Thursday, September 10, 2015

EDITOR BOY'S TOP 200 SONGS OF THE '80S (200-176)

CLOSE LOBSTERS
So, it's 2015 and Pitchfork posted their list of the greatest songs of the '80s as voted by their staff of writers...  And I feel motivated to post mine.

The Pitchfork list is a pretty cool list, all things considered, since they're aesthetic is of such a varied mix viewed from a younger music journalistic vantage point than us who grew up on CREEM and Rolling Stone.

There's a decent amount of ground breaking rap/hip hop and reggae and interesting choices of post punk and techno, which they balanced out with a mix of mainstream pop hits; although that's where I started to wince a little. As much I've come to accept some of the "bad" 80s production styles, there's still stuff that can not hold up.    


Bad is bad is bad. And I still haven't found one single convincing positive thing to say about Art Of Noise. And Shannon's "Let The Music Play" is still as clunky clanky annoying sounding as Starship's "We Built This City."  And like Bob Stanley's reference to Madonna in his book "Yeah Yeah Yeah," I feel there is a lack of specialness to her that permeates her 80s material.  

And that goes for almost all '80s pop from Whitney Houston to Lionel  Ritchie to anything the Bee Gees wrote, to the almighty  Michael Jackson. Sorry, but three great songs ("Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Billie Jean" and "PYT") does not make someone the king of pop.  Prince obviously knows he owns the '80s as far as pop goes (so does Pitchfork).
THE CRAMPS

Pitchfork also left out what I thought would be some obvious Pitchforkian choices (Cramps, Gang Of Four, Chameleons , English Beat ). Their post-punk choices went a little too heavy on The Smiths and Joy Division/New Order.

What I'm posting here are my faves with maybe a few thrown in for historical impact.  But, genuinely, this is what I dig; although I should admit via full disclosure I did purchase Madonna's "Burning Up" 12" and Wham's "Wham Rap" EP as well as Cyndi Lauper's solo debut, but that was as far as it went for me with following such '80s top 40 artistes.   Years of DJ-ing 1992-2015 has made me constantly reassess the decade.

The '80s is the decade where top 40 music truly gets a lot worse (despite the brouhaha about 1984). The stuff that sticks is either underground, semi popular or an import of some stripe.  And despite anyone hardly caring outside their respective homelands, Australia and New Zealand were fertile creative musical places.

I'm starting with 25 at a time.  I can only write so fast.

200. 
ENDGAMES
 "We Feel Good (Future's Looking Fine)"
1982
Two words: John Leckie.  Although this is probably the most un-John Leckie record of all. But I still personally refer to it as the ultimate New Romantic Euro dance single of the early '80s.  A true one-hit wonder of a band; and the classic example of how everything of this ilk goes downhill after 1982.



199. 
HAWKS
"Let Me In"
1981
Somewhere around 1972-3 the art of the soft Lennonesque pop/rock tune got started with the likes of Sleepy Hollow, Blue, and ELO and would invariably appear the rest of the decade with Pilot, The Rollers etc.  Late to the party were Iowa's (yes, a fucking band from Iowa!) Hawks. What keeps the art of such craft from sounding out of step with its period is the actual inspiration and performance of the song.  And truth be told, as nice as the ballads that April Wine and REO Speedwagon were cranking out at this time, this is really what most of us Beatle fans and soft AM pop aficionados were looking for. Under closer inspection, it was the gifted Kirk Kaufman who came up with most, if not all, of the band's ace tunes.  This was his tune for the ages.

198. 
COLOURBOX
"Moon Is Blue"
1985
One of those stray gems of a tune seemingly out of nowhere circa 1985.  A huge fave of my late friend Greg Dwinnell.  And something of a stretch for the label that released it, 4AD; being that it is some oddly retro futuristic 80s epic soul tune.




197.
JOY DIVISION
"Love Will Tear Us Apart"
1980  
I bought this the year after it was released without ever hearing it.  Still never totally loved it, despite the obvious brilliance.  Ian Curtis sang a bit too low and bellowing for my taste.  I really prefer the flip side version on the 12" which sounds like Pete Townsend is playing guitar on it.

