Editions of Musician Magazine (1976-1985)

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1976

Issue	Date	Cover
1	Oct	(Music America) School Jazz
2	Nov	(Music America) Career Education Center
3	Dec	(Music America) Synthesizers in the Budget

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1977

Issue	Date	Cover
4	Jan	(Music America) Saxophonist
5	Feb-Mar	(Music America) Art Blakey
6	Apr	(Music America) Louis Bellson
7	May-June	(Contemporary Music America) Maynard Ferguson
8	Sept 15 - Oct 30	Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter
9	Nov-Dec 15	Festivals

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1978

Issue	Date	Cover
10	Dec 15-Jan	Charles Mingus
11	Feb 15-Mar	Weather Report
12	May - Jun 15	Ornette Coleman
13	July-Aug 15	McCoy Tyner
14	Oct	George Benson
15	Dec	Chick Corea

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1979

Issue	Date	Cover
16	Feb	Keith Jarrett
17	Apr	Art and Funk
18	June	Pat Metheny
19	Aug	Frank Zappa
20	Sept-Oct	Steely Dan
21	Nov	Brian Eno

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1980

Issue	Date	Cover
22	Jan	Stevie Wonder
23	Mar	The 80's...What's Ahead
24	Apr-May	Bob Marley
25	Jun-July	Bob Seger
26	Aug	Paul McCartney
27	Oct	Jimi Hendrix
28	Nov	Dire Straits
29	Dec	Michael McDonald/Capt. Beefheart

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1981

Issue	Date	Cover
30	Feb	Bruce Springsteen
31	Mar	Steely Dan
32	Apr-May	David Byrne
33	June	The Clash
34	July	Tom Petty
35	Aug	Jim Morrison/The Doors
36	Oct	Grateful Dead
37	Nov	Reggae/Black Uhuru
38	Dec	The Police

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1982

Issue	Date	Cover
39	Jan	The Cars
40	Feb	Ringo Starr
41	Mar	Miles Davis
42	Apr	Hall & Oates
43	May	Eric Clapton
44	June	Nick Lowe/Graham Parker
45	July	Willie Nelson
46	Aug	Pete Townshend
47	Sept	Eddie Van Halen
48	Oct	Steve Winwood
49	Nov	Neil Young
50	Dec	Billy Joel

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1983

Issue	Date	Cover
51	Jan	Joni Mitchell
52	Feb	Joe Jackson
53	Mar	Tom Petty
54	Apr	Bob Seger
55	May	David Bowie
56	June	Andy Summers/The Police
57	July	Bob Marley
58	Aug	The Kinks
59	Sept	Prince
60	Oct	Elvis Costello
61	Nov	Jackson Browne
62	Dec	Keith Richards/Mick Jagger

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1984

Issue	Date	Cover
63	Jan	Midnight Oil
64	Feb	Stevie Wonder
65	Mar	Chrissie Hynde
66	Apr	Laurie Anderson
67	May	Thomas Dolby
68	June	Van Halen
69	July	Michael Jackson
70	Aug	Peter Wolf
71	Sept	Judas Priest
72	Oct	Prince
73	Nov	Bruce Springsteen
74	Dec	David Bowie

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1985

Issue	Date	Cover
75	Jan	U2
76	Feb	Paul McCartney/Rickie Lee Jones
77	Mar	John Fogerty
78	Apr	Mick Jagger
79	May	Jeff Beck
80	June	Phil Collins
81	July	Sting
82	Aug	Brian Wilson
83	Sept	Dire Straits
84	Oct	John Mellencamp
85	Nov	Talking Heads
86	Dec	Joni Mitchell

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Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time" (2022 edition)

Back in 2013, Rolling Stone magazine released their picks for the 100 best debut albums (I posted about that list on October 28, 2013). I just noticed that they updated the list in 2022, so let's take a look at the new list as it concerns albums released 1976-85. It is quite a bit different and it should be - different people with different perspectives in a different place in time. 5 albums were dropped from the list; 4 albums were added to the list; 17 albums dropped in ranking; 10 albums moved up. The biggest movers were Violent Femmes (dropping 66 places from 22 to 88) and Madonna (moving up an incredible 80 spots for 96 to 16), while Steel Pulse is introduced to the list at 17.

