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

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

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

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

85. The Sisters of Mercy, “This Corrosion” “This Corrosion” now stands so clearly as the signature song of the Sisters of Mercy that it’s easy to overlook that, in the chronology of the band, it was actually considered a comeback single. Shortly after the group had a couple of modest hits on the U.K. charts, in the mid-nineteen-eighties, they splintered apart. Guitarist Wayne Hussey and bassist Wayne Adams quickly formed a new group called the Mission. While they were making their own headway with British music fans, Sisters of Mercy lead singer Andrew Eldritch was largely absent from the scene, offer … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 85 – 83

88. Eurythmics, “Would I Lie to You?” In 1985, when Eurythmics released their album Be Yourself Tonight, the safe bet would have involved creation of calculated echoes of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” their smash hit single from a couple years earlier. Doing so was anathema to the duo. “It’s just to do with the original concept of Eurythmics, which was to keep changing every situation all the time so it never got stale,” Dave Stewart explained while the album was still in its formative stages. “In order to make this album, we had to do a load of … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 88 – 86

91. The Replacements, “I Will Dare” Paul Westerberg had a “Stop the presses!” moment after he finished off songwriting chores on “I Will Dare,” though he would have been referring to the hydraulic presses that bring a vinyl record into shape. Hootenanny, the second full length album from Westerberg’s band the Replacements, was in its final mastering stage when he called up Peter Jesperson, head of the group’s record label. “I got a call from Paul saying, ‘I’ve just finished the best song I’ve ever written. We need to record it now,’” said Jesperson. “But the record was already done, so … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 91 – 89

94. Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, “Tomorrow People” Realistically, the 1988 album Conscious Party was always meant to be be a sort of coming out party for Ziggy Marley. Signed to Virgin Records with his band the Melody Makers, which included a handful of his siblings, the son of the most legendary reggae artist of all time was a focus of the new label, certain they’d be able to capitalize on the familial connection with all those high school and college kids who tacked posters of the Legend album cover to their walls. Talking Heads members and Tom Tom Club … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 94 – 92

97. Howard Jones, “New Song” “I’ve played in lots of bands since I was fifteen,” Howard Jones explained in 1983, at the time his debut single, “New Song,” was bounding up the charts. “But the thing that got me down was that other people in the band used to land up arguing at the end of the day, and I wasn’t really into that. So I decided I just wanted to get in with it in my own way. I found there wasn’t anyone around I wanted to play with.” Luckily for Jones, he took that creative stance at precisely … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 97 – 95

100. New Order, “The Perfect Kiss” It’s difficult to pin down precisely which version of the New Order song “The Perfect Kiss” sits at the momentous #100 position on this chart. On the 1985 album Low-Life, the song finishes its work in just under five minutes. There are a flurry of other edits of the track across different seven-inch singles, sometimes shaving as much as an additional minute off the song. Arguably the best known, though, is the iteration released as a twelve-inch single, that clocks in at a robust 8:46. And it’s a few second longer yet in the official … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 100 – 98