Saddleworth2
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Just listening to the playlist. What a songwriter Paddy McAloon was. Just a genius.
Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1986 - (page 212)
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GoatersLeftShin
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Brilliant write up as usual @Saddleworth2 and there's some songs on the list I'm not familiar with so I'm looking forward to hearing them!
Sorry I've not been around to contribute much, but I've just been busy with getting ready for Christmas/work/travel. I've not really been able to go through all the messages since the original post so apologies in advance if these have been nominated but not yet added to the playlist.
Paul Hardcastle - 19
It's hard to imagine now how this sounded back in 1985. It just sounded like nothing else - this new 'House' or proto-House sound was just completely different to anything else around. It's just not structured like a normal pop song and makes use of samples. There's no chorus as such, not much singing and is heavy on the drums and that slightly acidy bassline - this is the sign of things to come. Whilst 1985 might still be classed as a 'rock' year songs like 19 are seeping through from what is soon to be a full-scale invasion.
The Pogues - Sally MacLennane
Part of my family are of Irish descent and as a kid I seemed to hear this album way too much and to be honest, I resented it and didn't like it at the time. However, as I've got older I've realised what a classic Rum, Sodomy and the Lash is. Shane MacGowan was a fine songwriter when he wasn't as cooked as a goose, a performer. I've lost count of the number of arguments my family have had over whether he was just completely pissed or absolutely fucking annihilated and unable to perform at their gigs over the years!
This album is a superb example of how smashing two genres together (Irish folk and punk) can produce some amazing music. I could've picked a number of tracks from this album I've got with Sally MacLennane as it just sums them up.
Dead Or Alive - You Spin My Round
You Spin Me Round is the first single from Stock Aitken and Waterman. It's also one of those songs you can pretty much play at any party and it gets people up.
SAW are about to become THE music producers now. This song is their 'blueprint' and has everything they are about to reproduce over and over again - catchy, highly produced and up-tempo. At the time I didn't like SAW songs but over time I've started to begrudgingly accept they could write a tune. Whilst they didn't write this, the production on it is superb.
Sorry I've not been around to contribute much, but I've just been busy with getting ready for Christmas/work/travel. I've not really been able to go through all the messages since the original post so apologies in advance if these have been nominated but not yet added to the playlist.
Paul Hardcastle - 19
It's hard to imagine now how this sounded back in 1985. It just sounded like nothing else - this new 'House' or proto-House sound was just completely different to anything else around. It's just not structured like a normal pop song and makes use of samples. There's no chorus as such, not much singing and is heavy on the drums and that slightly acidy bassline - this is the sign of things to come. Whilst 1985 might still be classed as a 'rock' year songs like 19 are seeping through from what is soon to be a full-scale invasion.
The Pogues - Sally MacLennane
Part of my family are of Irish descent and as a kid I seemed to hear this album way too much and to be honest, I resented it and didn't like it at the time. However, as I've got older I've realised what a classic Rum, Sodomy and the Lash is. Shane MacGowan was a fine songwriter when he wasn't as cooked as a goose, a performer. I've lost count of the number of arguments my family have had over whether he was just completely pissed or absolutely fucking annihilated and unable to perform at their gigs over the years!
This album is a superb example of how smashing two genres together (Irish folk and punk) can produce some amazing music. I could've picked a number of tracks from this album I've got with Sally MacLennane as it just sums them up.
Dead Or Alive - You Spin My Round
You Spin Me Round is the first single from Stock Aitken and Waterman. It's also one of those songs you can pretty much play at any party and it gets people up.
SAW are about to become THE music producers now. This song is their 'blueprint' and has everything they are about to reproduce over and over again - catchy, highly produced and up-tempo. At the time I didn't like SAW songs but over time I've started to begrudgingly accept they could write a tune. Whilst they didn't write this, the production on it is superb.
BimboBob
Well-Known Member
Did we miss Sly Fox's Let's Go All The Way?
Damn.
Damn.
Mad Eyed Screamer
Moderator
Their dominance over the charts was as vulgar as Simon Cowell's annual manipulation of the Xmas chart 2 decades later. Yes SAW brought us Rick Astley and Kylie. But they also fostered upon us Sonia. And for that your honour, a crime so unforgiveable had been committed......
Saddleworth2
Well-Known Member
Ok, I will stick them on for you mate.
Saddleworth2
Well-Known Member
we did but I will stick it on seeing as there are a couple of other late ones
Black&White&BlueMoon Town
Well-Known Member
The History of Rock & Roll - 1985
The whole wide world, an endless universe
Yet we keep looking through the eyeglass in reverse
Don't feed the people, but we feed the machines
Can't really feel what international means
In different circles we keep holding our ground
In different circles, we keep spinning 'round and 'round and 'round
What stood out to me on the first 10 tracks was the vocals focused songs, of the female persuasion. I knew what was coming when I moved from '85 to '86 to give @Saddleworth2 and Kate Bush their time to shine, and I was not disappointed. Of the first 6 songs, I only knew of Suzanne Vega's and the Eurythmics, the first of which was a minor hit that year. None of the others really charted or were heard much in the US, so it was nice to hear those. I was more familiar with Sade's "The Sweetest Taboo" which was a bigger hit in the US that year. I enjoyed Prefab Sprout, both here and from threespires' nomination, so probably that and Kate Bush's full album are ones for me to listen to further. Marillion's homage to Genesis was quite remarkable as even I had to check more than a couple times to confirm the band I was listening to while hearing the playlist. The other tracks I was well familiar with, with Tears For Fears and Dire Straits being the highlights.
The Big Winner
“Head Over Heels” – Tears For Fears, try as I might, this song and "Broken" that precedes it and that whole album is just the strongest memory I will take from that year. That album and this song changed a lot for me, and was the soundtrack to my senior year as one chapter was ending and a new one was beginning.
I'm going to refocus the next section down for the sake of time, but there were a lot of good songs both old and new here.
Top New Songs
On Second Thought
I wasn't familiar with The Smiths that year until my college roommate played this album pretty much non-stop that fall semester. I remember that time well. I think I listened more intently this time, and both songs nominated "Well I Wonder" and "The Headmaster Ritual" were very enjoyable. A band I later learned to appreciate over time, we'll see how much they show up in next year's write up. ;-)
The whole wide world, an endless universe
Yet we keep looking through the eyeglass in reverse
Don't feed the people, but we feed the machines
Can't really feel what international means
In different circles we keep holding our ground
In different circles, we keep spinning 'round and 'round and 'round
What stood out to me on the first 10 tracks was the vocals focused songs, of the female persuasion. I knew what was coming when I moved from '85 to '86 to give @Saddleworth2 and Kate Bush their time to shine, and I was not disappointed. Of the first 6 songs, I only knew of Suzanne Vega's and the Eurythmics, the first of which was a minor hit that year. None of the others really charted or were heard much in the US, so it was nice to hear those. I was more familiar with Sade's "The Sweetest Taboo" which was a bigger hit in the US that year. I enjoyed Prefab Sprout, both here and from threespires' nomination, so probably that and Kate Bush's full album are ones for me to listen to further. Marillion's homage to Genesis was quite remarkable as even I had to check more than a couple times to confirm the band I was listening to while hearing the playlist. The other tracks I was well familiar with, with Tears For Fears and Dire Straits being the highlights.
The Big Winner
“Head Over Heels” – Tears For Fears, try as I might, this song and "Broken" that precedes it and that whole album is just the strongest memory I will take from that year. That album and this song changed a lot for me, and was the soundtrack to my senior year as one chapter was ending and a new one was beginning.
I'm going to refocus the next section down for the sake of time, but there were a lot of good songs both old and new here.
Top New Songs
- "In a Manner of Speaking" - Tuxedomoon, hauntingly good minimalistic song with some great background sounds throughout
- Goodbye Lucille #1" - Prefab Sprout, great bass line led me in and the "Ooh Johnny Johnny Johnny" was a clincher. Listening more to this band from County Durham is on my list now.
