An Ear For An Era: 1984

In 1984 I turned 1. How old are kids when they start kind of understanding things and singing along with songs? I'm not sure. So I don't know how old this song was and how old I was, but my earliest memories song-wise are singing along to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You" with my mom. Cheesy as it is, that song will always take me back. At my wedding I picked the too-cool Magnetic Fields' "Nothing Matters When We're Dancing" for my first dance with my wife, but I picked the not-cool-enough-for-anything "I Just Called To Say I Love You" for my dance with my mom.

Stevie Wonder "I Just Called To Say I Love You"

Bruce Springsteen was also kind of cheesy on the surface with Born in the USA. After Nebraska, I feel like he kind of earned that singing-like-it's-the-most-important-thing-in-the-world thing he was known for. All the working class anthems are now kind of perfect here. I like a lot of the songs. I don't know if I need to share any because they're so well known and I try to point to the obscure. You know all those singles from this album? "Glory Days," "Dancing In The Dark," "Darlington County," "No Surrender," etc? Yeah, I think they're great too!

But now I'm super cool and hip. I listen to punk rock and obscure soul and other things spoken about on this blog.

The only Hüsker Dü album I own is Zen Arcade. I think I should get more. I think I like it more than other Bob Mould projects. But that's just me. I want to hear him rock out a little more because he's good at that. But this album is a good mix of punk and pop and other boundaries of punk that were broken as they recorded this. It's hard to pick one track because of all the different directions it goes in but since I said I like to hear Mould rock out here's a pretty straightforward punk rock track.

Hüsker Dü "I'll Never Forget You"

Speaking of fierce, Scratch Acid may be the fiercest punk rock in my collection. Yow screams with such intensity and I'm pretty excited I have a few years of material from the collection The Greatest Gift. I went to the Touch & Go 25th anniversary block party thing a few years ago and it featured (among lots of other amazing acts) a Scratch Acid reunion. At this time however I was suffering from an unfortunate bout with plantar fasciitis and couldn't stand for very long. I suffered hard for my rock & roll but as I stood in the huge gathering crowd for (I think it was) Sally Timms or something (something Mekons related), the pain increased and I hadn't yet gotten into Scratch Acid so I was the one person leaving the area as Scratch Acid was setting up and people were highly confused by my actions. If I had made the effort to listen to them before this I probably would have stuck it out...but it was an all day thing, man! My foot was killing me! I still heard them but I could have been up in it, around the 10th row of people. Regrets. Here is an awesomely sleazy song that just kills my feet and your ear drums (turn it up loud!).

Scratch Acid "She Said"

Now a completely different but still vaguely punk rock thing: The Pogues! I first heard The Pogues in high school when I was watching a public access music video show (they mostly played punk rock) and some Pogues live performance played after a Rancid song. I think I remember thinking of them as not punk, just a Celtic band, and as I was sooooo punk rock I considered it something of a guilty pleasure (Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly were the celtic PUNK bands, after all!). Now I just feel guilty for ever having any guilt about it. I loved the ugly/beautiful thing that I can't quite explain. It's a perfect ugly/beautiful combination, what they do. Not afraid to sound ugly in the vocals, screaming, but having the backing of perfectly executed Celtic folk, they have become my favorite drinking music. Red Roses For Me is actually my second Pogues purchase (after If I Should Fall From Grace With God, which I'll talk about when we hit 1988). There are just a ton of great songs on here, I want to be in a crowded pub raising a pint and singing these songs. When I went to Ireland last year I listened to this album to get excited and for a week before the trip this song kept getting in my head and got me very very very excited:

The Pogues "Streams of Whiskey"

Can I please go back there tomorrow?

I hadn't heard from Leonard Cohen in a while but here he is! Various Positions has hints of cheesy 80s production (not as bad as I'm Your Man, however) but it's mostly pretty solidly grounded. There's a kind of weird echo on the vocals but it does just kind of give it more weight. It has "Hallelujah" on it so what else do you need to know? One of the greatest songs ever written, a song I have to stop everything to listen to when it comes on. Even if Jeff Buckley's version is the definitive version, there's a lot to like about Cohen's original version.

