| Author | Message | ||
     Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 618 Registered: 10-2004 |
Haven't done one of these in a few weeks, and if I'm not mistaken, we haven't tackled 1983 yet, which to me was a stellar year. Go-Betweens - Before Hollywood Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain REM - Murmur Eyeless in Gaza - Rust Red September Nick Heyward - North of a Miracle Fun Boy Three - Waiting XTC - Mummer Heaven 17 - Luxury Gap New Order - Power, Corruption, & Lies Bauhaus - Burning from the Inside The Church - Seance Howard Devoto - Jerky Versions... Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again Durutti Column - Another Setting The Fall - Perverted by Language Echo & the Bunnymen - Porcupine The Stranglers - Feline The Cure - The Walk (6-song US edition; I know it's an EP and I don't care!) Dislocation Dance - Midnight Shift The Glove - Blue Sunshine Bill Nelson - Chimera | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 748 Registered: 08-2006 |
Here's a top 10: 1. Marshall Crenshaw - "Field Day" 2. The Go-Betweens - "Before Hollywood" 3. Lou Reed - "Legendary Hearts" 4. Husker Du - "Metal Circus" 5. James Blood Ulmer - "Odyssey" 6. REM - "Murmur" 7. Jonathan Richman - "Jonathan Sings!" 8. The Blasters - "Non-Fiction" 9. Tom Waits - "Swordfishtombones" 10. King Sunny Ade - "Synchro System" Also: Cyndi Lauper, Talking Heads, X and on and on. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1465 Registered: 04-2005 |
These are the albums that seem to stick with me from that year, though I must have also been listening to more obscure, interesting things that I'm forgetting now. 1. R.E.M. - Murmur 2. Go-Betweens - Before Hollywood 3. Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones 4. New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies 5. Richard Thompson - Hand of Kindness 6. Lou Reed - Legendary Hearts 7. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues 8. Violent Femmes - s/t 9. U2 - War 10. T-Bone Burnett - Proof Through the Night | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2088 Registered: 03-2006 |
1. REM - MuMu 2. GBs - Cllimax (Befo' Hollawood) 3. Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones 4. Richard Thompson - Hand of Milkmaid 5. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues 6. U2 - War 7. T-Bone Burnett - Proof Thru the Night 8. Marshall Crenshaw - Field Day 9. Aztec Camera - High Land, etc. 10. George Clinton - Computer Games | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 619 Registered: 10-2004 |
I hesitated over including "Speaking in Tongues" (and then didn't). I love a few of its songs, especially the beautifully understated "This Must be the Place (Naive Melody)," but overall I found the record to be a bit uneven. Nice to see "Swordfishtrombones" and "Field Day" listed! | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 749 Registered: 08-2006 |
I'm a huge "Field Day" fan, Jeff, overheated production and all. There isn't a single song on that record I don't just love. And I'm with you to an extent on the Heads record. I like it a lot, and "This Must Be the Place" is my fave TH tune evah, but the album's always lacked a little something for me. LK and Kurt: I admit to a lack of T-Bone Burnett in my collection. "Lack" meaning "none." Is the album on your list a good one to start with? LK, totally forgot about the Clinton. Great, great record. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2089 Registered: 03-2006 |
Hey whatever floats your boat, but "Speaking In Tongues" is the most accessible, ergo the most enjoyable TH record, at least in the LK household. Its songs are more, well, songy, than on other records and it's definitely proved to have the most longterm listenability - it still sounds like a dang ole zillion bucks lo these many years later. Plus, TH just blew the roof off the dump (to wax Clintonian) with them live in the Stop Making Sense film (oh to have seen that tour!)... Sadly, most of T-Bone Burnett's old catalog is OOP, so if you ever see anything by him, snap it up! However, there is an excellent comp that just came out last year, called something like "20/20", and that provides a great cross-section. But, definitely grab "Proof", "Truth Decay" and "Trap Door", if you ever see them. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1466 Registered: 04-2005 |
Rob, I don't know if it's available on CD (maybe it's been swallowed up by a bigger comp), but T-Bone's EP from '82, "Trap Door," is probably the best starting point--a bit more streamlined and less indulgent than he can get. "Proof Through the Night" is an odd album because almost every song is a heavy morality tale, with three consecutive "fallen women" songs. The first time I listened to it, I laughed at the album because it seemed so morally heavy-handed. But the music is great, the melodies stick, and T-Bone is funny enough that he can deflate his own self-righteousness to keep from coming off like a cranky Christian rock protest singer. But just barely... Or if you want to dive in head first, the recent "Twenty Twenty: The Essential T-Bone Burnett" comp probably has everything you need. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 750 Registered: 08-2006 |
