Saturday, February 12, 2011

50 Years Of MyTunes: 1983



Speaking In Tongues by The Talking Heads. There are just so many good songs on this album like Burning Down the HouseSlippery People, SwampGirlfriend Is Better, and Pull up the Roots. The Talking Heads were immortalized in Jonathon Demme's Stop Making Sense (1984).

War by U2. The last U2 album that I bought. I got off the bandwagon when others got on. Was it the overt politics?

Every Breath You Take by the The Police. Sting gave full reign expression to his stalker obsession with his ex-wife.

Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. Oh yeah, they do.

Radio Free Europe R.E.M. were just starting out.

Pink Houses by John Mellencamp who sang about America from a Hoosier point of view. Something about this song reminds me of Meadhouse.

Photograph by Def Leppard. Big hit from their album Pyromania. I thought the name Def Leppard was a pun on the band Sun Blind Lion but I guess I was wrong.  Hi Darcy!

Owner of a Lonely Heart by Yes. I used to like this band a lot. I think Simon still likes them.

Modern Love and China Girl by David Bowie shows more cultural sensitivity than Rod Stewart did when he sang about his "slit-eyed lady" in Every Picture Tells a Story.

99 Luftballoons by Nena. A side-by-side comparison of the German and English lyrics reveals how lame and softened the English version lyrics are. link The original German version makes several references to Nazi-era and post war imagery and jibes with the post-War pacifist streak so prevalent in German society.

Eyes Without a Face by Billy Idol. I figured out that part of Billy Idol's appeal was his sneer which is on full display here.

Institutionalized by Suicidal Tendencies  The song captures the Zeitgeist.

When The Shit Hits The Fan by The Circle Jerks. I linked to the "unplugged" version because the lyrics are easier to follow. Sample lyrics:
In a sluggish economy
Inflation, recession,
Hits the Land of the Free.
Standing on an employment line.
Blame the government for hard times.
We just get by, however we can.
We all gotta duck when the shit hits the fan.
Age of Consent by New Order. These guys were all that was left of Joy Division after Ian Curtis's suicide in 1980.

Pride and Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble from their debut Texas Flood. SRV came out of Texas. A record deal brokered by the legendary John Hammond launched his career. I was lucky enough to see SRV twice before his premature death.

The New World by X from More Fun in the World. When John Doe and Exene sang "It was better before before they voted for what's-his-name" they were singing about Ronald Reagan. How's that working out for you these days Mr. Doe?

Sharp Dressed Man & Legs  by ZZ Top. Where were these guys for the last 10 years? It may have taken that long to grow out those beards. Hot chicks in the video.

4 comments:

  1. I attended the Bowie China Girl concert (Anaheim Stadium) when he released the album.

    Oingo Boingo opened with Dead Man's Party back when they were a cover band. It was a great concert.

    I sat near the stage. A little bearded guy wearing an old t-shirt and worn-out jeans sat next to me (I was adjacent to the stage). I looked closer -- Chris Christopherson. I used to listen to him on 8 Track Tape when I was in high school. I didn't tell him that. He was very cool (as you'd expect). I have more tales from that concert, but this is not the forum to share.

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  2. I wasn't going to comment again, but I love ZZ Top. And I like riding motorcycles....and hot women...and so forth.

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  3. I looked closer -- Chris Christopherson

    So kool! Was that before he changed the spelling of his name? Sounds like you should up those stories somewhere. :)

    8 track tapes were completely phased out in the early '80's.

    I love ZZ Top too. I wrote a bit about them back in 1973 when I saw them open a show for headliner Alice Cooper. link

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  4. I've lived a full life, chickelit and have been fortunate to see and do. This was one of those odd things that simply happens. Chris just sat there and enjoyed the concert. Bowie was MAGIC. The crowd was way too into the music to fight and go nuts the way they had for The Who the year before.

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