Category: music
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The Police, Zenyatta Mondatta, 1980 on A&M
Third album in the brilliant opening set of LPs from Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers. Side one opens with “Don’t Stand So Close To Me,” “Driven To Tears,” and “When The World is Running Down, You Make The Best of What’s Still Around” – what a sequence! There’s such a tight and interesting rhythm…
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Los Lobos, By the Light of the Moon, 1987 on Slash Records
Los Lobos’ follow on record to How Will The Wolf Survive?. which was produced by T-Bone Burnett. I love the Slash! records catalog from the 80s – great Americana tinged but contemporary music – and this is no exception. My copy—via Slipped Disc at a record fair at Mill No. 5—is an Allied pressing from…
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The Robert Cray Band, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, 1988 on Mercury
Fifth full length from Robert Cray and co – sometimes referred to as The Robert Cray Band, other places just Robert Cray from the 1980s. This was their second major label record (on Mercury following Hightone and Tomato). It was not as successful as Strong Persuader which preceded it but there are some great songs…
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Sade, Stronger Than Pride, 1988 on Epic
Third studio LP from the group Sade, named after singer Sade Adu and including (on this LP) Stuart Matthewman, Andrew Hale, and Paul Denman. What a fantastic run they had in the 80s and early 90s: Diamond LIfe, Promise, Stronger Than Pride, and Love Deluxe are all fantastic. I could just put “Turn My Back…
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Paul Simon, Hearts and Bones, 1983 on Warner Brothers
I’d be hard pressed to make any call on what my favorite Paul Simon album is (maybe Graceland) given how great they all are – including this one, with “René and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War” and “The Late Great Johnny Ace” and the title track). I feel like this one gets…
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Kraftwerk, Tour De France, 1983 on Warner Brothers
This isn’t the full album released in 2003 but the 1983 single (recorded durig the Electric Café sessions) which charted in the UK. I guess this makes it “late” period Kraftwerk but it sounds super fresh. My copy is a 45 rpm 12″ (there are 7″ single versions as well), with the custom “cog” labels…
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Bill Monroe, Bill Monroe & Friends, 1983 on MCA Records
Bill Monroe sometimes gets called the “Father of Bluegrass” – no doubt he’s a pretty foundational figure and his Blue Grass Boys may be the source of the genre’s name. This is a great collection of later Bill Monroe (he passed in 1996) doing duets with performers who admire him and his legacy. The guesting…
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The Waterboys, Fisherman’s Blues, 1988 on Chrysalis / Ensign
The fourth studio LP from Mike Scott, Steve Wickham, Anthony Thistlehwaite, Trevor Hutchinson, Peter McKinney et al. Marked a bit of a shift toward Irish and Scottish music, but including covers of Van Morrison’s “Sweet Thing” and (briefly) “This Land is Your Land.” My copy – a Carrollton Georgia US pressing from 1988 – via…
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The Long Ryders, The State of Our Union, 1985 on Island Records
Second album from LA alt-country / traditionalist rockers The Long Ryders, following up 1984’s Native Sons, and their first on a major label. The album was recorded in the UK, actually in Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds – far from the landscape with which they’d normally be associated. It was produced by Will Birch (who…
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Peter Case, The Man With The Blue Postmodern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar, 1989 on Geffen
This was Case’s sophomore album as a solo artist, follow his 1986 self-titled debut. I’m a sucker for anyone cribbing album or song titles from Wallace Stevens and love this album. Guests include Los Lobos, T-Bone Burnett and Ry Cooder, alongside folks like Benmont Tench, Jerry Scheff, David Hidalgo, David McKelvy, Jim Keltner, and Steven…
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The Woodentops, Well Well Well, 1986 on Upside Records
Collection of singles (the CD release included the subtitle “The Unabridged Singles Collection”) from UK band The Woodentops, released on Upside Records (in the US) via a license from Rough Trade in the UK. The label on this record lists the band as “The Wooden Tops” though the cover keeps the band as one word…
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Emmylou Harris, Thirteen, 1986 on Warner Brothers
Harris counted this as her 13th studio album, ignoring Gliding Bird which came out on an independent label. It was produced by Harris and her then-husband Paul Kennerley and recorded in Nashville. Guests include VInce Gill, Rodney Crowell, and Carl Jackson. Tracklist includes covers of Bruce Springsteen’s “My Father’s House” (from Nebraska) and Merle Haggard’s…
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Bob Dylan, Empire Burlesque, 1985 on Columbia
I know some people don’t love mid-eighties Dylan, but I really do. He’s working here with Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Howie Epstein (from the Heartbreakers) as well as Mick Taylor, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare, plus a wonderful set of backing vocalists. The big single here was “Tight Connection To My Heart” which got a…
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Adam Ant, Friend or Foe, 1982 on Epic
This was the debut solo album from Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant, following on three albums as Adam and the Ants. The single “Goody Two Shoes” reached number 1 in the UK and number 12 in the US. Lately I’ve been hearing “Desparate But Not Serious” all the time on Sirius XM…
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The Del Fuegos, Smoking In The Fields, 1989 on R.C.A.
Fourth and final studio album from Boston Massachusetts’ own The Del Fuegos, recorded after Warren Zanes and Woody Giessmann left the band. Recorded in Woodstock NY and produced by David Thoener. The first three Del Fuegos albums were on Slash Records – this was their only one on R.C.A. The Del Fuegos reunited in 2011…
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Timbuk 3, Greetings From Timbuk 3, 1986 on I.R.S. Records
Debut album from Pat MacDonald and Barbara Koyman MacDonald, the husband and wife duo better known as Timbuk 3 (sometimes written Timbuk3), featuring their most well known single “The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades.” Such great songwriting on this and all their albums – people sometimes think of them as a one-hit wonder…
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Haircut One Hundred, Pelican West, 1982 on Arista
The debut album for UK New Wave band Haircut One Hundred, founded by Nick Heyward, Les Nemes, and Graham Jones, joined here by Blair Cunningham on drums. Lead single “Love Plus One” was a top 10 hit in the UK and a top 40 hit in the US. The LP was produced by Bob Sargeant…
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The Brains, The Brains, 1980 on Mercury
Self-titled debut album from Atlanta’s The Brains, including a song later made famous by Cyndi Lauper, “Money Changes Everything.” The Brains would only go on to one more full length LP, Electronic Eden. Both were produced by Steve Lillywhite. Various members went on to play in other Atlanta bands, including the Georgia Satellites. Tom Gray…