100. New Order, “The Perfect Kiss” It’s difficult to pin down precisely which version of the New Order song “The Perfect Kiss” sits at the momentous #100 position on this chart. On the 1985 album Low-Life, the song finishes its work in just under five minutes. There are a flurry of other edits of the track across different seven-inch singles, sometimes shaving as much as an additional minute off the song. Arguably the best known, though, is the iteration released as a twelve-inch single, that clocks in at a robust 8:46. And it’s a few second longer yet in the official … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 100 – 98

103. The Mighty Lemon Drops, “Inside Out” Other bands that started plying their tunes in the nineteen-eighties had the advantage of fertile local scenes. That wasn’t the case for the Mighty Lemon Drops, who hailed from Wolverhampton. “When we started out in early 1985, there wasn’t much going on locally,” said guitarist Dave Newton. “Not even in nearby Birmingham, with a few exceptions, such as the Nightingales and Pigros. As for Wolverhampton, there was absolutely nothing of note.” But a band as good as the Mighty Lemon Drops is going to draw attention, no matter the geographical limits. They wound … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 103 – 101

106. New Order, “Bizarre Love Triangle” When New Order got down the business of creating their fourth full-length album, Brotherhood, they wanted it to have a sonic schism. That approach naturally had an impact on the songwriting and recording process for every track, including the album’s sole official single. “‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ is a brilliant track, but it was kind of done in a schizophrenic mood that we were trying to do one side synthesizers and one side guitars,” drummer Stephen Morris later explained. “I don’t know. It didn’t quite work.” Built around one of the band’s very best hooks, … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 106 – 104

109. Heaven 17, “Let Me Go” While many bands are dogged by comparisons to other acts while they try to make their way in the wild of the music business, Heaven 17 endured an especially sharp version of that burden. Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, two thirds of Heaven 17’s most enduring lineup, were both founding members of the Human League. They left that band and ceded the name to lead singer Philip Oakey after the creative relationship became unendurably fractious. “Sometimes it’s hard to give us something that appears to be your entire life, but we all knew … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 109 – 107