Tag: 1980sPage 1 of 20

UB40, Little Baggariddim, 1985 on DEP International / A&M

Great EP by UB40 from the mid-eighties, including a duet with Chrissie Hynde covering Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe,” with a dub version on side 2….

Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel (aka Security), 1982 on Charisma

The fourth in Peter Gabriel’s self-titled set of albums, this one was labelled Security in some regions, and sometimes is referred to as Peter Gabriel 4. I love…

The Selecter, Celebrate the Bullet, 1981 on Chrysalis

The Selecter were a Coventry band on 2 Tone; Celebrate the Bullet was their second album, following Too Much Pressure. Neol Davies, Pauline Black, and Arthur Hendrickson did…

Peter Gabriel, Plays Live!, 1983 on Charisma

Peter Gabriel’s first solo live album, released following his four self-titled solo albums (commonly called Car, Scratch, Melt, and Security). It was recorded across multiple venues in the…

Blancmange, Mange Tout, 1984 on London Records

Second studio album from British synth-pop duo Blancmange (Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe), following Happy Families. This was their best selling album, with “Blind Vision” and “Don’t Tell…

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, 1988 on Geffen

This was an inescapable album in 1988 – not that I was trying to escape it. It was their studio debut and came out of nowhere to go…

Talking Heads, Naked, 1988 on Fly/Sire

Eighth and final studio LP from Talking Heads – talk about going out with a bang! What a great record. They apologized in the liner notes to Minneapolis…

Run D.M.C., Run D.M.C., 1984 on Profile

Run D.M.C.‘s debut album on Profile, a NY area hip-hop label that was distributed by Arista, who would later reissue it. It was produced by Russell SImmons and…

Icicle Works, Icicle Works, 1984 on Arista / Beggars Banquet

In the UK (and elsewhere) this was credited to The Icicle Works and was on Beggars Banquet, but in the US it was titled just Icicle Works (no…

Fleshtones, Roman Gods, 1981 on IRS Records

Debut album from Queens New York’s own The Fleshtones (credited as just Fleshtones here). This included the song – “Shadow-line (to J. Conrad)” – that was included in…

Squeeze, East Side Story, 1981 on A&M

Squeeze’s fourth studio LP, between 1980’s Argybargy and 1982’s Sweets from a Stranger. This was the first album after Jools Holland departed, replaced by Paul Carrack, who provided…

Fleshtones, Up Front, 1980 on I.R.S. Records

First EP Fleshtones issued, before the release of Roman Gods. Fleshtones were Bill Milhizer, Jan Marek Pakulski, Keith Streng, and Peter Zaremba. Miles Copeland signed them to IRS…

Beat Surrender, Foundation, 1985 on Shake Records

Beat Surrender (this one at least – there are many things by that name including the Jam’s last single) was a Boston band made up of Paul Souza,…

Squeeze, Sweets From a Stranger, 1982 on A&M

Fifth studio album from Squeeze, this one including Don Snow, John Bentley, and Gilson Lavis alongside Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. and featuring “Black Coffee in Bed” with…

Townes Van Zandt, At My Window, 1987 on Sugar Hill

Van Zandt’s eighth studio album and only one recorded in the 1980s, originally released on the bluegrass label Sugar Hill. I never miss a chance to pick up…

Camouflage, Voices & Images, 1988 on Atlantic

Camouflage were a synth-pop trio from Bietigheim-Bissingen in West Germany (near Stuttgart). Voices & Images was their debut album and included “The Great Commandment” which was a hit…

Heaven 17, The Luxury Gap, 1983 on Virgin

Heaven 17 included Martyn Ware and Ian Criag Marsh who had been founding members of The Human League – Glenn Gregory took the place of Philip Oakey to…

JoBoxers, Like Gangbusters, 1983 on RCA

I had not actually heard of JoBoxers but took a flyer on this one just based on the sheer 80s new-waveness of the cover – the hair, the…

Steve Earle, Guitar Town, 1986 on MCA Records

Earle’s debut album from the mid-eighties – note the proud “Digital Recording” stamp on the cover (where now you’d see “All Analog” promoted). Topped the country charts, and…

Wham!, Make it Big, 1984 on Columbia

This was the second studio album from the duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley – the first, Fantastic!, didn’t make much of an impression in the US,…