Hip hop! Afrika Bambaataa took the next logical step (or the first logical step?) and featured James Brown on a track, "Unity Part 1 (The Third Coming)." It's kickin'! And then I had my intro to Fat Boys, which epitomizes the whole novelty thing that hip hop may have been in danger of falling into. I quite enjoy Fat Boys, but the stuff from 1984 seems a little too disco. Still could be fun to listen to at a party. But a new group came along to push hip hop forward, to rescue it from obscurity by taking things a little more seriously. Run-D.M.C. is of course who I'm talking about. Their back-and-forth vocals are really cool, really good on my short attention span. Here they are being socially conscious before backpacking was a thing (related to hip hop).

Run-D.M.C. "Wake Up"

Is Purple Rain the crowning Prince (& The Revolution) achievement? Just brilliant front to back, all over, I feel like it's similar to Born in the USA in that I can't really pick out an obscure track because the whole thing is so well loved. I don't know what I can say about this album because I don't have personal stories about it and everything's been said. Brilliant songwriting, Prince kind of lasted longer than Michael Jackson and while he didn't have a Thriller I think his sustained career during this period makes him the real king of pop. And the way he incorporates rock & roll, particularly on the closing title track, is pretty epic. Did you see him do that song at the super bowl halftime show that one time? I think he's the best super bowl halftime performer ever.

...And another classic by "Weird Al" Yankovic. In 3-D really pushed his game forward. This is no longer bedroom (or bathroom or whatever) recordings. No more banging on an accordion case for percussion. No more need to have everything accordion based (but he still uses it a lot). The parodies sound closer to the originals production-wise. I think it being the early 80s lended itself well to this, because so many popular songs already sounded goofy. Particularly "Safety Dance." Of course a song about The Brady Bunch would sound funny set to that melody. Because it's a funny sound. "Eat It" was one of his biggest hits ever, "I Lost on Jeopardy" was one of my personal favorites (particularly the video!), and "Nature Trail To Hell" made me nervous to get this tape because it had the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks word in the title and I didn't want to get in trouble (I looked at this tape a lot of times before I bought it and kept going to different Weird Al tapes...it was probably one of my last Weird Al tape purchases as I collected them all). But what I'm going to share here is his first in a series of brilliant polkas he put together on almost all of his albums. Medleys of popular songs done in polka style. My first exposure to a lot of these songs. I thought it'd be a fun lesson in music history to listen to all the polkas sequentially, but then I realized he's all over the map here. His later albums mostly covered current hits, but this one jumps back and forth between the 80s and the 60s (and I know later on he'd do one entirely devoted to Bohemian Rhapsody and another devoted to the Stones) so it wouldn't really be in order. Still. Here's a quick rundown of what we've covered and where we are now in this AEFAE project.

"Weird Al" Yankovic "Polkas on 45"

Other stuff to say about stuff:

• The Cars' "Drive" is so 1984.
• The Vandals' When In Rome Do As The Vandals is too damn goofy. Actually I think it's the goofiness of the whole album that makes the satire "Slap of Love" not sit right with me. Too serious of a subject to approach in that way when everything else on the album is about skinheads not being allowed in mohawk town and space nazis and such. I don't know, I'm having a hard time explaining this.
• Depeche Mode. I don't have whichever album this is but "Blasphemous Rumours" is a damn good song.
• Serge Gainsbourg's Love on the Beat is an odd one. Essentially taking the Serge Gainsbourg formula but replacing the beautiful orchestral arrangements with cheesy 80s beats (and English choruses that only hint about what he's singing about in French). I can't quite get behind it. We do get our first sampling of Charlotte Gainsbourg though, the very young girl (12 years old!) singing on "Lemon Incest." Creepy that that's the name of the song but I couldn't tell you what it's about.
• Madonna's "Like A Virgin" is a song I always move back and forth between Weird Al's version when I sing it and don't think about it too much. "Better give me all your gauze nurse" etc.
• Van Halen was "Hot For Teacher" (and you know, they had that whole album 1984 in 1984 but I only have "Hot For Teacher").
• R.E.M. I liked Reckoning more. Good jangly guitars that would soon dominate the indie rock world. Hey! We're getting into the indie rock world now!
• Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!
• Carmel had another brilliant cut "Bad Day." Love that voice!
• Queen was back to rockin' on The Works. I feel like "Radio Ga Ga" is more relevant today than it was in 1984.
• Dead Kennedys' "Kinky Sex Makes The World Go 'Round" is a super effective creepy track that is just way too full of truth.
• 99 Luftballons.

Next time:

1985. The best Cure album? Brian Ferry solo? Dead Kennedys have changed a lot since the 70s. Descendents are back on here. Fishbone! The last great album according to Stephin Merritt (Psychocandy). Mekons! the end of Minor Threat! Prince continues to own the world (in a day). Rites of Spring (whoa emo's here already??). Everybody Wants To Rule The World. Tom Waits continues to be amazing. And another classic from Weird Al.

An Ear For An Era: 1982

And...we're back! 1982. The last year before me. The world would forever change (for me) in just one short year. So what kind of music was coming out? Lots of kinds at this point. Some great oddities, some of the biggest pop albums of all time, and some of my favorite albums of all time. It was a big year.

Let's start with the pop because my goodness was this album huge. I don't know if you've heard of Thriller, by young up-and-comer Michael Jackson, but it came out in 1982. I don't think much needs to be said about this. "The Girl is Mine" is pretty cheesy but besides that this album is just so full of gigantic pop anthems it's kind of ridiculous. "Thriller" is followed up immediately by "Beat It" and then "Billie Jean?" But it doesn't feel like it's all stuffed together because there are only 9 tracks and the hits just keep hitting? That's right, person with theoretical questions. That's right.

The king and the Prince. Both put out crazy big pop albums in 1982. Prince's 1999 is significant to me mostly because they played the crap out of that song on NYE 1998 and 1999 I think, both of those New Years Eves. But it's got other big awesome hits like "Little Red Corvette" and Prince's trademark sexiness in songs like "Let's Pretend We're Married."

How do I get from pop to punk? Billy Idol will do fine as a bridge here. His self-titled debut album is pretty hit-and-miss, but the hits are quite good. There's a certain musk to how he presents himself, it brings me back to my dancin' days of the early-to-mid aughts. Those 80s dance nights were a place to listen to "Dancing With Myself" and dance with a few people and show off the debauchery we were capable of, our flexibility, and whatnot. It was a big time for my social life and it was songs like this that made it happen (and people like Enoch; I miss you so much buddy!). As a wallflower, unable to talk to people I didn't already know, this is the music that allowed me to be social because I didn't have to talk.

Is this getting too personal? Too bad, pretty soon this blog is going to be focused on my personal experience with music instead of just a way to carry through the old stuff that happens to also tie me to a certain time/place in my life.

Punk continued to push forward on both coasts. I think I've already discussed how great the early 80s were for punk, but 1982 saw some big debuts and otherwise huge albums. There was The Vandals, whose EP Peace Thru Vandalism showed a band refusing to take itself seriously. Flipper brought all the attitude to punk rock but changed the approach by playing really slow/brooding songs. The Misfits used a lot of whoa-oh-ohs that would go on to be such an integral part of punk rock, and while I wasn't into them so much in high school I feel like if I had gotten this album back then it would have been pretty high in rotation. And then there was Bad Brains, one of the most ferocious punk bands when they played punk. Then one of the most soulful reggae bands to be heard outside of Jamaica when they played reggae. They played up that dichotomy in much more black-and-white terms than others that combined them.