- "Take the Skinheads Bowling" - Camper Van Beethoven, I was aware of the band, just never heard this song. Quite catchy. Anything, anything...
- "Bastards of Young" - The Replacements, more familiar with their later decade output, but this song sounded very similar to future hits, but still enjoyable lyrics from Paul Westerberg and Co.
- "Mr. Bad Guy" - Freddie Mercury, had not heard anything from his solo album, and liked the synths and keys on this track.
- "Between the Wars" - Billy Bragg, a note to my non-UK ears self, he said "arming for peace my boys" not "aren't we the Beastie Boys". Still, great lyrics all around.
- "All You Zombies" - The Hooters, originally heard a few years prior on local Philly radio, this was a close runner up to TFF.
- "Life in a Northern Town" - Dream Academy, loved the lyrics and the dreamy tempo of the song.
- "Rain On The Scarecrow" - John Mellencamp, strong memories of laughingly singing the lyrics to this song with freshman friends as an overplayed dining hall hit over the speakers: "Hey calling it your job ol' hoss sure don't make it right"...
- "Marathon" - Rush, "Mystic Rhythms" or "Territories" as I initially quote above would have been my song choice from this album, but this song selection is a fine choice as well. Better people, better food, and better beer - that whole album is one of Neil's best lyrical efforts of that decade.
- "This Is Not America" - David Bowie, Pat Metheny Group, amazing vocals by Bowie on this classic track from The Falcon and the Snowman film. This track helped redeem Bowie's output after his 1984 album Tonight.
On Second Thought
I wasn't familiar with The Smiths that year until my college roommate played this album pretty much non-stop that fall semester. I remember that time well. I think I listened more intently this time, and both songs nominated "Well I Wonder" and "The Headmaster Ritual" were very enjoyable. A band I later learned to appreciate over time, we'll see how much they show up in next year's write up. ;-)
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Saddleworth2
Well-Known Member
I quite enjoyed the playlist this week. It almost passed the Mrs S test on the way down to Manchester on Saturday. It lasted until we hit some horrible conditions on the M61 when she put music off because she needed to concentrate on driving (I was driving) :-). Anyway, I enjoyed the variety and thought it was quite balanced across different genres without any really dominating. The standouts for me were:
'Goodbye Lucille' which will make me pick up Steve McQueen again very soon
'Life in a northern town', I had forgotten entirely and it was nice to hear it again
'Life's what you make it' reminded me to listen to the Colour of Spring again
The Cult, The Smiths, Siouxie, all good tracks
Billy Bragg I liked alot
Not much I didn't recognise a little but for me it was definitely an uptick on recent
My only regret was putting that Bowie/Jagger track on my ten. Whilst it was very indicative of the year it was also pretty crap.
We listened to a Genesis playlist on the way home - Gabriel version and Collins version. It was amazing to listen to just what a brilliant drummer Collins was on the earlier stuff and just how that was dumbed down in the later tracks. He definitely had a knack for soppy melodic tunes and for whatever reason the playlist decided to play them all back to back which made it sound like one long soppy song made up of ten tracks - you really couldn't see the joins ;-)
Maybe I'll give the 86 playlist a whirl on the way down to Sunderland.
'Goodbye Lucille' which will make me pick up Steve McQueen again very soon
'Life in a northern town', I had forgotten entirely and it was nice to hear it again
'Life's what you make it' reminded me to listen to the Colour of Spring again
The Cult, The Smiths, Siouxie, all good tracks
Billy Bragg I liked alot
Not much I didn't recognise a little but for me it was definitely an uptick on recent
My only regret was putting that Bowie/Jagger track on my ten. Whilst it was very indicative of the year it was also pretty crap.
We listened to a Genesis playlist on the way home - Gabriel version and Collins version. It was amazing to listen to just what a brilliant drummer Collins was on the earlier stuff and just how that was dumbed down in the later tracks. He definitely had a knack for soppy melodic tunes and for whatever reason the playlist decided to play them all back to back which made it sound like one long soppy song made up of ten tracks - you really couldn't see the joins ;-)
Maybe I'll give the 86 playlist a whirl on the way down to Sunderland.
Black&White&BlueMoon Town
Well-Known Member
First rule of driving in my crew, is the person driving gets to pick the songs or what is on the radio/phone. I say that while also admitting that it is then thus tough for me while not driving.
We kept the music to a minimum back in September while driving the Northumberland back roads with no shoulder that was mentioned a few times as the fam gathered together again for Thanksgiving this past weekend. We were all uploading pictures for my daughter making a family album of the trip. I have it on good authority that a meet up photo outside of Rudy's Pizza in Manchester might make the cut too, but we shall see. ;-)
You know, and I didn't want to say it, but I find that song quite unlistenable for some reason as it begins with their shouting "South America!!!". I'm glad you said it, because that was one that didn't make a "Second Thought" for me as my opinion of it hasn't changed on that over the years.
I predict some songs you will maybe not know in the first 10. Perhaps. It'll be here soon... Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (at least for me).
Saddleworth2
Well-Known Member
Looking forward to the write up mate.
Black&White&BlueMoon Town
Well-Known Member
It's no rappin' or rhymin', but it's personal to me and that time, I do know that.
Saddleworth2
Well-Known Member
Always the best when they are personal.
Black&White&BlueMoon Town
Well-Known Member
Blue Moon Rock Evolution – 1986
It seems like just not too long ago I was introducing my birth year of 1966 twenty years prior on this thread, but it was only 10 months ago here. Time flies indeed!
1986 marked the end of my teenage years and was my first full year away from home and family, mostly at university as both a freshman and sophomore to split the year. My musical tastes were changing and were firmly rooted in college radio, which was a big departure from the Philly traditional rock radio I had mostly grown up on the first part of this iconic decade of music. Bands and the music I would hear was very much new and varied. I was living in a dormitory with other students from all over the east coast of the US, but mostly from that home state. While there were a lot of commonalities rooted in music, I didn’t know as many others I would meet at that time, being an out-of-state student at Virginia Tech. My double cassette dubbing recording player in my dorm room made my trading songs and albums with others pretty popular and a very common occurrence. It was easy multitasking busywork at night while also doing homework, and often getting a listen to the music for a new friend. Music was wide open for me this year, and the breath of alternative artists and their output both this year and prior years I had missed was in full catch-up mode.
But first, the memorable events during the year included the following:
In tennis, Chris Evert won her 18th and final career grand slam that year defeating her archrival Martina Navratilova in the French Open. However, the other half of the year belonged to Martina, who won at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Greg Lemond of the US became the first American to win the Tour de France.
Liverpool won the First Division of the Football League Championship with a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on May 3. The title-winning goal was scored by player-manager Kenny Dalglish. This was Liverpool's 16th league title and the first of a historic league and FA Cup double for the club in the 1985-86 season. Manchester City would finish 15th in the First Division of the League with a 11-12-19 record. Chelsea were the first winners of the Football League's new Full Members' Cup, beating Manchester City 5–4 in the final at Wembley, although City clawed the deficit to a single goal in the last five minutes after being 5–1 down.
In the US, the Chicago Bears with their suffocating “46 defense” dominated the New England Patriots for their first and only Super Bowl win. NFL and media stars Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, and initial 380 lb. rookie lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry. The players and team were also well known for their rap song and video of "The Super Bowl Shuffle”, released as the regular season was completing and they had playoff games still to win to get to the big game.
The New York Mets won the World Series in a dramatic comeback fashion after going down 3 games to 2 to the Boston Red Sox. The series is best remembered for its Game 6, which saw the Mets rally from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the 10th inning, despite having two outs and no one on base. The Red Sox, having that 3–2 series lead, were twice one strike away from securing the championship, but failed to close out the inning as the Mets won off an error by Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner. Due to the Mets claiming the series in Game 7, the Game 6 collapse entered baseball lore as part of the Curse of the Bambino superstition used to explain the Red Sox's championship drought for 67 years and counting after that year.
Popular movies included the classics Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Crocodile Dundee, Platoon, and Top Gun, which all were major box-office successes.
