“The Lost Boys: Hard-To-Find ’80s LPs” gives you exactly what the title implies: a rare or out-of-print album or EP from the ’80s in its entirety. Some will be from CD, but most will have been lovingly transferred from pristine vinyl culled directly from the Analog Kid’s vast collection. Whatever album I choose, it will be one that you can’t easily find a physical copy for sale on Amazon or in your local record store (if you even have one anymore). Death…by stereo!
The Go-Go’s broke up shortly after the release of 1984’s Talk Show, their third (and least successful) album for IRS Records. Despite its lackluster sales, Talk Show is a superb pop record and a fitting epitaph to the all-too-short first phase of The Go-Go’s career.
Lead single “Head Over Heels” almost hit the Top 10, and its follow-up “Turn To You” (my favorite Go-Go’s song by far!) peaked at #32. I can still remember the fantastic video for “Turn To You,” in which the band appeared both as the entertainment and the guests at a ’60s-era dance. Jane Wiedlin had an adorable Beatle mop-top haircut, and Belinda Carlisle made out with fellow party guest Rob Lowe. Damn, I miss real MTV…
After a five-year hiatus, The Go-Go’s reunited for a greatest hits record in 1990 and have had multiple reunions ever since. I’ve seen them live a few times over the years, and the Go-Go’s hold the distinction for playing the loudest show I have ever seen: the 1994 Edge Christmas party show in Dallas. The bill also included a solo Sarah McLachlan, 4 Non Blondes, They Might Be Giants, and Simple Minds. Vicki Peterson sat in for Charlotte Caffey that night, and the band turned everything up to 11. My ears might still be bleeding.
The whole world seems out of sync when an album as great as Talk Show is out of print, so the Analog Kid hopes you will enjoy listening to this copy of his original 1984 CD.
94.5 The Edge was the greatest radio station I have ever heard. It debuted in Dallas in the summer of 1989, and for five years it exposed me to more new alternative music than I could have ever imagined. In this continuing series, we’ll take a look back at the songs that made the Edge required listening for anyone with a musical pulse in North Texas in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Songs From The Edge: 1992
Electronic: “Disappointed” (Sumner/Marr/Tennant)
From the original soundtrack Songs From The Cool World
Warner Brothers Records, 1992
Sometimes supergroups DO work. Perhaps Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr never made the true splash they were hoping for when they formed Electronic, but songs like 1989’s “Getting Away With It” and 1992’s “Disappointed” still stand as some of the best alternative tunes of the era. Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant didn’t appear on all Electronic recordings, but he certainly brought his A-game for “Disappointed.” A true classic.
Cracker: “Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)” (Lowery)
From the album Cracker
Virgin Records, 1992
“What the world needs now are some true words of wisdom
Like la la la la la la la la la la.”
My favorite lines from a song that’s full of great ones. I always enjoyed Camper Van Beethoven’s work when I was in college, but sometimes their weirdness was just a little too much for me. With Cracker, David Lowery channeled that weirdness into a rocking alt-country/punk hybrid that immediately paid commercial dividends. Of course, Cracker was still quite bizarre on occasion. I saw them play Edgefest in the summer of 1992 at the Starplex Amphitheater in Dallas, and guitarist Johnny Hickman played the entire show in nothing but a tiny blue speedo. Those of us unlucky enough with seats in the first few rows have yet to recover…
Ian McCulloch: “Lover, Lover, Lover” (Cohen)
From the album Mysterio
Sire Records, 1992
Everybody knows that Leonard Cohen is one of the most-covered songwriters of his generation, but hardly anyone knows about this fantastic version of “Lover, Lover, Lover” from former Echo And The Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch. After Mysterio failed to make a chart impact, Ian reteamed with Echo guitarist Will Sergeant to form the guitar-heavy Electrafixion. A few years later, Ian and Will would reclaim the Bunnymen name with 1997’s Evergreen.
Too Much Joy: “Donna Everywhere” (Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton)
From the album Mutiny
Giant Records, 1992
Too Much Joy were quite an inspiration for me. I first heard them on the Edge in the summer of 1990 when “That’s A Lie” became one of the station’s most-requested songs. It became so popular that the station actually let viewers call up and record a lie on an answering machine, and then the Edge would dub in the lie during the song’s breakdown.