The Clash blurred that line quite a bit with Combat Rock. Actually, they blurred it their whole career. I just figured this would make a good transition. I'm going to miss The Clash popping up here, because this is the last I'll be hearing from them. This is their poppiest album, their most successful financially, and includes such hits as "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" and "Rock The Casbah." Confession time: I never got this album until just a few years ago. I got to the point where I was embarrassed to pick it up because I didn't want people to know I didn't already own it. So I'm not as familiar with it as their other work, but I do like opener "Know Your Rights," and obviously I am a big fan of "Straight to Hell" (to later be sampled on a certain hugely successful M.I.A. song). That song and having a contribution from Allen Ginsberg keeps the cred here even if it sounds like they were starting to pursue that larger audience they were picking up. Still a worthy addition to The Clash's discography, and that's a pretty big compliment you can give an album.

And now we're really getting into the stuff that I have loved for years and years.

The Descendents' debut album (I just realized I missed their "Fat EP" here because I only have it on vinyl! D'oh!) Milo Goes to College might be my favorite punk rock album of all time. Or pop punk if that's the correct term. Back when pop punk wasn't an embarrassing term because all the "pop" meant was catchy. They sang about being kids. They perfectly encapsulated that time for me. I listened to some punk in high school but I wasn't a punk. I was just a "square going nowhere." They weren't afraid of singing about girls and even marriage in a genre that was mostly tough guys and political posturing. I got this album in my stocking one year for Christmas and I listened to it over and over again immediately that morning. Before this, I'd only heard their "new" stuff, Everything Sucks from 1996. This was so much rawer but so engaging...I don't think any initial listening of an album has stuck with me for so long, the experience of hearing these songs for the first time was ingrained into my being and this album will always be such a significant part of me. Every time I hear it, I'm taken back there, to those simpler times. I have to play the opening track because that's the first thing I heard that morning and even though I love all the tracks, this exemplifies the spirit: There's no reason for you to quit just because we try harder!

Descendents "Myage"

The Violent Femmes' self-titled debut is another one that, front to back, has always been a favorite. The lowest rated song on the album for me is "Blister in the Sun," their one big hit. It's okay. But when they really get going, when they express the personal so effectively through the combination of incredibly heartfelt lyrics and catchiness and a circus of sound coming out of a very simple setup (acoustic guitar, bass, a couple drums, maybe a xylophone or violin here and there) that builds and rises (and RISES AND RISES) and falls again, when all of it comes together, it hits you hard. Or me. I can't say what it does to you. I think next time I do karaoke, and if they have something besides "Blister in the Sun," I will have to sing some Violent Femmes. Here I 'd probably play "Confessions" or "Add it Up" to exemplify what I've described if I could, but I can't resist playing the closer. It shuts me down anytime I hear it, that's for sure. The circus isn't here but it's the prettiest ballad with some of my favorite lyrics ever: "laughing at the sunrise like he's been up all night." Everything that that implies, just puts me in a place that has been a long night that you didn't want to end and you're so tired...so simply put together in a few words.

Violent Femmes "Good Feeling"

Speaking of ballads, those are the reason that Imperial Bedroom is my third favorite Elvis Costello (and the Attractions) album. Actually 2nd favorite with the Attractions, because one of the other two is not an Attractions one. Where was I? Oh yeah, ballads. And Imperial Bedroom. The songs are just so personal and sad. With a couple strains of hope strung along throughout. The way "The Long Honeymoon" tells the tale of a wife freaking out about her husband being out late, the burdensome side of a line like "she never thought her love could ever be as strong as this" (on a bed of the most lovely piano playing by Steve Nieve) transitions into some brutal power chords and screaming that just jolts you into the song "Man Out of Time" that didn't really need that jolt, it's just a way to keep you on your toes (the song itself is again piano based, pretty light, just bookended by these power chords), taking you back down to "Almost Blue," another gorgeous soft ballad...it's a roller coaster but it's consistent. It goes like this for the full album. Lots of songs from women's perspectives, music that goes up and down (mostly down). It's a great showcase of Elvis' lyrics and Steve's virtuoso piano playing. (The Audrey Hepburn montage is just bonus).

