Mike’s 1982

I know I’m prone to exaggeration any time I talk about music, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t one of my favorite years of all time. Had a very hard time removing some favorites from my list. Here’s my collection: http://rateyourmusic.com/collection/madherb/strm_relyear/1982/1

Songs 

1. You’ve Got Another Thing Coming (Judas Priest). Best song off a great album. Not sure if Bob or Tim will agree, but for me no other record of theirs comes close to this. Ranks in my top 5 metal albums of all time. The only reason it doesn’t appear in my albums list  is that I just don’t listen to it much anymore, but this song always pushed me over the edge when I heard it on the radio.
2. Shabby Doll (Elvis Costello). Elvis continues the maturation process begun on Trust (I picked it up, John, and like it), and so while I find this generally less exciting than his first four albums (especially my favorites, Armed Forces and Get Happy!!), I’d have to seriously consider including this cut in an all-time EC top ten list. It might not surprise you that my favorite cuts, including this one, are those that would fit right in with those aforementioned albums.
3. On the Road to Fairfax County (The Roches–Keep on Moving) or Losing You (The Roches). I had somehow forgotten for a while that this album existed. One of the nice things about these exercises is that you become reacquainted with things you once loved but had put aside for whatever reason. This is the last of three Roches records produced by Robert Fripp in the late 70s/early 80s. Aside from providing the ladies with exquisite production, he accompanies them with an occasional acoustic guitar accompaniment or solo that fits the songs perfectly. There is hardly anything else like early Roches; if there is, I have certainly never heard it. Great songwriting and harmonies (e.g. I Fell in Love)… Maybe doesn’t have the highs of the first album, but this might be the more consistent record; every song hits its mark.
4. Space Age Love (A Flock of Seagulls). Their entire first album is, maybe surprisingly, pretty damn good.
5. Lost Weekend (Wall of Voodoo). Here’s a great example of that 80s production that John so lovingly refers to. I don’t have too much trouble getting past that when the song is as good as this.
6. Naturliche liebe or Mikrokosmos (Tri Atma with Gyun Nisharda—Sehnsucht & Einklang). A different version of this song and maybe the entire album was re-recorded in 1983 with a new accompanist, Klaus Netzle, who brought on Kraftwerk/Software style keyboards. That album (“Yearning and Harmony”) was going to appear in my album list until I realized the ’82 release was different.
7. Pigs (Robert Wyatt—Animals Film ep).
8. Mt. Teidi (Mike Oldfield). I’ve always thought of Five Miles Out as one of my favorite Oldfield albums, but the truth is that only this song, coupled with “Orabidoo” on the second side and to a lesser extent the album closer “Five Miles Out”, make me think so.
9. 1999 (Prince). Or, obviously “Little Red Corvette”.
10. Airwaves (Thomas Dolby–The Golden Age of Wireless)

