Thursday, August 27, 2015

The 1980s



God I love lists like this.

http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/9700-the-200-best-songs-of-the-1980s/

28 comments:

  1. I am FREAKING OUT. I was looking at the exact same list earlier today. What in the hell???? No 1 is completely wrong.

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  2. I don’t know about completely.
    When Doves Cry would be better.
    Waiting Room is so good.
    How Soon Is Now, Gigantic or Just Like Heaven are all great.
    Push it (Push It Real Good) or Indian Summer.
    They were all on the list, but I might go with State Trooper by Bruce or, and this is an incomplete list, Subtle Poison, Where the Twain Shall Meet, Ivy, Cold Rain, or Transfiguration by (sorry) Screaming Trees.

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  3. Nope. Not State Trooper, but Highway Patrolman. I always get the titles mixed up.

    Is it 1980 through 1989, or 1981 through 1990? Technically. It's gotta be 80 through 89, right?

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  4. Since they've also done 2010-2014, it looks like they are, accurately, doing '80-'89. My issue was also with the order, in general. Is Into the Groove REALLY the best Madonna song? (No.) Rock the Casbah #186? (No.)

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  5. So I saw this today:

    http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/11/bob-dylan-songs-ranked-no-1-every-song-mississippi-like-a-rolling-stone-visions-of-johanna-rainy-day-woman

    I have made it through the top ten. I can’t really say I would put those in the top 10, but that is the beauty of these lists. So, out of curiosity, I wanted to ask something about Top 10s.

    Marcy, what are the top 10 D'Angelo songs? Does he even have that many? Maybe Rod Stewart instead. Tom Waits?
    Pat, what are the top 10 Camper Van Beethoven songs?
    Deb, what are the top 10 Sawyer Fredricks songs? No, why don’t you do Springsteen instead.
    Gina, what are the top 10 Steely Dan songs?
    J, what are the top 10 Madonna songs?
    Greg, what are the top 10 Graham Parsons songs?

    That’s assuming any of them have 10 good songs. That’s a safe assumption, right?

    Did I assign those correctly?

    Am I pigeon-holing you too much?

    Tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine. Wait long enough and I’ll tell you mine regardless.

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    Replies
    1. D'Angelo has to start banging out the albums a bit more frequently to warrent a top 10 but Tow Waits.
      Here is my TW Top 10

      10. "Step Right Up" from Small Change (1876). This song is a sentimental choice. Karen and I would play it on the jukebox at The Pacific Inn.
      9. "Hang on St. Christopher" from Frank's Wild Years (1987)
      8. "Ol 55' from Closing Time (1973) - First song on his first album = classic
      7. "Take It With Me" from Mule Variations (1999)
      "In a land there's a town
      and in that town there's
      A house
      and in that house
      there's a woman
      and in that woman
      there's a heart I love
      I'm gonna take it
      with me when I go"
      6. "Picking Up After You" from One From The Heart (1982) - This is a great soundtrack people!
      "Looks like you spent the night in a trench
      And tell me, how long have you been combing
      Your hair with a wrench?"
      5. "Please Call Me Baby" from The Heart of Saturday Night (1974)
      "The evening fell just like a star
      Left a trail behind
      You spit as you slammed out the door"
      4. "Time" from Rain Dogs - Rain Dogs (1985). Rain Dogs is going to dominate the top of my list because it was my introduction to his music and remains my favorite Tom Waits album.
      3. "Tango Til You're Sore" from Rain Dogs (1985)
      2. "Hold On" from Mule Variations (1999)
      1. "Hang Down Your Head" from Rain Dogs (1985) - Surprise! I picked it for the first music club.

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    2. Yay! It’s like my birthday all over again.

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  6. Who voted for this list? I am NOT in agreement.
    "Idiot Wind" at #90? That's complete horseshit.

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    Replies
    1. & his #349 pick includes a knock on the Beatles “Come Together.” This guy’s hilarious.

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  7. My 5 favorite songs from Hamilton:
    1. Wait For It - Damn, you really kinda feel for Aaron Burr here. I know, it's complicated.

    2. Satisfied - Renée Elise Goldsberry is fantastic

    3.The Room Where It Happened - this is my blast it and sing along in the car.