The NBC Thursday half hour comedy lineup was still tops with The Cosby Show, Family Ties, and Cheers being an unstoppable juggernaut at the top of the ratings. New debut show LA Law at 10pm ET made NBC Thursdays a must-watch ratings bonanza. Add on the new debut of Andy Griffith’s Matlock (Kathy Bates’ reboot is even better!) to go along with the already popular The Golden Girls on Saturdays, and NBC had captured the older demographic as well.
Notable products introduced or released that year included the American Girl doll line, and the Atari 7800 game console.
Memorable music for me in 1986 included the following songs, albums, and themes of the year.
The kid I was when I first left home was looking for his freedom and a life of his own
Jackson Browne’s Lives in the Balance was released early that year in February. Its album cover contained a visual of the long 4 year renovation around the Statue of Liberty to address both structural damage and corrosion. The renovations around Lady Liberty were completed later in 1986 for its centennial celebration on July 4.
Browne’s release included more than a few songs critical of the Reagan administration, including this opening track, which was a favourite of mine. This would be Browne’s first overtly political album, with tracks like this questioning America’s cultural imperialism. There were some critics for Browne’s taking this topic on, but he also had some appreciation as well in his ability to link the personal to the political. Many noted Browne wasn’t just writing about the headlines, but he was trying to tell the stories of the people they affect. It was a song about self-reflection in the US with the album cover as a symbol of the needed renovation perhaps beyond just the landmarks. This song in general just summed up the album and the way I was feeling at the time.
The song was also notable in that Clarence Clemons contributed the memorable sax portion. Browne had guested vocals on Clemons’ 1985 hit “You’re a Friend of Mine”, so hearing these two artists together again was a nice touch.
I was made for America
It's in my blood and in my bones
By the dawn's early light / by all I know is right —
We're gonna reap what we have sown.
“For America” – Jackson Browne
We'll get higher and higher, leave it all behind
When David Lee Roth left Van Halen in 1985, most fans thought the band could be very well finished. Some here may argue that maybe they should have been, but I never was one those who did. I’d always enjoyed and appreciated Sammy Hagar as a solo artist, and when I first heard some of the new material, it was clear to me that the band was going to be different and even more mature than the prior antics of the “David Lee Roth show”, which is what the band had become to me (and others) after the 1984 release.
Van Halen had lots of difficulty finding a replacement for Roth, but in July of 1985, Eddie was referred to former Montrose and current solo singer/artist Sammy Hagar by his auto mechanic. Sammy and Eddie hit it off, and the new singer and band immediately began work on new songs which were completed and recorded in Eddie’s new 5150 home studio, named after a California law enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person. Many called the new incarnation of the band "Van Hagar" (derisively or affectionately). The nickname was so ubiquitous that, as Hagar points out in his book, Warner Bros. asked them to consider renaming the band as such, but the Van Halen brothers refused.
Despite the controversy of replacing Roth, the album was both the band's and Hagar’s first to top the Billboard 200, and was certified double platinum by May, soon after its March release. There were four singles from the album, and once Roth’s solo album was released later in the summer, both were debated and compared against each other given their branches from the original band from the six prior albums together. From this nomination, it’s pretty clear where I stood on that “dividing line”. Roth may have considered himself “Just a Gigolo” from his prior year EP, but he and his video output at that time had become narcissistically buffoonish to me.
The song I’m nominating was Sammy’s all-time favourite from his time in the band, and was both termed a "celebration of teen freedom" and lauded Eddie’s stinging guitar and Hagar's larynx on this track. The synths to open it up are also quite distinctive. Mick Jones, the guitarist from Foreigner, was a producer on this album and noted he was able to push Sammy to new heights – literally. Jones had Hagar singing so high on this track that he was hyperventilating to the point of nearly passing out. This song was also very notable for its iconic video which featured the US Navy's Blue Angels performing a variety of aerial stunts with the A-4 Skyhawk. This was the track and song from the album I most enjoyed hearing, and told me that the band I had formerly enjoyed was back and had even progressed from its prior incarnation.
And in the end
On dreams we will depend
'Cause that's what love is made of
“Dreams” – Van Halen
It was long ago, it seems like yesterday
One of the lasting memories from my college years was FM station Rock 105.1 and the uniqueness of college radio and the various and alternative artists I was introduced to and initially heard there in “the New River Valley’s Only Rock”. This band would be one and very pronounced during my sophomore year that fall. I can still recall hearing New Jersey alternative rockers The Smithereens played on that station on their first single from their debut album, Especially for You.
The bass line that starts this song is so iconic and just a staple of what this song was conveying in its sadness. Pat DiNizio, the band’s lead singer and songwriter of this track, described the song origin as, "I was walking home from my job as soundman at NYC's legendary Folk City nightclub through the freezing rain at about four in the morning when the bass line came to me, the chords and melody came later built around the bass part." Lyrically, the song is about a girl DiNizio knew in high school who took her own life. The blistering guitar that ends this is also very distinctive, and something I was just pulled in by. There would be other great tracks from The Smithereens initial release such as B-side "Behind the Wall of Sleep", but this was the song I initially remember from them.
I want to love, but it comes out wrong
I want to live, but I don't belong
I close my eyes and I see blood and roses
“Blood and Roses” – The Smithereens
You see what we've got, you know what's it's not, that turns you upside-down
Benjamin Orr who was bassist, co-lead vocalist, and co-founder of the band The Cars released his first solo album that year after the band had split up the year prior to pursue solo projects. When I look back at The Cars catalogue, Orr was the lead singer on some of the best songs the band put out including "Just What I Needed", "Let's Go", "Moving in Stereo/All Mixed Up", and "Drive". His smooth, warm baritone voice was quite unmistakable on this song, which became Orr’s only top 40 hit as a solo artist.
I remember this song from the fall of that year as it was released in October. Being in a still-new relationship for about a year, this song brings back quite the memories of the shared enjoyment of this song and artist. Benjamin Orr passed away at the age of 53 in 2000 of pancreatic cancer, but his cumulative outstanding vocals heard in this and many songs from The Cars are still fondly remembered today.
And all that matters
Is turned around
Over and over again
We're at full circle
It comes down to now again
Stay the night
Let a little love show
“Stay The Night” – Benjamin Orr
Don't runaway, midnight hideaway, don't you fade away 'til the morning light
As initially heard from the “Could Have Been A Contender” Playlist thread earlier this year, this next band in April released their debut album Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams, the title of which was taken from lyrics in the Rolling Stones song "Shattered." This album was produced by T Bone Burnett and a few songs that introduced me to this went on heavy Rock 105 rotation. By the time summer break came around back at home, this might have been the second most listened to album of mine that year. The album itself had catchy and unique songs, with an alternative, roots, and heartland rock sound that was mostly unlike most groups at the time.
BoDeans later went on to record other hit records, and after their second album they were vocal guests on two tracks of Robbie Robertson's self-titled album smash, and then would open for U2 on their Joshua Tree tour. This song and album would start it all for me as a big fan of their music.
I see you from my window
In the shadows of the night
You're standing on Love Street
On the beat, of better things
She might fade away, she might fade away
"Fadeaway" – BoDeans
Buy the sky and sell the sky and tell the sky and tell the sky
By this year, R.E.M. released their fourth studio album Life’s Rich Pageant that would take the band into new sounds unlike their most recent release the year prior. The band changed recording locations in moving from London from their prior album to John Mellencamp’s Belmont, Indiana recording studio where he had just recorded Scarecrow the year prior. This release took the band from a more obscure and dense sound of their earlier albums to a more accessible, hard rock-influenced quality. Later in the year, it was hard not to hear multiple tracks played from this release on Rock 105 as it took this more college radio band into a more accessible FM formats later in the decade, but this release would start them on that path towards the later sound they’d formulate here. As bassist Mike Mills would say about this album, they wanted a "really hard-driving record, but we also like to throw in a lot of things: pianos and organs and accordions and banjos and what-not". This release certainly accomplished that.