Albums

1.  Too-Rye-Aye (Dexys Midnight Runners). Includes at least two songs I’d be hard pressed not to include on a top ten songs of the 80s list: “Old” and “Come on Eileen”, but since you all know the latter and are likely sick of it, how about “All in All“? Every other song is very nearly as good, especially “The Celtic Soul Brothers“, which establishes the infectious bonhomie to come, followed by “Let’s Make This Precious“, As close as most any record in my collection to being perfect.
2. The Record (Fear). I know that Brent could have guessed most of my picks for this year, this among the easiest. I actually hadn’t played this one in a while and before I pulled it out, I guessed that it might not make my top ten list. Holy crap was I wrong. Takes me right back.I have always been struck by the musicianship and enthusiasm. Go on, play it, its only 27 minutes short, manic and hilarious.
3. Big Science (Laurie Anderson). Another Desert Island Disk for me, and another perfect record. Not many of those in this life.
4. Joe McPhee—Oleo and a Future Retrospective. “Pablo” is the only track on youtube, but that’s ok because it is as good as every other cut on the album (in other words, they are all this good). I think the reason I love this album so much, and everything else I’ve heard from him, is that the song and melody rather than the chords serve as the basis of the improvisation. So beautiful. How lucky some of you are that he lives so close and plays in Milwaukee so often!
5. The Dreaming (Kate Bush). I’m sure I’ve talked about this record before. Seems to me this was the most creative and daring point of her career, resulting in a shockingly original folk/pop/prog amalgamation. I know some people judge the quality of a song based on whether it can be sung accompanied by only a piano or a guitar. Can’t do that with some of these. Hard to imagine what “Get Out of My House”, as one example, would be if not for the ingenious background vocals and the 10 million other things that are going on there.
6. Combat Rock (The Clash). Unlike Bob, I loved this thing right away, even including the pop hit “Rock the Casbah”, which I also purchased as a 12″ single upon release. Favorites right now might be “Car Jamming“, which my son told me was ripped off by someone (I’ll ask him who later) in a recent top 40 single and “Straight to Hell“, but I love it start to finish.
7. Nothing Can Stop Us (Robert Wyatt). People downplay this record mostly because of a couple of (what some consider) throwaway political statements at the end. Even if you don’t go for those, the brilliance of the rest more than makes up for it. In addition to “Shipbuilding” (John, you’ve got to hear it if you haven’t already), I especially love “Born Again Cretin”, “Caimanera”, and the Chic cover “At Last I Am Free” (tinny production and drums warning, John!), and his gentle, as ever, “Strange Fruit”.
8. English Settlement (XTC). Hard to pick just one or two songs, every one of them brilliant. Astonishing that we’ve not yet discussed XTC. I would think they might be one band we could all agree on.
9. Logos–Live at the Dominion – London 1982 (Tangerine Dream). The closest thing to drugs in my collection.
10. Urban Bushmen (Art Ensemble of Chicago). I know I’ve mentioned this one before. It took me years to fully embrace it in its entirety. Sure, start with the Ellingtonian “New York is Full of Lonely People”, but be patient with the rest if it doesn’t hit you straightaway. Crank “Sun Precondition Two/Theme for Sco”, for example, up like its metal and be overwhelmed and transported. One of my great regrets is never seeing this group live.

Honorable mention: The Cortege (Mike Westbrook). Long on my wishlist, I finally got around to purchasing this last month. In spite of the ridiculous competition, this could find its way into my top 10 for 1982. Big band music along the line of “Escalator Over the Hill”. I like it better, which is saying something.

Mike’s Bs

Songs (in no particular order)

1. Carla Bley—”3/4“
2. Brothers Johnson—”Strawberry Letter #23“
3. Tony Bennett—”I Left My Heart in San Francisco“
4. Bon Iver—”Flume“
5. The Bee Gees—”Nights on Broadway“
6. Bonnie Prince Billy—”I See a Darkness“
7. Johnny Burnette—”Train Kept a Rollin’“
8. Beck—”Lonesome Tears“
9. Anne Briggs—”Go Your Way“
10. Kate Bush—“Mother Stands for Comfort”
11. David Bowie—“Heroes”
12. Toni Braxton—“Un-Break My Heart”
13. Lindsay Buckingham—“Surrender the Rain”
14. Buffalo Springfield—“Mr. Soul”
15. Buzzcocks—“Everybody’s Happy Nowadays”
16. The Byrds–“What’s Happening?“

Albums (in no particular order)