    4. It's Quiet Uptown - my ugly yet cathartic crying in the car song. "Forgiveness. Can you imagine?"

    5. This isn't a song but all things sung/spoken by the actor playing Thomas Jefferson.

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  8. 1.Born To Run - For obvious reasons
    2.Thunder Road - One of my favorite lyrics; "You ain't a beauty but hey you're all right, and that's all right with me"
    3.The River- This song was based on his sister getting pregnant and marrying the guy, she didn't like it at first but now it's her favorite
    4. Reason To Believe- Bruce voice on here takes me right into the story he's telling, I think this is a beautiful song
    5. Tunnel of Love- The song starts out "Fat man sitting on a little stool, takes the money from my hand while his eyes take a walk all over you"
    6.No Surrender
    7. Tenth Ave Freeze Out - Always a crowd pleaser at his concerts
    8. Atlantic City
    9. Spirit In the Night
    10.Cross My Heart - It's off of Human Touch, purists hated the album but this song is sexy
    Damn, I love Bruce, you can pigeon hole me with him anytime

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    1. I've always loved that line about the fat man and his little stool! It's so beautifully specific!

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  9. See I love this. I wouldn’t have thought of at least half these songs just cause I don’t really know his oeuvre so well. I have made a playlist ,and I will listen, and I will enjoy.

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  10. 10. lunch with gina EVERYTHING MUST GO 2003
    When your favorite band writes a song with your name in it, of course it's going to be high on the list of favorites - even though she's nuts:
    That must be her again
    She's leaning on my bell
    That cold psychotic ring
    The one I know so well

    9. Your Gold Teeth II KATY LIED 1975
    I prefer this to "Your Gold Teeth", from the earlier album (Countdown To Ecstasy)

    8. Gaucho GAUCHO 1980
    I love this chorus:
    Who is the gaucho amigo
    Why is he standing
    In your spangled leather poncho
    And your elevator shoes
    Bodacious cowboys
    Such as your friend
    Will never be welcome here

    7. Everything You Did THE ROYAL SCAM 1976
    … but this is my favorite line in all of Dan-dom - said with Fagan's disdainful (and menacing) sneer:
    I never knew you
    You were a roller skater
    You gonna show me later
    (Turn up the Eagles the neighbors are listening)

    6. Haitian Divorce THE ROYAL SCAM 1976
    …although this line is a close second:
    At the Grotto
    In the greasy chair
    Sits the Charlie with the lotion and the kinky hair

    5. Rikki Don't Lose That Number PRETZEL LOGIC 1974
    Obviously.

    4. Only A Fool Would Say That/Reeling In The Years CAN'T BUY A THRILL 1972
    "Jiji, solamente un tonto lo mencionara" ends side one. The guitar lick starts side two. Both are delicious.

    3. Any World (That I'm Welcome To) THE EARLY YEARS 1970
    I adore the demo version of this song, even more than the Katy Lied version

    2. Josie AJA 1977
    We're gonna break out the hats and hooters
    When [Gina!] comes home
    We're gonna rev up the motor scooters
    When [Gina!] comes home to stay...

    1. Aja AJA 1977
    *sigh* I LOVE IT SO MUCH *runs away weeping*

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  11. Wow. How do you guys come up with these so quickly? Just keeping a top 10 in your pocket in case someone asks?

    New playlist being made right now. Is it wrong that I think I’ve only heard 3, maybe, 4 of these?

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    1. Dude, list?? Don't leave us hangin', bro.

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    2. Screaming Trees Personal Top 10

      10) Strange Out Here / Clairvoyance - I just finished reading Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby about how he got sucked into being an Arsenal fan at a formative age. That is how I became a Screaming Trees fan. It was chance and sometimes I wish it had never happened, but there’s nothing I can do now. I was going to school in Ellensburg and my friend Joey gave me this album because he thought it was funny that a band from Ellensburg had put out an album. I had never heard of them, but I immediately loved this album. This song has a horrible pseudo-Jim-Morrison bad poetry spoken word part in the middle describing being stoned (I assume) in downtown Elensburg. “In the city/ built on broken glass/ & the carcasses of a million dead sheep/ well the blood runs thick down third street / down the gutter to the railroad station / & takes a train/ up, over these big mountains/ to the sea” I cringe every time and I love it. I lent the album to this guy named Scott who was Carol’s boyfriend at the time. He did not give it back. Maybe 10 years later, I see him at a guitar shop. He works there and now his name is Blue and I have lived with Carol for most of that time. I mention the album and ask if he still has it. He does and I get it from him a couple of weeks later. “I was always going to give it back,” he says.