My song choice from this was the first single from the album and one of the band's early compositions about environmentalism, discussing acid rain and themes of oppression. What I liked the most about this was the impressive back and forth harmonizing vocals between Michael Stipe and Mike Mills here, with Mills’ sound being the highlights of the song for me.
Well, I would keep it above
But then it wouldn't be sky anymore
So if I send it to you, you've got to promise to keep it home
“Fall On Me” - R.E.M.
Diamond days cut and dry, but beauty in the hurricane's eye
Another artist I was introduced to via college radio in 1986 was the newly formed band from the year prior by former Bauhaus members Daniel Ash (vocals, guitar and saxophone), David J (bass guitar and vocals) and Kevin Haskins (drums and synthesizers). Despite Bauhaus's status as a gothic rock act, Love and Rockets moved towards a slightly brighter and more pop-influenced sound, as demonstrated by their first minor hit, a cover of the Temptations Motown classic "Ball of Confusion", which reached #18 on the Canadian charts in January of this year. And while I heard that song on Rock 105, it really was the tracks off of their 2nd album Express where I first really got into them. That album is credited for the fusion of underground rock with pop stylings, which was seen as an early example of alternative rock music, a genre that reached mainstream popularity in the early 1990s. At the time, "All in My Mind" was the big hit off of this album on college radio, but with recent repeated listens, I have really gravitated towards this track with its fast paced and stellar guitar riffs to really give it and the band its identity from that album. The hard driving bass throughout is something to really hear, especially at the end as the express train of this song just rolls down the tracks.
Beauty beauty beauty beautiful
Beauty beauty beauty beautiful
“Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man)” - Love And Rockets
Everything sounds like “Welcome home, come home”, come on home
‘Til Tuesday was one of those 80’s bands where lead singer Aimee Mann has well outshone with her solo output that one almost forgets about where her career began here. Her band’s 2nd album Welcome Home is a line from this popular song that really has stood the test of time for me. This song has a nice country guitar twang to it that along with Mann’s wide-ranging vocals, really gives it its musical pulse. The soft subject about nostalgic love lost for a fleeting moment of intense connection and the bittersweet realization that the moment is temporary is pretty poignant. The song meaning from the title centers on nostalgia, yearning, and the feeling of being on the verge of something significant that slips away. It was hard not to reflect on this as the early stages of a relationship started from the prior year was still in question.
We thought just for an instant
We could see the future
We thought for once we knew
What really was important
“Coming Up Close” – ‘Til Tuesday
When the music plays, I hear the sound I had to follow, once upon a time
The Moody Blues had transitioned from a progressive rock band in the late ‘60s through the ‘70s to a synth-pop band in the ‘80s. They were a group I had enjoyed and followed prior, and one my girlfriend knew of, but with this year’s album The Other Side of Life, this had music and nostalgia that we both enjoyed. From its April release as the freshman year was ending and a summer separation states away from each other awaited, this one song spoke to both of us as a “what will this be?” moment.
Moody Blues singer and guitarist Justin Hayward was inspired to write this song after reminiscing about his first love. Of the song's lyrics, he stated, "For me, wanting to know about the first girl you ever fell in love with, really fell in love with and broke her heart, you always want to know, I wonder what happened. I wonder where they are. Hop in to that time machine." According to Hayward, the song set off a "personal journey" to delve into his past, which he characterized as "fantastic, amazing, and disturbing."
When released as a single, this song became the band's second biggest US hit, reaching number nine on the American charts. It would be a song and album my girlfriend and I would listen to fondly both apart and, in the brief times that we could be, together in the summer of ’86 wondering where things would be going.
I wonder where you are
I wonder if you think about me
Once upon a time
In your wildest dreams
“Your Wildest Dreams” – The Moody Blues
There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost, but you'll never see the end of the road while you're travelling with me
No matter how much I have adjusted things in preparing for this playlist, this song was always going to be the closer of the opening 10 songs of the playlist.
This was the fourth single from Australian-New Zealand rock band Crowded House, recorded for their self-titled debut studio album that year, released in August right before the start my sophomore year.
It is a very well-known song, and became the band's biggest international hit, reaching No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It reached No. 1 in Canada and in Neil Finn's native New Zealand, while in Australia, it peaked at No. 8.
The meaning of the song title is an encouragement to have hope and perseverance and not give up on one's dreams despite challenges. It is a message of resilience and unity, suggesting that even when things look dark or difficult, it's important to keep moving forward. The phrase is often interpreted as a reminder to fight depression, hold onto a relationship, or not let outside pressures ruin something important. As much as we enjoyed this song at the time, my then-girlfriend of 1 year and now wife of 34 years didn’t realize how much this would actually mean to us over the next 5 years. It’s a song we’ll often request to be played during the dance portion of a wedding reception. This one in particular holds a deep and personal meaning for us both.
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
You know, they won't win
“Don’t Dream It’s Over” – Crowded House
So that’s it for me to kick off 1986. Yes, I realize there are a few key songs, artists, and albums I have not included, but I wanted to leave those to more than few who have hinted in wanting to choose those, so my omission is my direct gift back to you.
As important as 1985 was to start me on the path of where I am today, further reflection on this following year has put it right up there as a pivotal one as well. These songs have well captured that time for me with the person I’ve known and been in a relationship for 40 years now.
It seems like just not too long ago I was introducing my birth year of 1966 twenty years prior on this thread, but it was only 10 months ago here. Time flies indeed!
1986 marked the end of my teenage years and was my first full year away from home and family, mostly at university as both a freshman and sophomore to split the year. My musical tastes were changing and were firmly rooted in college radio, which was a big departure from the Philly traditional rock radio I had mostly grown up on the first part of this iconic decade of music. Bands and the music I would hear was very much new and varied. I was living in a dormitory with other students from all over the east coast of the US, but mostly from that home state. While there were a lot of commonalities rooted in music, I didn’t know as many others I would meet at that time, being an out-of-state student at Virginia Tech. My double cassette dubbing recording player in my dorm room made my trading songs and albums with others pretty popular and a very common occurrence. It was easy multitasking busywork at night while also doing homework, and often getting a listen to the music for a new friend. Music was wide open for me this year, and the breath of alternative artists and their output both this year and prior years I had missed was in full catch-up mode.
But first, the memorable events during the year included the following:
- Space Shuttle Challenger disaster: On January 28, all seven crew members were killed when the shuttle broke apart 73 seconds after launch. I still remember where I was in watching the sad event and aftermath in my dorm room on that day. A very sobering day on an event prior that most took for granted was going to go off without a hitch. The fact so many schools in the US were watching with TVs in the room as schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe was part of the crew made it even more memorable and pronounced.
- Chernobyl nuclear disaster: On April 26, a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, releasing radioactive material across Europe and rendering the nearby city of Pripyat uninhabitable. The 2019 HBO miniseries Chernobyl was very well done and a powerful view at that side of the events that many prior knew little about given the secrecy of it all in the USSR.
- Iran-Contra affair: Congressional hearings began investigating a secret arms-for-hostages deal between the U.S. and Iran, and the diversion of funds to Nicaraguan rebels. At the time, I was sure this would bring down many in the Reagan administration, including the president. However, like many things, there seems to be little consequence for executive actions, especially if either amnesia is a line of defense or the Justice Department has recently been gutted to the point of ineffectiveness as it is these days.
- Ferdinand Marcos resigned: The president/dictator of the Philippines was forced to resign under pressure from a popular uprising. Marcos was deposed in 1986 by the People Power Revolution and was succeeded as president by Corazon Aquino, known now as the “Mother of Democracy”.
- Hands Across America: A public service event where millions of people formed a human chain across the United States to raise money for hunger relief.
- UK focused: The UK and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel, which they hope to open by the early-1990s, UK unemployment hit a high of 14.4%, and …
- "Big Bang" and deregulation of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on October 27, which transformed the financial market. Key changes included abolishing fixed commissions, allowing firms to act as both brokers and dealers, opening the exchange to foreign ownership, and replacing face-to-face trading with an electronic, screen-based system. These reforms significantly increased competition and volume, establishing London as a major global financial center.