1. The Beatles—White Album
2. Kenny Baker—Plays Bill Monroe (“Lonesome Moonlight Waltz“, “Brown County Breakdown“,  “Jerusalem Ridge“). Totally transcends genre, but “progressive rock” works as well as “bluegrass” as a genre descriptor.
3. Richard Buckner—Bloomed (“Desire“, “Blue and Wonder“). One of the great guitar records of all-time, no percussion on the album, just a whole bunch of acoustic strings that makes you wonder why anyone country bothers with drums, a voice that resonates in your bones, and lyrics as true as anything this side of Dylan.
4. Anthony Braxton—Willisau Quartet (not online)
5. Tim Berne—Diminutive Mysteries (Mostly Hemphill) (not online)
6. Harry Belafonte—Swing Dat Hammer (“Bald Headed Woman“). As far from the light calypso/pop confectionary that dominated his career as you can get. Here are classic and incredibly obscure chain-gang and work songs. Tender, delicate and sensitive (Diamond Joe, Another Man Done Gone) to impassioned and powerful (Rocks and Gravel), Belafonte sings with incredible sensitivity or strength throughout, a perfect setting for his remarkable voice. Soul shattering.
7. Black Sabbath—Paranoid (“Fairies Wear Boots“)
8. Jack Bruce—Harmony Row (“Can You Follow?“, “Escape to the Royal Wood (on Ice)“, “Folk Song“)
9. Beach Boys—Smile (“Surf’s Up“)
10. David Byrne—Music for The Knee Plays (“Tree“, “In the Future“)

Mike’s 1978

Albums:

1. Pere Ubu—The Modern Dance. (“Non-Alignment Pact“)  Took my head off.

2. Talking Heads—More Songs about Buildings and Food.  (“Warning Sign“) This too is among my favorite albums of all time.

3. Rush—Hemispheres. I’m not a big Rush fan and this is the only album I ever play of theirs any more. They finally put it all together here. As melodic as anything they’d ever do and unapologetically prog. This grabs you by the throat and never lets go. Fun stuff.

4. Dire Straits—Dire Straits. (“Water of Love“) This deserves so much more love than it generally receives. Yes, Mark wears his influences on his sleeve (the recently departed JJ Cale mostly) and this is somewhat derivative, but it is just so well done. The songs are gorgeous and sometimes haunting and the playing throughout is both solid (that rhythm section) and spectacular (Mark). The perfect album for a hot summer night, under the stars, on the back porch.

5. Captain Beefheart—Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller). (“When I See Mommy I Feel Like a Mummy“) It’s a tough call whether this or Doc at the Radar Station is the greatest Beefheart. I grew up with the two on either side of a beloved dubbed cassette and while they are both strong start to finish, I adore every note on Shiny Beast. Love his painting on the cover too.

6. Elvis Costello—This Year’s Model. (“Pump It Up“) I listened to a lot of the stuff on this list when it came out. Yes, I’m that old. I’m also nostalgic. If I loved something once, doesn’t matter when, I love it forever. The Dire Straits, Rush and Tull picks apply here. The Styx “Pieces of Eight” and Genesis “And Then There Were Three…” albums would too if I had the balls to include them. I missed out on punk/new wave when it first arrived. It wasn’t until the following year, 1979, that Elvis Costello gave me my first glimpse, in 8^th grade, with the release of “Armed Forces”, the 8-track purchased or possibly stolen from the Van Leunen’s department store. I came to TYM much later and now hold it above everything else he ever did…except for Armed Forces that is.

7. The Stranglers—Black and White.  (“Outside Tokyo“) Another old fave. Brent, is there another album you and I listened to more often when I was in high school?

8. Pere Ubu—Dub Housing. (“Navvy“)

9. Blondie—Parallel Lines. (“Hanging on the Telephone“) Tim is so right. Hanging on the Telephone is amber perfection.

10. Genesis—…And Then There Were Three… (“Deep in the Motherlode“) Oh what the hell, I can’t deny it.

There are a ton of good/not great 1978 albums that contain great songs and so many great singles, making this year’s selection of ten songs just impossible. Here’s an attempt, but wishing I could list another 100 or so:

Songs:

1. Buzzcocks—I Don’t Mind. Right on Tim. Impossible for me to pick between this and “What Do I Get” and  “Ever Fallen in Love…” but this one has always pushed me over the edge.