Elvis Costello & The Attractions "Almost Blue"

Another rock artist that put out a ballady collection was Bruce Springsteen. I can't claim a huge personal connection to this, but do you know how often Nebraska comes up when interviewing bands about their influences? Half of indie rock was influenced by this album! This is the side of Bruce that justifies all the hoopla he gets for his rock songs. It's the heart. It's just not disguised by synths and distorted guitars and stadiums. Stories of real people's real lives. Stripped down Bruce is the way to go.

Hip hop (that which I have in my collection at least) continued to be something of a novelty, as exemplified by this track from that Third Unheard comp I've discussed in the past. Willie Brown & Woodie recorded a track called "Ventriloquist Rap," because Woodie is a puppet. Of course. Dang it, I can't find it on youtube. Ask me to play it for you sometime because it's something else. Afrika Bambaataa had some great jams with Soulsonic Force. "Looking For The Perfect Beat" is good enough that it's the title to the collection of singles that I have. But "Don't Stop...Planet Rock" is just the song I have to put here. I just have to. It's officially a party here for the next 6 1/2 minutes.

Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force "Don't Stop...Planet Rock"

Now for the weirder stuff.

I don't remember how I first discovered Carmel, a jazzy soul band with one of the most unique and beautiful voices I've heard. I do know that it's hard to find anything by them anywhere, so any song I can pick up I will. I have a cover of "Tracks of My Tears" which is a great way to experience the voice in a somewhat familiar context (it's jazzy but it's the Smokey Robinson song) but just as a showcase of what I'm talking about here's the other song I have of theirs from 1982.

Carmel "Storm"

My dad introduced me to art rock. It was my dad. I've talked about how he got me into Nilsson and Kristofferson, but that wasn't enough. He introduced me to really really weird music. Music that is now on display at MoMA. I saw the video there as an art installation! Us kids really liked it when Dad put on this tape. Of weird talking and wolf howling. Have you guessed yet? Laurie Anderson! Big Science! It made us laugh at times, it was terrifying at others (and sometimes the same time), and we couldn't get enough. "I no longer love the way you hold your pen...and pen...cil." "We are all going down...put your head in your hands, put your hands on your hips, haha..." I bet this makes no sense to you if you haven't heard this album. You should listen to it. I can't really do it justice. Here's a taste, but really, hear the whole thing. Preferably in a small truck with your siblings and your dad.

Laurie Anderson "Sweaters"

And of course if I played Laurie Anderson now I have to talk about her husband Lou Reed. You may have heard of him. When he passed away last year I wasn't sure if I should try to write about him on this blog. But I didn't think I had the perspective needed to do anything of importance; other tributes were written beautifully so I didn't have anything to contribute. So I just put a few words on Facebook, knowing I'd soon get to some more Lou Reed on this here project.  The Blue Mask is a very good Reed album. It was just weird trying to listen to it subjectively because it's the first time he's come up in this since then. The weirdest thing about this was that the last couple tracks on here are pretty death-obsessed. "The Day John Kennedy Died" and "Heavenly Arms." I remember looking for a fitting song to play after his death and couldn't find a suitable one from Berlin. But this will be a good way to say goodbye (not really goodbye though, I have some more stuff because he did a lot between 1982 and 2013).

