Tag: 1980sPage 4 of 19
So in 1984 I’d have thought myself too cool for the Footloose soundtrack: Kenny Logins and Deniece Williams? But I also would have secretly loved it (as I…
This was INXS’ fifth studio album, but had their first US breakthrough hit with “What You Need.” Recorded at Rhinoceros in Sydney and produced by Chris Thomas. Includes…
Dead or Alive sometimes get put in the one hit wonder category, based on the massive success of “You Spin Me Round” but this is really a great…
R.E.M.’s sixth studio album, which came out my freshman year of college – I believe the last time I saw them live was on the Green tour at…
R.E.M.’s second full length LP (following Murmur – Chronic Town was just an EP) and the best album titled Reckoning to come out in the 80s (the second…
This was Bronski Beat’s second full lengthy, after the mega success of The Age of Consent – and the first after Jimmy Somerville departed (to form the Communards)….
Their last full-length on IRS before making the jump to Warner Bros, capping really a perfect run from 1982 (Chronic Town) to 1987. The “No. 5” on the…
Spandau Ballet’s third album and major breakout – with Steve Norman on Sax adding to the New Romantic sound. The title single was unavoidable in the early 80s,…
This was the first Thompson Twins album in the US – a compilation of two tracks from 1981’s A Product Of . . . (their debut album in…
Recorded live by Mountain Studios at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland July 1979. With: Produced by Carl Jefferson, who founded Concord Records (as well as the Concord…
I had always thought that “Always on My Mind” was a much older song than 1982 – and it turns out it is. It was recorded by Brenda…
Billy Bragg’s sophomore full length, subtitled “a puckish satire on contemporary mores.” This was released on Go! Discs in the UK but David Ferguson‘s CD Presents in the…
Recorded in Nashville, this is Costello’s covers album of country greats – including Hank Williams and George Jones. I love Costello in his Americana / roots / country…
Reissued box of singles by Rhino / Sire / Mute. The singles: “Dreaming of Me,” “New Life,” and “Just Can’t Get Enough” all came out in 1981, the…
Mitch Easter, Faye Hunter, and Sara Romweber’s debut full-length as Let’s Active, following after the Afoot EP. My copy is UK pressing – “A & M Records Ltd…
This was required listening and a mandatory part of any healthy CD collecting heading into college in the 80s. It didn’t matter what musical subculture you came from,…
This was their debut album – after forming in NY they moved to the UK and this was first released there in early 1981. It wasn’t released in…
It’s hard to overstate how critical this album and movie were – the impact on live music films, the impact on shows themselves (in staging and effects) and…
A happy and accidental find at Academy Records in New York. Ulmer had played on several Ornette Coleman releases before going out on his own – this was…
The third in the series of self-titled releases Gabriel put out between 1977 and 1982, Melt features lots of complex synthesizer and percussion work, with guests like Robert…