218. Golden Palominos, Visions of Excess (1985) “Everybody on the record is a favorite musician of mine, and they also happen to be my friends” Anton Fier said of the fluctuating Golden Palominos lineup on the album Visions of Excess. … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #218 to #216
221. UB40, Labour of Love (1983) “The area we all come from is a slum — southeast Birmingham,” UB40 guitarist Robin Campbell told Spin in 1985. “The farther out you get from the city, the nicer it gets. But towards … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #221 to #219
224. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Hyæna (1984) Siouxsie and the Banshees were in a sort of limbo for a time before the recording and release of their sixth studio album, Hyæna. They hit a crisis point not long after the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #224 to #222
227. The Mighty Lemon Drops, Happy Head (1986) In 1985, the Mighty Lemon Drops formed in the West Midlands city of Wolverhampton, playing gigs here and there as the Sherbert Monsters whenever they wanted to work through new material. Around … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #227 to #225
230. Concrete Blonde, Concrete Blonde (1986) When bassist Johnette Napolitano and guitarist James Mankey decided to form a band together, in 1982, they chose the name the Dreamers. They played a few gigs around Los Angeles and elbowed their way … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #230 to #228
233. Pixies, Surfer Rosa (1988) Not long after the release of their debut EP, Come On Pilgrim, the Pixies got to work on their first full-length. After plans to simply duplicate the process of recording their earlier tracks were scuttled, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #233 to #231
236. INXS, The Swing (1984) INXS headed out for a quick North American tour after making initial preparations to record their fourth studio album. It was to be a critical entry in their catalog because it was following the modest … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #236 to #234
239. Shriekback, Big Night Music (1986) After three full-length albums, Shriekback had cause to reinvent themselves. During the recording of their third album, Oil & Gold, guitarist and vocalist Carl Marsh left the group. Frontman duties fell to keyboardist Barry … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #239 to #237
242. Gary Numan, The Pleasure Principle (1979) Anyone looking to provide a sonic example to accompany an explanation of new wave music could do far worse than to select Gary Numan’s “Cars.” Taken from The Pleasure Principle — technically Numan’s … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #242 to #240
245. The Boomtown Rats, The Fine Art of Surfacing (1979) The Fine Art of Surfacing was the third overall album from the Boomtown rats and their second released in the U.S. It was while touring radio stations in support of … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #245 to #243
Coffee for Two 