Just checked this out and - interestingly - Rhino Handmade currently has a two-disc limited edition set that combines "Proof" and the two (I didn't know there were two) "Trap Door" EPs. I went ahead and bought it. If anyone else is interested, get it fast because the Rhino Handmade stuff does sell out. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2090 Registered: 03-2006 |
I'm on it, baby. That's sheer f-ing gold! As far as I know, neither of them beauties has ever been on CD. You probably know, too, Rob, that "Trap Door" is the source of the ridiculously great "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend". Kurt, pretty much hits whats' good about "Proof", though I might add that his moral heavyhandedness doesn't really go awry too much since he picks such incredibly deserving targets. Proof also has some great guest artists, for instance, one Richard "Milkmaid Rogerer" Thompson. The humor on it also goes a long way to leaven anything remotely heavy-handed. One of my favorite bits, on the song, "The Sixties", has to do with a wanna be hipster who finally gets his wish to sleep with one of those hippies with her "cutoffs slit up to her belt loops", but ends up feeling bad when he discovers she only charged everybody else $20, when he had to pay $50. I'm not particularly into Christian songwriters, but trust me, he's very far removed from Micheal W. Smith. They don't come any sharper or smarter, and when you consider that, for years now, he's based himself in what constitutes Babylon (or Sodom or Gomorrah) for the States, Hollywood, you get some interesting observations.... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1705 Registered: 05-2005 |
At the risk of sounding like a broken record the 80s were the Devils decade, in 1983 he must have felt particularly evil. Managed to scramble together 6 albums that I would even think of playing again,sure I could have put down albums by Costello, Talking Heads and Eyeless in Gaza but these albums havent held up well. No doubt as more people lists appear I will see some albums that I should have put on my list, lets hope I've missed a few crackers! Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits Power Corruption & Lies - New Order Soul Mining - The The Murmur - R.E.M Before Hollywood - Go Betweens The Fall - Perverted by Language | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 620 Registered: 10-2004 |
Kevin, if that's the case, then I must be Satan himself! And Oh My God! I can't believe I left off The The's Soul Mining. I *love* that record to pieces. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1286 Registered: 03-2005 |
I include only things that are not already mentioned by others. Marianne Faithfull--A Child's Adventure Gang of Four -- Hard. I expect Kevin will not agree, but once the first track ("Is It Love?") is over, this turns into one of my very favorite Gof4 albums. Triffids -- Treeless Plain Scott Walker -- Climate of Hunter I know it doesn't count because it's an antho, but the Fall's "Palace of Swords Reversed" is the way I originally heard all of the great songs on it and it's always been a great favorite. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 621 Registered: 10-2004 |
Randy, I'm going to have to give "Hard" a listen. In fact, I don't think I've ever sat through the entire album, but your statement above has got me intrigued enough to give it another try. "Palace of Swords Reversed" was my very first Fall album, so it holds a particularly special place for me. I got into the Fall in the early 90s, at a time when most of their 80s output was out of print, and the only chance in hell I had of hearing their early 80s stuff was buying this comp. It's a great comp, obviously, and I have vivid memories of being absolutely floored by "Prole Art Threat" and "Wings" right on the first listen. Oh, and Randy - "What's Climate of Hunter" like? Although I love Walker's four 60s albums intensely, I've never bothered with anything after that, and I think his recent efforts are pretentious, tuneless drivel. Where does "Climate" fit into the story? | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1287 Registered: 03-2005 |
Jeff, imagine Scott Walker listening to "Avalon" and going "hmmm, I'm overdue for a new album." It's not quite as pretty but it does have that sound. Is it pretentious? Yes, of course. It IS a Scott Walker record. But it's actually still a great record--even though Billy Ocean appears on it!--and it grows on you slowly. I'll send some examples. I love "Wings." And "Leave the Capitol." And "Totally Wired." "Marquis Cha Cha." "Fit and Working Again." It just goes on and on. Perhaps we should consider it their first Greatest Hits album. As for listening to "Hard," I hope you at least got to "Independence." | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 231 Registered: 07-2006 |
crazygoodyear (let there be pop....) rem - murmur cocteaus - head over heels go-bs - bh heaven 17 - the luxury gap new order - power corruption & lies echo.. - porcupine culture club - colour by numbers prince - 1999 madonna - madonna eurythmics - sweet dreams AND touch lps soft cell - the art of falling apart fb3 - waiting yazoo - you and me both | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2093 Registered: 03-2006 |
1999 - great pick, Joe. How could I have forgotten the funky lil' purple one? God bless his conk. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1644 Registered: 05-2005 |