2. The Albion Band—Poor Old Horse

3. Stiff Little Fingers—Suspect Device

4. The Police—So Lonely

5. Bruce Cockburn—Laughter

6. Robert Gordon—I Want To Be Free. Can’t play this without heartily singing along. Just can’t be done. The whole album is a delight (check also the lovely album closer “Blue Eyes”)

7. Todd Rundgren—Bag Lady

8.Kate Bush—Wuthering Heights

9. X—We’re Desperate

10. The Cars—All Mixed Up

Tim’s 1978 Top Tens

1978 turned out to be a good year! This probably my favourite top ten to date.

Songs:

1. Hanging On The Telephone (Blondie) – In my opinion this is the best single of all time. Debbie Harry’s voice at its best, killer guitar licks and drum fills, amazing verses, brilliant choruses, a killer bridge and huge ending – all in 2:22. Incredible song.
2. Theme From Monkey Magic (Godiego) – Godiego are a Japanese band that have released 55 albums (!) In 1978 they recorded the theme tune to a comedic chop-socky TV show called ‘Monkey Magic’. Based on the 19th Century novel by Wu Cheng’en, the show was dubbed into English and became an instant success. Godiego’s theme tune is the toughest funkiest space-rock jam ever – though some of the lyrics didn’t scan so well after translation! Email me if you want to hear the full lenghth version – Youtube took my video down 😦
3. This Perfect Day (The Saints) – Chris Bailey is probably the best rock vocalist ever. As remote and obscure as this Australian band was in 1978 – they nailed the Detroit punk sound better than most. A very intense and strange song.
4. I Don’t Mind (Buzzcocks) – One of Pete Shelley’s masterpieces. Like ‘Hanging On The Telephone’ this is an almost perfect pop song/single – tight, hooky, modern and heavy-on-the-heart. No-one writes a love song like Pete Shelley, and this is one of his best. It just beat ‘Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldnt’ve?)’ onto my top ten list because it has such ingenious chords changes and a killer bridge.
5. The Artilleryman And The Fighting Machine (Jeff Wayne) – This is my favourite track from Jeff Wayne’s epic disco-funk-rock concept album ‘War Of The Worlds’. This track features voice-overs from Sir Richard Burton and David Essex (!) – I chose it because it includes some of the best themes on the album, and some sublime orchestration, production and mixing.
6. Safe European Home (The Clash) – Surely one of the best rock songs of all time – a brilliant sound and a hugely professional shift for the Clash. For those who are interested some discreet mixes turned up on Youtube recently. Being able to hear Mick’s backing vocal at 2:12 were a revelation to this Clash fan!
7. Carry Me Home (Dennis Wilson) – This track was issued a few years back packaged with the re-release of ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’. One of the darkest, most moving of Dennis’ typically dark moving songs!
8. Outdoor Miner (Wire) – What a strange band Wire are – the taught art-punks surprise everyone with a melodic second album. Sublime tune.
9. The Electrician (The Walker Brothers) – After a comeback hit in ’75, the Walker Brothers found themselves in a 3 album deal with GTO records. By this point, Scott Walker had already recorded too many terrible pop albums (all deleted now!) so steered the Brothers into making a more experimental album. ‘The Electrician’ is the best track on ‘Nite Flights’, and probably the most accessible of Scott Walker’s avant-garde songs. This is a great place to start, if you’ve ever been interested in what all the fuss is about.
10. Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush) – Kate’s a bit hit-and-miss in my opinion, but her first hit is an astounding piece of songwriting. Check out the ‘Red Dress’ video – oh Kate!

(11.) Kangaroo (Big Star) – ‘Third/Sister Lovers’ didn’t make my top ten albums list – but ‘Kangaroo’ is a brilliantly spooky song! This is what happens when you let the engineer loose on your demo!