Too Much Joy followed up “That’s A Lie” with the fantastic Cereal Killers album, and I saw them live for the first time a few weeks after my graduation from college in May of 1991. They played at the Back Room, a classic Austin dive bar that hosted mostly hard-rock bands. After their set, we hung out with them and drank cheap beer and played video games. They happily signed my Cereal Killers CD, on which bass player Sandy Smallens inscribed the following:
“Gary, you are cool. Primus is not. Love, Sandy.”
The thing I really loved about Too Much Joy was that they were just regular guys who formed a band. They really couldn’t play or sing very well, but they had fun and made catchy music. That summer, I formed the band Zen Pirates with some of my best friends. I couldn’t play an instrument, so I became the singer. The fact that I really couldn’t sing didn’t seem to matter much.
What happens next is a long, crazy story. For the purposes of this blog entry, we will move forward seventeen months to October of 1992. My band was in New York City to play at the CMJ Music Marathon. After our showcase at the Danceteria on Thursday night, I had a couple of days to actually enjoy New York City. On Saturday night, I took my girlfriend Beth to see a great triple bill of Material Issue, the Mighty Lemon Drops, and my buddies from Too Much Joy. After TMJ’s opening set, I found them in the upstairs bar and again we drank cheap beer. I don’t know if they actually remembered me from the year before, but I explained how they had inspired me to be in a band and how far my band had come in such a short time. Sandy actually sad he had heard of Zen Pirates. He was probably just trying to be nice, but it was theoretically possible as we had papered all of Manhattan with Zen Pirates posters. We drank some more cheap beer, and then went downstairs to watch the great Material Issue (rest in peace, Jim).
It was a night I will never forget…and that was before all hell broke lose back at our hotel after the show. That, my friends, is a story for another time. Or, perhaps, for a book…
The House Of Love: “Feel” (Chadwick/Livesey)
From the album Babe Rainbow
Fontana Records, 1992
The House Of Love will always be my favorite shoe-gazers. Guy Chadwick had a sense of melody that many others in the genre seemed to lack. “Feel” didn’t even chart in the band’s native UK, let alone the United States. I don’t think the Edge even played it, although the station did introduce me to the band via massive airplay for 1990’s “I Don’t Know Why I Love You.” “Feel” is still an amazing song, and if one person hears it on this blog and seeks out more from The House Of Love, that will make me very happy.
’80s new wave music is my true love. This is the music of MTV. KROQ. ValleyGirl. Martha Quinn. The Atari 2600. Members Only. Friday Night Videos. Nina Blackwood. Ms. Pac-Man. Night Flight. Richard Blade. Sixteen Candles. Alan Hunter. Jam boxes. Revenge Of The Nerds. Cabbage Patch Dolls. Parachute pants. J.J. Jackson. Live Aid. Mark Goodman. Rubik’s Cube. Donkey Kong.
This is the music that still makes me feel like a perpetual teenager.
Ecstatic ’80s New Wave: 1983
Here are five great new wave cuts from 1983. I am limiting myself to five songs per post– otherwise, you and I would be here ALL DAY LONG.
Sparks & Jane Wiedlin: “Cool Places” [Long Mix] (Mael/Mael)
Did you know that Sparks have never had a Top 40 hit in America? “Cool Places” came close– it peaked at #49, likely thanks to the effervescent presence of Go-Go Jane Wiedlin. The Mael brothers have been making endearingly quirky music since 1971, and they still continue to play live (including a slot at last year’s Coachella Festival).
Quick: name a Kajagoogoo song other than “Too Shy.” You can’t, can you? (Well, maybe if you live in the UK you can. Cheers, mates!) Lead singer Limahl was sacked a few months after the success of “Too Shy,” and the band never had another hit in America.
Still, the song “Kajagoogoo” sounds really familiar to you, doesn’t it? Any guesses as to how you might know it?
Anyone?
Bueller?
