Tag: 1980s
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Katie Webster, The Swamp Boogie Queen, 1988 on Alligator Records
Webster started out as a session musician behind lots of Louisiana artists but then came back as a solo artist in the 1980s. This was her first album as a leader with distribution in the US on Alligator Records. Guests include The Memphis Horns, Kim Wilson, Robert Cray, and Bonnie Raitt. Great album. My copy…
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Abbey Lincoln, Golden Lady, 1981 on Inner City
Originally issued by Blue Marge in France under the name Painted Lady (Abbey Lincoln in Paris), the first US issue was on Inner City Records under the name Golden Lady. Aminata Moseka, the name she adopted in the mid seventies, also appears in a parenthetical on the cover, along with Archie Shepp who accompanies her.…
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Joe Jackson’s Jumpin’ Jive, Jumpin’ Jive, 1981 on A&M
Joe Jackson always seemed to me a bit like someone out of the wrong time – though I loved his new wave / new romantic era and azz inflected records, on this one he went full on 1940s, covering songs from the swing and jump blues era. Some people feel like it is a gimmick…
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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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Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five, Piano, 1989 on New Day Records
After the split between Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel, Mel took the “Grandmaster” role and continued with the Furious Five splitting. On this record the Furious Five include Cowboy, Scorpio, Rahiem, and Kidd Creole (credited as Kid Creole), but no Flash. The Furious Five with Flash did reunite in 1988 for On the Strength, on…
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Neneh Cherry, Raw Like Sushi, 1989 on Virgin
I don’t think I knew it at the time, but Neneh Cherry is Swedish-born (Neneh Mariann Karlsson), and related to both Don Cherry the jazz trumpeter (step-daughter) and Eagle-Eye Cherry (shared mother, different fathers). This was her debut studio album and “Buffalo Stance” was huge in the late 80s. It’s really a great album well…
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Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Blood & Chocolate, 1986 on Columbia
Costello’s 11th studio LP and 9th with The Attractions, as a follow up to King of America, and produced by Nick Lowe. Didn’t do so well commercially at the time, but now called one of his best. Costello is credited on the rear sleeve as “Napoleon Dynamite” – which is also the name of the…
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Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Imperial Bedroom, 1982 on Columbia
Seventh studio LP from Costello and the sixth with The Attractions, out of F-Beat in the UK and Columbia in the US. A must have for collectors of Costello or indeed the whole new wave / alternative era of the late seventies to mid eighties. My copy – direct from the artist at a show…
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The Pretenders, Get Close, 1986 on Sire
Fourth Pretenders LP, with “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and “My Baby,” both of which were hits in the US. This is after the deaths of Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott, and would be the last LP with Martin Chambers for nearly a decade. Lots of session players here across multiple sessions, but overall a great…
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The Dream Syndicate, The Dream Syndicate (Self-Titled), 1982 on Down There Records / Enigma
Another band associated with the Paisely Underground / Paisely Punk movement of the early 80s, Dream Syndicate were Steve Wynn, Kendra Smith, Dennis Duck, and Karl Precoda. This was their debut EP on Wynn’s own Down There Records label before they signed to Slash in 1982. My copy, via a private sale, is on red…
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The Three O’Clock, Baroque Hoedown, 1982 on Lolita / Frontier
The Three O’Clock were part of the so-called paisley punk scene in the early eighties, on Frontier records – after changing their name from Salvation Army under threat of legal action. Baroque Hoedown was their debut release under the new name. This copy, via a private sale, is a French pressing on Lolita – with…
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Love and Rockets, Earth • Sun • Moon, 1987 on Beggars Banquet / Big Time
Released on Beggars Banquet in the UK and Big Time in the US, this was the third full length from Daniel Ash, David J, and Kevin Haskins aka Love and Rockets. Love “No New Tale To Tell” from this LP but really all of what they put out. Hard to find the 80s pressings in…
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The Smiths, Hatful of Hollow, 1984 on Rough Trade
Another (like The World Won’t Listen) compilation album from The Smiths, including some BBC sessions plus other singles and B-sides. Came out in 1984 in the UK but was not released until 1993 in the US (instead Sire released Louder than Bombs for the US market). This LP includes “How Soon is Now?” as the…
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Depeche Mode, Black Celebration, 1986 on Mute/Sire
Fifth studio LP from Depeche Mode, released by Mute in the UK and Sire in the US, and recorded in Berlin and London. One of my favorite Depeche Mode albums of all time, starting with “Black Celebration” all the way through “But Not Tonight.” Core Depeche Mode lineup of Alan Wilder, Andrew Fletcher, David Gahan,…
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The Smiths, The Queen is Dead, 1986 on Rough Trade
Third studio LP from The Smiths, following Meat is Murder. This might have been the first Smiths LP I had, with “Frankly, Mr. Shankly,” “Cemetry Gates,” and “Bigmouth Strikes Again” permanently etched in my brain. Love the Salford Lads Club photo from the inside of the gatefold. My copy—via Crossroads Music in Portland OR—is a…
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Echo & The Bunnymen, With Our Best Suits On, 2024 on Dear Boss.
Said to have been recorded live in Gothenburg, Sweden on April 24th, 1985 and purportedly broadcast on FM radio., though Setlist.fm has them in Gothenburg on the 25th of April. Dear Boss. (with the period included) is a label focused on putting out radio broadcasts from the EU based on EU copyright law (and sometimes…
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Neil Young, Hawks & Doves, 1980 on Reprise
Eleventh studio album (following Rust Never Sleeps) from Neil Young, with one side collecting things recorded throughout the 70s and the second half from 1980 sessions specific to the album. Young is joined by Levon Helm, Tim Drummond, and Tom Scribner on Side 1, and by Greg Thomas, Dennis Belfield, Ben Keith, and Rufus Thibodeux…