Tag: 1987
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Echo & The Bunnymen, Echo & The Bunnymen, 1987 on Sire
Though it is self-titled, this is actually the fifth studio album from Echo & The Bunnymen. They didn’t quite have the same staying power as R.E.M., U2, or The Cure in terms of long-term output, but they were on my personal Mount Rushmore in the 80s. They were just effortlessly cool (or so it seemed…
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Pet Shop Boys, Actually, 1987 on Gong / Parlophone
Secodn studio LP from Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant aka Pet Shop Boys, released in 1987 on Parlophone in the UK and EMI America in the US. Wonderful collection of songs, including “Shopping” and “What Have I Done To Deserve This” as well as “It’s a Sin” which was a hit single. Production duties split…
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The Dream Academy, Remembrance Days, 1987 on Reprise
Sophomore album from Nick Laird-Clowes, Kate St. John, and Gilbert Gabriel aka “The Dream Academy.” Most well known for “Life in a Northern Town” from their debut album. This second release got less attention, but I love it – “Indian Summer” and “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime” in particular. Guests here in Lindsey Buckingham, who played…
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Acoustic Alchemy, Red Dust and Spanish Lace, 1987 on MCA
This was the debut album from Nick Webb and Greg Carmichael, aka Acoustic Alchemy. They’d later be on GRP after MCA acquired the jazz label. Great album that is also fantastic sounding – recorded by Klaus Genuit at Hansahaus (Berlin). My copy—via Residency Records in Salem MA—is a KM Records pressing that included an original…
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Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Sporting Life Blues, 1987 on JSP Records
These recordings were made at a private party in Glasgow Scotland in 1958, and released on JSP records in 1987 (a year after Sonny Terry passed). It can be hard to find, though it seems to now be on spotify: Sporting Life Blues. (John Stedman is listed as producer on the 2025 digital release, and…
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The Cure, Wake Me In the Dark, 2023 on Mind Control
Another live vinyl bootleg from The Cure (said to be an FM radio broadcast), this one from November 1st, 1987 at Forest National in Brussels Belgium. Many tracks from the then-new Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me album. This has also been bootlegged as Belgian Kisses on Casino Records. You can find audio from the…
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Colin James Hay, Looking for Jack, 1987 on Columbia
Solo debut from the man more well known (to me at least) as the lead singer of Men At Work, which he fronted from 1978 to 1986. He’s actually had quite a lengthy solo career and done a lot of really interesting work. This album may not be the pinnacle of that work, but it…
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Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead, Dylan & The Dead, 1989 on Columbia
Recorded live in July 1987 during the six-city tour of that summer. While the shows from that tour typically had a first set of Dead material followed by a set with Dylan, this recording highlights the Dylan songs with the Dead serving as a backup band. Got some harsh critical reviews a the time as…
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The Replacements, The Pleasure’s All Yours: Pleased to Meet Me Outtakes & Alternates, 2021 on Sire
Released as part of Record Store Day 2021, these are outtakes and alternate versions of songs from Pleased To Meet Me released on vinyl for the first time. Some (most?) of these tracks have been released elsewhere: the expanded CD edition of Pleased To Meet Me or the All for Nothing / Nothing for All…
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Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Mainstream, 1987 on Capitol
Third and last studio LP under the name Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, released by Polydor in the UK and Capitol in the US. Fared better in the UK than in the US, where it failed to chart. One track produced by Stewart Copeland, the rest by Ian Stanley. Well worth a listen if you…
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The Housemartins, Me and the Farmer, 1987 on Go! Discs
Released as a 12″ single from The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death, including the b-side of the 7″ single “I Bit My Lip” but also “He Will Find You Out” and “Step Outside.” Norman Cook (who later became Fatboy Slim among many aliases), Dave Hemingway (also later in The Beautiful South), Stan Cullimore, and…
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X, See How We Are, 1987 on Elektra
This was the sixth studio album from Exene Cervenka, John Doe, and D.J. Bonebrake, and the first after the departure of Billy Zoom. He was replaced by Dave Alvin and then Tony Gilkyson, both of whom are credited on the LP. Benmont Tench also contributes on the Hammond organ. The standout for me is “4th…
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The Smiths, The World Won’t Listen, 1987 on Rough Trade
This is a compilation album—the second of three—including singles and b-sides from 1985-1987. Most of these tracks also appear on Louder Than Bombs (a 2xLP), but two are different versions and two are edits. Fantastic collection of songs, including “Panic,” “Ask,” “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” “That Joke Isn’t…
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The Smiths, Strangeways Here We Come, 1987 on Rough Trade.
Fourth (and final) studio album from The Smiths, produced by Stephen Street, Morrissey, and Johnny Marr and recorded at The Wool Hall in Beckington, Somerset. On constant repeat in my late 80s experience. Strangeways was a prison in Manchester (now Manchester Prison) – The Smiths had previously used the Salford Lad’s Club for the cover…
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John Hiatt, Bring the Family, 1987 on A&M
John Hiatt’s eighth studio album and his first on A&M. What a fantastic songwriter! Actually paid for by Demon Records in the UK, but picked up after being completed by A&M in the US. Guests include Ry Cooder (doing harmony vocals on “Have a Little Faith in Me” as well as electric guitar and sitar…
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The Triffids, Calenture, 1987 on Island Records
This was actually the fourth LP for the Australian alt-rock (post-punk?) band The Triffids, but likely their best known to US audiences (like me). The literary-ness of being named after The Day of the Triffids and using (and defining on the sleeve – this was well before google) a word like Calenture appeared to the…
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Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, Modern Lovers ’88, 1987 on Rounder
Although the Modern Lovers formed in Natick MA, this incarnation formed in California and recorded this album in Grass Valley CA. This became the final album for Richman with the Modern Lovers, as a trio, with Brennan Totten and Johnny Avila. My copy—via Electric Fetus in Minneapolis MN—is the Craft Recordings’ 2022 Record Store Day…
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Steve Earle, Someday, 1987 on MCA
12-inch single with a presskit from 1987 – after the March 1986 release of Guitar Town. This was the second single from the debut album – including a live cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “State Trooper.” My copy—via the Record Exchange in Salem MA—also included a one page Rolling Stone feature on Earle, but not I’m…