In tennis, Chris Evert won her 18th and final career grand slam that year defeating her archrival Martina Navratilova in the French Open. However, the other half of the year belonged to Martina, who won at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Greg Lemond of the US became the first American to win the Tour de France.
Liverpool won the First Division of the Football League Championship with a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on May 3. The title-winning goal was scored by player-manager Kenny Dalglish. This was Liverpool's 16th league title and the first of a historic league and FA Cup double for the club in the 1985-86 season. Manchester City would finish 15th in the First Division of the League with a 11-12-19 record. Chelsea were the first winners of the Football League's new Full Members' Cup, beating Manchester City 5–4 in the final at Wembley, although City clawed the deficit to a single goal in the last five minutes after being 5–1 down.
In the US, the Chicago Bears with their suffocating “46 defense” dominated the New England Patriots for their first and only Super Bowl win. NFL and media stars Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, and initial 380 lb. rookie lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry. The players and team were also well known for their rap song and video of "The Super Bowl Shuffle”, released as the regular season was completing and they had playoff games still to win to get to the big game.
The New York Mets won the World Series in a dramatic comeback fashion after going down 3 games to 2 to the Boston Red Sox. The series is best remembered for its Game 6, which saw the Mets rally from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the 10th inning, despite having two outs and no one on base. The Red Sox, having that 3–2 series lead, were twice one strike away from securing the championship, but failed to close out the inning as the Mets won off an error by Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner. Due to the Mets claiming the series in Game 7, the Game 6 collapse entered baseball lore as part of the Curse of the Bambino superstition used to explain the Red Sox's championship drought for 67 years and counting after that year.
Popular movies included the classics Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Crocodile Dundee, Platoon, and Top Gun, which all were major box-office successes.
The NBC Thursday half hour comedy lineup was still tops with The Cosby Show, Family Ties, and Cheers being an unstoppable juggernaut at the top of the ratings. New debut show LA Law at 10pm ET made NBC Thursdays a must-watch ratings bonanza. Add on the new debut of Andy Griffith’s Matlock (Kathy Bates’ reboot is even better!) to go along with the already popular The Golden Girls on Saturdays, and NBC had captured the older demographic as well.
Notable products introduced or released that year included the American Girl doll line, and the Atari 7800 game console.
Memorable music for me in 1986 included the following songs, albums, and themes of the year.
The kid I was when I first left home was looking for his freedom and a life of his own
Jackson Browne’s Lives in the Balance was released early that year in February. Its album cover contained a visual of the long 4 year renovation around the Statue of Liberty to address both structural damage and corrosion. The renovations around Lady Liberty were completed later in 1986 for its centennial celebration on July 4.
Browne’s release included more than a few songs critical of the Reagan administration, including this opening track, which was a favourite of mine. This would be Browne’s first overtly political album, with tracks like this questioning America’s cultural imperialism. There were some critics for Browne’s taking this topic on, but he also had some appreciation as well in his ability to link the personal to the political. Many noted Browne wasn’t just writing about the headlines, but he was trying to tell the stories of the people they affect. It was a song about self-reflection in the US with the album cover as a symbol of the needed renovation perhaps beyond just the landmarks. This song in general just summed up the album and the way I was feeling at the time.
The song was also notable in that Clarence Clemons contributed the memorable sax portion. Browne had guested vocals on Clemons’ 1985 hit “You’re a Friend of Mine”, so hearing these two artists together again was a nice touch.
I was made for America
It's in my blood and in my bones
By the dawn's early light / by all I know is right —
We're gonna reap what we have sown.
“For America” – Jackson Browne
We'll get higher and higher, leave it all behind
When David Lee Roth left Van Halen in 1985, most fans thought the band could be very well finished. Some here may argue that maybe they should have been, but I never was one those who did. I’d always enjoyed and appreciated Sammy Hagar as a solo artist, and when I first heard some of the new material, it was clear to me that the band was going to be different and even more mature than the prior antics of the “David Lee Roth show”, which is what the band had become to me (and others) after the 1984 release.
Van Halen had lots of difficulty finding a replacement for Roth, but in July of 1985, Eddie was referred to former Montrose and current solo singer/artist Sammy Hagar by his auto mechanic. Sammy and Eddie hit it off, and the new singer and band immediately began work on new songs which were completed and recorded in Eddie’s new 5150 home studio, named after a California law enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person. Many called the new incarnation of the band "Van Hagar" (derisively or affectionately). The nickname was so ubiquitous that, as Hagar points out in his book, Warner Bros. asked them to consider renaming the band as such, but the Van Halen brothers refused.
Despite the controversy of replacing Roth, the album was both the band's and Hagar’s first to top the Billboard 200, and was certified double platinum by May, soon after its March release. There were four singles from the album, and once Roth’s solo album was released later in the summer, both were debated and compared against each other given their branches from the original band from the six prior albums together. From this nomination, it’s pretty clear where I stood on that “dividing line”. Roth may have considered himself “Just a Gigolo” from his prior year EP, but he and his video output at that time had become narcissistically buffoonish to me.
The song I’m nominating was Sammy’s all-time favourite from his time in the band, and was both termed a "celebration of teen freedom" and lauded Eddie’s stinging guitar and Hagar's larynx on this track. The synths to open it up are also quite distinctive. Mick Jones, the guitarist from Foreigner, was a producer on this album and noted he was able to push Sammy to new heights – literally. Jones had Hagar singing so high on this track that he was hyperventilating to the point of nearly passing out. This song was also very notable for its iconic video which featured the US Navy's Blue Angels performing a variety of aerial stunts with the A-4 Skyhawk. This was the track and song from the album I most enjoyed hearing, and told me that the band I had formerly enjoyed was back and had even progressed from its prior incarnation.
And in the end
On dreams we will depend
'Cause that's what love is made of
“Dreams” – Van Halen
It was long ago, it seems like yesterday
One of the lasting memories from my college years was FM station Rock 105.1 and the uniqueness of college radio and the various and alternative artists I was introduced to and initially heard there in “the New River Valley’s Only Rock”. This band would be one and very pronounced during my sophomore year that fall. I can still recall hearing New Jersey alternative rockers The Smithereens played on that station on their first single from their debut album, Especially for You.
The bass line that starts this song is so iconic and just a staple of what this song was conveying in its sadness. Pat DiNizio, the band’s lead singer and songwriter of this track, described the song origin as, "I was walking home from my job as soundman at NYC's legendary Folk City nightclub through the freezing rain at about four in the morning when the bass line came to me, the chords and melody came later built around the bass part." Lyrically, the song is about a girl DiNizio knew in high school who took her own life. The blistering guitar that ends this is also very distinctive, and something I was just pulled in by. There would be other great tracks from The Smithereens initial release such as B-side "Behind the Wall of Sleep", but this was the song I initially remember from them.
I want to love, but it comes out wrong
I want to live, but I don't belong
I close my eyes and I see blood and roses
“Blood and Roses” – The Smithereens
You see what we've got, you know what's it's not, that turns you upside-down
Benjamin Orr who was bassist, co-lead vocalist, and co-founder of the band The Cars released his first solo album that year after the band had split up the year prior to pursue solo projects. When I look back at The Cars catalogue, Orr was the lead singer on some of the best songs the band put out including "Just What I Needed", "Let's Go", "Moving in Stereo/All Mixed Up", and "Drive". His smooth, warm baritone voice was quite unmistakable on this song, which became Orr’s only top 40 hit as a solo artist.
I remember this song from the fall of that year as it was released in October. Being in a still-new relationship for about a year, this song brings back quite the memories of the shared enjoyment of this song and artist. Benjamin Orr passed away at the age of 53 in 2000 of pancreatic cancer, but his cumulative outstanding vocals heard in this and many songs from The Cars are still fondly remembered today.
