Absolute Beginners - Movie Soundtrack. Original Showtunes by Bowie, Sade, Paul Weller and others in a colorful movie about 1958 London. 18-yr-old beauty Patsy Kensit debuts with a sexy ballad. Weller, of course, wrote "Absolute Beginners" the tune for a 1981 EP by The Jam but not in the flick. Funny Ray Davies spot.
Blood & Chocolate - Elvis Costello. He decided to start playing rock and roll again, after 5 year respite. The solo album the previous year was decent ("Brilliant Mistake" was one of his best songs), but mostly acoustic and dreary. This one emphasized cranked electricity and simpler songs more than any Costello record I can recall. "Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?," "Blue Chair" and "I Hope You're Happy Now" rock out Americanly.
Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson. Single of Special Merit. I had this single on one of those cheapy inserts from some guitar magazine. This is a live version that is a few takes better than the studio version on the album in 1990.
Different Light - Bangles (Recorded 1985). Looking back, I don't like this as much now. I got this on tape following their great 1st album and my witnessing a decent concert. (M. Steele had severe stomach cramps and played sitting down. The Petersen sisters harmonized in brilliance and I was amazed at the range of ages, colors, etc. of the audience. Annoyingly, the sound was turned all the way up, which wrecked the subtle touch of these tunes.) This l.p. had the goofy "Walk Like An Egyptian" but also Jules Shears' nice "If She Knew What She Wants." I remember being a courier that spring and hearing "Manic Monday" in a lot of buildings. I had a picture of drummer Debbi Petersen (Barbie Doll) tacked to my wall that extremely resembled my girlfriend at the time.
Enigma Variations, Volume 2 - Various Artists. Album of Special Merit. Mojo Nixon has some great songs here as does Don Dixon. The punks'd become dinosaurs by then and have some lame tracks. Game Theory and a few others had topnotch songs; never heard more from them. This was a double CD I got for like $3 and I didn't even own a CD player at the time. Promoted friendly visits to friends who did, you know?
Especially For You - Smithereens. Album of Special Merit. The Monkees, Buffalo Springfield, the early Who, Revolver by the Beatles are hugely obvious influences here. Great sister albums in 1984: All Over the Place, It's About Time and On Fyre. Multiple guitars, harmonies and a tinge of folk-rock, Byrds-style. Very well-written songs; almost every rock band played "Blood and Roses" or "Wall of Sleep" (neat line: "She had hair like Jeanie Shrimpton back in 1965").
Frenzy - Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper. The Man from Danville with songs about drinking, girls with panties at their ankles in Chevys and sexual contact with MTV personnel. One guy on acoustic, one on washboard and spoons. Vulgar. Recommended. He was our band's post-practice emcee. "Burn Down the Malls" and "In A Gadda Da Vida" are featured here to great effect.
Graceland - Paul Simon. Diminutive white guy manages to capture big ethnic rhythms over and over again. Here, it's modern Africa. "Call Me Al" is rambling suburban poetry I liked. (Great bass solo, huh?) There should be more videos like it/Chevy Chase goofing around.
Guitars, Cadillacs and Hillbilly Music - Dwight Yoakum. I believe this was a 1984 EP with a few songs tacked on. I hated most country music in the 80s; it was half cornpone sap/half cheesy elevator-disco. Dwight distanced himself from the Nashville element; this is more Western (you know, a little jazz and swing). One of the best songwriters of the last 15 years, I think, with strong nods to Roy Orbison, Hank, Sr.; Elvis and even a little early, early Dylan.
Hull 4 London 0 - Housemartins. Album of Special Merit. Looking back now, it seems like these songs all sound alike, but I'd just started writing music back then and this was a huge influence in shaping the first band I fronted. Clean hyper pop. Has the social conscience and energy of punk, with more melodies and harmonies. "Sheep" is a classic extended metaphor about how readily we humans follow orders. At times, songs border too smarty. Memorable line: "Lawyers will be lawyers, bankers will be bankers/some own pennies in a jar, some own oil tankers."
Licensed To Ill - Beastie Boys. Album of Special Merit. Played the grooves off this one. Heavy metal riffs interspersed with hard hip-hop and tales of debauchery. Loved it then more than now. Brass Monkey helped.
Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams - BoDeans. Cool they got their name off a sitcom and their album title out of a Stones' song. I heard these songs a lot then; especially "Runaway." Americana; 50s and 60s influences but 80s type performances. Simplicity rules and the harmonies are in your face; they have better tracks on later recordings.
Lyres Lyrez - the Lyres. Another good release of American rock'n'roll.
Manic Pop Thrill - That Petrol Emotion. Very Smithsish, less moaning. Alternates between almost-Partridge Family pop and depressing dirges. I think their every album cover had b&w photos of the band in the rain.
Number 10, Upping Street - Big Audio Dynamite. Strummer and Jones reunite and capture a little passion of their Clash heyday, this time in a dance club setting. "Beyond the Pale" I really liked: "There's a rocker in Vladivostok's got every side by Jerry Lee/for accidents of misorder that guy could well be me." Nice solo, too.