196. 
DIRTY LOOKS
"12:00 High"
1980
From Staten Island came this post-punk power pop trio.  With focus on the power--most significantly via super drummer Peter Parker--the self titled debut on  Stiff/Epic was (and still is) a monster, sounding something like The Knack on steroids with a New York twist and just a hint at Brian Setzer's 50s gee tar sensibility. (Wise old tale sez that it was sir Setzer who stole the Gretsch Duo Jet concept from DL lead singer Patrick Barnes). They were groundbreaking and didn't know it.  "12:00 High" is a ferocious slab of just wanting to get out and be out and be alive.

195.
SCREEN TEST 
"Nothing Really Matters When You're Young"
1981  
Some places in post-punk USA 1980 held creative spirits flying high.  And Screen Test (3/4s of The Flashcubes) really should've been a force to be reckoned with outside of their Syracuse, NY home base, as they were one of the few who completely captured the incendiary nature of The Jam and Elvis Costello's Attractions.  This track off their debut EP is just that, capturing that fleeting energy when everything still seemed up for grabs.  Not a bad concept.

194. 
BEASTIE BOYS
"Shadrach"  
1989
They are always great in very small doses and for their '80s output the jokes are best when they rise above stupid and reach clever.  Not sure where "Shadrach" actually sits (Biblical and AC/DC references?), but musically it's really what you'd wish most '80s rap could achieve which was an intense mix of early '70s funk with anything else an intense scatter brain cared to throw out there in kitchen sink style. Done.



193.
INTERVIEW
"Adventurers"
1980  
This was one of those albums discovered mostly by geeky record collectors who grabbed it out of the cut out bins at Every Record Store USA.  We were the lucky ones who stumbled on the Virgin (USA) pressing which wisely opted for this gem as the opener.  A pace setter of soul searching UK pub pop a la Graham Parker with a more winsome twist.  The rest of the LP was a treasure trove.  But it was this tune that opened the doors.

192.   
BELLE STARS
"Sign Of The Times"   
1983
Probably the best UK femme pop tune at the turn of 82-83.  Even Culture Club never nailed the '60s soul vibe for the new  romantics with such ease and grace.  The Spice Girls wished they had one single half this magical.  Befitting it's title, the sign of the times late 1982 was "anything goes" with a keen sense of '60s pop verities, soul and Brit pop combined.


191.
ZODIAC MINDWARP & THE LOVE REACTION
"Prime Mover"   
1987
Amazing shit like this sounds like it should be the easiest thing to crank out, but in the daze of crappy hair metal that was the late '80s, the dearth of great straight ahead hard rock was indeed felt.  Even Guns N' Roses were never so flash and dirty at the same time. Faster Pussycat came close with "Babylon." It would take a few years until The Wildhearts would get it down to a science.

190.
ROBYN HITCHCOCK
"Madonna Of The Wasps"   
1989
He had a ton of contenders but this one stands up as the quintessential Robyn Hitchcock moment, if you had to choose.  So I did.  Tomorrow I will change my mind.

189.
U2
"A Celebration" 
1982
Of course they have a ton of big ones which most of us got sick of, which is why this "lost" tune (a lone 7" between October and War) holds strong.  And it really is U2; bold and anthemic, but still so very young, which is why it remains charming.

188.
THE HOUSE OF LOVE
"I Don't Know Why I Love You"  
1989
Yes there were a lot of great moments in the post punk world and bands like Comsat Angels, The Sound, The Church, and The Chameleons (to name a few) really created a ton of gems. By decade's end, The House Of Love seemed like the only ones holding on to 1982 with nary a keyboard in sight and enough kick in their gut to make you believe John Hughes didn't ruin the '80s after all.  I mean, at least somebody besides bands who were underground, realized drums machines, bad  saxophones, and tinkly keyboards were not where not where it was at in 1989.

187.   
CLOSE LOBSTERS
"Just Too Bloody Stupid"   
1987
When hype for someone like The Stone Roses goes into overdrive whilst a band this good gets a minimal buzz that quickly turns to crickets, it makes you you go, well... "Just too bloody stupid."  For anyone who has little tolerance for Morrissey's shtick and lyrical audacity, there's this Marr-influenced best kept secret. 

