Friday, September 12, 2014

60 Albums 1981

1981 was not one of my favorite years for music but there were some very solid releases. Aside from the very top of the list the order is not necessarily important. To make the list is significant.

Most of the albums I liked here were second and third albums of artist I discovered during the previous few years. Aside from The Blasters there were not many new discoveries and that was a problem. The first New Order was interesting but we were still seeing it as an extension of Joy Division. The first Duran Duran album was OK but knowing how they would evolve kind of lowers there place in the list.

Lots of second albums; X, English Beat, U2, Pretenders, Echo & The Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs, etc.

It's a very personal list. No Rush, Phil Collins, Journey, Van Halen, Styx, Genesis, Def Leppard Foreigner, etc

One can never forget the facial expression of Phil Alvin on the cover of The Blasters. It mirrored the intensity of the music inside.
  1. The Blasters - The Blasters
  2. X - Wild Gift
  3. Squeeze - East Side Story
  4. Gang of Four - Solid Gold
  5. Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
  6. Joan Armatrading - Walk Under Ladders
  7. The English Beat - Wha'ppen?
  8. The Psychedelic Furs - Talk Talk Talk
  9. Elvis Costello - Trust
  10. U2 - October
  11. Prince - Controversy
  12. The Cramps - Psychedelic Jungle
  13. Pretenders - Pretenders II
  14. Split Enz - Waiata
  15. Ramones - Pleasant Dreams
  16. Echo & The Bunnymen - Heaven Up There
  17. Robyn Hitchcock - Black Snake Diamond Role
  18. The dB's - Stands For Decibels
  19. The Gun Club - Fire Of Love
  20. King Crimson - Discipline
  21. Black Uhuru - Red
  22. David Lindley - El Rayo-X
  23. UB40 - Present Arms
  24. Grace Jones - Nightclubbing
  25. The Teardrop Explodes - Wilder
  26. Pete Shelley - Homosapien
  27. New Order - Movement
  28. Hall & Oates - Private Eyes
  29. The Selecter - Celebrate The Bullet
  30. Kraftwerk - Computerwelt
  31. Joe Ely - Musta Notta Gotta Lotta
  32. Rick James - Street Songs
  33. Was (Not Was) - Was (Not Was)
  34. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Hard Promises
  35. The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You
  36. Elvis Costello - Almost Blue
  37. Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club
  38. Emmylou Harris - Evangeline
  39. Black Flag - Damaged
  40. Men At Work - Business As Usual
  41. The Cure - Faith
  42. Joe Ely - Live Shots
  43. Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell
  44. Siouxsie and The Banshees - Juju
  45. The Cure - Pornography
  46. Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
  47. Magazine - Magic, Murder and the Weather
  48. Heaven 17 - Penthouse and Pavement
  49. The Police - Ghost In The Machine
  50. Rosanne Cash - Seven Year Ache
  51. Funkadelic - The Electric Spanking of War Babies
  52. Tom Verlaine - Dreamtime
  53. David Byrne - The Catherine Wheel
  54. The Church - Of Skins and Heart
  55. Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Fresh Fruit In Foreign Places
  56. Mink DeVille - Coup de Grace
  57. The Human League - Dare
  58. Garland Jeffreys - Escape Artist
  59. Go-Go's - Beauty and the Beat
  60. Duran Duran - Duran Duran

Almost on the list...

  • Devo - New Traditionalists
  • Material - Memory Serves
  • Killing Joke - What's This For...
  • Martha & The Muffins - This Is The Ice Age
  • Japan - Tin Drum
  • Cabaret Voltaire - Red Mecca
  • Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Architecture & Morality
  • Bauhaus - Mask
  • Trio - Trio
  • Kim Wilde - Kim Wilde
  • Wall of Voodoo - Dark Continent
  • Joe Jackson - Jumpin' Jive
  • Fela Kuti - Original Sufferhead
  • The Replacements - Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash
  • Gary U.S. Bonds - Dedication

Some other interesting Collections, Compilations and Concerts:

  • Sly & The Family Stone - Anthology
  • The Rolling Stones - Sucking In The Seventies
  • Various Artists - Mutant Disco: A Subtle Discolation of the Norm
  • Various Artists - Seize The Beat (Dance Ze Dance)



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