Mt. Rushmore: 1980

 

     Time to wrap up the Eighties with my Mt. Rushmore for 1980. Once again there is an obvious number one and a bunch of contenders for the other three spots. 1980 was the Year of "Another One Bites the Dust". In fact, my favorite NFL team, the Detroit Lions (insert jokes here), did a version of this song when they started the season 4-0. The season immediately went down the toilet and fans changed the lyrics to "Another one beats our butts." However, The Game by Queen did not make the cut. As usual, I am making my final cuts as I type. Here's my very long runners up list: The Police Zenyatta Mondatta, B-52's Wild Planet, XTC Black Sea, The Soft Boys Underwater Moonlight, Bruce Springsteen The River, Davis Bowie Scary Monsters, Peter Gabriel Melt, Judas Priest British Steel, Dire Straits Making Movies, Devo Freedom of Choice, The Cramps Songs the Lord Taught Us, Van Halen Women and Children First, Def Leppard On Through the Night, Pete Townsend Empty Glass and the final cut Adam and the Ants Kings of the Wild Frontier. That is one hell of a list. It really killed me to leave off Kings of the Wild Frontier. The first time I saw Adam and the Ants and heard "Ant Music" was on American Bandstand and they blew my mind. 

     Alright, number one is note for note my favorite RUSH album, Permanent Waves. This was  a transitional album to a new decade and a more accessible pop song structure. Still, it had a couple epic tracks, "Jacob's Ladder" and "Natural Science". Permanent Waves features the hit single "Spirit of Radio". "All this machinery making modern music can still be open-hearted. Not so coldly charted it's really just a question of your honesty. One likes to believe in the freedom of music, but glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity". It also features the live show staple "Free Will". "If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice". I also love the end of "jacob's Ladder": "Follow men's eyes as they look to the skies. The shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams". 

     Number two is Blizzard of Ozz by Ozzy Osbourne. "I Don't Know" and "Crazy Train" are rock radio staples. The secret weapon on Ozzy's first two solo albums is the late, great Randy Rhoads. Ozzy going solo created a win-win scenario for himself, as well as, Black Sabbath.

     Because my number three is Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath, featuring their new frontman Ronnie James Dio. This album ranks right up there with any of the Black Sabbath albums from the Ozzy era. The title track is stupendous. "The world is full of kings and queens who'll blind your eyes and steal your dreams, it's heaven and hell". Every song on this album is great and Dio is the best heavy metal frontman ever. Fight me!

     Speaking of fighting me, number four may be my most controversial pick in this whole exercise. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Hi Infidelity by R.E.O. Speedwagon. In 1980, I probably played this album just as much as Permanent Waves and it sent me down a Speedwagon rabbit hole. Gary Richrath was the most underrated lead guitarist of the Seventies and he is brilliant here as well. This was also a transitional album, but still had plenty o' rock and just a little balladry. Unfortunately, after Hi Infidelity the ballads took over and they were dead to me. At least I still have their Seventies albums. 

     So, tomorrow will be the Eighties recap post. My number ones began with RUSH, ended with The Pixies and plenty of R.E.M. in between. I will give a nod to some of my favorite singles of the Eighties, as well, since this was a great decade for hit songs. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1981

 

     As I have reviewed the albums of 1981, I've had strong feelings of nostaglia. I remember spending hours in my room listening to WLAV out of Grand Rapids and records by RUSH, Triumph and April Wine. So now my Mt. Rushmore will probably be clouded. I was having a hard time after my number one, but I'm going to go with the albums I was obsessed with at the time. The albums that will not be making the cut are: The Police Ghost in the Machine, Men at Work Business as Usual, The Go-Go's Beauty and the Beat, Def Leppard High and Dry, The Kinks Give the People What They Want, AC/DC For Those About to Rock, Genesis ABACAB, Van Halen Fair Warning, Ozzy Diary of a Madman, U2 October and Black Sabbath Mob Rules. That's some good shit. 

     The obvious number one is Moving Pictures by RUSH. Red Barchetta. Tom Sawyer. YYZ. Limelight. The Camera Eye. Witch Hunt. Vital Signs. What an amazing album. "Limelight" is probably my favorite RUSH song of all-time. It's top three for Alex Lifeson guitar solos. I still have my original LP and it is worn out and beat to shit. I have probably listened to it over 200 times in my life. 