And all that matters
Is turned around
Over and over again
We're at full circle
It comes down to now again
Stay the night
Let a little love show
“Stay The Night” – Benjamin Orr
Don't runaway, midnight hideaway, don't you fade away 'til the morning light
As initially heard from the “Could Have Been A Contender” Playlist thread earlier this year, this next band in April released their debut album Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams, the title of which was taken from lyrics in the Rolling Stones song "Shattered." This album was produced by T Bone Burnett and a few songs that introduced me to this went on heavy Rock 105 rotation. By the time summer break came around back at home, this might have been the second most listened to album of mine that year. The album itself had catchy and unique songs, with an alternative, roots, and heartland rock sound that was mostly unlike most groups at the time.
BoDeans later went on to record other hit records, and after their second album they were vocal guests on two tracks of Robbie Robertson's self-titled album smash, and then would open for U2 on their Joshua Tree tour. This song and album would start it all for me as a big fan of their music.
I see you from my window
In the shadows of the night
You're standing on Love Street
On the beat, of better things
She might fade away, she might fade away
"Fadeaway" – BoDeans
Buy the sky and sell the sky and tell the sky and tell the sky
By this year, R.E.M. released their fourth studio album Life’s Rich Pageant that would take the band into new sounds unlike their most recent release the year prior. The band changed recording locations in moving from London from their prior album to John Mellencamp’s Belmont, Indiana recording studio where he had just recorded Scarecrow the year prior. This release took the band from a more obscure and dense sound of their earlier albums to a more accessible, hard rock-influenced quality. Later in the year, it was hard not to hear multiple tracks played from this release on Rock 105 as it took this more college radio band into a more accessible FM formats later in the decade, but this release would start them on that path towards the later sound they’d formulate here. As bassist Mike Mills would say about this album, they wanted a "really hard-driving record, but we also like to throw in a lot of things: pianos and organs and accordions and banjos and what-not". This release certainly accomplished that.
My song choice from this was the first single from the album and one of the band's early compositions about environmentalism, discussing acid rain and themes of oppression. What I liked the most about this was the impressive back and forth harmonizing vocals between Michael Stipe and Mike Mills here, with Mills’ sound being the highlights of the song for me.
Well, I would keep it above
But then it wouldn't be sky anymore
So if I send it to you, you've got to promise to keep it home
“Fall On Me” - R.E.M.
Diamond days cut and dry, but beauty in the hurricane's eye
Another artist I was introduced to via college radio in 1986 was the newly formed band from the year prior by former Bauhaus members Daniel Ash (vocals, guitar and saxophone), David J (bass guitar and vocals) and Kevin Haskins (drums and synthesizers). Despite Bauhaus's status as a gothic rock act, Love and Rockets moved towards a slightly brighter and more pop-influenced sound, as demonstrated by their first minor hit, a cover of the Temptations Motown classic "Ball of Confusion", which reached #18 on the Canadian charts in January of this year. And while I heard that song on Rock 105, it really was the tracks off of their 2nd album Express where I first really got into them. That album is credited for the fusion of underground rock with pop stylings, which was seen as an early example of alternative rock music, a genre that reached mainstream popularity in the early 1990s. At the time, "All in My Mind" was the big hit off of this album on college radio, but with recent repeated listens, I have really gravitated towards this track with its fast paced and stellar guitar riffs to really give it and the band its identity from that album. The hard driving bass throughout is something to really hear, especially at the end as the express train of this song just rolls down the tracks.
Beauty beauty beauty beautiful
Beauty beauty beauty beautiful
“Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man)” - Love And Rockets
Everything sounds like “Welcome home, come home”, come on home
‘Til Tuesday was one of those 80’s bands where lead singer Aimee Mann has well outshone with her solo output that one almost forgets about where her career began here. Her band’s 2nd album Welcome Home is a line from this popular song that really has stood the test of time for me. This song has a nice country guitar twang to it that along with Mann’s wide-ranging vocals, really gives it its musical pulse. The soft subject about nostalgic love lost for a fleeting moment of intense connection and the bittersweet realization that the moment is temporary is pretty poignant. The song meaning from the title centers on nostalgia, yearning, and the feeling of being on the verge of something significant that slips away. It was hard not to reflect on this as the early stages of a relationship started from the prior year was still in question.
We thought just for an instant
We could see the future
We thought for once we knew
What really was important
“Coming Up Close” – ‘Til Tuesday
When the music plays, I hear the sound I had to follow, once upon a time
The Moody Blues had transitioned from a progressive rock band in the late ‘60s through the ‘70s to a synth-pop band in the ‘80s. They were a group I had enjoyed and followed prior, and one my girlfriend knew of, but with this year’s album The Other Side of Life, this had music and nostalgia that we both enjoyed. From its April release as the freshman year was ending and a summer separation states away from each other awaited, this one song spoke to both of us as a “what will this be?” moment.
Moody Blues singer and guitarist Justin Hayward was inspired to write this song after reminiscing about his first love. Of the song's lyrics, he stated, "For me, wanting to know about the first girl you ever fell in love with, really fell in love with and broke her heart, you always want to know, I wonder what happened. I wonder where they are. Hop in to that time machine." According to Hayward, the song set off a "personal journey" to delve into his past, which he characterized as "fantastic, amazing, and disturbing."
When released as a single, this song became the band's second biggest US hit, reaching number nine on the American charts. It would be a song and album my girlfriend and I would listen to fondly both apart and, in the brief times that we could be, together in the summer of ’86 wondering where things would be going.
I wonder where you are
I wonder if you think about me
Once upon a time
In your wildest dreams
“Your Wildest Dreams” – The Moody Blues
There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost, but you'll never see the end of the road while you're travelling with me
No matter how much I have adjusted things in preparing for this playlist, this song was always going to be the closer of the opening 10 songs of the playlist.
This was the fourth single from Australian-New Zealand rock band Crowded House, recorded for their self-titled debut studio album that year, released in August right before the start my sophomore year.
It is a very well-known song, and became the band's biggest international hit, reaching No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It reached No. 1 in Canada and in Neil Finn's native New Zealand, while in Australia, it peaked at No. 8.
The meaning of the song title is an encouragement to have hope and perseverance and not give up on one's dreams despite challenges. It is a message of resilience and unity, suggesting that even when things look dark or difficult, it's important to keep moving forward. The phrase is often interpreted as a reminder to fight depression, hold onto a relationship, or not let outside pressures ruin something important. As much as we enjoyed this song at the time, my then-girlfriend of 1 year and now wife of 34 years didn’t realize how much this would actually mean to us over the next 5 years. It’s a song we’ll often request to be played during the dance portion of a wedding reception. This one in particular holds a deep and personal meaning for us both.
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
You know, they won't win
“Don’t Dream It’s Over” – Crowded House
So that’s it for me to kick off 1986. Yes, I realize there are a few key songs, artists, and albums I have not included, but I wanted to leave those to more than few who have hinted in wanting to choose those, so my omission is my direct gift back to you.
As important as 1985 was to start me on the path of where I am today, further reflection on this following year has put it right up there as a pivotal one as well. These songs have well captured that time for me with the person I’ve known and been in a relationship for 40 years now.
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Mancitydoogle
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Good playlist a couple I haven’t heard before.
I was going to pick the Clarence Clemons /JB track for 1985 but time passed me by.
I was going to pick the Clarence Clemons /JB track for 1985 but time passed me by.
Mad Eyed Screamer
Moderator
1986
Here we go!
The greatest year of my so far 62 years on planet earth.
Musically for me it was about a few bands, but one in particular dominating proceedings.
The Smiths released (for me) the greatest album by any band of any time.
The Queen Is Dead.
The album had been produced in 1985, indeed the two singles from the album, Bigmouth Strikes Again and The Boy With The Thorn In His Side were released that very year.
I bought the album the day it came out - 16th June. The day before me and my mate Jim drove down in my Ford Escort Mk2 Estate to Glastonbury for the first of my two visits there (1989 being the other). We slept in the back of the car, with the back seat folded down. Perfect.
I promised Jim I wouldn't listen to the album until on our way down in the car, so got home and recorded the album onto a C60 cassette with the sound off.....