186.
ENGLISH BEAT
"Mirror In The Bathroom"   
1980
This should be a lot closer to the top 50, but I saved that  space for the equally timeless pop classic "Save It For Later."  This, along with The Specials' "Gangsters," is the ultimate Ska track.  Flat out riveting and wicked cool.  None more better.



185.
THE SEARCHERS
"Murder In My Heart"
1981  
Proof that some 1960s British Invasion bands survived after the bludgeoning of late 60s hard rock, and all that entailed, up until 1977 when punk tore it apart.  Such was the dismantling of Rock Stars that opened doors again for bands like The Searchers who were sharper and wiser and had more chops and pop finesse than the upstarts.   
Still basically a cover band, they got signed by Seymour Stein's Sire Records and created two decent comeback LPs. The latter (Love's Melodies) was jam packed with tunes given to them by The Motors and covers like Big Star's "September Gurls" and this gem penned by the dude (Ronnie Thomas) who wrote "Girl Of My Dreams" for Bram Tchiakovsky.


184. 
TODD RUNDGREN
"Parallel Lines"    
1989
The '80s were a strange decade for most of our fave artists who peaked in the early to mid 1970s.   Todd stayed just as busy going from solo artist to Utopia member  and back to solo for decade's end with his best collection of pop tunes since 1978's Hermit Of The Mink Hollow. Unless there's another genius lost tune laying around, "Parallel Lines" stands as his last bona fide classic ballad.

183.
A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS
"Space Age Love Song"    
1982
There's no need to go into details.  This is still a gem.  As long as I don't have to look at the lead singer, it's all cool.  And that guitar player was brilliant. 

182.
GANG OF FOUR
"To Hell With Poverty"   
1981
Teeth and more teeth and some kind of edged-out freak of a DOR beat.  The line, "We'll get drunk on cheap wine" is one for the ages.





181.
THAT PETROL EMOTION
"Can't Stop"  
1986
Out of the ashes of The Undertones (sans Feargal Sharkey) came TPE in 1985.  Guitarist John O'Neil was always the brains ( song stylist) so it wasn't a surprise when they debuted with something this intense.  For the rest of the world in 1986, it probably felt almost like heavy metal.  Not quite; just brilliant post-punk the way it should be.

180.
UPS AND DOWNS
"The Living Kind"   
1986
Just one big glorious rush of Australian jangle power pop. Produced and engineered by the under appreciated Alan Thorne in 1986 with no idea of the new crap that was on the radio.  Someone had to do it.




179.
GO GOS 
"How Much More"
1981   
Yeah, they had hits, but with the exception of the genius "Our Lips Are Sealed," the depth was more deeply exposed on LP cuts like this (originally the b-side to their Stiff debut, "We Got The Beat" in 1980). And it captures the ineffable power pop moment of LA 1979-1980 to perfection.

178.  
ADAM & THE ANTS
"Antmusic"
1980
Sui generis as anything cut in the post punk era which is saying a LOT. And it's that bizarre mix of glam stomp and Adam's own fixation on the band concept/visualization which makes it hold interest this far on.  And it sounds great played loud.



177.
SAM PHILLIPS
"Holding Onto The Earth"
1988
Wandering the desert of what was the early '80s Christian pop world as Leslie Phillips, it took a few years before she met T Bone Burnette who steered her towards a more secular, yet still spiritual alt pop sound.  In 1988 "Sam" debuted with The Indescribable Wow; her crowning pop moment, despite a more rewarding and critically acclaimed future in the '90s.   And this tune, is a spellbinding masterstroke.

176.
THE CULT
"She Sells Sanctuary"  
1985
Post punk and goth hit some intense crossroads and peaks with epic tracks like this and Siouxsie's "Cities In Dust" and Echo & The Bunnymen's "The Cutter."  The latter, like this one, is rock built up with all the proper smoke and mirrors to make it utterly spectacular and transcendent.  The brief drum break near the end is the classic send off to end all send offs.