     The record I listened to second most in 1981 was Allied Forces by Triumph. Even though they were written off as RUSH Jr., I love Triumph. Last year I got the 40th anniversary box set of Allied Forces which has a ton of cool stuff. Rik Emmett is one of my favorite guitarists. I forgot about their album Never Surrender, partly beacause it was released in Canada in 1982 and the US in 1983. It was also tremendous. I remember hearing Triumph live on the King Biscuit Flower Hour all the time. "Magic Power" and "Fight the Good Fight" were such great singles. 

     Let's keep the Canadian train rolling with number three, Nature of the Beast by April Wine. These guys were also a staple of the King Biscuit Flower Hour. "Just Between You and Me" and "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" were huge to me. Such an underrated band. 

     OK. My Mt. Rushmore can't be all Canadian. Number four is an album that I also played the shit out of and an artist whose career was killed by MTV: Don't Say No by Billy Squier. I got sucked in by "The Stroke" and stayed for "In the Dark", which is an all-time classic. Great, great, great album. 

     Looking ahead to 1980, my number one is obvious again, but I have a metric shit ton of contenders for the other three spots. IT IS LOADED! Once again, I will do a recap of the Eighties number ones after that. The Eighties numbers ones are definitely an step down from the Nineties. They are still great though. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1982

 

     1982 was the beginning of a, roughly, three year reign of Michael jackson's Thriller being everywhere and winning all the Grammys. I even have Thriller on LP. It s not going to be on my Mt. Rushmore because I still have PTSD from living through Thriller-mania. I'm pretty sure Michael Jackson's legacy will withstand this egregious snub. 1982 was a decent year. My list of contenders that missed the cut is quite good. They are: XTC English Settlement, Flock of Seagulls self-titled, Asia self-titled, INXS Shabooh Shoobah, Judas Priest Screaming For Vengence, Culture Club Kissing to be Clever and Paul McCartney Tug of War. 

     Considering my hatred of Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground it's surprising that my number one is Dream Syndciate's Days of Wine and Roses. One thing that saves it for me is Steve Wynn's vocals have enough Jonathan Richman to counterbalance the Lou Reed influence. He sounds much less dreary and more playful than Reed. The great things about this album are the guitar work and the timeless production. It came out of the Paisley Underground scene, but has it's own sound that isn't shackled to any particular place or time. 

     Number two is Signals by RUSH. I've posted quite a bit about RUSH and this is one of my favorites. The standout track for me is "Analog Kid". The playing is amazing and the lyrics are great. "Too many hands on my time. Too many feelings. Too many things on my mind. When I leave I don't know what I'm hoping to find and when I leave I don't know what I'm leaving behind". Top Peart. "Subdivisions" is an iconic song about suburban alienation. "Chemistry is a hidden gem in the RUSH catalog. 

     Number three is Vs. by Mission of Burma. This album, along with their 1981 EP Signals, Calls and Marches, cemented them as one of the most important bands of the indie rock underground of the Eighties. Mission of Burma influenced many bands, including R.E.M. 

     Finally, a shout out to The New Romantics with Rio by Duran Duran. When Rio came out it was a new and exciting sound. And the music videos were exotic and cinematic. Simon LeBon has one of the signature voices in pop music. The singles from Rio were great and so are the deep cuts. If you were a guy in 1982, it wasn't cool to admit you liked Duran Duran...but you did. Don't even try denying it. 

     Looking ahead to 1981, I think you can probably guess my number one. It's another decent year, however 1980 is going to be loaded. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1983

     1983. The year I graduated from high school. Also the year I went to college and discovered MTV. I grew up in rural mid-Michigan and we didn't have cable TV. I spent countless hours in the dorm's common room watching MTV. It exposed me to music and bands I had never heard of as well as bands that I loved. As I mentioned yesterday, my 1983 contenders list is long and there's another ten great albums that didn't even make that cut. I would like to mention those artists just to illustrate what a great, diverse era this was for music. The Police, Pink Floyd, Men at Work, Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Talking Heads, Stevie Ray Vaughn, ZZ Top, Huey Lewis and the News and Cyndi Lauper. There are many amazing albums on my final cut list. Those are: Big Country The Crossing, Culture Club Colour By Numbers, Marillion Script For a Jester's Tear, U2 War, John Cougar Mellencamp Uh-Huh, David Bowie Let's Dance and Iron Maiden Piece of Mind. Iron Maiden was the last cut and it was very difficult. 

     My number one is also difficult. My top two are both game changing debut albums that were like nothing else in popular music at the time. Don't hate me again, but number one has to be Murmur by R.E.M. My reasons are 1) Their importance in the Eighties, 2) their innovative sound, 3) three of my all-time favorite songs; "Radio Free Europe", "Sitting Still" and "Shaking Through". 

