Andrew joins the Giddy Carousel to talk about an issue of Smash Hits from May 1980 – available tomorrow if that sounds like your kind of thing.
Giddy Carousel of Pop podcast – Andrew Harrison
Giddy Carousel of Pop podcast
Hi poopkids, as fans of the collective works of messrs Ellen and Hepworth, I thought you might enjoy the Giddy Carousel of Pop podcast (@GiddyPopPod on twitter). available on all your usual podcast platforms. Each episode sees myself and Simon G take the staples out of an old issue of Smash Hits from the Eighties and go through it with the finest of tooth combs. Each time we have a special guest to help us and episode one stars Dr Volume of this parish. Episode 2 coming soon!
Eighties Elton
As part of my research on an eighties music podcast I am doing I have been enjoying this time period in the career of Sir Reginald of Dwight.
It is an admittedly mixed bag with a few surprising gems mixed in. What is the consensus on this forgotten decade (by no less than the man himself – he barely does any numbers live from this time)?
There is a case to be made that this period is underrated in the same way his heyday seventies are a smidgen maybe overrated? Thoughts?
Here is a gem to start with (lyrics by no less than Tom Robinson)
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/elton-john-part-1-1980-1982/id1486104117?i=1000455833451
Modern Music for 80s Nerd
Very much an eighties child who also very much finds 98% of modern music leaves me cold with its pro-tooled, digital-sheened, auto-tuned, millennial-whoopy cynical generic blandness.
Can anyone recommend any millennial acts/songs that would please a lover of eighties music? I tried Hot Chip (after reading they would fit the remit) and they left me cold. Any suggestions? Cheers!
Happy Birthday, Your Madge
by 35 Comments
Yes, Madonna celebrates a big birthday today. Dunno what the general opinion of her music is on here, but I’ve always liked her (she was the first pop star I had on my wall at the age of 7 or so; I think I thought she was “pretty” which I guess when you’re 7 is as far as it goes) and you can’t deny she’s had some excellent records.
Over on the Twitts there is a top 5 thing going on; I’m not suggesting we do that here (it’s an interesting read, mind), but it’s certainly worth some celebration.
Here’s probably my favourite (from around the time I put the poster up). A fantastic record, with some fantastically unsubtle innuendo.
The Next Bowie Box Set….
by 22 Comments
With the announcement of Bowie’s “Berlin” box set, A New Career In A New Town, I’m wondering what the next one will be called? Given they are named after songs, i’d hazard a guess at Dancing With The Big Boys? Which would contain:
Let’s Dance Tonight Never Let Me Down Black Tie White Noise Serious Moonlight live Glass Spider live Re:Call 4
Any other suggestions?
A somewhat different music list – TV Cream 100 Greatest Singles
I’ve been dipping into the TV Cream website for many years now – they style themselves as a 70s & 80s pop culture repository and though they can veer into the “Spangles & Chopper bikes” nostalgia zone, I mostly find them pleasingly irreverent…
Years ago they published a top 100 singles list, and have recently updated it… they’re not clear on how it was arrived at, though the comments clearly indicate some kind of voting system, but it’s a pleasingly bonkers celebration of 70s/80s pop & rock, and probably more diverse than many “cooler” charts out there… I’d also wager there’ll be a few “blimey, I’d forgotten about that” moments to be had too, especially in the YT clips they provide…
It might just be a bit too-uncool-for-school for us Afterworders, but I’d like to think it might also be a bit of an antidote to the angst-y handwringing we can sometimes be guilty of in analysing our listening likes & dislikes…
Top 10 in the comments (the number 1 might raise a few eyebrows), and the whole list is at the link, enjoy and have at it (and remember, don’t have nightmares…)
http://www.tvcream.co.uk/category/pop/100-greatest-singles-ever/
None Eightiesier?
The checklist:
The sounds:
A full orchestra of multiple Yammy DX7s multiply plinking dee-ex-sevenily.
A whackjob snaredrum that makes you wince on every backbeat.
Faux bakerstreety alto sax break in the middle because the verses and choruses have got a bit boring.
The images:
Big hair
Big shirts
Extreme chest exposure
Big trousers hoisted up to navel level
Rolled-up sleeves
Pale pink and powder blue colourways
Pointless set design featuring weirdass geometric black and white shapes
Lame-o jerky animation inserts whenever Rod’s lame-o jerky dancing begins to pall
It’s got the lot! Can you do better, reader?
