh. Shakespeare Alabama is a mighty fine album. It might get into my top 10
It’s a silly task but…in no particular order.
The Church: Starfish
Propaganda: A Secret Wish
It’s Immaterial: Life’s hard and then you die.
Blue Aeroplanes: Swagger
Talk Talk: The Colour of Spring.
New Order: Technique
Comsat Angels: 7 Day Weekend.
Go-betweens: 16 Lovers Lane
REM: Green
Psychedelic Furs: Mirror Moves.
Sorry @fentonsteve
As soon as I posted my list above, I thought of Life’s Hard…
Good to know there’s at least one other fan of the criminally ignored Immaterials.
Well, hello @captain-darling
It’s an absolute belter of an album, all killer no filler. The 2nd album was quite different, much more low key but has grown on me. I also obtained the 3rd album recently (10 years ago??) must dig that out.
I think the Diesels (the Wests?) would fit the brief for English Big Music, had anyone heard of them. You didn’t get real drums on many albums back then. Funny to think they were on the same label as Blur and Jesus Jones.
and Zodiac Mindwarp
Is there a label that hasn’t given Zodiac Mindwarp a home at some time or other?
Band or Art Project?
(with Mark Manning, Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond involved, I’m going for the latter)
Not a bad call that @fentonsteve. Me and my mates loved the album, maybe a bit rockist in parts.
Didn’t they do a Food Tour with the other bands? Bit of a strange mix as you say.
I dunno about a tour, but they definitely did a Food Christmas all-dayer gig at Brixton Academy. DPW, Blur (who were post-US tour, pre-Modern Life Is Rubbish, and totally shit), Crazyhead, headlined by Jesus Jones. There was a 12″ EP for sale at the merch table which had Food acts covering another. DPW did Jesus Jones’ Info Freako. Here you go:
Thinking about the timelines (the Food Christmas gig was December 1989), the shit Blur performance must have been on the Rollercoaster tour in 1992. I remember they were awful, but I barely remember MBV, Dinosaur Jr or JAMC. Funny what sticks in the mind…
Ah. That’s it. No DPW then
Well, according to SetlistFM, the Food gig was 1991, not 1989.
The Family Cat (I don’t remember them at all), DPW, Blur, Jesus Jones. I don’t know if there was a tour, I only saw the one gig.
Ta @fentonsteve
I remember the name the Family Cat but that’s about it.
I have Shakespeare Alabama a blast last night…still holds up well
The Family Cat were a lot more Indie sounding than DPW. The only things I know about them are by relation – they were from Yeovil (as was one of my uni housemates) and were on the same label – Dedicated – as Chapterhouse (who I knew from Reading). I’ve got their Steamroller EP somewhere. Why they played a Food label gig escapes me.
My pal lived on Upper Street, from 1990 to ’94 or ’95, near the Victoria Line station – direct Tube to Brixton. We went to so many gigs at the Academy that they blur into one in my memory banks.
1. Purple Rain – Prince
2. Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen
3. Disintegration – The Cure
4. Doolittle – Pixies
5. Reign In Blood – Slayer
6. Stone Roses
7. Diamond Life – Sade
8. Graceland – Paul Simon
9. Master of Puppets – Metallica
10. Control – Janet Jackson
Honourable mentions: Three Feet High & Rising – De La Soul, Daydream Nation – Sonic Youth, Tango In The Night – Fleetwood Mac, Hats – Blue Nile, Paid in Full – Eric B & Rakim, Spirit of Eden – Talk Talk, Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston, Madonna – Madonna, Isn’t Anything – MBV, Fugazi – Fugazi, The Queen is Dead – The Smiths, Bleach – Nirvana, Criminal Minded – BDP
Mucho respect for the Madonna album. I’m exploring her catalogue at the moment and that is a damn good record.
As are Like a Virgin, True Blue and Like a Prayer
Madonna had a fairly untouchable 80s – 4 great albums and Desperately Seeking Susan.