     Number two is the self-titled album by Violent Femmes. Nobody sounded like these guys. This album starts out with "Blister in the Sun", "Kiss Off", "Please Do Not Go" and "Add it Up". That's crazy. They sounded kind of goofy, yet there was in your face attitude like "Well, you can all kiss off into the air, behind my back I can see them stare. They'll hurt me bad, but I won't mind. They'll hurt me bad, they do it all the time". And then "I hope you know that this will go down on your permanent record". And they wrote the most famous song about masturbating. I probably should have made this number one, but Murmur is an iconic album. Sorry. 

     Number three is my favorite heavy metal frontman, Ronnie James Dio, with Holy Diver. I've posted about Dio before. He's awesome. I'm glad I could put him on a Mt. Rushmore. Go back and check out my old post on Dio; I said everything there. 

     Finally, one of my favorite groups from the Eighties who I feel are grossly underrated; The Fixx with Reach the Beach. One Thing Leads to Another. Sign of Fire. Saved by Zero. Great album. They did get considerable play on MTV, but for some reason they never reached the level of a band like INXS. 

     Looking ahead to 1982, I was reminded that Thriller came out in 1982. So, I don't know why it was on the list of best albums of 1984. I did live through Thriller-mania. Not sure how I missed that. Anyhow, 1982 is pretty solid. As much as I want to select Chronic Town by R.E.M. as number one, I won't because it was an EP. There's a spoiler for ya. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1984

 

     The Eighties was a musically diverse decade. My list of contenders for 1984 mirrors that trend. As I type, I still haven't picked my top four albums. I know two for sure, one of which should be no surprise. I mentioned yesterday that Sade was a contender, but she didn't make the cut. At the other end of the spectrum, I have an album by a band from The New Wave of Heavy Metal. And there are albums from everywhere in between. Ok, I did a final review and decided on my Mt. Rushmore. The albums that missed the cut are: The Replacements Let It Be, RUSH Grace Under Pressure, Sade Diamond Life and The Kinks Word of Mouth. The Kinks was the final cut. I love this album and the track "Do It Again". Sad. 

     Don't hate me, but number one is R.E.M. Reckoning. I posted before about "Rockville", which is top three R.E.M. for me. "So. Central Rain" is classic R.E.M. and contains a phrase that would be my band name, if I had a band, Rivers of Suggestion. Maybe I should start an R.E.M. tribute band. Other standout tracks are "Harborcoat", "7 Chinese Brothers" and "Pretty Persuasion". These IRS albums can't be stopped. You can only hope to contain them. 

     Number two is the best album by The Pretenders, Learning to Crawl. "Middle of the Road" is a flat out banger. "Don't harass me, can't you tell? I'm goin' home. I'm tired as hell". "Back on the Chain Gang" is a perfect pop song. The rest of the album is tremendous as well. 

     Number three is Powerslave by Iron Maiden. I loved Maiden and Priest back in the day. Powerslave's Egyptian themed album cover is fantastic. One thing I love about Iron Maiden is their references to the 60's TV show, The Prisoner. This album is no exception  with the track "Back in the Village". The album kicks off with two classic Maiden twin guitar assaults, "Aces High" and "2 Minutes to Midnight". There's also an epic song about , and titled, "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". There is also an instrumental, which is hilariously titled, "Losfer Words". Almost as good as Piece of Mind. 

     Finally, probably my favorite U2 album, The Unforgettable Fire. Two of my favorite U2 songs are the title track and "Bad". For me, R.E.M. and U2 ruled the Eighties. I just love R.E.M. slightly more. My wife disagrees, but she doesn't have a blog. 

     Looking ahead to 1983, my 11 contenders are even more diverse than 1984. And I left many more great albums out of contention because I knew they wouldn't make the cut. But more about that tomorrow. Peace.

Addendum to 1984

     I went back and looked up best albums of 1984 and saw Purple Rain, Thriller, Born in the USA and Van Halen 1984. For many of you, that would have been the Mt. Rushmore for 1984. After some consideration, I stand by not having any of these in contention. I don't understand and can't relate to Prince. I hate Van Halen 1984 with a white hot passion, except "Panama". Thriller is fine, but I hated it at the time. Born in the USA has grown on me somewhat, but I also hated it at the time. Sorry. Peace out. 

     

Mt. Rushmore: 1985

 

     My contender list for 1985 is a solid 7 albums that are all very good. The three that didn't quite make the cut were: The Replacements Tim, Tears For Fears Songs From the Big Chair and The Jesus and Mary Chain Psychocandy. I also considered Sting, The Smiths and Phil Collins. Not bad for runners up. 

