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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

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One for Friday: The Lime Spiders, “My Favourite Room”

Dan Seeger

Love at first listen is a wondrous thing. I don’t think the Lime Spiders had an album in rotation when I arrived at my college radio station in the fall of 1988. Their sophomore full-length, Volatile, might have been trailing along in the big batch of recent records that weren’t quite given the full-scale push but also hadn’t transitioned to the greater library. Even if that was the case, Volatile wasn’t the album I found. Instead, for some reason, I slipped their debut, The Cave Comes Alive!, out of its place in the music stacks. Released in 1987, the album … Continue reading One for Friday: The Lime Spiders, “My Favourite Room”

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 73 – 71

Dan Seeger

73. Frankie Goes to Hollywood, “Two Tribes” When Frankie Goes to Hollywood released their second single, in 1984, they faced the burden of following up a major smash. “Relax,” their debut, was one of those songs that grabbed pop culture by the shoulders and gave it a good shake, topping the charts in the U.K. despite (or maybe in part because of) its status as a track banned by the BBC. It just barely crossed into the Top 10 on the other side of the Atlantic, but it certainly seemed more ever-present than that peak suggests. For the next single, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 73 – 71

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One for Friday: Martini Ranch, “World Without Walls”

Dan Seeger

There’s a long strange history of actors moonlighting in the music biz, from Robert Mitchum’s bizarre shimmy with calypso music to Ryan Gosling’s membership in the indie goth outfit Dead Man’s Bones. Things got especially weird during the nineteen-eighties, the wildest of musical decades. Only on that cultural roller coaster could Eddie Murphy nearly top the charts and Bruce Willis absolutely redefine the scope of vanity project by roping major stars into a fictional rock god history to accompany a record of appalling R&B covers. And only in the nineteen-eighties could character actor Bill Paxton be one-half of a new … Continue reading One for Friday: Martini Ranch, “World Without Walls”

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CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 76 – 74

Dan Seeger

76. Fine Young Cannibals, “Johnny Come Home” In the early nineteen-eighties, Roland Gift was filling up some of his evening hours performing as the lead singer for a ska group called Akrylix, schlepping through the clubs of Northern England. When the Birmingham band the Beat (known as the English Beat between U.S. shores) broke up, in 1983, guitarist Andy Cox and bassist David Steele were in need of a vocalist for the new outfit they were looking to start up, carrying over the punchy ska-tinged rock of their previously band while adding a hearty swirl of soul. By some accounts, … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 76 – 74

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One for Friday: Michelle Pfeiffer, “Cool Rider”

Dan Seeger

Michelle Pfeiffer has been nominated for an Academy Award on three occasions, losing to Geena Davis, Jessica Tandy, and Emma Thompson. Best as I can tell, her first experience missing out on an acting award came in late 1982, when her turn as Stephanie Zinone in the misbegotten sequel Grease 2 made her a contender in the category of Best Young Motion Picture Actress at the 4th Youth in Film Awards. The winner was Aileen Quinn in the title role of John Huston’s film version of the musical Annie. (That same year, Nancy McKeon absolutely cleaned up at the Youth … Continue reading One for Friday: Michelle Pfeiffer, “Cool Rider”

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 79 – 77

Dan Seeger

79. Joe Jackson, “Steppin’ Out” Joe Jackson was a seasoned veteran by the time he released the 1982 album Night and Day. Although his debut, the splendid Look Sharp!, had hit record stores only three years earlier, Jackson was on his fifth studio album with Night and Day, and the learned cynicism that often showed up in his songs was confidently leveled against the section of the entertainment industry in which he was employed. “Rock ‘n’ roll is degenerating into a big circus, and videos and MTV are very much part of that,” he noted around that time. “People who … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 79 – 77

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One for Friday: Dolly Mixture, “How Come You’re Such a Hit with the Boys, Jane?”

Dan Seeger

As must happen from time to time, I have a “Jane” song to share. To the best of my knowledge, I never played a song by Dolly Mixture during my college radio days, but I wish I would have. Their sound was precisely what I hoped to discover when I dug deeply into the most obscure records in the radio station’s music library, finding those old releases that perhaps hadn’t been touched in years but exhibited a wear-and-tear in the packaging that suggested they were once deeply loved. Had a Dolly Mixture album been in our stacks, how could it … Continue reading One for Friday: Dolly Mixture, “How Come You’re Such a Hit with the Boys, Jane?”

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CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 82 – 80

Dan Seeger

82. R.E.M., “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” R.E.M. made their U.S. network television debut on Late Night with David Letterman, in October 1983. The band’s debut album, Murmur, had been in stores for about six months, and it naturally made sense for them to play “Radio Free Europe,” the single that became a smash on college radio and even managed to — somewhat inexplicably — cross over into the Billboard Hot 100. They did, but there was time for them to run through another song. After Letterman briefly interviewed the band about their hometown music scene (“Why all of sudden Athens, … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 82 – 80