I find her early period super interesting. I’ve recommended it on here before, but if you decide to dig further the first half of “Madonna: A Rebel Life” by Mary Gabriel is a wonderful read.
Seconded re A Rebel Life. An awe-inspiring amount of research clearly went into it, and I probably learnt more about Madonna’s sex life than I needed to know, but the chapters on her early career were eye-opening.
I guessed that M only got to the top through a lot of hard work, but I didn’t realise just how much effort she put in to make it big, with endless gigs, assorted knock-backs, and a lot of discrimination. The book also showed what a smart cookie she is, picking the right collaborators at the right time and standing her ground when others might have buckled. I for one would not argue with her.
Those berks who turn up on X Factor Voice Talent and say “I want to be famous” should be made to read this book to learn just what it takes to become *really* famous.
No particular order
Neil Young Freedom
Bob Dylan Oh Mercy
Dexy’s. Don’t Stand Me Down
Juluan Cope. Peggy Suicide
XTC. Skylarking/Orqanges and Lemons
Prince. Around the World in a Day/Purple Rain
Paul Simon. Graceland
Van Morrison. Beautiful Vision/Common One/Poetic Champions Compose
Bruce S. The River
The Smiths. Hatful of Hollow/Louder Than Bombs
Should also have selected Kilimanjaro
Was thinking of St Julian – Didn’t think could combine him and the Teardrops in one. Maybe I should’ve gone with Floored Genius on which the did just that.
Amazed by how many great albums came out in that much maligned decade.
Could easily have done a top 20
Floored Genius is a superb compilation of his music at that time.
Sorry to get all ‘I think you’ll find’, but Peggy Suicide was 1991. Choose Fried instead.
I’ve deliberated, cogitated and agonised
Scary Monsters – Bowie
Substance – New Order
Nightclubbing – Grace Jones
New Gold Dream – Simple Minds
Closer – Joy Division
Sign of the Times – Prince
Hatful of Hollow – Smiths
Murmur – REM
Warm Leatherette – Grace Jones
Gaucho – Steely Dan
More? Grace Jones – Living My Life, Siouxsie and the Banshees – Juju, Cyndi Lauper – She’s So Unusual, Neneh Cherry – Raw Like Sushi, Robert Cray – Bad Influence, Echo and the Bunnymen- Crocodiles, REM – Reckoning, New Order – Low Life, Scritti Politti – Cupid and Psyche, Haircut 100 – Favourite Shirt, The Cure – Seventeen Seconds, Nirvana – Bleach, Sonic Youth – Evol, Neil Young – Freedom, REM – Life’s Rich Pageant, Madonna – Like A Prayer, The Fall – Wonderful and Frightening World, Tropical Gangsters,
Plus Boat To Bolivia. And Doll By Doll while you’re at it.
I’d have to hear them first.
I respectfully disagree.
I’ll get back to you.
In no particular order. These might not be the best but they are the ones that had the most impact on me. If I had to pick one it would be Spirit of Eden. I bought a cassette of it from Boots in Bracknell for half price shortly after it was released. I took it on holiday to Majorca the following week without listening to it. It really is the least holiday music album of all time. But I couldn’t stop playing it. Sublime.
Rattlesnakes
Spirit of Eden
Hatful of Hollow
Hats
If I Should Fall from Grace with God
A Pagan Place
Power, Corruption & Lies
Disintegration
Closer
Soul Mining
Most played –
ABC – Lexicon Of Love
Human League – Dare
Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel Of Love
Lou Reed – New York
Adam and the Ants – Prince Charming
Don Henley – The End of the Innocence
Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson
Inxs – Kick
Chris Rea – Dancing With Strangers
John Martyn – Grace and Danger
New York another one I should have included (and Tunnel)
Most played chez Slot – def not a “greatest masterpieces of the 80s ever”
New Order Substance
Pet Shop Boys Actually
Bowie Scary Monsters
Lou Reed New York
The Stone Roses
Spacemen 3 The Perfect Prescription
Abba – The Visitors
Paul Simon Graceland
The Police Synchronicity
REM Green
This thread is great fun, Dai. Hope the Canadian weather gets better soon.