The next day off we went and played the album on repeat the whole way down. We were staying at a friend's house in Chard, Somerset until Friday 20th.
I had borrowed a friends Macro Cash 'n Carry card and had bought 100 large cartons of My Mum's brand of orange, pineapple and apple juice for 33p each to take with us and flog.
We stopped off at Taunton and headed for the HMV to buy tickets for Glastonbury which were 19 quid each. They had no tickets left but called their Bridgewater branch who did and they put them to one side and off we headed back up the M5 to Bridgewater and then back to Taunton and onto Chard.
Jim and our mutual friend went off to get supplies and I was left alone to play the album. I must have played There Is A Light maybe 8 times over and over again in their absence. A song I said then would be one of the greatest songs ever and a claim I still make today as it being THE greatest......
Off we went to Glastonbury with the UK's media obsessed that the New Age Travellers were on their way and allegedly causing mayhem along en route..
It was a stinking hot Glastonbury. Sunshine all the way. Scousers were there selling sunglasses.
Friday night, The Waterboys, The Pogues and then headliners The Psychedelic Furs.
Saturday Lloyd Cole & The Commotions and The Cure. As soon as The Cure came on, it rained! We put up with it for an hour and had had enough. What had been bone dry land had now become a mud bath in an hour...... The Scousers were now selling bin bags. The rain stopped pretty much after The Cure finished and in the morning the land was bone dry again.
Sunday, well we had a dilemma. England were playing Argentina in the Hand of God game and The Housemartins were on stage early afternoon. We left early and missed The Housemartins and arrived back in Sale around 5pm, a few hours to spare before the game.
Previous World Cup games over the weekend were being shown in a big tent. Someone in the Eaves family was recording them and then bringing the video to the tent and playing it on a big screen. The fantastic game between France and Brazil went to extra time and penalties. Half way through the shoot out the tape had finished and the person recording it didnt know the score so neither did we...... it was in the morning listening to the sports news on Radio 2 in the car when we found out......
Oh, remember the orange juice? Well I walked around all the tents on the Saturday morning and sold them all very quickly for 75p each....... The 42 quid profit covered our 38 quid for 2 tickets and half of our petrol costs.....
GMEX
This former train station in Manchester hosted The Festival Of The 10th Summer, celebrating 10 years since the Sex Pistols gigs at the Lesser Free Trade Hall.
13 quid and you saw New Order, The Smiths, The Fall, OMD, Pete Shelley, Howard Devoto and Steve Diggle (all in different bands not together), Sandie Shaw, Frank Sidebottom sweeping the stage, Derek Hatton walking on stage on crutches, cracking a joke about Ron Atkinson and getting a few smacks from a punter who climbed onto the stage and thumped him!
The Smiths performance was the least favourite of the 5 gigs I saw them at - not that the band were at fault, the jingly jangly sound just bounced around the cavernous building and being on stage around 5pm in daylight meant no light show either. The band, now a 5 piece with Craig Gannon added on rhythm guitar were at the height of their career. New Order came on last, their heavier sound more suited and amicable to the venue and the light show adding to the atmosphere too. I even started a round of the Mexican wave, popularised by the World Cup! Ian McCulloch from the Bunnymen came on stage for the encore and Ceremony was well received by the crowd. It is hard to believe but this gig with a 9,000 capacity did not sell out......
The very next day The Smiths performed an intimate gig at the Maxwell Hall in Salford University - the best gig I ever attended and Johnny Marr and Mike Joyce have both said the same thing!
The atmosphere was the closest I've ever been to at a gig that was like being at a football match. The crowd was very male and very working class. People say The Smiths were a student band. Not then they weren't - in the same way Joy Division and Nirvana were not initially but became a student band. The main difference with The Smiths is the front man didn't kill himself for the band to achieve that status.......The Salford Lads were out to defend their territory. Between every song the cry of "Salford, Salford, Salford" bellowed out. It was Morrissey who defused the tension after the third time this happened, replying back in a childish voice "Stretford, Stretford, Stretford" to much laughter and the threat of violence (to anyone daring to shout out the name of any other district) receded.
It was very hot inside and many of the crowd were topless, tucking their t shirts inside their jeans. It was a bizarre juxtaposition of so many "hard lads" hypnotised by such effeminate / homoerotic songs Morrissey was belting out. The final song played, Hand In Glove, ends with the line "and I'll probably never see you again....." I turned and just happened to share that glance with the topless, shaved headed lad dancing along next to me (I still had my t shirt on LOL) and without any of us saying anything, we hugged. And I never did see him again. The gig ended in chaos with a full on stage invasion, that apparently caused the ceiling of the room below the stage to buckle........... what a fucking night.
In October, the band played the Free Trade Hall to promote the single Ask. I don't recall too much about this gig compared to GMEX and Salford Uni, but it was notable for being the last gig they played as a five piece band with Gannon departing afterwards, and also it was their penultimate live gig. Their final live gig being in December at Brixton Academy. The band did play live on the Tube in 1987, but little did we know when piling out of the Free Trade Hall that 9 months later that the greatest band of my generation would be know more.......
Two other albums of note that had my attention.
The Housemartins "London 0 Hull 4" was fantastic. Political pop at its finest. Despite the Glastonbury disappointment, the band played an autumn tour to promote the single "Think For A Minute" and they were the first band to play at the former Carousel Club on Dickenson Road that was now known as The International 2.
The venue was rammed and clearly over capacity and it could have been worse when a section of the lighting above the stage fell and missed Paul Heaton's head by inches!
The second album was "Infected by The The. Again a politically charged album that captured a time and a place.
Other gigs were Siouxsie & The Banshees at the Apollo promoting the "Tinderbox" album. The lead single was "Cities In Dust" though it was released in 1985.
James played 2 free gigs the same day in the council chamber at Manchester Town Hall. I grabbed a ticket for the afternoon gig.
So. Three songs for the play list......
1. The Smiths "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
Predictable I know, I tried to pick another one, an obscure b side to one of the singles, but in the end just could not not put in the greatest song ever produced.
2. The Housemartins "Get Up Off Of Your Knees"
A great 3 minute call to arms
"Don't wag your finger at them, and turn and walk away, don't shoot someone tomorrow, who you can shoot today"
3. The The "Heartland"
The lead single off the album with the end refrain that Britain is the "51st state of the USA"
"All the bankers getting sweaty, beneath their white collar, as the pound in their pocket turns, into a dollar...." Social commentary at its finest and up there with The Specials "Ghost Town" and UB40's "1 In 10" in putting Thatcher's Britain onto a 7 inch vinyl record.
Oh, and City's Youth Team beat the rags in the final of the FA Youth Cup to lift the trophy for the first time!
Someone should write a book about that........
Here we go!
The greatest year of my so far 62 years on planet earth.
Musically for me it was about a few bands, but one in particular dominating proceedings.
The Smiths released (for me) the greatest album by any band of any time.
The Queen Is Dead.
The album had been produced in 1985, indeed the two singles from the album, Bigmouth Strikes Again and The Boy With The Thorn In His Side were released that very year.
I bought the album the day it came out - 16th June. The day before me and my mate Jim drove down in my Ford Escort Mk2 Estate to Glastonbury for the first of my two visits there (1989 being the other). We slept in the back of the car, with the back seat folded down. Perfect.
I promised Jim I wouldn't listen to the album until on our way down in the car, so got home and recorded the album onto a C60 cassette with the sound off.....
The next day off we went and played the album on repeat the whole way down. We were staying at a friend's house in Chard, Somerset until Friday 20th.
I had borrowed a friends Macro Cash 'n Carry card and had bought 100 large cartons of My Mum's brand of orange, pineapple and apple juice for 33p each to take with us and flog.
We stopped off at Taunton and headed for the HMV to buy tickets for Glastonbury which were 19 quid each. They had no tickets left but called their Bridgewater branch who did and they put them to one side and off we headed back up the M5 to Bridgewater and then back to Taunton and onto Chard.
Jim and our mutual friend went off to get supplies and I was left alone to play the album. I must have played There Is A Light maybe 8 times over and over again in their absence. A song I said then would be one of the greatest songs ever and a claim I still make today as it being THE greatest......
