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Music ads for 1980 releases

MFD Random Five #46

In which I shuffle through some music files and listen to the first five songs from the years 1976-85 that randomly pop up.

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1. "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton (1980, RCA)
   I didn't buy the single, but I'll sing along with the thing. It was all over the radio stations I listened to during the winter of 1981. #1 pop, #1 adult contemporary, #1 country - I'll bet I'm not the only one who can sing along with it. As I pay less attention to Dolly and more to the band this listen, I'm impressed with how great the piano and horn parts are. Tight band with members of the Wrecking Crew and other session greats.
   
   [Note: the next song to shuffle around was David Bowie's "Always Crashing in the Same Car" which previously appeared on Random Five #24.]


2. "The Hurt" by Any Trouble (1980, Stiff)
   New wave power-pop that's so catchy I'm upset I didn't listen to this in 1980. I'm also surprised the group didn't gain traction on the heels of The Knack. Maybe the group were a year or so ahead of their time? I can't imagine them not hitting the US Top 40 in 1982.


3. "I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love" by The Emotions (1976, Columiba)
   Sultry vocals atop a steamin' EWF groove. And I love what Verdine White does with the bass on this one. And the Phenix Horns are immediately recognizable. And the a capella breakdown - have mercy. And the fact that I need to do a deep dive into the trio's catalog.


4. "What's Your Best Thing" by The English Beat (1982, Go-Feet)
   The b-side to "Save It For Later" and it's not bad for a b-side but comes off more as a demo. The track was never properly fleshed out but it's got some promising ideas in there; not to mention some nice horn work.


5. "Freedom" by Wham! (1985, CBS)
   One of four(!) singles from Make It Big that reached the top three on the pop charts in the US. This Motown knockoff homage would be just about perfect if not for the out of tune trumpet mess at the end. George Michael sure could write some hooks. On my list of the 85 top singles of 1985, this single appeared in the #57 spot.

Smash Hits Album Ratings - 1981 [part 1 of 2]

Smash Hits was a British teen music magazine that was issued fortnightly. On a scale of 1-10, here's how the magazine's reviewers rated albums released in the first half of 1981. Hope you find something new that you missed back in '81.

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January 8 issue
Rocky Sharpe & The Replays	Rock-It to Mars	6
Dollar	The Paris Collection	6
Jermaine Jackson	Jermaine	6
Showaddywaddy	Bright Lights	5
Black Slate	Amigo	5
Queen	Flash Gordon	2
The Clash	Sandinista!	5½
Linton Kwesi Johnson	LKJ in Dub	7

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January 22 issue
Boomtown Rats	Mondo Bondo	7½
Elvis Costello	Trust	9
The Runaways	Flaming Schoolgirls	2
Steve Winwood	Arc of a Diver	5
UFO	The Wild, the Willing, and the Innocent	5
Basement 5	1965-1980	6
Gen X	Kiss Me Deadly	2
Mtume	In Search of the Rainbow Seekers	8
Rose Royce	Golden Touch	6

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February 5 issue
Sheena Easton	Take My Time	7
Pearl Harbour	Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too	6
Phil Collins	Face Value	5
Heatwave	Candles	8
The Stranglers	The Meninblack	6
Mike Batt	Waves	3
Splodgenessabounds	Splodgenessabounds	3
Styx	Paradise Theatre	2
The dB's	Stands for Decibels	8

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February 19 issue
UK Subs	Diminished Responsibility	2
The Barracudas	Drop Out with The Barracudas	5½
Moon Martin	Street Fever	6
Jets	Jets	5
Nash the Slash	Children of the Night	4
Walkie Talkies	Surveillance	6
Joe Sample	Voices in the Rain	7
The Boys	Boys Only	6½
The Selecter	Celebrate the Bullet	5½
Nine Below Zero	Don't Point Your Finger	5

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March 5 issue
Sister Sledge	All American Girls	6
Stray Cats	Stray Cats	5
Rainbow	Difficult to Cure	7
Gang of Four	Solid Gold	7½
Eric Clapton	Another Ticket	3
Marvin Gaye	In Our Lifetime	7½
Todd Rundgren	Healing	6
Brian Briggs	Brian Damage	7
Defunkt	Defunkt	8½
Spandau Ballet	Journeys to Glory	7

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March 19 issue
New Musik	Anywhere	6½
Russ Ballard	Into the Fire	3
James Brown	Rapp Payback	6½
Detroit Spinners	Labour of Love	6
The Spizzles	Spikey Dream	6
Tata Vega	Giving All My Love	4
Shona Laing	Tied to the Tracks	3
The Vapors	Magnets	4
Wilko Johnson	Ice on the Motorway	4
Linx	Intuition	8