So many fantastic albums to choose from! I am paralysed with indecision.
So I’m nominating just one: Tropical Gangsters by Kid Creole and the Coconuts
If you don’t stop flagellating yourself, Dai, we may need to have a whip round to cheer you up.
See what you did there…
Oo er. Actually warming up a little for a couple of days but then plunging to -27 on Monday. “Gotta get through January, gotta get through February”
We’ve just come out of a week-long freeze. Scarping ice of the car wasn’t much fun but walking across the park was – no mud, and brown dog poo was easy to spot against the white frost. And then there was the Fen skating:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78wdv73dggo
In an order that experts are calling alphabetical….
Cowboy Junkies – The Trinity Session
Bob Dylan – Oh Mercy
Lone Justice – Shelter
John Mellencamp – Scarecrow
Pretenders – Pretenders
Lou Reed – New York
REM – Life’s Rich Pageant
Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel of Love
Neil Young – Freedom
Warren Zevon – Sentimental Hygiene
Bubbling under….Roy Orbison – Mystery Girl, 10,000 Maniacs – In My Tribe, John Mellencamp – The Lonesome Jubilee, Stevie Nicks – Bella Donna, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Hard Promises, Lucinda Williams – Lucinda Williams, Suzanne Vega – Solitude Standing, Paul Simon – Graceland, Roxy Music – Flesh & Blood, Talk Talk – Spirit of Eden.
For some reason I thought Pretenders’ 1st came out in 1979 – it would have been on my list for sure.
The first three singles came out in ’79, the album a whole 12 months after the first single, and the fourth single a full six months after the LP.
We think of the first two albums as a pair, but II was 18 months after the debut.
It seemed a long time at the time, but not any more.
Orange Juice – You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions – Rattlesnakes
Prince – Purple Rain
Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen
Jesus and Mary Chain – Pyschocandy
Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Get Happy!!
The Smiths – Hatful of Hollow
Pixies – Doolittle
Dr John – Dr John Plays Mac Rebbenack
The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
Off the top of my head & not in any order –
Imperial Bedroom
Avalon
New Gold Dream
Architecture and Morality
Rattlesnakes
High Land Hard Rain
Poetic Champions Compose
Copperhead Road
Lyle Lovett & His Large Band
Oh Mercy
Allowing myself only one per year only from what’s in my library, to get a spread of releases across the decade. The ’80s is not my favourite decade, by quite some distance. Slim pickings for a few of these years.
1980. Steely Dan – Gaucho
1981. Brian Eno & David Byrne – My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
1982. Kid Creole & The Coconuts – Tropical Gangsters
1983. Virginia Astley – From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
1984. Blancmange – Mange Tout
1985. Terje Rypdal – Chaser
1986. Paul Simon – Graceland
1987. Man Jumping – World Service
1988. The Waterboys – Fisherman’s Blues
1989. Tears For Fears – The Seeds Of Love
I really need to check out that Virginia Astley album. It’s a total blind spot for me, but I keep hearing rave reviews – including Mr Wilson & Mr Bowness on their Album Years podcast.
’83 was one of my slim pickings years, TBH.
It’s a quietly magnificent album, but I probably would have preferred to pick something more mainstream. Nothing suitable and more mainstream available that year, IMO. Same goes for ’85’s and ’87’s selections.
It is a lovely album. I’m sorry that the subsequent Hope in a Darkened Heart never seems to have come out on CD.
Oddly, that’s the one that’s available on Tidal and not FGWWFS.
