Gaucho
Steely Dan
| Produced by: | Gary Katz |
| Billboard 200: | 9 |
| CashBox 200: | 8 |
| Rolling Stone 100: | 5 |
- Stereo Review: "it's too smooth a ride to pass up"
- Smash Hits (7 out of 10): "melodic, subtly jazz-flavoured funk."
- Rolling Stone (★★★★½): "wholly satisfying and seemingly spontaneous"
- CashBox: "the masters of sophisticated jazz/pop fusion have returned in their usual dynamic fashion."
- Robert Christgau (B-): "originally entitled Countdown to Lethargy."
| U.S. Billboard charted singles: | Hot 100 | AC |
| Hey Nineteen | 10 | 11 |
| Time Out of Mind | 22 | 13 |
Top 3 Tracks
"Time Out of Mind"
"Hey Nineteen"
"Gaucho"
I'd had this album on cassette for many years before this album became one of the first CDs I ever purchased - I'm guessing January 1988. While not as consistently good or musically complex as Aja or Katy Lied, this smooth pop has some good songs sprinkled among the 7 here. The duo (mainly Donald Fagen) almost seems more concerned with how things are produced than what is produced. Spending over a year in the studio and using 42 different musicians, this sterile, microproduced album earned a Grammy award for Best Engineered Recording, Non Classical. Still, when the grooves are right, they're right; I like the lyrics about awkward, misanthropic, aging hipsters (I can relate) and there's some great hooks throughout.
The origins of the title track have previously appeared on this blog: Try Again Tomorrow: The Steely Dan - ECM Connection
The origins of the title track have previously appeared on this blog: Try Again Tomorrow: The Steely Dan - ECM Connection
Argybargy
Squeeze
| Produced by: | John Wood, Squeeze |
| Billboard 200: | 71 |
| CashBox 200: | 89 |
| Rolling Stone 100: | 45 |
- Stereo Review: "as musical satirists these guys are the Kink's children. And they're funnier."
- Smash Hits (9 out of 10): "Gets better with every play"
- Record World: "Radio should love this record. "
- Billboard: "breezy, new wave influenced pop brew"
- Robert Christgau (B-): "'Tis said McCartneyesque tunefulness is the ticket here, but to me Tilbrook sounds more like Ray Davies"
Top 3 Tracks
"If I Didn't Love You"
"Farfisa Beat"
"Another Nail in My Heart"
No US hits on this album (Squeeze wouldn't hit the US Top 40 until 1987), but that just means most of the US missed out on some quality, fun tunes. Maybe the band's most consistent album, possibly their best - depends on how I'm feeling when I listen to it.
The Age of Plastic
Buggles
| Produced by: | Buggles |
| Billboard 200: | - |
| CashBox 200: | - |
| Rolling Stone 100: | - |
- Stereo Review: "They can't sing worth a lick, their technological obsessions are already clichés"
- Smash Hits (8 out of 10): "GREAT TUNES throughout"
| U.S. Billboard charted singles: | Hot 100 |
| Video Killed the Radio Star | 40 |
Top 3 Tracks
"Video Killed the Radio Star"
"Living in the Plastic Age"
"Clean Clean"
A fun, pioneering synthpop album - most of the recording techniques and synth technology were cutting edge when this was recorded in 1979. I didn't hear this album until the summer of 1982, when my friend Jim gave me his copy of the LP. If memory serves, it was a secondhand promotional release he had picked up for 99 cents at Tower Bargain Center. I was intrigued and, ultimately, not disappointed. Great synth work and production, average song writing, and fair-to-middlin' vocals. This isn't a 5 star album, but it was just what I needed when I got it and started a lifelong appreciation for Trevor Horn's production work. Not even 37 minutes long, it seems like the album is just getting started when it finishes, but I'll just play it again. And not take it too seriously.
My friend Scott absolutely adored this LP and would usually put it on the turntable whenever he came over. Scott being Scott, he never asked first, he just did it.
Kings of the Wild Frontier
Adam & The Ants
| Produced by: | Chris Hughes |
| Billboard 200: | 44 |
| CashBox 200: | 47 |
| Rolling Stone 100: | 21 |
- Smash Hits (8 out of 10): "strong, intelligent dance music with a dash of drama"
- Billboard: "music which can't be classified"
- CashBox: "one of the most unique musical entries in the past year"
- Robert Christgau (B): "a clever pop-punk amalgam boasting two drummers, lots of chanting, and numerous B-movie hooks."
| U.S. Billboard charted singles: | Hot 100 | Rock |
| Dog Eat Dog | 15 | |
| Antmusic | 14 |
Top 3 Tracks
"Dog Eat Dog"
"Kings of the Wild Frontier"
"Antmusic"
I once read an article over at avclub.com titled "How Adam Ant made the ’80s his bitch" and I particularly enjoyed how this album was described:
Never one for half-measures, Ant launched his 1980 album, Kings Of The Wild Frontier, with a bizarre new sound that mixed rollicking sea shanties, polyrhythmic Burundi drumming, and Native American war-whoops (at least as they’re portrayed in Hollywood Westerns).That's the perfect description of this album. Adam Ant called this album "the final nail in the coffin of punk." I was 15 when I heard it for the first time; it was like nothing I had ever heard before and there's still nothing else like it. As I was entering the "I'm cooler than you because I listen to musicians you've never heard of" phase of my deluded adolescence, this album was perfect. This is easily Ant's best album. If I remember correctly, I was attracted to the band name before I'd even heard any of the music. I think Adam Ant would like that.
Glass Houses
Billy Joel
| Produced by: | Phil Ramone |
| Billboard 200: | 1 |
| CashBox 200: | 1 |
| Rolling Stone 100: | 1 |
- Billboard: "plenty of hooks and memorable melodies"
- Smash Hits (8 out of 10): "harder, more aggressive material"
- CashBox: "something-for-everybody collection"
- Rolling Stone: "His material's catchy. But then, so's the flu"
- Stereo Review: "his able talent places him among the best American songwriter/performers"
- Robert Christgau (B-): "gregarious, shameless, and above all profitable."
| U.S. Billboard charted singles: | Hot 100 | AC |
| You May Be Right | 7 | 48 |
| It's Still Rock and Roll to Me | 1 | 45 |
| Don't Ask Me Why | 19 | 1 |
| Sometimes a Fantasy | 36 |
Top 3 Tracks
"Sometimes a Fantasy"
"You May Be Right"
"Don't Ask Me Why"
By 1980, I was a full-fledged Billy Joel fan. I knew every word to every song on The Stranger and 52nd Street. So even though this album has a harder edge than those two, I listened to it repeatedly in the summer of 1980 and knew all the words to these songs within a week. My sister gave me this album for my birthday in June 1980. I had just put it on the turntable when I received a call with an invitation to go play tennis with a girl friend who would become my girlfriend a couple of years later. I really wanted to listen to this album, so she agreed to come over and listen to it with me before our tennis match. I still laugh when I hear Billy sing "Should I try to be a straight 'A' student? If you are then you think too much" because upon hearing this line, this girl shrugged and responded, "I guess I think too much." When you're 14, modesty is overrated.
These are my personal top 10 albums released in 1980. The following criteria was used on a very slippery sliding scale:
- How often I enjoyed the album at the time of release
- How often I've enjoyed the album over the past 40+ years
- My opinion of the overall quality of the album
The top tracks for each album are solely my opinion.
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