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April 2 issue
The Shakin' Pyramids	Skin 'Em Up	5
Rico	That Man is Forward	8
Change	Miracles	5
Landscape	From the Tea Rooms of Mars to the Hell Holes of Uranus	8
Chas'N'Dave	Mustn't Grumble	4
Slade	We'll Bring the House Down	6
The Who	Face Dances	4
British Electronic Foundation	Music for Stowaways	9
Diana Ross	To Love Again	6
Status Quo	Never Too Late	7

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April 16 issue
Dave Edmunds	Twangin	7½
Incognito	Jazz Funk	8
Public Image, Ltd.	Flowers of Romance	8
Stiff Little Fingers	Go for It	7
The Cure	Faith	7
Whitesnake	Come An' Get It	4½
The Jags	No Tie Like a Present	4
Cockney Rejects	Greatest Hits, Vol 3	11
Roger Taylor	Roger Taylor's Fun in Space	3
B.A. Robertson	Bully for You	6

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April 30 issue
Gillan	Future Shock	4
Girlschool	Hit and Run	5
Tenpole Tudor	The Swords of a Thousand Men	7
REO Speedwagon	Hi Infidelity	4
The Keys	The Keys Album	5
Quincy Jones	The Dude	7½
Sharon Redd	Sharon Redd	8
Snips	La Rocca	6
The Isley Brothers	Grand Slam	5
The Scars	Author! Author!	8

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May 14 issue
The Undertones	Positive Touch	9
Holly and The Italians	The Right to be Italian	4
The Plastics	Welcome Back	7½
Split Enz	Waiata	7
The Lambrettas	Ambience	7
The Tubes	The Completion Backward Principle	4
Ruts DC	Animal Now	8
Albania	Are You All Mine	7
Kraftwerk	Computer World	4
The Beat	Wha'ppen?	7
Squeeze	East Side Story	9
The Cramps	Psychedelic Jungle	8
The Searchers	Play for Today	5

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May 28 issue
Original Mirrors	Heart-twango and Raw-beat	7
Richard Strange	The Phenomenal Rise of Richard Strange	6½
Joe Walsh	There Goes the Neighborhood	5
Shakatak	Drivin' Hard	7
Grace Jones	Nightclubbing	8
Bill Nelson	Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam	8
Classic Nouveaux	Night People	6
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers	Hard Promises	7
Wild Horses	Stand Your Ground	4
The Psychedelic Furs	Talk, Talk, Talk	8
Sparks	Whomp That Sucker	6
Positive Noise	Heart of Darkness	5
Toyah	Anthem	3

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June 11 issue
Elton John	The Fox	5
Echo and The Bunnymen	Heaven Up Here	9
Doll by Doll	Doll by Doll	8
Jean-Michel Jarre	Magnetic Fields	7
UB40	Present Arms	7½
Ken Lockie	The Impossible	6
Phil Seymour	Phil Seymour	4
Black Uhuru	Red	7½
Eddy Grant	Can't Get Enough	9

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June 25 issue
Killing Joke	What's This For	7½
Third World	Rock the World	5
TV Smith's Explorers	The Last Words of the Great Explorer	5
Duran Duran	Duran Duran	4
Magazine	Magic, Murder, and the Weather	7
Siouxsie and The Banshees	Juju	5
Thompson Twins	A Product of...	6
Peter Tosh	Wanted Dread & Alive	4
Yoko Ono	Season of Glass	3
Modern Eon	Fiction Tales	8
Barbara Dickson	You Know It's Me	4

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h/t to Brian McCloskey over at Like Punk Never Happened

What videos were in rotation on MTV in April 1983?

Here's your answer, according to Billboard magazine. I've highlighted a few of my preferred videos (not necessarily songs) on the list below.

Billboard, April 23, 1983, p. 30

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Here's a selected sampling:

Nick Lowe - "Ragin' Eyes" from the album The Abominable Showman (yes, that's Paul Carrack on keyboard)

Heaven 17 - "Let Me Go" from the US album Heaven 17 and the UK album The Luxury Gap

The English Beat - "I Confess" from the album Special Beat Service

And one that's new to me:

Goanna - "Solid Rock" from the album Spirit of Place

MFD Not-So-Random Five #1

In which I select five songs from 1976-1985 based on an arbitrary theme. (Not to be confused with this blog's Random Five feature, another exercise in arbitrariness). Today's theme: Song titles that are girls' names.

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1. "Sara" by Starship (1985, Grunt/RCA)
   Starship's mid-80's oeuvre has been widely criticized, but with three #1 hits over the span of three years, somebody must have liked the tunes at the time. I think "Sara" is the best of Starship's output. I don't like the way the over-echoed drums are pushed to the front of the mix and there's not much to the verse, but the guitar solo is pretty good and there's something about the flatted chord in the chorus that gets me every time. Bonus points for featuring Rebecca De Mornay in the otherwise poor video.