Climate was '84 Randy! Nice pick tho, it takes off Jeff, where The Walker Bros' The Electrician left off. I could add to Jeff's list, which ius pretty similar to mine: The FArmer's Boys - get out and walk. The The - Sould Mining Robert Cray - Bad influence Yello - You gotta say yes Big Country - The Crossing (uncool I know, but...) Thriller Elvis Costello - Punch the clock | ||
| Wolfgang Steinhardt Member Username: Berbatov Post Number: 86 Registered: 09-2006 |
additional Billy Bragg - Life's a Riot... Pretenders - Learning to Crawl Einstürzende Neubauten - Zeichnungen des Patienten O.T. Rain Parade - Emergency Third Rail Powertrip | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 67 Registered: 05-2005 |
Ah 1983! The year Dave Fanning (Legendary Irish DJ) and Tom Robinson together saved me from becoming a teenybopper! (Long story) I'd agree with most of the above with one gigantic exception - Madonna. I will never forgive the universe for giving vocal chords to that bint. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1288 Registered: 03-2005 |
My copy of "Climate of Hunter" says 1983, Spence. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1469 Registered: 04-2005 |
LK, most sources call "1999" an '82 album. And, curiously, "Thriller" won the 1983 Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll even though it was released in '82. | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 232 Registered: 07-2006 |
yeah i think you're right kurt....for some reason i always thought it was early 83 (i know it took a while to really chart), but looking up on it now it appears it came out in oct 82. stunning record anyway.... and catherine...no one said madonna could sing, especially in 1983. however bland she might be now, her pudgy italian smart-arse attitude won more than a few of us over. one of my most oft-listened to debuts to this day. | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 79 Registered: 02-2007 |
Infidels - Dylan. I think this is 83. This coulda been a great album, rather than just a good one, if Blind Willie McTell and Foot Of Pride were on it, instead of say Neighborhood Bully or Man of Peace. One of the great mysteroes why he took these 2 songs of the album. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 235 Registered: 05-2005 |
...no Style Council???? Didn't they release Introducing the Style Council in 83 or did Cafe Bleu come out that year too. Very daggy I know but very early 80's! I agree with most of you .. Before Hollywood of course Triffids Treeless Plain Echo Pocupine Seance the Church - my first Church tour Cocteaus Head over Heels Murmer REM Aztec Camera High Land Hard Rain I agree with Catherine - The beginning of the end of the 1980's was the triumpharant of Madonna, Prince and Michael Jacksons Thiller. That's why I hated top 40 radio SO much!!!! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 622 Registered: 10-2004 |
Geoff - no Style Council full lengths until '84. "Cafe Bleu" ("My Ever Changing Moods" here in the US) didn't come out 'til '84. "Introducing" EP did come out in '83, and I rate that pretty highly, but half of it was re-recorded for the better for inclusion on the first album. On the subject of Madonna - I love those first two records: pure, trashy, leave your brain at the door, bubblegum. | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 233 Registered: 07-2006 |
geoff....no time for prince then? usually the least likely of the three to spark that reaction..... | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 755 Registered: 08-2006 |
David, you're right on about "Infidels." The first time I heard "Blind Willie McTell" and "Foot of Pride" on "The Bootleg Series" I was stunned they were left off the record. For me, though, the definitive version of the song was Lou Reed's performance of it at that Dylan 40th anniversary concert. It was a brave choice, especially since I think the tune wasn't released at the time, and he just attacked it. Dylan's version sounds absolutely retiring by comparison. | ||
| Alfredo L Soto Member Username: Alfred_soto Post Number: 12 Registered: 05-2005 |
No Prince, no credibility... Michael Jackson – Thriller Madonna – s/t Lou Reed – Legendary Hearts Go-Betweens – Before Hollywood New Order – Power, Corruption and Lies Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain R.E.M. – Murmur Prince – 1999 Cyndi Lauper – She's So Unusual | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 68 Registered: 05-2005 |
I think it was exactly her pudgy smart arse attitude that bugged me most! (and every other manufactured image/attitude she's taken since) | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 80 Registered: 02-2007 |
Rob, agree about Lou Reed's version. Absolutley gave that song venom. That was the first I ever heard it. Only later got Bootleg series. Bob's original good too, but different. I make up my own Infidels album with the rejects etc and cull a coupla duds and I got myself a great album. After a while I forget that what I'm listening to is not the proper album. Normally wouldn't do that but those 2 songs are amongst the finest songs he ever wrote! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 688 Registered: 01-2005 |