     Spoiler alert: 1985 is probably the beginning of a run of number one albums by a little band from Athens, GA. The top spot goes to Fables of the Reconstruction (or Reconstruction of the Fables). This is R.E.M.'s most dense and dark album, they had a miserable time recording it and I LOVE it. Sometimes you have to suffer for your art. "Driver 8" is indisputably the song that defines the R.E.M. sound. It starts with that tremendous Peter Buck riff, then Stipe comes in with "The walls you built up, stone by stone. Fields divided one by one". One of my favorite lines is "Power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged". "Kohoutek" maybe be the most beautiful song in the R.E.M. catalog. "Feeling Gravity's Pull" the most surrealistic. This is the first verse: "Fell asleep and read just about every paragraph. Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around. Peel back the mountains, peel back the sky. Stomp gravity into the floor. It's a Man Ray kind of sky. Let me show you what I can do with it. Time and distance are out of place here". FUCK! That's not even mentioning "Maps and Legends" and "Green Grow the Rushes". 

     Number two is Scarecrow by Mellencamp. Maybe it's corny, but I love ol' John Cougar Mellencamp. I'm also from a small Midwestern town and I found him relatable when I was younger. Scarecrow marked a  major step up in his songwriting. There are some great tracks on this album: "Rain on the Scarecrow", "Small Town", "Lonely Ol' Night", "Rumbleseat" and "R.O.C.K. in the USA". I'm glad I got him on a Mt. Rushmore.

     Number three is an album that kind of baffled me when it was released in 1985; Power Windows by RUSH. I was not a big fan of all the keyboards, but I powered through and learned to love it. "Big Money" and "Marathon" are standout tracks, but my favorite is "Middletown Dreams". It's kind of akin to the spirit of Mellencamp and Springsteen. The chorus is great, "Dreams flow across the heartland feeding on the fires. Dreams transport desires, drive you when you're down. Dreams transport the ones who need to get out of town". I guess that's more escapist like Springsteen, rather than Mellencamp. 

     Finally, a band that I forgot about in 1987, but they had a great two album run with Bangin" and my number four album for 1985, Play Deep...The Outfield. This album is so good and features the tracks, "Your Love", "All the Love" and "Say It Isn't So". Fantastic pop music. I was well into adulthood before I discovered they were British. Why would a band from the UK call themselves The Outfield? Crazy. 

     Looking ahead to 1984, it appears to be very good. Gonna have to make some tough cuts, like Diamond Life by Sade. "Smooth Operator" is like sex on a stick. Just sayin'. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1986

 

     1986 was a mixed bag for albums. In the middle of the eighties, my contenders list has two country records and a jazz album. My Mt. Rushmore has three repeat bands. However, none of those is the no-brainer number one. My contenders for 1986 were: Dwight Yoakam Guitars, Cadillacs..., Steve Earle Guitar Town, Miles Davis Tutu and The Bangles Different Light. 

     The obvious number one is So by Peter Gabriel. What is left to say about So. Great songs. Amazing, groundbreaking videos. "Red Rain" is one of my all-time favorite songs. This album owned 1986. It was interesting that Peter Gabriel, Genesis' Invisible Touch and GTR (featuring Steve Hackett) were all huge that year. 

     Surprise, surprise number two is Life's Rich Pageant by R.E.M. What an amazing, underrated album. Apart from the one hit "Fall on Me" this album has three of my favorite R.E.M. songs that never get any run; "These Days", "I Believe" and "Cuyahoga". The playing, vocals and lyrics all come together on those tracks. The beginning of "Cuyahoga" is great: "Let's put our heads together and start a new country up. Our father's, father's father tried. Erased the parts he didn't like. Let's try to fill it in". 

     Number three is the debut self-titled album from Crowded House. Crowded House emerged from the band Split Enz, who had a stellar hit single "I Got You". The strength of that track pushed Neil Finn's songwriting to the forefront. They get lumped in with the one-hit wonder bands due to the success of the single "Don't Dream It's Over". However, "Something So Strong" is another fantastic hit from this album. It started a four album run that most bands cannot touch. Except R.E.M. 

     Finally, The Smithreens sneak in again with Especially For You. This album has their iconic song "Blood and Roses", as well as, "Behind the Wall of Sleep" and "Strangers When We Meet". For my video this time, I will skip "Sledgehammer" since eveyone has seen it a million times and do "Blood and Roses" instead. Looking at 1985, it's pretty dire, but I can probably squeak out four albums. Most of them wouldn't make it any other year though. Peace.