Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1998 - (page 271)

A few more from me... partly because 1988 was a seismic year in terms of the arrival of raves, Ecstacy and the longer term impact it has. This scene changes the UK and it has a profound impact not only on music but on nightlife in general.

The headlines of the day feel very much like the comments from the older people on the Woodstock documentary!! How did we ever get through those terrifying days?!

The outage at the time was incredible:

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Here's some more classics from that year!

Theme From S'Exoress - S'Express

Can You Party? - Royal House

Beat Dis - Bomb The Bass

This Is Acid - Maurice Joshua

The Only Way Is Up - Yazz & The Plastic Population
 
Notes on the 1988 playlist

Another year of great songs demonstrating that melodic rock and pop was alive and well in 1988. The opening set of songs selected by @Black&White&BlueMoon Town was especially good.

The Big Winner

An artist I as three times live across 1988/1989, but I've not listened to her albums for a good few decades. So it was good to have a listen to Melissa Etheridge's debut in full this week, and I have to say that I'd forgetton how good a song and performance "Like The Way I Do" is. Raw emotional power, backed up by a great guitar part. This happens a lot on this album, so thanks for putting this song in the coda and reminding me what a great album her debut is.

Initial Set of Songs

That initial set of songs - unusually, I enjoyed every one of them, and there was a nice split between what I'd head before and what I hadn't.

Some great songs I'm familiar with:-

- "Fast Car" - Tracy Chapman
- "Fisherman's Blues" - The Waterboys
- "Orange Crush" - R.E.M.
- "Circle" - Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians
- "Not Alone Any More" - Travelling Wilburys
- "Which Way to America" - Living Colour

And some that I don't know but were also really enjoyable:-

- "Under the Milky Way" - The Church
- "A Pleasure" - The Railway Children
- "Ship of Fools" - Robert Plant
- "Birth, School, Work, Death" - The Godfathers

Other songs I enjoyed

Elsewhere there way a magnificent of solid rock songs by Poison, Bon Jovi, David Lee Roth, Robert Plant and Mudhoney. I enjoyed the Richard Thompson songs, especially "Can't Win", Edie Brickell's "What I Am" (one of the songs of the 80s for me) and of course the superb Crowded House with "Better Be Home Soon".
 
Great notes and thanks for the mentions on the first 10.

I didn't think I'd ever meet someone who was a fan of Crowded House from that time period who didn't also know this song, but something new is learned every day. ;-)
RobMCFC said:
And some that I don't know but were also really enjoyable:-

- "Under the Milky Way" - The Church
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Interesting that the other one of note was the Coda opener. I too thought Melissa Etheridge warranted mention on her debut, and as you noted prior, there were at least a couple good ones to choose from there.

I'm still listening and will have my usual roundup over the weekend.
 
The History of Rock & Roll - 1988
Can't see through this veil across my heart, over you
You'll always be the one
You were the first, you'll be the last

I enjoyed putting the original list of 10 together, and we certainly got a lot of interesting selections after that, pretty varied, which was good.

The Big Winner
“The Flame” – Cheap Trick, not one of my favorite bands from the prior decade, but this song singIe handedly prompted me to get their GH compilation. While I wasn't so much into power ballads at the time, this one for some reason always grabbed me for the vocals and musical performance. There's an interesting backstory on this song too. This was written by British songwriters Bob Mitchell and Nick Graham in late 1987. For their latest album, Epic Records asked Cheap Trick to work with outside songwriters, which they reluctantly agreed to. The band were offered the choice of recording "The Flame" or the Diane Warren song "Look Away". Cheap Trick was given first pick, liked this track more, and Chicago got "Look Away" instead, and the rest is history.

Top New Songs
  1. "Desire" - Talk Talk, it should come as no surprise that this song from their follow-up to The Colour of Spring would rate highly with me.
  2. "Blue Moon Revisited" – Cowboy Junkies, certainly know the song and familiar with the band, just not this sultry and bluesy version with some nice guitar notes towards the end.
  3. "Nobody's Twisting Your Arm" - The Wedding Present, another alternative rock winner from this UK band I missed out on that I'm really enjoying now.
  4. "Crystal Palace" - The Bible, nice indie pop song that reminded me a bit of Simple Minds sound-wise, not familiar with the band or song prior.
  5. "Sunshine on Leith" - The Proclaimers, not the hit I was familiar with from the album release, but I do enjoy this track as being much different.
  6. "Paradise" – Sade, probably heard at some point given this was a mainstream hit, it just wasn't in my genre of listening at the time.
  7. "Can't Win - Richard Thompson, preferred this song of the two, well written lyrics and strong signature guitar at the end.
  8. "We Believe In Happy Endings" - Early Thomas Conley, Emmylou Harris, not my usual genre, but this was a very well done song with strong vocals by both.
  9. "Passionate Kisses" and "Side of The Road" - Lucinda Williams, an artist I need to hear more of, and suspect I will into the next decades here.
Top Songs I Knew Quite Well
  1. "In The Lowlands" and "Better Be Home Soon" – Crowded House, two great songs, just not the hits from other releases, and not the biggest hits off this album too.
  2. "Teardrops" - Womack & Womack, a great blast from the past that I hadn't heard in years, really enjoyed this 'get up and move' hit again.
  3. "Angel Eyes" – The Jeff Healy Band, a strong initial hit song from this talented artist gone too soon
  4. "I Can't Go Home" – The Robert Cray Band, another group I enjoyed with this bluesy rock hit follow-up to his 1986 debut.
  5. "Where Is My Mind" – Pixies, their popular rock track that I always enjoy hearing.
  6. "Jane Says” – Jane's Addiction, nearly made the opening 10, a very iconic first hit from this alternative rock band.
  7. “Feels Like Rain” – John Hiatt, another folksy and bluesy track from the respected singer-songwriters of that time period.
  8. "Everyday Is Like Sunday" - Morrissey, solid debut track solo hit that Mrs. B&W and I enjoyed hearing again.
  9. Copperhead Road - Steve Earle - sorry for the prior omission in not mentioning this, not sure how I missed this, so I'm putting it as a standout underlined!
On Second Thought
This song "Drives Me Crazy" how overplayed it was, to the point I couldn't listen to it from the FYC's. However, it's been more than a minute since I heard this, and I have to admit this was a well sung and crafted pop hit. Sometimes less can be more, and a revisit here was a good reminder of how good this one was.
 
