Talking Heads — Remain in Light

Talking Heads -- Remain in Light

• Artist: Talking Heads
• Title: Remain in Light
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1980 – Probably some department store, or maybe as a gift.
• Keeper: Yes

Genius. All eight songs on “Remain in Light” are excellent, and decades later I’ve still haven’t heard anything as original and interesting. Of course, Adrian Belew and Brian Eno also played major parts in the making of this record.

This is one of the first records to be added to my collection. “Remain in Light” was also the first CD I bought. One tragic note here is that I liked the artwork on the album liner so much that I decided to make a book cover out of it. I know, I know. It was stupid, but I had the coolest book cover in my junior high for the week or two before it fell apart. Another unfortunate thing, my older friends had the earlier records and since I got to hear them all the time I never picked them up.

Making a list–Find the cost of opportunity
Doing it right–Facts are useless in emergencies

More about “Remain in Light”
More about Talking Heads

The Saints – Monkey Puzzle

• Artist: The Saints
• Title: Monkey Puzzle
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: ? Mary’s already asleep so who knows…
• Keeper: Yes

This is one record by The Saints that I’m just not that familiar with. I never bought “Monkey Puzzle”, but lucky for us Mary did. I remember liking it last week when I played it, but it’s been a long week people. Please mister mover man deliver my turntable and records tomorrow!

Madness — Absolutely

• Artist: Madness
• Title: Absolutely
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1982 ? – Olsson’s in Georgetown, DC.
• Keeper: Yes

Yesterday the packing tornado ripped the turntable out of my sweaty hands and it’s about consume this keyboard. The moving truck comes tomorrow morning, and what’s not already in a box will be shortly. But, yes, I did in fact play the records I hope to log over the next week in flurry of rock and roll yesterday.

Today is an “M” day. Madness, the band, strikes again. They’re always popular at our house, no pun intended. This record, “Absolutely”, has the super-fun-hit-that-everybody-knows… “Baggy Trousers.” On matters of Madness I always defer to Mary.

Me: What would you rate this?
Mary: A 10.
Me: “Absolutely”?
Mary: It’s Madness!

Not sure I like it as much as “One Step Beyond”, but she has a point. It is Madness.

Killing Joke — Killing Joke

• Artist: Killing Joke
• Title: Killing Joke
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: Not sure when or where, just glad I have it.
• Keeper: Yes

I am ex-haus-ted. I stayed up way too late and then went to meet my friend Ollen Douglass for breakfast, at 8 AM! It’s a modern world; who gets up that early? On top of that today has been a packing frenzy, because tomorrow I’ll be useless. I’m getting surgery to remove a plate and eight screws from my clavicle. Fun!

This Killing Joke record is probably in my all-time top five. I can’t begin to describe how unique and just plain excting it is. They influenced way more bands than most people know. Metallica had the class to cover their song “The Wait” from this album. They have even been successfully plagerized. A lot has been written about how Nirvana stole the riff from a later Killing Joke song, “Eighties”, for their hit “Come As You Are.” Keyboards and heavy riffs together and it works beyond belief. Faith No More should’ve followed this example.

I highly recommend this article about Killing Joke at Wikipedia.

Gang of Four — Yellow EP

• Artist: Gang of Four
• Title: Yellow EP
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy / Mary – We both had copies.
• Acquired: Not sure when or where. Early 1980s…
• Keeper: Yes

“Yellow EP” is the first Gang of Four record I’m logging, but it was their second release. I should’ve pulled “Entertainment” instead, but since we’ve packed all but a couple dozen records until we get to Asheville, “Yellow” it is.

Gang of Four is one of my all-time favorite bands. I was only 13 or 14 when this came out. Hanging out with my friend John Hurlock is probably how I first got into the band. His older brother Mike had a killer record collection and was into just about everything worth being into. This music is so edgy, political, minimalistic, and just plain arty it’s a wonder they were as popular and influential as they were. Sometimes music is just too good to be ignored, no matter how weird it is.

Tracks included here are: “Outside The Trains Don’t Run on Time”, “He’d Send in The Army”, “It’s Her Factory”, and my favorite “Armalite Rifle.”

Read all about them at Wikipedia.

XTC — Generals And Majors

XTC -- Generals And Majors

• Artist: XTC
• Title: Generals And Majors
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 7 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1985 ? Plan 9 Records in Richmond, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

I have Loverboy’s “Turn Me Loose” stuck in my head. That’s just weird. Anyhow, XTC… “Generals And Majors” is a great pop song and I’ve always liked it even though I’m not the biggest XTC fan. This package is another handsome twin 7 inch gatefold that also includes “Don’t Lose Your Temper”, “Smokeless Zone”, and my second favorite here “The Somnambulist.” What’d you call me?!? That last song is interesting and unexpected, minimalist and ethereal with some throbbing bass thing, or whatever. Dig it.

“So, Why, Don’t, You, Turn-Me-Loose… Turn-Me-Loose…”

Echo and The Bunnymen — Crocodiles

• Artist: Echo And The Bunnymen
• Title: Crocodiles
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy / Mary
• Acquired: 1980 – No idea where I got my copy but my friend Jeff Arthur turned me on to the band.
• Keeper: Yes

1980 was a very good year for music. Echo and The Bunnymen is one of my all-time favorite bands and this was their debut. This album is full of “hits” and pretty much every other modern rock bar band in the ’80s did a cover of some song on “Crocodiles.” Usually “Do It Clean” or “Rescue.” Like “Louie Louie” or “Gloria” those songs are so good, and so simple that it’s hard to do bad versions of them.

It’s almost impossible to explain their sound, yet it sounds familiar. They’re arty and edgy, but they can rock. The lyrics are interesting and intelligent sounding, but not pretentious. I think often times singer/songwriter Ian McCulloch chooses words for how they sound instead of what they mean.

I think they’re geniuses and by most accounts so do they. More Echo and The Bunnymen records and stories to come as I continue to lap through the alphabet.

The Jim Carroll Band — Catholic Boy

• Artist: The Jim Carroll Band
• Title: Catholic Boy
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1982 ? – Unknown origin.
• Keeper: Yes

Something about Jim Carroll just depresses me. He paints a pretty miserable picture of the 1970s. I remember hearing “People Who Died” on the radio as a teenager and really liking it. It seemed almost punk, but smarter or something. I also really like the track “It’s Too Late”, another of the more rocking cuts. I didn’t get the record right away, but eventually picked it up. I’ve also read his book “Basketball Diaries” and I don’t remember that being too uplifting either. Am I fan? Not so much I guess, but I’ll keep “Catholic Boy” in the collection.

U2 — Boy

U2 -- Boy

• Artist: U2
• Title: Boy
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1980 – Unknown origin.
• Keeper: Yes

1980?!? That’s a long time ago. I remember immediately liking “I Will Follow” when I first heard Bono singing “If you walk away, walk away…” But if you had told me then that U2 would still be making music worth listening to decades later I doubt I would have believed you.

For some reason I never bought the record. I’m glad Mary owns almost everything they’ve ever done. I’m pretty sure my friend Jeff Arthur introduced me to them.

Of course “Boy” is a great record and it still sounds modern. It’s hard to believe that U2 is now “classic rock.”

Joe Jackson — Beat Crazy

• Artist: Joe Jackson
• Title: Beat Crazy
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1981 – Kempmill Records in Annandale, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

This one’s more eclectic and experimental than the first two. I don’t know if there were any radio hits on Beat Crazy, but for some reason the title track is more familiar than the rest. Maybe one of my friends had it on a mix tape or something. Also, this record was released as “The Joe Jackson Band.” I think everything else was just Joe Jackson.