1980 in music.

The Clash's seminal punk album London Calling won 1979. Let's see who wins 1980. The beginning of a decade expanding beyond the rock sound that has dominated the last few.

Billboard chart-topping albums of 1980:
Donna Summer - Greatest Hits
Bee Gees - Greatest Hits
Pink Floyd - The Wall (cont. from '79)
Bob Seger - Against the Wind
Billy Joel - Glass Houses
The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
Jackson Browne - Hold Out
Queen - The Game
Barbara Streisand - Guilty
Bruce Springsteen - The River
Kenny Rogers - Greatest Hits
John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy

Billboard chart-topping singles of 1980:
KC and the Sunshine Band - Please Don't Go
Rupert Holmes - Escape
Michael Jackson - Rock With You
Captain and Tennille - Do That To Me One More Time
Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. II (cont. from '79)
Blondie - Call Me
Lipps Inc. - Funkytown
Billy Joel - It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
Olivia Newton-John - Magic
Christopher Cross - Sailing
Diana Ross - Upside Down
Queen - Another One Bites the Dust
Barbara Streisand - Woman in Love
Kenny Rogers - Lady
John Lennon - Just Like Starting Over

What are your top three albums for 1980? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be:
1. Talking Heads - Remain in Light
2. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz (he's back, baby)
3. Steely Dan - Gaucho

What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later?

YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm

 

going to try to do a better job of getting around to stuff this week. have had a few busy weeks with work lately.

remainder of the top 20:
4. X - Los Angeles
5. The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
6. Joy Division - Closer
7. Bruce Springsteen - The River
8. the Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
9. Emmylou Harris - Roses in the Snow
10. Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
11. U2 - Boy
12. Devo - Freedom of Choice
13. The Clash - Sandinista
14. Ramones - End of the Century
15. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
16. AC/DC - Back in Black
17. Circle Jerks - Group Sex
18. David Bowie - Scary Monsters and Super Creeps
19. Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
20. Motorhead - Ace of Spades

other honorable mentions:
bob seger - against the wind
the cramps - songs the lord taught us
jim carroll band - catholic boy
john lennon and yoko ono - double fantasy (album itself is decent but the “stripped down” version they released is incredible)
judas priest - british steel
the psychedelic furs - the psychedelic furs
queen - the game
rush - permanent waves
warren zevon - bad luck streak in dancing school
willie nelson - honeysuckle rose

stuff to check out:
barbara streisand - guilty
bauhaus - in the flat field
billy joel - glass houses
bob marley - uprising
christopher cross - christopher cross
dexys midnight riders - searching for the young soul rebels
grace jones - warm leatherette
herbie hancock - mr. hands
the jam - sound affects
johnny cash - rockabilly blues
kate bush - never for ever
merle haggard - back to the barrooms
peter gabriel - peter gabriel
the pretenders - pretenders
prince - dirty mind
rick james - garden of love
siouxsie and the banshees - kaleidoscope
stevie wonder - hotter than july
van halen - women and children first
wipers - is this real

 

Wow we made it to the 1980s. Nice work all!

 

1. Billy Joel - Glass Houses
2. AC/DC - Back In Black
3. John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy
4. Talking Heads - Remain in Light
5. Queen - The Game

albums I heard for the first time recently and could make the list someday

Blondie - Autoamerican
David Bowie - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Genesis - Duke
Elvis Costello - Get Happy!!
Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July
Van Halen - Women and Children First

 

and as usual, here's my 1980 mix

 

I hesitate to even say that Christopher Cross is technically a ‘79 because I REALLY want you to listen

 

1. Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
2. Joy Division - Closer
3. Talking Heads - Remain in Light

Dead Kennedys are one of my absolute favourite punk bands, incredible songwriters, far and above ahead of most of their contemporaries, and hugely satirical and humours, whereas some of the other political punk bands could be a bit po-faced. This is full of brilliant, genre-defining songs, with riffs and sounds that no-one else was doing in punk, all with Jello's brilliant sneer to his voice.

For something just about in the punk world, but completely different moods, Joy Division's Closer is a haunting and tragic record, released a few weeks after Ian Curtis committed suicide, and impossible to listen to it's bleak and pleading lyrics and think of anything other than Curtis' tragic end. With it's use of synths and electronics, it was pushing punk or post-punk into new directions.

Remain in Light is my favourite Talking Heads album, a funky rhythmic record, with David Byrne's unmistakable vocals and lyrical storytelling. Full of some of their absolute best songs, including Once in a Lifetime, Born Under Punches and Houses in Motion.

Honourable mentions;

The Clash - Sandinista!: Can't remember the last time I've made it all the way through this in one go. Would have been a perfect single album, a good double album, but it's a bloated triple. Some wonderful moments in there though, even if it absolutely doesn't justify the length.