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Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
More proof that R.E.M. knew what they were doing in leaving I.R.S. due to poor overseas distribution on prior releases. I see a lot of folks from the UK jumping onto them starting with Document and especially Green, but I will still maintain that Life's Rich Pageant is my favourite overall '80's album from them.

I was also at some point hoping to hear some Robert Plant thoughts from you given we've mostly left the band and their legacy alone since the start of the decade. No rush, just figured I'd mention it.
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Green as you say didn't sound like REM. It's where I parted company with them really.
I became a huge fan after seeing them on The Tube doing Radio Free Europe and So. Central Rain. Caught them shortly afterwards at the tiny Gallery venue on Peter St, and several other times as they grew. I missed the jangle!
The Church likewise I saw at The Gallery in 1982, an Aussie work colleague was into them, and dragged me along. I was hooked.
They never made anything like the impact here that they did in the US, which explains why they have toured her so little. A shame as they were always great live.
Did see Marty play at Gullivers in Manchester a couple of years ago, his wife accompanied him. Had a good chat later too. Top guy.
 
Enjoyed the core playlist, a pleasing mix. Can't be too many playlists out there where you get Voodoo Ray sandwiched between Everyday is Like Sunday and I'm Your Man !

However, it I don't think I'll ever get my head round hair metal, I couldn't then and I can't now :-)
 
threespires said:
However, it I don't think I'll ever get my head round hair metal, I couldn't then and I can't now :-)
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You need to focus less on the hair and more on the amazing guitar solos, keyboard parts and vocals that leave the dreary British indie lot in the dust :)
 
RobMCFC said:
You need to focus less on the hair and more on the amazing guitar solos, keyboard parts and vocals that leave the dreary British indie lot in the dust :)
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it was all the over blown videos that didn’t do them any favours, something New Order brilliantly lampooned in their video to Touched By The Hand Of God

 
1989 - The year with no write-up ...... yet

OK, obviously a bit of a communication breakdown for 1989 so here's what we'll do.
  • Feel free to start suggesting songs for the playlist as normal
  • If @Out on blue 6 wants to add a write-up and 10 tracks later, that's fine
  • If no write-up has appeared by Friday, I'll create a playlist and add the tracks mentioned so far.
So, fill yer boots, up to a maximum, of 4 songs each, naturally :)
 
OB1 said:
I could say a lot about this, but in the mood that I am currently in, it is best that I keep my own council.
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So the question "if last nights performance was a genre, what would it be?" Is probably not the place to go then is it lol.

Might be safer to stick with which act did they resemble and I was going to say St Winifred's School Choir but that seems harsh (on the wee bairns).
 
1989 was a year where I had little time for music, for various reasons. It is thus a quite grey area for me. There is a lot of music coming out which means nothing to me. Nevertheless let me throw a couple of tunes into the mix:

Black Velvet - Allanah Myles
Belfast Child - Simple Minds

And something new for me Eurodance:

This Beat is Technotronic - Technotronic
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
1988 Coda if you want more songs from the year. I tried to limit this to artists we mostly haven't heard from in the year in most cases.

“Like The Way I Do” – Melissa Etheridge
“Love and Mercy “ – Brian Wilson
“I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)” – The Proclaimers
“One” – Metallica
“Eternal Flame” – The Bangles
“Tomorrow People” - Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers
“Every Rose Has Its Thorn” – Poison
“Chinese Bones” - Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians
“What's On Your Mind? (Pure Energy)” - Information Society
“Wild Thing” – Tone Loc
“Waiting Room” - Fugazi
“The Valley Road” – Bruce Hornsby and the Range
“Touch Me I'm Sick” – Mudhoney
“One Moment In Time” – Whitney Houston
“Don't Believe The Hype” – Public Enemy
“Don't Worry, Be Happy” – Bobby McFerrin
“Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)” - Cinderella
“The Living Years” – Mike + The Mechanics
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Jeez, theres some stinkers on that list.
 
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