Out of Bounds - Movie Soundtrack. Gems among cheese. Picked the tape up for 50 cents and for "Cities In Dust" by Siouxsie, "Electric Ocean" by the Cult and a song I mistook for "Mad About You" by Belinda Carlisle. (Oh, was she an angel in a convertible in the video. Sobering up showed off her precious bone structure.) Never even heard of this film.
Pretty In Pink - Movie Soundtrack. Album of Special Merit. New Order, Echo and others, including "Left of Center" by Suzanne Vega. Missed the flick. Sorry. Good Alternative sampler; when Alternative meant something.
Promise - Sade. Even better songs than the debut. Great percussion and wafting waves of sound, light jazz with a little beat and those smoky vocals. "Smooth Operator" is here. Or was it "Cool Operator?" or "Tool Operator?" Wait, that's MST3K.
Raising Hell - Run-DMC. Liked the debut by these rockin' rappers; liked this one even better; features "It's Tricky" and "Walk this Way," the Aerosmith hit.
Shelter - Lone Justice. Maria McKee was a spastic almost-Cyndi Lauper onstage and on the debut. This one is more refined with strong singing and harmonies; part country, part cowpunk, part folkpop. Beautiful title song. My roommate was best man in Country singer Faron Young's son's wedding in Chicago and came back from the Lone Justice gig there seeing God. (Or was it Goddess?)
Skylarking - XTC. Psychedelic, but in a Top 40 rather than experimental kind of way. (More Strawberry Alarm Clock than Chocolate Watchband.) Fairly close to the Smithereens album that year, less barband feel. "Earn Enough For Us" and "Grass" could've been recorded in 1967. Probably the album I'd recommend for someone not familiar with the group's work. Their offshoot, Dukes of Pstratosphear (spelling?) was similarly neato.
(Unknown Title) - Ben Vaughan Combo. Sorry, couldn't remember the title. Wreckless Eric was in this one, right? The tunes "Young, Upwardly Mobile and Stupid" and "Someone Must've Nailed Us Together" are great 1965 type Merseybeat rock; not too complicated, great melodies and interesting lyrics. Vaughn now composes theme songs for NBC-TV sitcoms. His new album, coincidentally, is called "Rambler '65."
Talking With the Taxman About Poetry - Billy Bragg. Songwriter and Song of Special Merit. "Greetings to the New Brunette" is the kind of catchy, clever, bittersweet, funny, insightful song most every Dylan-wannabe wishes he could write at age 22. I know that was true for me. Johnny Marr of the Smiths adds great pastels of guitar. Bragg's brash, alone on stage, the anti-discotheque warbler, the caring socialist rebel in the John Lennon tradition, walking to gigs in the snow with his electric guitar and little Peavey amp in hands. "The Marriage" states "marriage is when we admit our parents were probably right."
The Indestructible Beat of Soweto - Various Artists. Contemporary African music has cool chorused guitars, insanely running bass guitar and a simple straight beat. Heard this in many dopesmokers' dens. Fits well beside the Dead and a footlocker full of BBQ Fritos and sugar wafers, man.
The Queen Is Dead - Smiths. Album of Special Merit. Don't listen to this one when the first long-term relationship you've ever had dumps you and you're on Day Three of a really serious bender. Strange sexual imagery, Oedipal reflections, anti-society chants and a ton of laughing-through-depression woven through chiming, ringing, strummed layers of guitars. Probably the most keyboards of any Smiths' disc. Strong, unusually literary songwriting. It's like Oscar Wilde moaning with the early Pretenders. Club hit "Bigmouth Strikes Again" also featured, about repressed sexual rage and Joan of Arc's Walkman melting. "The Boy With the Thorn in his Side" and "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" are lush, emoting tuneful masterpieces.
Tuff Enuff - Fabulous Thunderbirds. "Wrap It Up" and the title track are good Texas R&B, with a heavy dose of soul and snappy guitar. Gruff, yet commercial stuff.
Tutu - Miles Davis. We played one of these tunes in a reggae/rock band and it worked. The great trumpeter's last disc, I believe. Mainstream enough for non-jazz fans to enjoy. A few steps to the right of Jeff Beck's mid-70s stuff.
We've Got a Fuzzbox & We're Going To Use It - Fuzzbox. Heavy, heavy drums and the fuzzed guitar banged by young ladies...this predates the band L7 by a few years. Bizarre, at times laughable, harmonies.
Word of Mouth - Kinks. Many good songs and yet another great Sat. Night Live performance. Ray Davies kept his sense of humor, unlike, say, The Who's Pete Townshend, and I think that propelled Davies to keep writing poppy music. Was this the last Kinks' album before his brother split? I can't remember. I do think it sounds an awful lot like the next year's Replacements' disc. "Do It Again" I liked a ton and played in a band.
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