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2022	2013	Artist	Title	Year
-	98	Joe Jackson	Look Sharp!	1979
-	68	Talking Heads	Talking Heads: 77	1977
-	52	U2	Boy	1980
-	41	Boston	Boston	1976
-	38	The Police	Outlandos d'Amour	1978

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2022	2013	Artist	Title	Year
66	-	Sade	Diamond Life	1984
58	-	The Slits	Cut	1979
36	-	X-Ray Spex	Germfree Adolescents	1978
17	-	Steel Pulse	Handsworth Revolution	1978

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2022	2013		Artist	Title	Year
98	76	-22	Devo	Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!	1978
92	89	-3	Yaz	Upstairs at Eric's	1982
89	84	-5	Whitney Houston	Whitney Houston	1985
88	22	-66	Violent Femmes	Violent Femmes	1983
87	63	-24	Cyndi Lauper	She's So Unusual	1983
83	54	-29	Metallica	Kill 'Em All	1983
79	51	-28	The Smiths	The Smiths	1984
75	50	-25	X	Los Angeles	1980
74	48	-26	Modern Lovers	Modern Lovers	1976
70	45	-25	The Jesus & Mary Chain	Psychocandy	1985
64	21	-43	Elvis Costello	My Aim is True	1977
40	27	-13	Van Halen	Van Halen	1978
43	28	-15	The B-52's	The B-52's	1979
37	26	-11	Run-D.M.C.	Run-D.M.C.	1984
30	16	-14	The Cars	The Cars	1978
24	13	-11	Pretenders	Pretenders	1980
23	7	-16	The Sex Pistols	Never Mind the Bollocks	1977

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2022	2013		Artist	Title	Year
62	69	+7	Wire	Wire	1977
60	75	+15	The Go-Go's	Beauty and the Beat	1981
52	64	+12	The English Beat	I Just Can't Stop It	1980
49	81	+32	Gang of Four	Entertainment!	1979
38	40	+2	Television	Marquee Moon	1977
19	20	+1	Joy Division	Unknown Pleasures	1979
16	96	+80	Madonna	Madonna	1983
11	18	+7	R.E.M.	Murmur	1983
9	12	+3	The Clash	The Clash	1979
1	2	+1	The Ramones	The Ramones	1976

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Musician Magazine: 1981 Issues

February Issue 30	March Issue 31	April - May Issue 32
Cover: Bruce Springsteen Interview: Bruce Springsteen Features: The Year in Rock 1980, The Year in Jazz 1980, David Grisman, Rock & Roll Romance	Cover: Steely Dan Interviews: Steve Winwood, Steely Dan, John Lennon Features: Soul on Ice, Austin TX, Pop-jazz Instrumentalists, Bootsy Collins, AACM, Psychedelic Revival	Cover: David Byrne Interviews: David Byrne, Brian Eno, Air Features: Black Rock and Roll, Muscle Shoals, John Fogerty, Beach Boys
June Issue 33	July Issue 34	August Issue 35
Cover: The Clash Interviews: Mick Jones, Joe Strummer & Robert Fripp Features: Lindsey Buckingham, Ronald Shannon Jackson/Rafi Zabor, Independent Records, Lennie Tristano, Phoebe Snow	Cover: Tom Petty Interview: Tom Petty Features: Carlos Santana, Wayne Shorter, J.J. Cale, Punk Under The Palms, Dave Edmunds, IRS Records	Cover: Jim Morrison/The Doors Interviews: Ray Manzarek, Paul Rothschild Features: Number One with a Bullet, David Lindley, Jim Morrison, Carla Bley, Bob Marley
October Issue 36	November Issue 37	December Issue 38
Cover: Grateful Dead Interview: Jerry Garcia Features: Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Skunk Baxter, Hard Pop, Kool Jazz Festival, Australian Rock, Avant-garde	Cover: The New Reggae/Bill Wyman Interviews: Bill Wyman, Rickie Lee Jones, Ornette Coleman Features: King Crimson Diary (Pt 1), Duane Allman, Johnny Copeland, Harry Partch, Squeeze, Ramones	Cover: The Police Interviews: Pretenders, 17 Great Bassists Features: King Crimson Diary (Pt. 2), The Police, David Murray, Go-Go's, Waitresses, Fred Anderson

Musician Magazine: 1982 Issues

January
Issue 39
Cover: The Cars
Interviews: Marianne Faithfull, Maurice White, Gil Evans
Features: The Cars, Lene Lovich, Christmas albums, Ernestine Anderson, King Crimson (pt. 3), keyboardists