Any other decade would be easy…I wrote down 53 albums before whittling it down. Exptect a long list of bubbling-under:s…
From 1980 and forward:
Remain In Light – Talking Heads
Black Sea – XTC
Nightclubbing – Grace Jones
The Dreaming – Kate Bush
Waving Not Drowning – Rupert Hine
Tropical Gangsters – Kid Creole and the Coconuts
English Settlements – XTC
Texas Fever – Orange Juice
Swoon – Prefab Sprout
Purple Rain – Prince
Saint Julian – Julian Cope
(oops – that’s eleven…I don’t care, that’s as far as I can whittle!)
Should have been on the list too, based on how much my teenage self played them:
Sandinista! – The Clash, Warm Leatherette – Grace Jones, Uprising – Bob Marley, Diana – Diana Ross, I Love Rock n’Roll – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places – Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Ghost in the Machine – The Police, Sons and Fascination – Simple Minds, Once Upon a Time; The Singles – Siouxsie & The Banshees, Living My Life – Grace Jones, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) – Simple Minds, Rasera – Imperiet, Doppelganger – Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Vermin in Ermine – Marc Almond and the Willing Sinners, The Top – The Cure, Welcome to the Pleasure Dome – FGTH, Learning to Crawl – The Pretenders, This Last Night in Sodom – Soft Cell, Brilliant Trees – David Sylvian, The Rhythmatist – Stewart Copeland, The Head On the Door – The Cure, What a Life! – The Divinyls, Blå Himlen Blues – Imperiet, Crush – OMD, A Secret Wish – Propaganda, Cupid & Psyche ´85 – Scritti Politti, Synd – Imperiet, Graceland – Paul Simon, Infected – The The, Sign O´ the Times – Prince, 3 Feet High and Rising – De La Soul.
(And that’s me leaving out a ton of albums I loved then, and a bunch of albums I didn’t fall in love with until decades later)
Oh; and looking at some of your lists here, I realise that I’ve forgotten a bunch of great albums that I only have on vinyl – I looked the years up on my WMP, so if it hasn’t been digitally ripped, I wasn’t reminded of it…) In other words: I could have made a Top 100 Albums of the 80s, easily. But I turned 13 in 1980, so those were my formative music years.
The Blue Nile – Hats
Springsteen – The River and Tunnel Of Love
Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen
EBTG – Idlewild
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions – Rattlesnakes
The Stone Roses
The Railway Children – Reunion Wilderness
Talking Heads – Remain in Light and Speaking in Tongues
Idlewild was no. 11 on my list.
Blimey – forgot about Idlewild. And Hats….
Remain in Light – Talking Heads
High Land Hard Rain – Aztec Camera
New Gold Dream – Simple Minds
Rockin’ and Romance – Jonathan Richman
Soul Mining – The The
Discipline – King Crimson
Hope and Despair – Edwyn Collins
Manic Pop Thrill – That Petrol Emotion
Rattlesnakes – Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
Boat to Bolivia – Martin Stephenson and the Daintees
No standout album made the grade for the Waterboys, World Party, the Cure, New Order, U2, the Go Betweens, Lyle Lovett, the Undertones, Orange Juice, Shriekback, REM and lots of others. On reflection I think the list is albums that I played to death than that I’d still play nowadays.
Late edit: How could I have forgotten Songs to Remember by Scritti Politti. I still play that a lot. It’s Soul Mining that gets the chop on the basis that there are a few songs on it that I always skip. Sorry Matt!
REM – Reckoning
Simple Minds – Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call
The Human League – Dare
Echo & the Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here
Holger Czukay – On the Way to the Peak of Normal
The Fall – The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall
Lucinda Williams – Lucinda Williams
Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombones
Talking Heads – Remain in Light
The Cure – Seventeen Seconds
That was tough. Much tougher than doing an 70s poll, for example, where for me at least, history whittled off a bit of dead wood. Whereas for the 80s, I was right there in the frontline for the entire decade so had a more personal relationship with the music I was listening to.
