60. Too Much Joy, Son of Sam I Am Too Much Joy’s second album comes with its on description in the liner notes. It notes that “This album contains no songs about: Jack Kerouac, TV evangelists, safe sex, how dying … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 60 and 59
62. Mary’s Danish, There Goes the Wondertruck… Many bands have influences, but few can trace them with the same sort of precision that Mary’s Danish can. Co-founders Gretchen Seager and Julie Ritter forged the plan to start a band while … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 62 and 61
64. Public Image Ltd, 9 By now, it’s probably well-established that John Lydon doesn’t particularly work and play well with others. For his band Public Image Ltd’s seventh studio album, and ninth overall inspiring its numeric title, they were originally … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 64 and 63
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
68. Adult Net, The Honey Tangle Considering the legendary contentiousness of The Fall frontman Mark E. Smith, it’s wonder the college radio top forth isn’t fully stocked with splinter groups from his acclaimed art-punk outfit. But then it’s quality not … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 68 and 67
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
72. Uncle Green, You Georgia was a pretty good place for a band to hang their guitar straps in 1989. The little ol’ band from Athens known as R.E.M. cast a mighty shadow over the world of college radio, and … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 72 and 71
74. Todd Rundgren, Nearly Human One of the old inside jokes about Todd Rundgren in the music industry states that his contract is supposedly drafted to mandate that he deliver one normal album for every weird one he creates. Since … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 74 and 73
76. Warren Zevon, Transverse City It was a major comeback for Warren Zevon when he released Sentimental Hygiene in 1987. His first album in five years, the release found Zevon addressing his own recent troubles, most notably with drug addiction. … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 76 and 75
78. Ella Mental, Ella Mental A little time with an atlas is going to be useful to anyone trying to track the path of the band Ella Mental. They formed in South Africa when guitarist and chief songwriter spotted Heather … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 78 and 77
Coffee for Two 