Lou Reed, "Heavenly Arms"

Other things to say things about/Other things about which to say things:

• How about other random pop songs that everybody knows and loves? Maneater by Hall & Oates? And "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye?
• Or what about the quintessential 80s/new wave/whatever jams that, yes, everybody knows and loves? "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners, "Rio" by Duran Duran, and "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby. Is that enough of that?
• Speaking of Duran Duran, I also have the song "The Chauffer" thanks to the Greenberg soundtrack, and it is really something!
• Daniel Johnston put out some more greatness; I quite enjoy the song "Story of an Artist."
• Right now Sonic Youth will be in this miscellaneous category. The fact that they are part of the lexicon now changes everything, but I'll be writing about them a lot in the future. Their self-titled debut shows hints of what's to come but they weren't quite there yet. I like it but don't love it. It takes a bit more than an EP to change music forever.
• Queen fully embraced the 80s with Hot Space, a very poppy album from a band previously known for its emphasis on rock & roll and guitar solos. Lots of dance tunes here, including the always beloved "Under Pressure" featuring David Bowie. They do dance/pop well, it turns out.
• I'm not a big metalhead, but Iron Maiden's The Number of The Beast is very great. The title track is my go-to if I ever find myself in an air guitar solo competition. Love that solo.
• I didn't have a ton of two tone era ska from 1982 other than a Bad Manners album Forging Ahead (such an 80s sounding ska album!) and some Madness tracks including their big hit "Our House." It's good stuff.
• Remember that old Volkswagen commercial and that "Da Da Da" song? It's by a German band called Trio and that song came out in 1982. When the commercial was big my buddy really wanted the album that song came off of, and I ended up finding an import after much searching. There was a German version and an English version and the English version sounded goofy because I don't think they knew English that well. Anyway, it's the German version I have in my collection now.
• Always turn it up for a couple more Minor Threat songs. "12XU" is a cover but it's still one of my favorites.

Next Time...

The year that bore me! I'll totally remember picking up all these albums at the record store on release day from here on out because that's how with it I am. Ever since birth. Or not. But here's what's in store (alphabetical order). Billy Joel at his cheesy best, a full Daniel Johnston album, Bowie says Let's Dance! Duran Duran, Elvis Costello as usual, a Minor Threat album, Minutemen, New Order, Pulp (already??), R.E.M. (seriously??), Talking Heads Speak in Tongues, They Might Be Giants have some Early Stuff To Share Already, Tom Waits' crazy circus finally comes around in full with the brilliant Swordfishtrombones, and We Are Now Officially In The Era Of "Weird Al" Yankovic So Watch Out!

An Ear For An Era: 1979

That is going to do it for the 70s. That wasn't so bad, now was it?

Punk went postal, funk got poppier, pop got funkier, and I'm pretty sure a dance party with all 1979 music would be amazing.

Oh yeah, and something else has emerged. Something...else.

But we'll get to that in a minute. Let's talk about punk rock. I didn't realize how quickly things escalated here. I was aware that post punk was pretty much on the heels of the pop punk established by Ramones, but I didn't realize that hardcore punk was also champing at the bit at the same time. But here it was, the Dead Kennedys' early recordings. West Coast punk rock is here to burn everything up. To make The Ramones and Buzzcocks sound quaint. "California Uber Alles" was a single in 1979 and I also have some early live performances from the Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death compilation.  Here, a template is established that defines much of my high school music attention span and countless punk rock bands of the next 30 or so years.

The Dead Kennedys "Short Songs" (live)

The Cramps were also getting dirty and doing the horror-surf-punk thing so much better than The Misfits in my opinion. They epitomized this era of punk to me, just not caring about sounding polished, just banging their instruments together to create such energy...their cover of kindred spirits The Trashmen really stood out for me from their 1979 debut EP Gravest Hits.