Well, I’ve been letting this bubble at the back of mind as the day has progressed. And I’ve ended up with a baker’s dozen, not in any particular order:
Shoot Out the Lights
From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
PG 3/Melt
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Closer
Pornography
Discipline
Tender Prey
Swordfishtrombones
Life’s Rich Pageant
Brilliant Trees
Grace & Danger
Avalon
I love a list! In no particular order
Furniture. The Wrong People
New Order. Low Life
REM Life’s Rich Pageant
The Cure Kiss me kiss me kiss me
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions Rattlesnakes
Rush Moving Pictures
Elvis Costello Blood and Chocolate
EBTG Eden
The Smiths. The Queen is dead
The Triffids Calenture.
I love a list! In no particular order
Furniture. The Wrong People
New Order. Low Life
REM Life’s Rich Pageant
The Cure Kiss me kiss me kiss me
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions Rattlesnakes
Rush Moving Pictures
Elvis Costello Blood and Chocolate
EBTG Eden
The Smiths. The Queen is dead
The Triffids Calenture.
Oooh, Rush!
Limiting myself to one per artist, and to records I bought and listened to loads at the time rather than discovered much later, here’s ten from old 60s and 70s lags who kept it going through the 80s:
Bob Dylan Oh Mercy
Van Morrison Common One
Bruce Springsteen Tunnel of Love
John Fogerty Centerfield
Paul Simon Graceland
Randy Newman Trouble in Paradise
Richard and Linda Thompson Shoot Out the Lights
John Lennon and Yoko Ono Double Fantasy
Robbie Robertson Robbie Robertson
Travelling Wilburys Travelling Wilburys Vol 1
And here’s ten from artists who came into their peak in the 80s (or at the end of the 70s):
Joe Jackson Blaze of Glory
Elvis Costello King of America
Style Council Café Bleu
Eurythmics Savage
Culture Club Colour by Numbers
Nanci Griffith Last of the True Believers
Dire Straits Love Over Gold
UB40 Labour of Love
Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman
The Waterboys Fisherman’s Blues
80s Albums, maybe not “80s Music”
1. Marillion – Misplaced Childhood
2. Big Country – The Crossing
3. Dexys Midnight Runners – Searching For The Young Soul Rebels
4. Madness – The Rise and Fall
5. Jam – Sound Affects
6. Stiff Little Fingers – Go For It
7. Iron Maiden – The Number Of The Beast
8. Pogues – Rum, Sodomy & The Lash
9. Dogs D’Amour – In The Dynamite Jet Saloon
10. AC/DC – Back In Black
Can I have a number 11?
Human League – Dare
(it should be in the 10, but I didn’t know what to leave out)
Funny old thing @rigid-digit, for the first time in a very very long time I thought of The Number of the Beast today. It just popped up into my mind for no particular reason. Great album!
Personal favourites in no particular order.
Here Come the Snakes: Green on Red
Pleased to Meet Me: The Replacements
Lifes Rich Pageant: R.E.M.
A Walk Across the Rooftops: The Blue Nile
Rattlesnakes: Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
Full Moon Fever: Tom Petty
English Settlement: XTC
Maria McKee: Maria McKee
Stands for Decibels: The Db’s
Swordfishtrombones & Rain Dogs: Tom Waits
C’mon Deram, you know you want to..
1. Swordfishtrombones
2. Nightclubbing
3. Sign O The Times
4. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
5. Doolittle
6. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
7. Fresh Fruit In Foreign Places
8. This Nation’s Saving Grace
9. Metal Box
10. Control
Exemplary list, but Metal Box was 79 (the greatest ever year)
I’m tempted to offer Second Edition 😉 but I will offer Cupid & Psyche 85. None more eighties!
