Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1987 - (page 218)

I won't disappoint you Rob, Lou Gramm's Midnight Blue must be the greatest song that Foreigner didn't write!

Sweet Child O'Mine, Need You Tonight, Time Stand Still and Luka are all fantastic choices, but Paper in Fire is in my top ten favourite songs of all time!
 
homerdog said:
I won't disappoint you Rob, Lou Gramm's Midnight Blue must be the greatest song that Foreigner didn't write!

Sweet Child O'Mine, Need You Tonight, Time Stand Still and Luka are all fantastic choices, but Paper in Fire is in my top ten favourite songs of all time!
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Seems like we like the same stuff! "Paper in Fire" is also in my all-time top 10.

"Midnight Blue" just missed out on the list. Another that I discovered via The Stereo Sequence, so glad it's now in.
 
As Rob rightly says, 1987 was a great year in music. Aerosmith and Whitesnake made their comebacks with Permanent Vacation and 1987 respectively, Guns N' Roses released one of the greatest debut albums of all time, U2 and Def Leppard had albums full of hit singles and Kiss even had a UK hit with Crazy Crazy Nights!

I was never a massive fan of the Police, but Sting's Nothing Like the Sun changed my opinion of him, even though you could argue he still comes across as a pretentious tosser! Little Wing is one of my favourite Hendrix songs and has been covered by some of the greats, such as Clapton and SRV. However, Sting's version has a lovely ethereal sound that suits the song so well and Hiram Bullock's guitar solo is beautiful.

With a circus mind that's running wild
Butterflies and zebras, and moonbeams and fairy tales
That's all she ever thinks about, riding with the wind
 
RobMCFC said:
Time Stand Still – Rush

I don’t know how the other Rush fans on this thread feel about their Hold Your Fire album
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Hard to say when you've got 2112, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures to compare it to and I know it divides opinion.
I've always admired the way they moved forward and experimented, although the production has always seemed a little bright to me.
However, Time Stand Still and Force Ten are still 2 of my favourite Rush tracks.
 
Not sure Document is my favourite of their albums but this is one where they started to get more noticed with The One I Love and End Of The World getting airplay.
It does however contain one of my favourite songs by them

I am the king of all I see
My kingdom for a voice

He certainly got his voice over the next few year's

REM - King Of Birds
 
And so my beloved Yes had found some calm and an established line up following the huge success of 90125.
The follow up took forever and “Big Generator” ,despite musically being in the same vein, failed to live up to new expectations. Having said that “Love will find a Way” aired a plenty on MTV.
Staying within the Prog Frat I still enjoy the odd Fish fronted Marillion. “Incommunicado “ to me is very Genesis in a positive way.
Heart could do nothing for me during 80’s and “Who will you run to” remains one of my favourite tracks.
And to finish off, two classic contributions
Whitesnake - I love Coverdale’s vocals and “Here I go again” reminds me why.
Def Leppard -Ok it was not quite Photograph but Animal is a great showcase for the band.
 
George Michael released Faith which catapulted him into the premier league. It won loads of awards and placed George at the top of R and B and Soul charts. In fact its only my third favourite George Michael album albeit it has some great tracks on it. My favourite was;

Father Figure - George Michael
 
It was this year I finally got into REM. Document is one of my favourite REM albums. I loved the songwriting and arrangements. It was their fifth album but the first to be co-produced by Scott Litt. Its hard to choose one track from the album as it doesnt really have any bad ones. I will go for;

Disturbance at the Heron House - REM
 
Prince's Sign o the Times is my favourite Prince album and his best. It's also his most critically acclaimed. I remember getting the double CD from the local library and then loved it so much I bought it. Of all his albums to me he covered the most genres on this. I think this might have been his first after he disbanded 'the Revolution' albeit some of the songs were taken from collaborative work with Wendy and Lisa. I remember having a recorded VHS cassette of he and his band doing this live and it was incendiary - just brilliant.

Again I could have chosen anything (other than the one with Sheena E.) but I will go with

The Cross - Prince
 
I have enormous affection for this Scottish band who released their debut album in 1987. Penned mainly by Ricky Ross it is stuffed with great songs and was a commercial success. Despite a number of personnel changes and the deaths of two of the original members, the band is still going strong today and continues to release fine albums. they are commercial, unfashionable but have always been propelled by their gift for hooks, fine songwriting and energetic live shows (seen them on numerous occasions and its always a party).

They are the soundtrack to so many family trips down south to Center Parcs. They are of course Deacon Blue and I will choose the title track of the album (including the born in a storm intro)

Raintown - Deacon Blue
 
There's a few songs that I would love to chuck in the mix but they have been tainted by what was going on in my life near the end of '87.
My Dad, who was to die in January of 1988, got cancer. Very late diagnosis meant, as now, incurable. He was to spend the last few months in a hospice in Midhurst, West Sussex. He had a private room, with huge balcony overlooking the grounds, which was ideal for his cigar sessions. People would come and go, he had a mini bar in both bedside cabinets, and we would sit, chat, drink and listen to his favourite songs.

