64. Hoodoo Gurus, “I Want You Back” The casual listener would be forgiven for assuming that “I Want You Back” is just another pining pop song, the next nearly indistinguishable boxcar on the endless train of the musically lovelorn line. Instead, the single from the 1984 album Stoneage Romeos, the debut release from Hoodoo Gurus, addresses the turmoil in the band’s lineup. Though the song resides on the first full-length from Hoodoo Gurus, the group had already endured quite a bit of personnel turmoil, including the departure of original guitarist Rod Radalj. Apparently nursing some ill feelings about the growing … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 64 – 62

67. Psychedelic Furs, “Heartbreak Beat” Columbia Records really wanted new music from Psychedelic Furs. In 1986, the band were unlikely beneficiaries of the John Hughes teen movie factory, which was producing new material at a rapid clip. “Pretty in Pink,” the title of a 1981 single from Psychedelic Furs, was typed onto the cover page of Hughes’s high school romance script that he turned over to Howard Deutch to direct. The resulting film, released in 1986, was a box office success, and the Furs’ freshly recorded take on the song turned into a hit, just missing the Billboard Top 40. … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 67 – 65

70. Public Image Ltd., “Rise” John Lydon, formerly known as Johnny Rotten, is not someone who most would instinctively refer to as a folk musician, but that’s exactly how he sees himself. “What I mean by folk is that what I sing is from the heart and soul,” Lydon explained. “I’m not trying to imitate any other genre or style of singing. I’m singing as I feel it. I’m trying to be as truthful to myself as I possibly can. And hopefully that communicates to others.” With that established, it becomes a little more clear that “Rise,” the 1986 lead … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 70 – 68

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