No particular order
Stone Roses – Stone Roses
Penguin Cafe – Broadcasting From Home
Bunnymen – Crocodiles
Prefab Sprout – Steve Mcqueen
House of Love – House of Love
Toots – Toots Live
Teardrops – Kilimanjaro
Joni – Shadows and Light
Pixies – Surfer Rosa
Human League – Dare
I’m working away so have had to rely on my memory plus I was still buying vinyl until the end of the 80s. I hd to have two TMTCH albums although Silver Town might not be on every fan’s list. I love it for being the most consistent whereas Waiting For Bonaparte has some of my favourite songs ever.
10,000 Maniacs: In My Tribe
Waterboys: This is the Sea
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions: Rattlesnakes
The Men They Couldn’t Hang: Waiting For Bonaparte
Paul Simon: Graceland
Lone Justice: Lone Justice
Kirsty McColl: Kite
Suzanne Vega: Suzanne Vega
The Men They Couldn’t Hang: Silver Town
Billy Bragg: Life’s a Riot With Spy vs Spy
This thread is a good example of what we may as well call the “Oh Mercy Effect”, when a major artist only releases one very good album in the specified time frame, which hoovers up all the votes cast by their fans.
Infidels is pretty good. I actually have a soft spot for Down in the Groove which many think is his worst ever album. Of course it’s no Blood on the Tracks, but I find it an occasional fun listen
The consensus about Down in the Groove is correct. It is indeed awful. Infidels on the other hand is half an absolutely brilliant record. I also like some of Empire Burlesque in which Bob tries to truly like the he is an 80s artist
Well, IMO he clearly bookended the decade with its two best albums; Saved and Oh Mercy, but Empire Burlesque is fine, and Knocked Out Loaded and Shot of Love too, and the others also have quite a few great tracks on them.
I think Dylan’s 80s is unfairly judged by people who compare them to the impossibly high standard of his earlier albums. If you listen (without prejudice, Part 2) they’re actually not as bad as people say.
I first said this on The Afterword back before it existed and have repeated it many, many times in an unsuccessful attempt to bore myself: for a very specific demographic, ie. the non-fan with very little interest in the man’s work and a dislike of his songwriting and voice and everything else (including his paintings but not, strangely enough, his memoir which was found to be a very interesting and well-written read), for that specific demographic it must be said that Jokerman is very, very much appreciated for its excellence.
THE CLOCK COMES DOWN THE STAIRS
and nine other albums.
While I’d haVe gone for Crooked Mile, you’re a man after my own heart @badartdog
Crooked Mile would’ve been one of the other nine, Jay
Got into MD after reading an article about them in the Face magazine while I was living in Bahrain in the mid-80s.
Missed seeing them at the NCH on their one-off reformation for Clock in June 2017 (was seeing Robyn Hitchcock at the Workman’s Club(. Was over the moon when I finally got to see them at Vicar St – they played their last ever gig in Cork the following night.
Wonderful. wonderful band. Was gutted when I read here that Cathal had died a couple of years later.
Do you live in Ireland @badartdog? If so where are you based?
I’m in Roscommon but get up to gigs about once a month – Lyle Lovett on Monday being my next and Jason Isbell at Vicar St in mid-Feb being the next. Great to meet up for pre-gig pints if our live gig schedules ever intersect
I saw the Fatima Mansions (fantastic live band) lots of times in my London days but never got to see Microdisney. I’m seeing the High Llamas in Dublin soon. I’ve only ever seen them as Arthur Lee’s backing band when he played in London years ago.
On the subject of Cathal Coughlan, I really liked the Telifís stuff he did in the last few years. He never lost his edge…
While bought C’s two last albums, found the Telefis stuff a bit too left field for my taste.