Bruce Springsteen - The River: This comes much closer to justifying the length, even if I can't always make it through the record in one go. Some phenomenal songs here, and some moments that hint at the poppier directions Bruce would go for his next record.

Prince - Dirty Mind: Prince at his leanest and most funky (maybe...), this is a superb record, full of sexually charged RnB numbers, and with Prince playing literally everything, a superb demonstration of his incredible talent.

Kate Bush - Never for Ever: First track Babooshka is definitely one of Bush's best tracks, and while the rest of the record isn't quite as good as that, it shows Bush moving away from the more proggy stuff she started with, and the more experimental poppier stuff she'd do slightly later.

Minutemen - Paranoid Time: About 5 minutes long, with most tracks lasting less than a minute, this is a fantastic and influential little debut from Minutemen, who made these little jagged, edgy music that was more like ideas than songs.

Circle Jerks - Group Sex: About 15 minutes long, with 14 tracks, that just power and thunder through. A really important record, and while once you've heard a few tracks you've heard them all, it's a great angry 15 minutes of music, that would prove highly influential.

Stiff Little Fingers - Nobody's Heroes: Worth it just for "Tin Soldiers", a perfect and furious punk song about a young army recruit.

Stevie Wonder - Hotter than July: A slight step back from Wonder's classic period, this is still a great collection of soulful poppy songs, written with Wonder's fantastic ear for melody.

Killing Joke - Killing Joke: A bleak industrial post-punk record, brutal and unpleasant at times, and a great testament and pre-cursor to 80s Britain in general.

 

cursed wiki

 

love this list

 

1. Billy Joel - Glass Houses
2. Prince - Dirty Mind
3. AC/DC - Back in Black

Excruciating cuts:
Bruce Springsteen - The River
Warren Zevon - Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
REO Speedwagon - Hi Infidelity
Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band - Against the Wind

Others I love:
Pat Benatar - Crimes of Passion
ABBA - Super Trouper
Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Rush - Permanent Waves
Heart - Bebe Le Strange
Dan Fogelberg - Phoenix
John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy
Grover Washington, Jr. - Winelight

Good ones:
Rossington-Collins Band - Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere
Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel [3]
Al Stewart - 24 Carrots
Pretenders - Pretenders
Queen - The Game
Jackson Browne - Hold Out
Dire Straits - Making Movies
Shalamar - Three for Love
Steely Dan - Gaucho
X - Los Angeles
Earth, Wind and Fire - Faces
Journey - Departure
Roxy Music - Flesh + Blood
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
Hall and Oates - Voices
Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Get Happy!!!
The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
Kool & the Gang - Celebrate
Linda Ronstadt - Mad Love
The Jacksons - Triumph
Judas Priest - British Steel
Paul McCartney - Paul McCartney II
Dexys Midnight Runners - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
Gordon Lightfoot - Dream Street Rose
Bill Evans Trio - I Will Say Goodbye
Ramones - End of the Century
The Gap Band - III
The Knack - ...But the Little Girls Understand
Donna Summer - The Wanderer
Steve Winwood - Arc of a Diver
Elton John - 21 at 33
Mink DeVille - Le Chat Bleu
Richie Havens - Connections
George Jones - I Am What I Am
Robert Palmer - Clues
Merle Haggard - Back to the Barrooms
George Benson - Give Me the Night
Bill Evans - I Will Say Goodbye
Commodores - Heroes
Donny Hathaway - In Performance

Targets for listening:
David Bowie - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Genesis - Duke
Larsen-Feiten Band - Larsen-Feiten Band
Paul Simon - One Trick Pony
U2 - Boy
Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier
Circle Jerks - Group Sex
The Cramps - Songs the Lord Taught Us
The Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Echo and the Bunnymen - Crocodiles
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
Killing Joke - Killing Joke
The Soft Boys - Moonlight
The Specials - More Specials
Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro
UB40 - Signing Off
The Undertones - Hypnotised
Tom Waits - Heart Attack and Vine
Joy Division - Closer
The Clash - Sandanista!
The Cure - Boys Don't Cry
Diana Ross - Diana
The J. Geils Band - Love Stinks
The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
The Romantics - The Romantics
Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
Van Halen - Women and Children First
Frank Sinatra - Trilogy: Past, Present, and Future
Barbra Streisand - Guilty
Rockpile - Seconds of Pleasure
The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
The English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It
Smokey Robinson - Warm Thoughts
T Bone Burnett - Truth Decay
Lydia Lunch - Queen of Siam
Iron City Houserockers - Have Fun (But Get Out Alive)
Professor Longhair - Crawfish Fiesta
Carlene Carter - Musical Shapes
Joan Armatrading - Me, Myself and I
Cris Williamson - Strange Paradise
Kansas - Audio Visions
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Change - The Glow of Love
Pharoah Sanders - Journey to the One
The Doobie Brothers - One Step Closer
Cheap Trick - All Shook Up
Pure Prairie League - Firin' Up

 

In case you didn't know, Heaven and Hell features Ronnie James Dio on vocals for Sabbath, of Rainbow and Dio.

