College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 66 and 65

66. Syd Straw, Surprise Syd Straw originally intended to go into the family business. When she moved to New York City at the age of nineteen she planned to become an actor like her father Jack Straw, whose most significant credit was a supporting role in the 1957 film The Pajama Game. Before long, Straw decided that she might be better off pursuing a singing career, a decision that quickly yielded dividends when she earned a prominent place in the ever-shifting line-up of Anton Fier’s band The Golden Palominos. That in turn helped her make plenty of impressive connections so … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 66 and 65

College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 70 and 69

70. Jesus and Mary Chain, Automatic If it seems like it took the brothers Reid to put out their third album as the Jesus and Mary Chain, that may simply be because they’re taking on more of the responsibilities of crafting their music themselves. They followed the experiments with drum machines on their previous release Darklands with extensive use of bass parts played from synthesizers on the Automatic. The mechanical drive of the backbeat becomes the perfect means to showcase their trademark gorgeous fog of thick guitar sound. The lands they survey are still dark, though that’s not necessarily the … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 70 and 69