I'd moved back to the UK for a while near the end of 1987/ early '88 so I could visit frequently and the journey gave my Brother and I a chance to listen to a few tapes and catch up. Black's superb 'Wonderful Life' was on constant rotation. As was the Pet Shop Boys 'Actually'. I don't think I've listened to either since. Maybe I should. But not today.

Anyway...

A chance to pick something else that was brightening my, at the time, miserable life!

The Sisters Of Mercy - This Corrosion

The club scene in London had moved on since my New Romantic days and I found myself in New Cross of a Friday night at a place now called The Venue (I think it was called The Harp then). A few different areas, one having a sort of Goth vibe. This was on constant rotation and I loved it. The Venue was to be my club of choice in a few years when I moved back to the UK.

Camouflage - The Great Commandment US mix 12"

A German band that I first heard in a club in Hamburg in early 1987. I managed to buy the 12" a year later as for some reason, although released in the UK, it didn't sell! Madness. Very Depeche Mode lite...

Def Leppard - Gods Of War

Another great album from the Sheffield rockers. I love the ending.

Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Split Mix 12"

A concert favourite, with arm waving included, to this day. The Split Mix is the one they use live.
 
BimboBob said:
There's a few songs that I would love to chuck in the mix but they have been tainted by what was going on in my life near the end of '87.
My Dad, who was to die in January of 1988, got cancer. Very late diagnosis meant, as now, incurable. He was to spend the last few months in a hospice in Midhurst, West Sussex. He had a private room, with huge balcony overlooking the grounds, which was ideal for his cigar sessions. People would come and go, he had a mini bar in both bedside cabinets, and we would sit, chat, drink and listen to his favourite songs.

I'd moved back to the UK for a while near the end of 1987/ early '88 so I could visit frequently and the journey gave my Brother and I a chance to listen to a few tapes and catch up. Black's superb 'Wonderful Life' was on constant rotation. As was the Pet Shop Boys 'Actually'. I don't think I've listened to either since. Maybe I should. But not today.

Anyway...

A chance to pick something else that was brightening my, at the time, miserable life!

The Sisters Of Mercy - This Corrosion

The club scene in London had moved on since my New Romantic days and I found myself in New Cross of a Friday night at a place now called The Venue (I think it was called The Harp then). A few different areas, one having a sort of Goth vibe. This was on constant rotation and I loved it. The Venue was to be my club of choice in a few years when I moved back to the UK.

Camouflage - The Great Commandment US mix 12"

A German band that I first heard in a club in Hamburg in early 1987. I managed to buy the 12" a year later as for some reason, although released in the UK, it didn't sell! Madness. Very Depeche Mode lite...

Def Leppard - Gods Of War

Another great album from the Sheffield rockers. I love the ending.

Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Split Mix 12"

A concert favourite, with arm waving included, to this day. The Split Mix is the one they use live.
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I can imagine that Black album would be very evocative, can't quite think of the right word for his voice neither plaintive or mournful are quite right but it's in that kind of area but with a soothing feel to it, even on the uptempo tracks. Sadly died in a car crash at a relatively young age.
 
threespires said:
I can imagine that Black album would be very evocative, can't quite think of the right word for his voice neither plaintive or mournful are quite right but it's in that kind of area but with a soothing feel to it, even on the uptempo tracks. Sadly died in a car crash at a relatively young age.
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Lovely voice live. Saw him in London in '89 I think.
 
Love the write-up Rob and the track selections, most of which would have been on my short list for the year had I made one yet. Also delighted to see you pick more than 10 and be up for a coda :-)

1987 was a great year for music and one of the greatest years of my life. My musical (and movie going) year centres on the five months over summer / early fall that I spent on secondment working in Nashville, Tennessee - one of the most memorable and enjoyable experiences of my life, it was also where on 5 July, my marriage proposal, made a month earlier in the UK, was accepted by wife, who made me wait for the answer until she visited me. She arrived on the fourth and we rushed straight out to downtown to see the fireworks, so it was the fifth by the time we had a moment to get serious…

I’ll share some more about my Nashville sojourn but for now my first playlist pick is inspired by my beloved flying out to see me for a couple of weeks (at my employer’s expense) - Pink Floyd: Learning to Fly from their Bob Ezrin produced Watersless comeback album “A Momentary Lapse of Reason”. The track got a lot of airplay on Nashville radio and was the lead off from the album, which I was drawn to by it and purchased in Nashville. It was actually this album, despite owning DSOTM and loving but not owning WYWH, that finally turned me into a full blown Floyd fan.
 
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