Time to dig them out and give them another listen
had to miss the High Llamas as am going to Jason Isbell a couple of days earlier and the cost of getting up to two Dublin gigs in one month is horrifying. Hope you enjoy the show
Great idea, but I cannot do this well as I was too young for the early 80s, So, ten super subjective suggestions in random order
Pixies-Surfer Rosa
Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation
MBV: Isn’t Anything
De La Soul : 3 Feet High and Rising
Butthole Surfers: Locust Abortion Technician
Smiths: Hatful of Hollow
AR Kane: 69
Prince: Around the World in a Day
Throwing Muses: The Fat Skier (later re-used inHouse Tornado)
The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of…
Kraftwerk – Computer World
Soft Cell- Non-Stop Exotic Cabaret
The Sisters Of Mercy – Floodland
Philip Glass – Mishima OST
The Smiths – Louder than Bombs
Public Enemy – Yo! Bum Rush the Show
Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man
Laibach – Let it Be
Prince – Parade
The Pogues – If I Should Fall From Grace With God
I hear the objections to Louder than Bombs and I acknowledge them. If it helps, I wrote this post in an American accent.
re Louder Than Bombs – it’s OK because Hatful Of Hollow is nominated above. All we need is a shout for The World Won’t Listen for a perfect Smithsian triangle
Wasn’t LTB essentially WWL slightly tweaked and rebranded for ‘Merican cousins? FWIW, reason why I opted for the former rather than the latter is that LTB is a much better title.
It’s interesting that, a couple of standout albums aside, many leading artists (Neil, Bruce, Bob) 80s output is seen as a bit inconsequential.
The two acts I can think of who didn’t seem to put a foot wrong were XTC and the Smiths
I think LTB had some post- WWL singles on it, so not as big overlap as might be thought. I know it’s not a proper album, but it was the Smiths record I listened to the most back in the day. Still probably the best introduction to them I think.
The one big name who had a pretty consistent run of albums in the 1980s was VTM – Common One, Beautiful Vision, No Guru, No Teacher, No Method, Poetic Champions Compose and Irish Heartbeat being pretty essential Van albums
Absolutely!
But Bruce:
The River
Nebraska
Born in the USA
Tunnel of Love
Pretty great for me too, less quantity, however he probably had enough material for another 3 pretty good albums in this time period, but didn’t put them out
Some excellent choices all round, with many that could have easily made my list (and some that I forgot about and should have). But at the end of the day, if it comes down to a vote, I think my top ten is still the best on the whole of the Afterword (and probably the whole wide world). This gives me great pleasure.
except … PG3 is a better album than PG4
Whilst PG3 features Kate Bush (one of my all time favourite artists), I’m still going with PG4 – San Jacinto, Wallflower, The Rhythm Of The Heat – some of his best ever tracks.
I will concede though that PG3 is a close second in the PG canon.
3 or “Melt” for me too
XTC – Black Sea
World Party – Private Revolution
Martin Stephenson & Daintees – Boat to Bolivia
Elvis Costello – Imperial Bedroom
Nine Below Zero – Don’t point your Finger
Orange Juice – You can’t hide your love forever
Waterboys -, A Pagan place
Christy Moore – Unfinished Revolution
U2 – Boy
Faith Brothers – Eventide
These are in no order I could easily do another 20 albums . I do find as I get older I tend to revisit my past music a lot more now . Love the 80s for music .
Cheers
Aha! Another chance to make a list.
Instead of doing a Top 10 plus “ooh, I forgot that one” & “bubbling under” & “ask me tomorrow for some more”, and so on, here’s my list of thirty 80’s albums I like:
