Tag: 1986
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Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Live Alive, 1986 on Epic
Recorded across four live performances between July 1985 (Montreux Jass Festivale) and July 1986 (Austin Opera House and Dallas Starfest). Includes his take on “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “Superstition,” and “Vodoo Child (Slight Return).” The CD versions leave off “Live Without You.” Brother Jimmie Vaughan guests on four tracks, other personnel are Tommy Shannon…
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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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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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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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Chet Baker, Sings Again, 1986 on Timeless
Recorded in October 1985 in Monster Holland, this was released on the Timeless label. Baker is joined by Michel Graillier (piano), Ricardo Del Fra (bass), and John Engels (drums). That means it was recorded after Baker’s “re-emergence” at the Free Jazz Festival in Rio in September 1985. The dedication is “Thanks to Peter Huijts, without…
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UB40, Rat in the Kitchen, 1986 on A&M
Seventh UB40 full length, on A&M in the US and DEP International / Virgin elsewhere. Love the title track as well as “Sing our Own Song,” with the rallying cry of the African National Congress (“Amandla Awethu”). Got to see them around this time in Minneapolis – what a fantastic live show they put on,…
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Peter Gabriel, So, 1986 on Geffen
One of the foundational albums of my youth – not just the “In Your Eyes” boombox scene from Say Anything, but really every track here. Sounds fantastic on vinyl. Definitely one of my desert island discs, provided I can bring a turntable. In the UK this was issued on Charisma (PG5) and Virgin but in…
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Cyndi Lauper, True Colors, 1986 on Portrait
Second studio LP from Lauper, following the massively successful She’s So Unusual which had already gone four times platinum. Covering “What’s Going On” was, well, a choice. But I love the “Iko Iko” and the originals: the title track still makes me have all the feels, and “Boy Blue” – which was released as a…
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Bruce Hornsby and The Range, The Way It Is, 1986 on RCA Victor
Multi-platinum debut album for Hornsby & the Range, including the title track as well as “Mandolin Rain.” The Range included David Mansfield, George Marinelli, Joe Puerta, and John Molo – Huey Lewis guests on “Down the Road Tonight” and produced three tracks. I imagine some people now know this as the track sampled in 2Pac’s…
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Cactus World News, Special Forces Radio Concert, 1986 on Entertainment Radio / MCA
Another promo only release, this was a radio concert – originally sponsored by SPIN (the magazine), which is still featured on the cover, but with an insert noting SPIN has terminated their sponsorship. Includes the cue sheet for radio programming and the original advertisements. This show was recorded at the Whiskey A Go-Go in Los…
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Sting, Bring On The Night, 1986 on A&M
Sting’s first solo live album, a 2xLP set recorded over multiple nights of a tour in 1985. Sting was touring here with Branford Marsalis, Darryl Jones, Kenny Kirkland, Omar Hakim and others – basically a killer jazz band. The band is incredibly tight and the energy of the shows is wonderful – even on songs…
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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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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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Cactus World News, Urban Beaches, 1986 on MCA
This was the debut album for Cactus World News, with a different cover in US and UK editions- this one is the US cover. They were an early 80s band in Dublin, and had the good fortune to have Bono produce their first single “The Bridge” (a re-recording of which is on this album). What…
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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 the title single made #7 on the country singles charts. I think Earle’s really matured into a wonderful elder statesman of a certain kind of roots /…
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Aaron Neville, Like It Is (reissued as Humdinger), 1967 on Minit
Although this was released in 1967 on Minit (and Liberty in the UK) as Like It Is, my copy is a 1986 reissue titled as Humdinger, on Stateside (a UK label designed to reissue things from smaller American labels). As John Broven’s sleeve notes (from 1986) put it: This album harks back to Aaron’s first…
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Big Joe Turner, Rhythm & Blues Years, 1986 on Atlantic
Although this compilation was put out by Atlantic in 1986 (Turner died in late 1985), the recordings come from the 1950s. Turner met the Erteguns at the Apollo Theater in 1951 and made five albums plus many singles and EPs on Atlantic during those years. Great 2xLP with a gatefold and liner notes including contributions…