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    3. 9) All I Know / Dust - Dust was their last album. Finishing off in a very Classic Rock style that they had been building toward since they stopped have Steven Fisk as a producer. I took me a while to get this album because we were traveling and had no music with us. We depended solely on the radio and the radio does not play Screaming Trees. I like this album, but I was glad they finally broke up after this. Kerrang! said this was the #1 album of 1996. Heh!

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    4. 8) End Of The Universe / Buzz Factory - It was Bumbershoot and the Trees were finishing their show with this song. At the part near the end when the drums and bass have stopped, there is a pause, Lee’s guitar is just fading out and feeding back a little, Mark sings “It’s a one...”. On “one” Lee is supposed to hit this big ass chord, & he does hit his guitar, but nothing comes out. There a short or something in his guitar or his cord or his amp. He hits it again... nothing. Mark looks at him and sings again “It’s a one!” Lee does a big Pete Townsend windmill thing and still nothing. “It’s a one!...It’s a one!... Play, Motherfucker!!....It’s a one!!” Lee is fiddling with his guitar, desperately trying to get something to happen. Mark picks up his mic stand, holds it over his head, throws it to the ground and stomps off stage. I remember saying to no one in particular. “This is the perfect time to break up the band.” I wanted it for some reason.

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    5. 7) Transfiguration / Even If And Especially When - A lot of people point to this song as their best. Weird rifle shot beginning with off kilter about to fall apart build up that then settles into chugging kind of groove. No idea what the words mean. My roommate and I thought it was funny to sing “Yup” when he sang “Hey Hey.”

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    6. 6) Beyond This Horizon/ Uncle Anesthesia - Always hated the album title. The creepy Alice in Wonderland vibe. Chris Cornell produced this. One song had him playing a recorder. One had Van playing trumpet. This was the last album Mark Pickerel played drums on. I loved painting to this song, in my basement room. It felt romantic.

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    7. 5) These are the covers in a 4 way tie for 5th. Love or Confusion (Jimi Hendrix)/ Sub Pop 200 - Psycho (The Sonics) / Here Ain’t The Sonics - Tales Of Brave Ulysses (Cream) / Taste Test #1 - Song Of The Baker (Small Faces)/ Nearly Lost you EP - I love covers. They do covers. How could I not put at least one in? I opened the door and they swarmed in. What could I do?

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    8. 4) Winter Song / Sweet Oblivion - The lyrics keep going back to Jesus, which seems easy, but I’m a sucker for easy. This is just a catchy song that I sing along with every time. Sometimes Carol sings along, too.

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    9. 3) Ivy / Invisible Lantern - My friend Branan was excited to be in the liner notes on this album, because he lent Mark, the drummer, $20 once. at the Central Tavern the opening band was done and gone, the band less Mark Lanegan get up on stage, Van tells a couple jokes after tuning up, then we wait and wait and wait. Some guy next to me starts chanting "Lanny. Lanny. Lanny” Super annoying. No one joins him, thank god. Finally, through the front doors, at the back of the crowd, Mark comes in, cigarette in one hand, beer in the other, held up over his head, pushes though the crowd, climbs up on stage, grabs the mic and just stands there. The guitar riff from Ivy starts and when the band kicks in and Mark starts singing it was so big sounding and loud and they kind of loomed over us. The stage was super tiny and these were not small guys. One of my favorite shows. Sweaty and fun.

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    10. 2) Change Has Come / Change Has Come double single - It was New Years Eve. Yvette and I listened to this song a couple of times before going to the Backstage to see the Trees. I got black eye and a cut along my chin from getting hit by people’s heads while we all danced. I bled all over my shirt, but didn’t really mind. Carol spent too much at Amazon getting me the CD EP version which has 5th song on it. That was sweet of her, but she really should not have. This is my problem, I’ll handle it.

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    11. 1) Cold Rain / Even If And Especially When - It is really hard to hear the bass intro to this. I can hear it. I kind of intuit it. When you can hear it, it is live. I love this song. Again, don’t know what the words mean. I don’t care. I was maybe one of 3 people dancing at the Moore when they opened up for SoundGarden and played this song. We were really good dancers.

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    12. Jim wins! Dang, I wish I had that many awesome concert memories of one band.

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  12. Top 11 Camper songs in off the top of my head order:

    11) (Don't You Go To) Goleta
    10) Peace & Love
    9) All Her Favorite Fruit
    8) Sad Lovers Waltz
    7) Eye of Fatima Pt 1
    6) Might Makes Right
    5) Life Is Grand
    4) Discotheque CVB
    3) Tania
    2) Joe Stalin's Cadillac
    1) Jack Ruby

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