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February
Issue 40
Cover: Ringo Starr
Interviews: Abdullah Ibrahim, Devo, Ringo Starr, various drummers
Features: Malcolm McLaren, John Hall, The Rossington-Collins Band, Creative Music Studio,

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March
Issue 41
Cover: Miles Davis
Interviews: Miles Davis, Lowell George
Features: Genesis, Joan Jett, Steve Lillywhite, Amina Claudine Meyers, pick hits of 1981, sound on the road, Japanese guitars

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April
Issue 42
Cover: Hall & Oates
Interviews: Joan Armatrading, Frank Zappa, Hall & Oates, Clarence Clemons
Features: Jaki Byard, band names, Richard Thompson, new jazz labels, David Byrne, home recording

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May
Issue 43
Cover: Eric Clapton
Interviews: Albert King, Eric Clapton, Robbie Robertson
Features: Adrian Belew, Wynton Marsalis, Fun Boy Three, pioneers of rock guitar, year's new equipment

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June
Issue 44
Cover: Nick Lowe/Graham Parker
Interviews: Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, X
Features: Lester Bowie, Dr. John, Phil Manzanera, Uptown Horns, Doc Pomus, solid body guitars

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July
Issue 45
Cover: Willie Nelson
Interviews: Willie Nelson, John McLaughlin/Robert Fripp
Features: Marshall Crenshaw, The Motels, Lou Ann Barton, Joe Cocker, Fender, Robert Quine, video demos, Beatles BBC tapes, Thom Panunzio, Yogi Horton, Lester Bangs

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August
Issue 46
Cover: Pete Townshend
Interviews: Warren Zevon, Pete Townshend (pt. 1)
Features: Squeeze, John Hiatt, rock fashion, Anthony Davis, James Newton, synth-pop, Martin Rushent, Steve Vai

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September
Issue 47
Cover: Eddie Van Halen
Interviews: The Jam, Pete Townshend (pt. 2), Eddie Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Quincy Jones
Features: David Lasley, The Clash, Bill Bruford, Hugh Pagdam, Busta Jones, Gregg Allman, Steve Tibbetts

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October
Issue 48
Cover: Steve Winwood
Interviews: Steve Winwood, Brian Eno
Features: Steve Miller, Paul Carrack, Gang of Four, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Roseanne Cash, The Groovies, Tom Scholz, Richard Thompson, Will Ackerman/Windham Hill

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November
Issue 49
Cover: Neil Young
Interviews: Lou Gramm/Mick Jones, Neil Young, The Go-Go's
Features: Steel Pulse, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Oliver Lake, "Fourth Wave" pop (dB's, Bongos, Individuals), Phil Lesh, Paul Shaffer, David Sanborn, Hal Blaine, Z-Bass

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December
Issue 50
5th Anniversary Issue
Cover: Billy Joel/Pink Floyd/Elvis Presley
Interviews: Captain Beefheart, Pharoah Sanders, David Gilmour, Billy Joel
Features: Elvis Presley, Luther Vandross, failure of corporate rock, 5th anniversary highlights, cheap guitars, Thomas Dolby, Tony Levin, David Kahne, Barry Reynolds

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The Record World Singles Chart - November 28, 1981

Smash Hits Album Ratings - 1979 [part 2 of 2]

Smash Hits was a British teen music magazine that was (mostly) issued fortnightly. On a scale of 1-10, here's how the magazine's reviewers rate albums released in the latter half of 1979. Hope you find something new that you missed back in '79.

July 12 issue
Teena Marie	Wild and Peaceful	6
Patti Boulaye	You Stepped Into My Life	4
The Cars	Candy-O	8
Nick Lowe	Labour of Lust	7
Dave Edmunds	Repeat When Necessary	7
Metro	New Love	6
The Records	Shades in Bed	6
Queen	Live Killers	3½
Swell Maps	A Trip to Marineville	9½

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July 26 issue
(No numerical ratings given)
Buddy Holly	The Complete Buddy Holly
Richie Valens	Richie Valens
Gene Vincent	Greatest, Vol. 2
Earth, Wind & Fire	I Am
The Isley Brothers	Winner Takes All
Edwin Starr	Happy Radio
Fischer-Z	Word Salad