OK, no more yankie your wankie. John Hughes used the instrumental “Kajagoogoo” over the opening credits of Sixteen Candles. I’ll have to create a full Sixteen Candles soundtrack on a future blog, as the released version only contained five of the movie’s songs.
Tears For Fears: “Change” [Extended Version] (Orzabal)
MTV introduced me to Tears For Fears with “Change” in the summer of 1983. It was the band’s first hit in America, and of course Roland and Curt would go on to rule the world two years later with Songs From The Big Chair. I often cite The Hurting as one of my ten all-time favorite albums– it’s about as perfect as a record can be.
Bow Wow Wow: “The Man Mountain” (Ashman/Barbarossa/Gorman/Lwin)
From the album When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going
“The Man Mountain” doesn’t really sound like anything else in the Bow Wow Wow catalog, and I think that’s one of the reasons I love it so much. When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going was Bow Wow Wow’s last album, even though Annabella Lwin was still only sixteen years old at the time of its release.
Everybody remembers “Da Da Da I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me Aha Aha Aha,” but “Boom Boom” has always been my favorite Trio song. Like the rest of the Trio And Error album, it was produced by German artist Klaus Voorman. Klaus, of course, designed the famous cover for the Beatles’ Revolver album. He also played bass for Manfred Mann and John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band. Klaus is one cool dude.
Little-known fact: if the Analog Kid ever fulfills his dream of playing in the major leagues, “Boom Boom” is going to be my at-bat music. I am 100% serious about this. A guy can dream, right?
Every Tuesday, the Analog Kid blog goes back in time and features some groovy R&B/soul songs from a specific year. Sometimes you’ll hear songs from individual artists, and other times you’ll get an entire full-length classic LP ripped directly from the Analog Kid’s vast vinyl vault. Warning: by R&B/soul, I also mean disco. I could go Chery Lynn on your ass at any given moment, so just be ready!
Chic has been a finalist for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame eight times, including the past two years. They missed the cut once again, but something tells me that founding member Nile Rodgers is still doing just fine. Rodgers just won an armload of Grammys the other night for his work on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories album, and Chic continues to tour around the world. Most importantly, Rodgers has been declared cancer-free after a long bout with prostate cancer.
If you already think of Chic as just some crappy disco band, I’m probably not going to be able to change your mind. That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to try. Today’s Groovy Tuesday post features Risqué, Chic’s 1979 masterpiece that spawned the massive #1 hit “Good Times” (and its vast legion of rip-offs). That same year, Rodgers and partner Bernard Edwards also wrote and produced Sister Sledge’s We Are Family album. The influence of Chic was everywhere, from the obvious (“Rapper’s Delight”) to the homage (“Another One Bites The Dust”). Rodgers and Edwards were funky, they were tight, and they wrote and produced some of the best songs of the ’70s and ’80s.
Congratulations on your health and your Grammys, Nile. Hopefully the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will soon come to its senses.
Chic: Risqué
Atlantic Records, 1979
1. “Good Times” (Edwards/Rodgers)
2. “A Warm Summer Night” (Edwards/Rodgers)
3. “My Feet Keep Dancing” (Edwards/Rodgers)
4. “My Forbidden Lover” (Edwards/Rodgers)
5. “Can’t Stand To Love You” (Edwards/Rodgers)
6. “Will You Cry (When You Hear This Song)” (Edwards/Rodgers)
It wasn’t the 33-couple wedding that made Keith Urban cry during last night’s Grammys– it was Madonna’s voice. The Material Girl sounded just a bit off during her brief version of “Open Your Heart,” but I suppose it wasn’t nearly as bad as Metallica’s horrendous version of “One.” At least we know she wasn’t lip-syncing…
Let’s cleanse our Madonna palates with the original 12″ “Open Your Heart” single, shall we?
Madonna: “Open Your Heart” 12″ single
Sire Records, 1986
Vinyl rip courtesy of the Analog Kid
1. “Open Your Heart” [Extended Version] (Madonna/Cole/Rafelson)
2. “Open Your Heart” [Dub] (Madonna/Cole/Rafelson)
The Analog Kid 