The Cramps "Surfin' Bird"

So that was one side of punk rock that is really going to expand greatly as we get into the 80s. The other side was pushed forward by The Clash. Expansion, incorporation of ska, and oh yeah, the Most Important Album Of All Time. Right? London Calling was their masterpiece and I don't even know what to say here. I'm gonna blow it. It's all 3-5 star songs (I think the highest average rating for any album in my collection despite sprawling over 19 tracks). The ska part of this managed to make it more revolutionary than anything else, incorporating the Jamaican history of music and revolution into the revolutionary nature of punk in the late 70s, it just changed everything. This is what would be imitated for decades, get popular in the 90s in time for me to discover the ska punk genre at the peak time in my life (high school, feeling like an outcast) to show me what it means to rebel, to have something that drives that state of mind. When I finally discovered this album in particular it was a revelation. Everything else became irrelevant. Music follows an evolutionary path but this is such a high point that nothing has managed to effectively evolve from it (but I am looking forward to dissecting its kin on this very blog regardless). The energy, the words, the world it opened up, I know I've used this word a lot in this paragraph but it's what it is in the truest sense of the word (musically at least): Revolution.

The Clash "Revolution Rock"

Another band that did something very similar to The Clash but in its own unique was was Gang of Four. Their debut album Entertainment! establishes some other rhythmic identities that would be similarly imitated decades later. The main difference is the sparse arrangements. The funky rhythms though! There's actual skill and musicianship on the part of the drummer and bassist that was not particularly valued in punk rock at the time and it's pretty refreshing to have the energy, highly politicized lyrics and revolutionary spirit presented in such a groove.

Post-punk-but-soon-to-be-new-wave band The Cure made their debut with Boys Don't Cry in 1979 as well. It fits well with Gang of Four in that it's highly rhythmic (but much poppier) and has spare arrangements, particularly when contrasted with what the band would become in the 80s. Of course the title track was/is a giant hit among new wave fans, but the rest is pure post punk deconstruction.

David Bowie was back in 1979 to finish his "Berlin Trilogy" with Brian Eno with The Lodger. This album was very dark and very appropriate to listen to around Halloween time. I keep waiting for when Bowie becomes "difficult" but I'm not sure it's going to happen. Here he's dark but it's still easy to listen to.

David Bowie "Repetition"

Another artist with a fruitful relationship with Brian Eno was of course Talking Heads. Fear Of Music was their 1979 release. I have this one on vinyl and it's got a super cool texture on the sleeve. I missed out on More Songs About Buildings And Food (for which I apologize, I'm not sure how I neglected to pick it up every time I've been to record stores) so this is a giant leap from their debut. It's no longer just white people funk, it's got lots of different textures and rhythms and experiments. It retains the high level of energy and rhythm and benefits a lot from Eno's influence.

One more quick new wave hit! This is one that dominated my personal charts in the early aughts, mostly because they played it at all the cool dance clubs as a throwback smash. And I have memories of crazy nights centered on this particular jam.

B-52s "Rock Lobster"

I'm pretty sure that's the extent of the B-52s that will EVER appear on this blog. So I hope you enjoyed it.

Hey you know how I talked about The Clash and ska and such? I finally have some official Two Tone era ska! Just a couple songs from Madness. "My Girl" is a favorite mostly because Mike Park has a cover of it that I quite enjoy. I sang it in karaoke once on my birthday. And then this one, it's honest-to-goodness ska!

Madness "(They Call It) Madness"

Lots more ska coming your way soon!

Now let's talk about Elvis Costello & The Attractions, shall we? I'm pretty sure I'll have something to say about him in most years as we get through the 80s, into the 90s, etc. Armed Forces was his best album at the time of release. I know lots of fans consider it his best overall, but I have some others I prefer later down the line. But it establishes The Attractions as more than just a rockin' band to back up Elvis' great lyrics and singing. They are a force here, incorporating more intimately with Mr. Costello as a functional unit. And his writing hits a high point, showing a fearlessness, his vocals have that sneer that I always associate with him. Listen to this song, the "she'll be the one" part toward the end is one of my favorite sections of any Elvis Costello song, an early climax on the album, putting it on a high that carries through the album before exploding onto the closing track "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love & Understanding." You know that song is amazing but here's the song I tried to tell you to listen to in the last sentence but got off track. Here:

