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One for Friday: The Brandos, “Gettysburg”

Dan Seeger

There’s a clear tendency to retrospectively reduce eras of pop music to singular sounds, despite the fact that such monolithic sonic styles are rarely the case. By now, the nineteen-eighties are largely thought of as a time of synth pop and maybe wailing saxophone solos, as the fallout from the new wave explosion earlier in the decade settled over just about everything. Those who had their radios tuned to the stations staffed by college kids might associated the jangly tones of R.E.M. a little more readily, but when a current band is said to have an “eighties sound,” its almost … Continue reading One for Friday: The Brandos, “Gettysburg”

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CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 61 – 59

Dan Seeger

61. Morrissey, “Suedehead” The collaboration between Steven Patrick Morrissey and Johnny Marr was in tatters. They had completely stopped speaking to one another, putting the future of their band, the Smiths, into a state more dire than doubt. While some of the members — including, according to some reports, Morrissey himself — were still holding out hope that the many rifts could be overcome, it didn’t look good. The terms of the record deal the Smiths has signed with EMI, in 1986, stipulated that new music was due, regardless of the official status of the band. With that in mind, Morrissey sought … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 61 – 59

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One for Friday: Bob Seger, “Love the One You’re With”

Dan Seeger

For several years now, most of my music listening has been shaped by the various shuffle features connected to my digital collection. That particular batch of MP3 files spans far and wide, a result of concerted effort to essentially create the automated radio station of my deepest longings, one that operates with at least some of the limitations of format knocked asunder. At different points, that entailed me securing all sorts of songs that I didn’t necessarily find familiar. I wanted surprise as the playlists unwound. I relied on the robust song-sharing blog community to help me shape my fictional station’s library. There … Continue reading One for Friday: Bob Seger, “Love the One You’re With”

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The Art of the Sell: Nighthawks at the Diner

Dan Seeger

These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art.  In 1975, when Tom Waits released Nighthawks at the Diner, he had only been a known quantity for two years, with just a pair of studio full-lengths to his credit. He was in his mid-twenties, though he already looked like a bedraggled middle-aged man who’d spent a few too many nights helping keep a barstool in place. The Waits persona was already firmly in place. Not that there’s a desperate need for proof of the above assertion, but … Continue reading The Art of the Sell: Nighthawks at the Diner

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 64 – 62

Dan Seeger

64. Hoodoo Gurus, “I Want You Back” The casual listener would be forgiven for assuming that “I Want You Back” is just another pining pop song, the next nearly indistinguishable boxcar on the endless train of the musically lovelorn line. Instead, the single from the 1984 album Stoneage Romeos, the debut release from Hoodoo Gurus, addresses the turmoil in the band’s lineup. Though the song resides on the first full-length from Hoodoo Gurus, the group had already endured quite a bit of personnel turmoil, including the departure of original guitarist Rod Radalj. Apparently nursing some ill feelings about the growing … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 64 – 62

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One for Friday: The Chant, “All Behind Me”

Dan Seeger

Every once in a while, I feel obligated to tap out a new ode to the “C Stacks,” the part of my college radio station’s music library that inspired the most affection in me. When I arrived at the noncommercial broadcast outlet in the late nineteen-eighties, the main music library was divided into three sections, delineated by the first three letters of the alphabet. The “A Stacks” were home to those artists that we expected everyone knew, like Peter Gabriel and U2. The “B Stacks” were for the bands and performers that college radio kids held up as titans but … Continue reading One for Friday: The Chant, “All Behind Me”

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CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 67 – 65

Dan Seeger

67. Psychedelic Furs, “Heartbreak Beat” Columbia Records really wanted new music from Psychedelic Furs. In 1986, the band were unlikely beneficiaries of the John Hughes teen movie factory, which was producing new material at a rapid clip. “Pretty in Pink,” the title of a 1981 single from Psychedelic Furs, was typed onto the cover page of Hughes’s high school romance script that he turned over to Howard Deutch to direct. The resulting film, released in 1986, was a box office success, and the Furs’ freshly recorded take on the song turned into a hit, just missing the Billboard Top 40. … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 67 – 65

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One for Friday: An Emotional Fish, “Grey Matter”

Dan Seeger

An Emotional Fish formed in Dublin, Ireland. That seems all the justification that’s needed for sharing this song today. For all those who are going to take today’s quasi-holiday as an excuse to abuse their own grey matter, for the love of Daniel-Day Lewis, at least do it with Guinness, won’t you? (I feel a little bad I’m skimping on the words here, so I will note that I’ve previously written about An Emotional Fish in a more expansive manner.) Listen or download –> An Emotional Fish, “Grey Matter” (Disclaimer: I’d like to type that I put in diligent effort … Continue reading One for Friday: An Emotional Fish, “Grey Matter”

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The New Releases Shelf: In Between

Dan Seeger

When I was writing music reviews for Spectrum Culture, I sometimes felt obligated to volunteer for the new releases from bands who had banged out tunes at club shows staged before some of my cohorts were born. There was no clanging indication that I was an uncommon elder, but I felt a certain protectiveness. My own longstanding skepticism of bands who’d arguably overstayed their welcome — or, worse yet, reunited after a significant layoff — made me want to make sure that the artists I’d once played new records from on college radio were getting a fair shake. That I … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf: In Between

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CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 70 – 68

Dan Seeger

70. Public Image Ltd., “Rise” John Lydon, formerly known as Johnny Rotten, is not someone who most would instinctively refer to as a folk musician, but that’s exactly how he sees himself. “What I mean by folk is that what I sing is from the heart and soul,” Lydon explained. “I’m not trying to imitate any other genre or style of singing. I’m singing as I feel it. I’m trying to be as truthful to myself as I possibly can. And hopefully that communicates to others.” With that established, it becomes a little more clear that “Rise,” the 1986 lead … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 70 – 68