1 Nic Jones – Penguin Eggs
2 Grant Green – Nigeria
3 Emmylou Harris – Bluebird
4 Weather Report – Night Passage
5 Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard – Pancho & Lefty
6 Bill Frisell – Rambler
7 Lucinda Williams – Happy Woman Blues
8 Jackson Browne – World in Motion
9 James ‘Blood’ Ulmer – Are You Glad to Be in America?
10 Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays – As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls
11 Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Signs of Life
12 Jim Hall / Ron Carter – Telephone
13 Jason & The Scorchers – Lost & Found
14 Miles Davis – Tutu
15 Nanci Griffith – The Last of the True Believers
16 Bonnie Raitt – Nick of Time
17 Rosanne Cash – Seven Year Ache
18 The Necks – Sex
19 Chris Smither – It Ain’t Easy
20 Cowboy Junkies – The Trinity Session
21 Ali Farka Touré – Ali Farka Toure
22 Richard & Linda Thompson – Shoot Out the Lights
23 Doc Watson – Riding the Midnight Train
24 Los Lobos – La Pistola y el Corazón
25 Abdullah Ibrahim – Water from an Ancient Well
26 Lone Justice – Lone Justice
27 Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris – Trio
28 Dr. John – Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack
29 The Honeydrippers – The Honeydrippers: Volume One
30 Robert Cray – Strong Persuader
I hope you like them too.
Some great records there. Haven’t listened to the Abdullah Ibrahim in ages but it’s a gorgeous album.
Funnily enough, @blue-boy, it was one of the few albums on my list that I’ve actually never owned other than as a copy.
I rectified that an hour or so ago by ordering the CD from Music Magpie for a fiver.
Whenever I listen to it I am reminded, for some reason, to play the “Country Cooking” album by Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath, another great ’80s disc, even tho’ there’s no great similarity (other than the South African pianist connection):
A great well-balanced list. A bit of pretty much everything in there and all high-quality.
My friend Muskrat’s contribution
Elvis Costello: Imperial Bedroom; King of America; Blood & Chocolate
U2: Under A Blood Red Sky
Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense
The Housemartins: The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death
10000 Maniacs: In My Tribe
Indigo Girls: Indigo Girls
Dire Straits: Making Movies
Tom Petty: Full Moon Fever
Making Movies should be in more of these lists imo.
Though it does contain les Boys which is embarrassing.
All Dire Straits albums have to have something dire on them. Speaking of which: where is the love for Simply Red?
Maybe it’s over there on the What’s not Cool thread.
Tsk tsk!
Bit late but I’ll have a bash… surprising how many of these I see now are very unfashionable these days
ABC Lexicon of Love
Bee Gees Living Eyes
XTC Skylarking
Tears for Fears Songs from the big chair
Pet Shop Boys Introspective
New Order Low Life
FGTH Pleasuredome
Level 42 Running in the Family
Thompson Twins The Gap
Genesis Invisible touch
BECK, Jeff There And Back 1980
MARTYN, John Grace And Danger 1980
MITCHELL, Joni Wild Things Run Fast 1982
BUSH, Kate Never For Ever 1980
GABRIEL, Peter 3 melt 1980
PINK FLOYD The Final Cut 1983
PREFAB SPROUT Steve McQueen 1985
HARPER, Roy Work Of Heart 1982
TUBES The Completion Backwards Principle 1981
METHENY, Pat Travels 1983
My faves
You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever – Orange Juice
High Land Hard Rain – Aztec Camera
Sign of the Times – Prince
Scary Monsters – David Bowie
Lost & Found – Jason & The Scorchers
Remain In Light -Talking Heads
Rain Dogs – Tom Waits
The Queen is Dead – The Smiths
Stray Cats – Stray Cats
Blood & Chocolate – Elvis Costello
The correct answer is:
1. Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique
2. Talking Heads – Remain In Light
3. Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombones
4. Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
5. Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel Of Love
6. The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
7. Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen
8. Julian Cope – Fried
9. Paul Simon – Graceland
10. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
Tomorrow it will be different – I am already regretting not finding a spot for 3 Feet High And Rising….
1. The Lyres – On Fyre
2. The Cramps – Psychedelic Jungle
3. Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
4. Lou Reed – New York
5. Prince – Sign O The Times
6. Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
7. Miles Davis – Tutu
8. Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays – As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls
9. John Zorn – Spy Vs Spy
10. Ramones – Too Tough To Die
I have assembled an iTunes playlist of these, and am now playing it on shuffle, with a wee dram. (Wee, compared to Loch Long).