1. R.E.M. - Murmur 2. Go-Betweens - Before Hollywood 3. Rain Parade - Emergency Third Rail Powertrip 4. Lou Reed - Legendary Hearts 5. The Three O'Clock - Sixteen Tambourines 6. Jane Siberry - No Borders Here 7. The Plimsouls - Everywhere At Once 8. Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain 9. Green On Red - Gravity Talks 10. The Replacements - Hootenanny 11. X - More Fun In The New World 12. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues 13. Echo & the Bunnymen - Porcupine 14. The Church - Seance 15. Richard Thompson - Hand of Kindness 16. The The - Soul Mining 17. B-52's - Whammy! 18. Fun Boy Three - Waiting 19. George Clinton - Computer Games 20. Trio - Trio and Error | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 689 Registered: 01-2005 |
Wolfgang, I've got The Rain Parade at number three, as well as their fellow Paisley Underground bands The Three O'Clock and Green On Red in my top 10. Randy, I tried listening to GoF - Hard many a time in 1983 when I picked up the vinyl lp, but I thought it was a big let down. I liked a few cuts, but without Hugo Burnham all the punch was gone. I never bothered getting "Mall". | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1472 Registered: 04-2005 |
Interesting to hear "Hard" getting some praise, because that had to be one of the most universally panned albums ever by a critically beloved band. The reviews were so horrible I never even bothered getting it, so I've only heard the tracks that were later put on comps. Sounds like maybe I should seek out a used copy. Michael, avoiding "Mall" is smart, though it has a couple of decent cuts. The other '90s GoF album, "Shrinkwrapped," is a little better, but nothing you'd choose over the classic era. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 623 Registered: 10-2004 |
Michael - X's "More Fun in the New World" and the B52s "Whammy!" are two really great albums that I neglected to include on my list. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 624 Registered: 10-2004 |
Oh, and on the subject of "Hard," I gave it a listen last night. Unlike many people - I'm assuming - I actually like the song "Is It Love," and always have. But with the exception of a few songs (most notably the very last song, which I found quite nice) I couldn't really get into the rest of it. For me, the ingredients are there, the playing is fine, and I'm totally okay with "Hard's" funky-new-wave-dancefloor direction, it's just that the songwriting itself doesn't ignite any sparks. I felt they did that better on "Songs of the Free." | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 691 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kurt, I forgot about "Shrinkwrapped", which goes to show you how little I though of GoF after "Hard". Jeff, I thought X's "More Fun in the New World" was a return to form after "Under The Big Black Sun". Some people thought the same of the B52s "Whammy!", but I liked their previous ep "Mesopotamia" just fine. I saw them during the "Mesopotamia" tour and they were great. I wish I still had my "Mesopotamia" tour tee shirt, but it finally wore out. I'm with you regarding "Songs of the Free", which was a fine album, even though Dave Allen didn't play bass on it and Sara Lee did. Hugo was still there pouding on the skins and the songwriting was still very good. I like "Is It Love," and "Womantown" from "Hard". | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1291 Registered: 03-2005 |
This year exposes a lot of funny differences among us. I think of "More Fun" as the place to stop listening to X whereas I view "Big Black Sun" as a pretty good album--the only one not destroyed by the association with the major label. "Is It Love" sounds like body snatchers came in and took GoF away and left Heaven 17 in their stead. It's true I never got "Mall" though. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 625 Registered: 10-2004 |
"Big Black Sun" and "More Fun" might be my favorite X albums. I draw the line for X after "More Fun." Randy, it's true, "Is It Love" does sound more like Heaven 17 than GoF, but then, I love Heaven 17, so it probably makes sense that I like the tacky white-boy funk of "Is It Love." | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 692 Registered: 01-2005 |
I also draw the line for X after "More Fun." I bought "Ain't Love Grand" back in 1985 and shelved it after a few listens. I never did buy "See How We Are" or "Hey Zeus!". | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 760 Registered: 08-2006 |
"Ain't Love Grand" was deeply depressing, but "See How We Are" had a few winners on it. The title track and "Fourth of July" (a Dave Alvin tune) in particular were pretty dang good. But then you put on "Wild Gift" and forget all about them. | ||
| Alfredo L Soto Member Username: Alfred_soto Post Number: 13 Registered: 05-2005 |
I really love GoF's "Is This Love" now, after years of resisting it. It's not the epitaph that "We Live As We Dream, Alone" is, but it's a sad, bitter tune that lingers in the mind -- the sound of a band adjusting to New Pop, not liking it one bit, and growling, "The men who own the city make more sense than me/their actions are clear, their lives are their own." | ||
| Alfredo L Soto Member Username: Alfred_soto Post Number: 14 Registered: 05-2005 |
and they were wrong about New Pop, of course, which made their dilemma all the more tragic. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1598 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hey Zeus! is pretty good Michael. Haven't played it in years though. Must dig it out again. |