 

I did! I love the two Rainbow records he’s on and the first two Dio records. Wasn’t sure whether Heaven and Hell or Mob Rules was the preferred Sabbath record with him though

 

oh definitely heaven and hell

 

What a life he led. Left a band with Richie Blackmore, joined a band with Tony Iommi, then started a band with Vivian Campbell

 

1. Bruce Springsteen - The River
2. AC/DC - Back in Black
3. U2 - Boy

When I first got into Bruce, The River took me a little longer to come around to than a lot of his records, but it's one that's come to be very deeply important to me over time. Bruce always said it was his attempt to make an album as big as life, and that's what I hear in this album: a lot of hardship, but a lot of joy, too. It's one of those sprawling albums where everything feels like it has a purpose to me, even the weakest bits of filler. The exuberance of the bar band rock songs really lends gravity to those heartbreaking ballads, and the heartbreakers in turn make the little moments of euphoria seem so hard won. I used to be of the mind that, if you sliced The River down to its dozen purest essentials, you'd have Bruce's best record. And sure, this album is stacked with at least that many of his best songs, from the desolation of the title track, to the raucous block party of "Sherry Darling," to the sweeping romance of "Drive All Night." But as I've gotten older I've grown to love The River that much more for its unruly sprawl. There are some Springsteen records I can only listen to on good days, and some Springsteen records I can only listen to on hard days or sad days, but The River is for every day.

I don't need to tell anyone how hard Back in Black rips. I love how it basically trojan horses an incredible set of pop songs into the trappings of a hard rock album. The hooks, plus the riffs, plus the voice, make for one of the most fun albums ever.

Boy feels like it sets the table for so much music that I love that I'd be remiss if I left it off. It's one of the U2 albums that took me the longest to appreciate, as someone who discovered this band during the All That You Can't Leave Behind era, went back and grabbed The Joshua Tree, and came to know the band first and foremost for their biggest, most grandiose stadium rock songs. Boy sounded like a rough sketch to me, in comparison. Now, I love it for how comparatively messy it is--even though they already sound like the biggest band on earth here. Not many opening tracks from debut albums that make quite as strong an impression as "I Will Follow."

HM for Glass Houses, which kicks Billy Joel into a new era. I've been digging the '80s Billy Joel records lately, this one especially, but I think I love Boy just a little more.

 

Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) is hands-down one of the best Bowie albums I've heard. Like dude just popped his head out of a mound of cocaine and fascism and was like "Alright, fine I'll be the best pop artist alive. Fiiiiiine." Amazing.

Hated Group Sex by Circle Jerks though. Just not at all for me.

Duke by Genesis is an all-timer prog record for me. To still be epic and ambitious and complex, but have melodies that memorable and hummable? That shit just doesn’t happen. Yes and Tull and ELP just didn’t have that batting average. Phil Collins will never get credit for just how gifted he actually is.

 

torn to like the post or not based on a mutual love of bowie and circle jerks….

 

The 80’s…. I already know damn near every top 3 for these years is going to include a hair metal band lol.

Black Sabbath- Heaven & Hell
Rush- Permanent Waves
Iron Maiden- Iron Maiden

 

this song is sadly appropriate rn

 

Sales pitch for the super underrated, and oft-forgotten Sacred Songs by Daryl Hall. Particularly this bonkers song, "NYCNY". Album was produced and featured the guitar work of Robert Fripp, which is quite evident.

(YouTube says '77, which was when this was recorded I believe, but came out in '80.)

I actually discovered this record because of Live From Daryl's House, an episode with Minus the Bear where they played this song. Luckily that is also on YouTube.

 

Yap that album is really great. I really love the title track, especially the turnaround on the hook

I’ve never listened to the Fripp sister album, is it good?

 

Also the nicest fucking musician I’ve ever met

 

I loved Have a Good Time But…Get Out Alive by Iron City Houserockers. Didn’t know how much I needed a band who shoots the gap between Huey Lewis and Bruce Springsteen

 

i don’t think van halen is for me haha. both this one and the debut feel like the jock rock stuff that kinda make me hate this era of popular rock a bit.

 

I grew up on Van Halen a lot, but I think their Greatest Hits is really all that seems essential rather than full albums