Albums:

1. War Of The Worlds (Jeff Wayne) – as a child this disco-prog concept album used to simultaneous fascinate and terrify me. It still has the same effect! Wayne’s orchestration and production are pretty seminal in this genre – pretty much all disco albums sounded like this in 1979! Richard Burton is phoning in his voice-over, but all the other contributors give it their all (especially Phil Lynott as the priest!) 
2. Another Music In A Different Kitchen (Buzzcocks) – Its legend that everyone in attendance at The Sex Pistols show at Manchester Free Trade Hell in 1976 started a successful band – but The Buzzcocks were definitely there – they organized the show. After shedding vocalist Howard Devoto and swapping instruments and members, they came up with this incredible first album, packed tight with angsty love songs and futuristic art-rock-inspired pop songs. A unique and underrated band regardless of the ‘punk’ tag. Pete Shelley pretty much invented the gender-unspecific love song (though it was pretty obvious he was gay!), paving the way for the likes of Morrissey and Husker Du. Musically a huge influence on Nirvana. Also released in 1978 is their second album ‘Love Bites’ with the classic track ‘Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldnt’ve?)’.
3. Parallel Lines (Blondie) – I’m not the biggest Blondie fan – but this album is just a classic from start to finish! Sunday Girl, Heart Of Glass, One Way Or Another…
4. Eternally Yous (The Saints) – Who the hell are The Saints? Well it seems there was an awesome punk scene in Australia in the late 70s and this album is a gem!
5. Ambient 1: Music for Airports (Brian Eno) – I’m also not a huge Eno fan, but there’s no denying this a seminal and gorgeous album. Far out,
6. Road To Ruin (Ramones) – Perhaps not the originators of punk, but the band that unified the movement across the planet. Ramones 4th album hammered home their bubblegum cartoon-rock ethic.
7. Give Em Enough Rope (The Clash) – As a Clash nerd I couldn’t leave their 2nd album off the list. Essentially its a problematic album, chiefly because it was produced by American rock producer Sandy Pearlman (Blue Oyster Cult et al) and was duly damned by the music press and punks alike as a sell-out. However, its actually a very robust rock album, the Clash show their lighter side with tracks like ‘Julies Been Working for the Drug Squad’ and ‘Drug Stabbing Time‘ (a close second to ‘Safe European Home’ on my top 10 song list!) 
8. Outlandos d’Amour (The Police) – I fucking hate Sting, and pretty much everything The Police did after this was meh – but I can’t deny everything on this album is brilliant.
9. The Man Machine (Kraftwerk) – The band’s 7th album wasn’t much of a departure, but had a perfect balance of pop, humor and minimalism. ‘The Robots’ and ‘Man Machine’ are particular highlights.
10. Bambu (Dennis Wilson) – “Gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh.”

 

Brent’s “Leap List”

I kinda stayed away from most of the most obvious (Dylan, Bowie, Radiohead, etc) assuming other here may well pick these up. Not all are personal favorites (although some are) but examples of bands/artists taking the “Leap” into new a territory.

Albums

1)  We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite

Max Roach and Lyricist Oscar Brown Jr. bring forth an incredible blast of rage and protest. Abbey Lincoln lends an unparalleled vocal performance.

2)  Joanna Newsome (Y’s)

Joanna produced two self-released ep’s (Walnut Whales and Yarn & Glue) which were rerecorded along with new material for her debut for Drag City (Milk Eyed Mender) making her the darling of the “new folk” movement. She would leave them all behind with her next effort the “Y’s”. As I’m sure you all know  Y’s was arranged by Joanna and Van Dyke Parks, Recorded by Steve Abini,  and mixed by Jim O’Rourke. In 2005 she was the darling of the small “new folk” community…in 2006 she was rightfully mentioned in the same breath as Joni, Patti, and perhaps even Bob.

3)  Violent Femmes (Hallowed Ground)

The second effort by the Femmes’ left the adolescent angst behind. Hallowed Ground moved in a distinctly Country/Americana direction. The first track is called Country Death Song for god’s sake! Gordon Gano liberally peppers the entire album with lyrics from his Baptist upbringing lending it quite a somewhat dark spiritual quality.