Off we went to Glastonbury with the UK's media obsessed that the New Age Travellers were on their way and allegedly causing mayhem along en route..
It was a stinking hot Glastonbury. Sunshine all the way. Scousers were there selling sunglasses.
Friday night, The Waterboys, The Pogues and then headliners The Psychedelic Furs.
Saturday Lloyd Cole & The Commotions and The Cure. As soon as The Cure came on, it rained! We put up with it for an hour and had had enough. What had been bone dry land had now become a mud bath in an hour...... The Scousers were now selling bin bags. The rain stopped pretty much after The Cure finished and in the morning the land was bone dry again.
Sunday, well we had a dilemma. England were playing Argentina in the Hand of God game and The Housemartins were on stage early afternoon. We left early and missed The Housemartins and arrived back in Sale around 5pm, a few hours to spare before the game.
Previous World Cup games over the weekend were being shown in a big tent. Someone in the Eaves family was recording them and then bringing the video to the tent and playing it on a big screen. The fantastic game between France and Brazil went to extra time and penalties. Half way through the shoot out the tape had finished and the person recording it didnt know the score so neither did we...... it was in the morning listening to the sports news on Radio 2 in the car when we found out......
Oh, remember the orange juice? Well I walked around all the tents on the Saturday morning and sold them all very quickly for 75p each....... The 42 quid profit covered our 38 quid for 2 tickets and half of our petrol costs.....
GMEX
This former train station in Manchester hosted The Festival Of The 10th Summer, celebrating 10 years since the Sex Pistols gigs at the Lesser Free Trade Hall.
13 quid and you saw New Order, The Smiths, The Fall, OMD, Pete Shelley, Howard Devoto and Steve Diggle (all in different bands not together), Sandie Shaw, Frank Sidebottom sweeping the stage, Derek Hatton walking on stage on crutches, cracking a joke about Ron Atkinson and getting a few smacks from a punter who climbed onto the stage and thumped him!
The Smiths performance was the least favourite of the 5 gigs I saw them at - not that the band were at fault, the jingly jangly sound just bounced around the cavernous building and being on stage around 5pm in daylight meant no light show either. The band, now a 5 piece with Craig Gannon added on rhythm guitar were at the height of their career. New Order came on last, their heavier sound more suited and amicable to the venue and the light show adding to the atmosphere too. I even started a round of the Mexican wave, popularised by the World Cup! Ian McCulloch from the Bunnymen came on stage for the encore and Ceremony was well received by the crowd. It is hard to believe but this gig with a 9,000 capacity did not sell out......
The very next day The Smiths performed an intimate gig at the Maxwell Hall in Salford University - the best gig I ever attended and Johnny Marr and Mike Joyce have both said the same thing!
The atmosphere was the closest I've ever been to at a gig that was like being at a football match. The crowd was very male and very working class. People say The Smiths were a student band. Not then they weren't - in the same way Joy Division and Nirvana were not initially but became a student band. The main difference with The Smiths is the front man didn't kill himself for the band to achieve that status.......The Salford Lads were out to defend their territory. Between every song the cry of "Salford, Salford, Salford" bellowed out. It was Morrissey who defused the tension after the third time this happened, replying back in a childish voice "Stretford, Stretford, Stretford" to much laughter and the threat of violence (to anyone daring to shout out the name of any other district) receded.
It was very hot inside and many of the crowd were topless, tucking their t shirts inside their jeans. It was a bizarre juxtaposition of so many "hard lads" hypnotised by such effeminate / homoerotic songs Morrissey was belting out. The final song played, Hand In Glove, ends with the line "and I'll probably never see you again....." I turned and just happened to share that glance with the topless, shaved headed lad dancing along next to me (I still had my t shirt on LOL) and without any of us saying anything, we hugged. And I never did see him again. The gig ended in chaos with a full on stage invasion, that apparently caused the ceiling of the room below the stage to buckle........... what a fucking night.
In October, the band played the Free Trade Hall to promote the single Ask. I don't recall too much about this gig compared to GMEX and Salford Uni, but it was notable for being the last gig they played as a five piece band with Gannon departing afterwards, and also it was their penultimate live gig. Their final live gig being in December at Brixton Academy. The band did play live on the Tube in 1987, but little did we know when piling out of the Free Trade Hall that 9 months later that the greatest band of my generation would be know more.......
Two other albums of note that had my attention.
The Housemartins "London 0 Hull 4" was fantastic. Political pop at its finest. Despite the Glastonbury disappointment, the band played an autumn tour to promote the single "Think For A Minute" and they were the first band to play at the former Carousel Club on Dickenson Road that was now known as The International 2.
The venue was rammed and clearly over capacity and it could have been worse when a section of the lighting above the stage fell and missed Paul Heaton's head by inches!
The second album was "Infected by The The. Again a politically charged album that captured a time and a place.
Other gigs were Siouxsie & The Banshees at the Apollo promoting the "Tinderbox" album. The lead single was "Cities In Dust" though it was released in 1985.
James played 2 free gigs the same day in the council chamber at Manchester Town Hall. I grabbed a ticket for the afternoon gig.
So. Three songs for the play list......
1. The Smiths "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
Predictable I know, I tried to pick another one, an obscure b side to one of the singles, but in the end just could not not put in the greatest song ever produced.
2. The Housemartins "Get Up Off Of Your Knees"
A great 3 minute call to arms
"Don't wag your finger at them, and turn and walk away, don't shoot someone tomorrow, who you can shoot today"
3. The The "Heartland"
The lead single off the album with the end refrain that Britain is the "51st state of the USA"
"All the bankers getting sweaty, beneath their white collar, as the pound in their pocket turns, into a dollar...." Social commentary at its finest and up there with The Specials "Ghost Town" and UB40's "1 In 10" in putting Thatcher's Britain onto a 7 inch vinyl record.
Oh, and City's Youth Team beat the rags in the final of the FA Youth Cup to lift the trophy for the first time!
Someone should write a book about that........
I had taken a temporary job working at a nuclear power station (hence the Homer in my username!) in '86, so when Chernobyl happened there was increased focus on potential safety issues locally. However, I had never seen anything other than minor contamination picked up by the dosimeters, even at their most sensitive settings. About a week after Chernobyl, when the weather dumped some of the radiation cloud on the UK, the readings certainly shot up!
I'm a fan of Van Halen with Sammy, but Dave Lee Roth also came up with a great, typically trashy, sounding album in '86 - Eat 'Em and Smile, with guitar virtuoso Steve Vai.
While Jackson Browne may have used the Statue of Liberty as a metaphor for what was going wrong in the USA, Dave Lee Roth wrote Yankee Rose as a tribute to both it and the US:
She's a vision from coast to coast
Sea to shining sea
Hey sister, you're the perfect host
I'm a fan of Van Halen with Sammy, but Dave Lee Roth also came up with a great, typically trashy, sounding album in '86 - Eat 'Em and Smile, with guitar virtuoso Steve Vai.
While Jackson Browne may have used the Statue of Liberty as a metaphor for what was going wrong in the USA, Dave Lee Roth wrote Yankee Rose as a tribute to both it and the US:
She's a vision from coast to coast
Sea to shining sea
Hey sister, you're the perfect host
hallsteve62
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2012
- Messages
- 925
I too have been looking forward to 1986 so I could include in its entirerity one of the best Side 1's of any album I have ever heard. Bold claim I know but here goes: 'Strange Times' by The Chameleons.
Track 1 - 'Mad Jack'
Track 2 - 'Caution'
Track 3 - 'Tears'
Track 4 - 'Soul in Isolation'
If you want to hear the end of track 4 then you need to listen to the final 20 seconds of the last track on Side 2.
Track 1 - 'Mad Jack'
Track 2 - 'Caution'
Track 3 - 'Tears'
Track 4 - 'Soul in Isolation'
If you want to hear the end of track 4 then you need to listen to the final 20 seconds of the last track on Side 2.