244. The Suburbs, “Love is the Law” The inner sleeve of the full-length studio album issued by the Suburbs in 1984 states, “The title ‘Love Is The Law’ is the opinion of The Suburbs, stands alone and has no connection whatsoever with Aleister Crowley.” They may not have drawn direct inspiration from the foundational tenet of Thelema, as laid out by the upstart religion’s crackpot founder, but disavowing any relation whatsoever would require parsing the intent of an unidentified Minnesotan with access to spray paint and a blank horizontal surface. As Chan Poling, vocalist and keyboard player for The Suburbs, later explained, “I … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 244 – 242

247. Pretenders, “Message of Love” Led by the magnetic Chrissie Hynde, the Pretenders flared to massive popularity quickly enough in the U.K. that the demand for new music started to outpace the band’s ability to deliver it. Hynde moved to London in the early nineteen-seventies, in part because she saw a greater likelihood of getting involved in the music scene she adored. Before long, she landed a gig with the magazine NME and started connecting with local musicians. The Pretenders formed in 1978, and they were charting U.K. hits by the following year, when their self-titled debut was also released. … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, #247 – #245

250. The Knack, “My Sharona” By practically any measure, “My Sharona” was the biggest hit of 1979. Given the song’s back story, it was also likely the skeeziest. The debut single by the Knack, a group formed by ex-Sky member Doug Fieger, was targeted directly at a single girl. Sharona Alperin was a high school girl who Fieger had fallen hard for, developing a full-on fixation that was likely only compounded by her reluctance to reciprocate his affection. The most generous accounts place Alperin as seventeen at the time. Fieger was ten years older. Attempts to capture Alperin’s attention didn’t end with naming her … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 250 – 248

Though I occasionally postured otherwise, I arrived at my college radio station in the fall of 1988 with a keen awareness that I had a lot to learn. Much as I wish I could report that I filled my high school years with gloomy nights in my basement bedroom playing Meat is Murder or Psychocandy over and over again, taking solace in the solidarity of bands that expertly tapped into levels of despair that had a tangy tinge of teenaged agony to them, I was a relative latecomer to college rock. There were surely flirtations before, but I didn’t fall … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, An Introduction