4)  Boredoms (Super Roots 3)

Born of Noise and Punk aesthetics the Boredoms always had a large portion of art in what they did (albeit with humor).  See (Soul Discharge, No Core Punk, & Cory & The Mandara Pyramid Action Or Gas Satori). Following the Warner Brothers “Chocolate Synthesizer” (1994) the Boredoms largely retreated to independent Japanese labels releasing a string of EP’s Super Roots Volumes 1-7 (Volumes 2&4 do not exist). A few of these eventually saw domestic release in the US. As a huge Boredoms fan in the 90’s these were always great fun to find and devour.

1994 saw the release of Super Roots 3 which was a single 33:30 minute blast “Hard Trance Away (Karaoke Of The Cosmos)”. I assume the skip of Super Roots Volume 2 is to lend the consistency in numerology here (Volume 3 – 33:30 minutes of grinding riff terror). I don’t pretend to know the significance of the numerology in Boredoms releases but assume (perhaps incorrectly) that it has deep significance to EYE et all.

While the “punk” is front and center the repetitive riff is repeated over the course of the EP stretching out in a Krautrock manner. This set the tone for the next decade and more (for better or worse) as EYE continued to explore a  riff/rhythm driven muse chasing the SUN culminating in the Live 77 Drum Boredoms event on July, 07, 2007 under the Brooklyn Bridge.

5)  The Damned (Machine Gun Etiquette)

The Damned arguably fired the first shot in the English Punk explosion with the single “New Rose” in 1976. The rock solid LP Damned, Damned, Damned and the uneven “Music for Pleasure” soon followed in ’77.

The Damned promptly disbanded. Captain Sensible formed KING (Baby Sign Here With Me, My Baby Don’t Care), Rat Scabies formed the White Cats (Junkyard Angel, Second Time Around), which allowed them to develop songs outside of Damned Guitarist Brian James’s influence. These songs would appear in different arrangements/names in subsequent Damned releases (MGE/The Black Album).

The Damned reunited in 1979 with the release of MGE without Brian James. The result was a much more polished, and melodic outing (Smash It Up) incorporating organs, piano( Melody Lee), and revealing the Detriot (Looking At You), and Psychedelic influences previously buried.

6)  Fleetwood Mac (Tusk)

How do you follow up perhaps the most critically acclaimed and bestselling album in history?

If you are Fleetwood Mac (Lindsey Buckingham in particular) you vomit forth 6 sides of unbridled creativity.

7)  The Stranglers (Feline)

Hints of this warmer direction were sporadically released by the Stranglers Walk On By, Duchess,  and La Folie. There is a sense of warmth over the entire LP starting with the cover art. The Black on Black image of a cat has these very soft (warm) outlines.   Filled with “Spanish” guitar and less of a reliance on the trademark keyboards and bass the tracks on Feline have a uniformity and flow (The European Female, Golden Brown). A distinct break with the Stranglers great and sometimes cold output such as Tank and Burning Up Time.

8)  Prince & The Revolution (Purple Rain)

As with I assume most suburbanites Purple Rain was my introduction to Prince. However, I doubt even those who witnessed & were versed in the naked funk of Prince’s first 5 LP’s expected this massive crossover effort (I first heard this in Des Moines, Iowa). I was going to go in another direction with Prince but stuck with the most obvious example.

9)  Talk Talk (Spirit of Eden)

Mark Hollis & Tim Friese-Greene leave the 80’s synth pop behind with the Spirit of Eden. These compositions are quiet, organic, and demand a close listen. This is an effort by a band no longer concerned with placing songs in the pop charts but rather following an inner muse.  Mark Hollis would continue in this vein through “Laughing Stock” (New Grass) and the almost perfectly fragile S/T Mark Hollis (A Life 1895-1915) and then promptly retiring from music.