2. "Joanna" by Kool & The Gang (1983, Polygram)
   In the late fall/early winter of 1983, I was briefly interested a girl named JoAnn. She was a couple of years younger than me and, in her father's opinion, too young to go on a "car date" so that relationship never got off the ground. Other than the similar names, the girl and the song have nothing to do with each other. However, I'm always reminded of JoAnn when I hear this tune. (A few years later DeBarge did something similar with "Who's Holding Donna Now"). I can't think of any K&TG song I dislike. The trombone solo, the sappy lyrics, the constant eight note electric piano motif - it all works for me.


3. "Alison" by Elvis Costello (1977, Stiff)
   If this isn't the best tune Costello ever penned, it's certainly in the discussion. I didn't hear it until about 5 years after its original release and that was perfect timing for me as I wouldn't have understood it at age 11 but the angst certainly was on the mark for me as a 16 year old in love with anything in a skirt. I love the noodling guitar, the classic chorus melody, and the fade out for the last minute of the cut. My aim is true.


4. "Angela" by Bob James (1978, Tappan Zee)
   To my knowledge, this was my introduction to Bob James as this tune was used as the theme music to the TV sitcom Taxi. It's a nice enough melody but the good stuff didn't even make the TV theme version. I could do without the recorder, but there's a tasty electric piano solo by James and a sublime guitar solo by Eric Gale that's the highlight of the cut for me.


5. "Jeanette" by The English Beat (1982, I.R.S.)
   The second single release from the Special Beat Service album, this peaked at #45 in the UK and didn't make any mark here in the US. But as a young boy growing up on the coastal plains of Texas, the whole album was just what I needed. Love the accordion parts over the ska beat, then they throw in Saxa on the saxophone over some background vocals and I can't resist some chair dancing. Good stuff. I can easily listen to Special Beat Service all the way through then hit the repeat button. In fact, it placed at #7 on my list of the Top 82 Albums of 1982.

MFD Random Five #22

In which I click the shuffle icon on the iTunes app and listen to the first five songs that pop up from the years 1976-85.

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1. "The Kick of Love" by Nick Heyward (1983, Arista)
   Considering the amount of Heyward tunes in my library, it's surprising this one hasn't come up before. The song begins and ends with jazz breaks which Heyward claims is his favorite memory of making the North of a Miracle album: "seeing the look on my father's face as his heroes played jazz on 'The Kick of Love.'" Great melody, tasty horn parts, acoustic guitar solo, driving chorus, I could gush for a while. A fantastic song but it's not even in the top half of songs on the album.


2. "A Go Talk (Tappy Luppy Dub)" by The English Beat (1982, I.R.S.)
   The extended mix of "Pato and Roger A Go Talk" from Special Beat Service. As the title suggests, there's lots of ranking over a heavy reggae beat from Pato (Banton) and (Ranking) Roger. I prefer the album mix as this one starts and stops a few too many times, but like the Heyward album above, I can easily listen to Special Beat Service all the way through then hit the repeat button. In fact, it placed at #7 on my list of the Top 82 Albums of 1982. (Below: your humble blogger in the mid-'80s wearing his favorite English Beat tee with the sleeves carefully cut off)
   
   
   


3. "Est-ce que c'est Chic?" by Chic (1977, Atlantic)
   If my two years of barely skating through high school French is any help, I think that title translates to "Is it Chic?" A track that proves even Chic album filler is fantastic and danceable. Love the Bernard Edwards bass line, but could use a little more of Nile Rodgers' immediately identifiable guitar work. Bonus points for vibraphone throughout.


4. "Radio Silence (Guitar Version)" by Thomas Dolby (1982, EMI)
   My friend Scott and I each purchased LPs of The Golden Age of Wireless when we were in high school. However, they were different releases with different songs. Most notably, we each owned a different version of the "Radio Silence" (he had the "guitar version," I didn't), so we would needlessly argue about which was the better version. I said my version was superior, but I actually prefer the guitar version, mainly because of the spoken lyric about 3 minutes in: "Trytothinkofnothing. Trytothinkofnothing. Trytothinkofnothing..." by Lene Lovich. Oh! Do I like the song? Heck, I love the whole album. In fact, it placed at #5 on my list of the Top 82 Albums of 1982, and I selected "Radio Silence" as the second best cut on the thing.


5. "#3 (In the Corn Belt)" by Dinosaur L (1981, Sleeping Bag Records)
   As of yet, I'm not sure I fully understand the No Wave experimental disco of Dinosaur L (Arthur Russell), but I'm enjoying the journey. Love the D.I.Y. ethos. If club names like The Kitchen or Paradise Garage mean anything to you, you'll like this. In 1981, however, 15 year old Mark would have run away from this sort of thing.