125. Pretenders, Pretenders II (1981) No one expected the Pretenders self-titled debut album to be a hit, or at least not a hit at the level it reached. The Pretenders only produced one Top 40 single in the U.S., the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #125 to #123
128. Haircut One Hundred, Pelican West (1982) Guitarist and vocalist Nick Heyward and bassist Les Nemes cycled through a few different bands together during the latter half of the nineteen-seventies, none of them really amounting to much. After a move … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #128 to #126
131. Hüsker Dü, New Day Rising (1985) Following their creative breakthrough with the double album Zen Arcade, Hüsker Dü felt they were ready to produce their next album entirely on their own, something they hadn’t done since Land Speed Record, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #131 to #129
134. Fine Young Cannibals, Fine Young Cannibals (1985) Guitarist Andy Cox and bassist David Steele didn’t know their band the Beat was breaking up. Vocalists Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger had already decided they were moving and started recording their … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #134 to #132
137. The Smiths, Louder Than Bombs (1987) Because of the uncertain approach Sire Records took to releasing music from the Smiths in U.S., there was a lot of material that hadn’t been pressed on LP, Yanks’ preferred format for record … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #137 to #135
140. Nick Lowe, Nick the Knife (1982) On the official ledger, Nick the Knife is Nick Lowe’s third solo album. Considered in a more nuanced way, it’s his first outing on his own. The album’s two predecessors on Lowe’s solo … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #140 to #138
143. The Jam, Sound Affects (1980) As was becoming the norm, Paul Weller was not quite ready to go when he arrived at the studio to record the Jam’s fifth album, Sound Affects. Spurred in part by record company and … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #143 to #141
146. Talking Heads, Remain in Light (1980) “Remain in Light was a difficult album to make,” Chris Frantz, drummer for Talking Heads, told Rolling Stone magazine a few years after the release of LP in question. “We wanted to do … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #146 to #144
149. XTC, Black Sea (1980) “We find that once you’ve done something, you’ve tried it and you should move on,” Andy Partridge, frontman of XTC, declared not long after the release of Black Sea, the band’s fourth studio album. “Actually, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #149 to #147
152. Joe Jackson, Look Sharp! (1979) David Ian Jackson was around one year into his scholarship-funded studies at the Royal Academy of Music when he decided classical music composition wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life. He knew … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #152 to 150
Coffee for Two 