10)  Kate Bush (The Dreaming)

Kate’s chart success afforded her unprecedented (to her) control of her recording in 1982 allowing her to run rampant with her ideas in “The Dreaming”.  I believe MadHerb would term this 20^th Century Art Song? Suggested cuts The Dreaming, There Goes a Tenor, Pull Out the Pin, etc.

 

SONGS

1)  Public Image Limited (Theme)

How do you escape the bondage of being the savage punk savant?

From the first moments of “Theme” this is clearly a different animal than the Pistols and within 9 minutes the Pistols have been made almost irrelevant.  Where are the microphones…in the other room? Keith Levene’s  guitar is certainly not double tracked…what is he even playing? Is that a beat…why does it keep plodding along…make it stop! No wait…Please Don’t!

2)  The Flower Travellin’ Band (Satori Part 2)

Born as Yuya Uchida and the Flowers in 1968 with the lp “Challenge” (A Combination of the Two) they released two more albums of assorted covers and originals in the blues rock tradition with varying degrees of success (Black Sabbath) before stabilizing with lead singer Joe Yamantaka as The Flower Travellin’ Band and releasing the fantastic original “Satori – Saravah For Café Après-Midi” in 1971.

3)  Current 93 (Oh Coal Black Smith)

David Tibet had reached a personal dead end with regards to his industrial output by 1987’s “Swastikas For Noddy”. Swastikas sees Tibet taking a left turn with acoustic instrumentation and nods to an English folk past.  At times this sounds positively ancient to me. This is clearly the first in a new direction that would come to fulfillment in later works as “Black Ships Ate the Sky”.

4)  Psychic TV (The Orchids)

Throbbing Gristle had come to an end leaving Genesis P-Orridge, Peter Christopherson and Cosey Fanni Tutti to form Psychic TV. 1983’s “Dreams Less Sweet” featured a more acoustic take on the industrial theme which ran through the Throbbing Gristle catalog along with this gorgeous tune. Also a very nice Califone cover – HERE

5)  The Wire (French Film Blurred)

In case there was any doubt that The Wire were more than your everyday punks (12XU) the sophomore effort showed that they were willing and able to move in new directions and would continue to do so for 36 years and counting (Keep Exhaling).

6)  The Fall (Hotel Blodel)

Picking a “leap” from The Fall’s vast catalog is admittedly a leap itself. If anyone has been consistently inconsistent it’s Mark Smith and his revolving cast of band support. The Fall’s” Perverted by Language” saw Mark Smith’s wife Brix included in the band with a somewhat crisper sound and look (for the fall)including her in lead vocal on many tracks. This would lead to a vital 2-3 album run including “The Wonderful and Frightening World Of The Fall”.

7)  Pink Floyd (The Nile Song)

Although Pink Floyd were certainly no strangers to HEAVY music “The Nile Song” stands out on the “More” soundtrack like a mongrel diseased dog in a litter of cuddly puppies. A pretty straight cover by The Melvins in ’93 and it still sounds fresh  – HERE.

8)  Yo La Tengo (Tom Courtney)

With “Electro-Pura” Yo La Tengo seemed to merge the feedback, improv, and pop songwriting into a more cohesive whole. This is typified with the track Tom Courtney which is simultaneously a calculated mess and a perfect pop song at the same time. Acoustic version just for fun – HERE

9)  Los Lobos (Colossal Head)

David Higaldo had been veering into more adventurous musical territory with Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake in the band Latin Playboys. Mitchell Froom and Tchad come on board as co-producers with Los Lobos here and certainly had an effect on the final output. BTW this sounds awful on you tube.

10)  Boomtown Rats (I Don’t Like Mondays & House On Fire)

I always think I should appreciate the Boomtown Rats more than I do. They did produce this duo of my favorite tracks which stand out (to me) as huge leaps on otherwise forgetful albums in an otherwise (for me) forgetful catalog. I wish I could find the official video for house on fire as I remember it was pretty darn good.