Elvis Costello & The Attractions "Big Boys"

Okay now's a good time as any to transition over to pop music. Now I'm not sure how it happened but I started warming up more and more to disco as this went on. I think a lot of it is due to the fact that I minimized how much is in my collection so I can't get sick of it. But some of these artists really stepped it up artistically as the decade wore on, and I also like this track because Feist did a cover of it and I really love her version. But here's the original:

Bee Gees "Love You Inside Out"

Okay now that's out of the way. Let's move on to the king of pop, who really asserted himself in 1979 with Off The Wall. Considered by many critics and snobs to be Michael Jackson's best album, I think I have to agree. Incorporating elements of disco and funk, along with some ballads, into a new signature sound that can be described simply as pop, this album is pure fire, front to back. The pop of the 80s, the one existing outside the world of new wave, is in full force from the opening track "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough." Of course that is the most well known song on that album and for a good reason. But there is absolutely no filler in this fire, it's a hot burning flame that is completely solid. My metaphors are starting to get confused. But Quincy & Michael struck gold...flaming gold...with this one. Of course all these fire metaphors mean I have to share this song.

Michael Jackson "Burn This Disco Out"

Of course where there's a king, there is also a Prince! The other king of pop in the same exact era! His  self-titled album was apparently his second one so it ain't no debut. But it's our debut here so that counts for something. Lots of similar sounds to Off The Wall but more diverse. I do like when he whips out the guitar for some rock & roll incorporated soul-funk-pop like on the song "Bambi." But I also think his best is yet to come at this point. Did you know that when you wikipedia "Prince" it returns some stupid entry about royalty? I say we petition wikipedia to make him the default entry for the word prince!

According to wikipedia, Prince opened for Rick James on tour around this time. Rick James was super awesome in 1979 pushing the funk train forward with songs like this.

Rick James "High On Your Love Suite: One Mo Hit (Of Your Love)"

You know what genre Rick James really influenced and continues to influence to this day? It was funny, it actually came up early in the shuffle but I had to end this entry on it. That's right, The Sugarhill Gang had a certain song that exploded in popularity and taught the masses about a brand new genre of music. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. I didn't realize how dirty this song was considering how relatively clean hip hop seemed to be in its early days. But yeah. Game changer. That means the framework for everything I have coming up for the rest of this journey has now been established. It's all just a matter of evolution from here.

The Sugarhill Gang, "Rapper's Delight"

Other blah blah worth something

• Sun Ra's Strange Celestial Road was interesting, a good moody driving record.
• I wasn't sure where to put Pink Floyd's The Wall so it's delegated to here. Sorry. I know it's epic and deserves many paragraphs.
• Delta 5's "Mind Your Own Business" was yet another post punk funky gem.
• Just a couple years after changing the world, the only Ramones track I have from 1979 is "Rock 'N' Roll High School," a nice novelty song to go with the novelty movie they were in.
• I didn't realize I was missing a crucial Devo album from my digital collection! "Secret Agent Man" is the only evidence I have that Duty Now For The Future exists. Big omission there.
• In high school I picked up the album I Am by Earth Wind & Fire because we played a couple of their songs in marching band (my marching band was better than your marching band). We played "In The Stone" from this album and it was super fun. The album itself reminds me of Off The Wall but without the benefit of Michael Jackson. "Boogie Wonderland" would go well on that theoretical 1979 dance party though.
• Joy Division was quickly evolving from raw punk rock to smoothed out post punk dance suites like "Transmission."

Next Time...

Like, totally, you know? Whatever! The 80s means new wave and hardcore punk and early hip hop and stuff. 1980 specifically means Afrika Bambaataa & Kurtis Blow, Bad Manners, English Beat, and The Specials, Exclamation marked albums like Sandinista! and Get Happy!!, more Cramps, more Dead Kennedys, Devo, Talking Heads, Joy Division, and the end of John Lennon. And more!!