16. “Dumb Things” by Paul Kelly & the Messengers
Paul Kelly had been plying his trade for several years in Australia before he got a chance to take a crack at American audiences. He started performing in the mid-seventies and release the first album with his original backing band the Dots in 1981. He had greater success in his homeland when he assembled a new group to play with him. Called the Coloured Girls, after those that go “Doo doo doo doo doo-doo” in a certain Lou Reed song, they caused a little snag when A&M records came calling with a stateside contract. Figuring the rock song callback might be lost on some people, leaving a name that just seemed a tad offensive, the label convinced the group to go by the name Paul Kelly & the Messengers instead. “Dumb Things” came from Under the Sun, the second Kelly album released in the U.S. It’s absolutely terrific, merging Kelly’s enviable songwriting clever with the propulsive, energized rhythm that always sucks me in.

15. “Don’t Go” by Hothouse Flowers
Another Irish band playing anthemic music steeped in classic American styles? Yes, it was the year after The Joshua Tree was released, why do you ask? People, the sensational debut album from Hothouse Flowers came out in 1988 and immediately benefited from the hunger radio programmers had for a sound that could scratch that U2 itch, even though the newer band was creating music that sounded far earthier than the dispatches from a troubled Heaven that Bono and the boys had settled on. “Don’t Go” was the lead single from the album and its escalating hootenanny charge made it one of those songs that immediately inspires thoughts of seeing the band play live. It’s the sort of joyous romp that promises potential greatness if it’s recreated well. Hothouse Flowers persevered as a band, including some truly bizarre sidetracks such as collaboration with Def Leppard.

Previously…
An Introduction
20 and 19: “All I Wanted” and “Don’t Walk Away”
18 and 17 “Back on the Breadline” and “Motorcrash”