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Aug 9 issue
Atlantic Starr	Straight to the Point	5
Deniece Williams	When Love Comes Calling	5
The B-52's	The B-52's	5
Rickie Lee Jones	Rickie Lee Jones	8
Neil Young	Rust Never Sleeps	8
The Knack	Get The Knack	5
The Korgis	The Korgis	6½
Nina Hagen Band	Nina Hagen Band	8
Sex Pistols	Some Product	9

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Aug 23 issue
The Commodores	Midnight Magic	5
Parlet	Invasion of the Booty Snatchers	5
Starjets	Starjets	6
Sinceros	The Sound of Sunbathing	5
Chas 'n' Dave	Don't Give a Monkeys	5
Tarney-Spencer Band	Run for Your Life	5
Mike Oldfield	Exposed	6
AC/DC	Highway to Hell	3
Gibson Brothers	Cuba	7½
XTC	Drums and Wires	9

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Sept 6 issue
James Brown	The Original Disco Man	8
Smokey Robinson	Where There's Smoke	6
Yellow Magic Orchestra	Yellow Magic Orchestra	3
Rootboy Slim & The Sex Change Band	Zoom	6½
Talking Heads	Fear of Music	7½
Joy Division	Unknown Pleasures	8
Tubeway Army	Tubeway Army	7
Chic	Risqué	8½

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Sept 20 issue
Bootsy's Rubber Band	This Boot is Made for Fonk'n	6
Rose Royce	Rainbow Collection IV	8
Cliff Richard	Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile	3
Gary Numan	The Pleasure Principle	7
Alan Parsons Project	Eve	8
Led Zeppelin	In through the Out Door	7
Siouxsie & The Banshees	John Hands	6
The Slits	Cut	9

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Oct 4 issue
(No numerical ratings given)
Boney M	Oceans of Fantasy
Sham 69	Hersham Boys
The Ritchie Family	The Ritchie Family
Darts	Dart Attack
Punishment of Luxury	Laughing Academy
Penetration	Coming Up for Air
Michael Jackson	Off the Wall
The Pointer Sisters	Priority
John Hiatt	Slug Line
Various Bands	Mods Mayday
Jane Aire & The Belvederes	Jane Aire & The Belvederes
Cheap Trick	Dream Police
The Police	Reggatta De Blanc
Blondie	Eat to the Beat

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Oct 18 issue
Olympic Runners	It's a Bitch	6
The O'Jays	Identify Yourself	6
Joe Jackson	I'm the Man	7½
Wire	154	7½
Gang of Four	Entertainment!	7½
The Stranglers	The Raven	6½
Buzzcocks	A Different Kind of Tension	7
Human League	Reproduction	8
The Skids	Days in Europa	8

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Nov 1 issue
Three Degrees	3D	4
David Bendeth	Adrenalin	2
Bob Marley & The Wailers	Survival	5
Boomtown Rats	The Fine Art of Surfacing	3
Steve Harley	The Candidate	5
Status Quo	Whatever You Want	7½
Eagles	The Long Run	4
Fleetwood Mac	Tusk	9
The Specials	The Specials	9

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Nov 15 issue
Gloria Gaynor	I Have a Right	4
Herb Alpert	Rise	6
Stevie Wonder	The Secret Life of Plants	6
Cabaret Voltaire	Mix Up	5
Madness	One Step Beyond	6
Tourists	Reality Effect	6
The Headboys	The Headboys	7
The Shoes	Present Tense	8
Marianne Faithful	Broken English	8

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Nov 29 issue
Revanche	Music Man	3
Millie Jackson & Isaac Hayes	Royal Rappin's	5
The Dickies	Dawn of The Dickies	4
The Buzzards	Jellied Eels to Record Deals	5
Matchbox	Matchbox	7½
Suzi Quatro	Suzi...And Other Four Letter Words	7½
Genya Ravan	And I Mean It	5
Dr. Hook	Sometimes You Win	5
The Jam	Setting Sons	9

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Dec 13 issue
Fern Kinney	Groove Me	6
Sly & The Family Stone	Back on the Right Track	2
The Mekons	The Quality of Mercy is Not Strnen	8
Ian Gomm	Gomm With the Wind	6
Charlie Dore	Where to Now	6
Mike Oldfield	Platinum	7
Public Image	The Metal Box	6
Simple Minds	Real to Real Cacophony	8
Pink Floyd	The Wall	8

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Dec 27 issue
No album reviews in this issue

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