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

103. The Mighty Lemon Drops, “Inside Out” Other bands that started plying their tunes in the nineteen-eighties had the advantage of fertile local scenes. That wasn’t the case for the Mighty Lemon Drops, who hailed from Wolverhampton. “When we started out in early 1985, there wasn’t much going on locally,” said guitarist Dave Newton. “Not even in nearby Birmingham, with a few exceptions, such as the Nightingales and Pigros. As for Wolverhampton, there was absolutely nothing of note.” But a band as good as the Mighty Lemon Drops is going to draw attention, no matter the geographical limits. They wound … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 103 – 101

106. New Order, “Bizarre Love Triangle” When New Order got down the business of creating their fourth full-length album, Brotherhood, they wanted it to have a sonic schism. That approach naturally had an impact on the songwriting and recording process for every track, including the album’s sole official single. “‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ is a brilliant track, but it was kind of done in a schizophrenic mood that we were trying to do one side synthesizers and one side guitars,” drummer Stephen Morris later explained. “I don’t know. It didn’t quite work.” Built around one of the band’s very best hooks, … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 106 – 104

109. Heaven 17, “Let Me Go” While many bands are dogged by comparisons to other acts while they try to make their way in the wild of the music business, Heaven 17 endured an especially sharp version of that burden. Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, two thirds of Heaven 17’s most enduring lineup, were both founding members of the Human League. They left that band and ceded the name to lead singer Philip Oakey after the creative relationship became unendurably fractious. “Sometimes it’s hard to give us something that appears to be your entire life, but we all knew … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 109 – 107

112. The Jam, “Start!” “Thinking back on that period between 1980 and 1982, it was pretty relentless,” the Jam drummer Rick Buckler wrote in his autobiography. “We were literally being swept along by the momentum of the success that we were having. And the more success we achieved, the more demanding everything became. All we could was allow ourselves to go with the flow. Much of that period is simply a blur. But we were doing exactly what we wanted to do, and it was great.” According to the band’s lead singer, lead guitarist, and chief creative force, Paul Weller, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 112 – 110

115. Peter Gabriel, “Red Rain” Lest there be any doubt about the prog rock foundations of Peter Gabriel’s musical artistry, even the seemingly straightforward ballad “Red Rain” has its beginnings — its genesis, if you will — in one of those profundity-laced song cycles that serious minded pop musicians were pursuing in the nineteen seventies. Though released as the lead track on So, the 1986 album that represented Gabriel’s major commercial breakthrough, “Red Rain” was first composed several years earlier, in conjunction with the songs that made up Gabriel’s sophomore solo album, self-titled but often referred to as “Scratch.” It … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 115 – 113

118. The Jesus and Mary Chain, “Just Like Honey” “People don’t realize you can make much better records our way,” Jim Reid insisted, back in 1985. “A good record is a good record. What difference does it make how you get it? I realize you can make a good record going through the same process that others have done in the past, but it’s not vital.” Appropriately for a band whose music rattled the senses with abrasive pop lushness, the Jesus and Mary Chain always thrived on that sort of concerted contradiction. The group, led by brothers Jim and William … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 118 – 116

121. Tracy Chapman, “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” Tracy Chapman grew up in Cleveland during the nineteen-sixties and -seventies, a tumultuous time for the city. As options dwindled and the public education system deteriorated rapidly, Chapman got a chance to get out. The recipient of a scholarship through the program A Better Chance, Chapman found herself attending a private high school in New England, many miles and a world away. It was there that her talent for music started to evolve into a mission to speak, to challenge the problems she saw before her. The song “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” was inspired … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 121 – 119