It's hard to pick the best year of the New Wave. But with the gender-bending of Eurythmics, Culture Club and Marilyn and the propulsive synthpop of Depeche Mode, New Order and the Human League, Mark Simpson argues 1983 was a high-water mark for pop experimentation. Read HERE.
I rarely do any of those Facebook "lists," but there was something utterly irresistible about the "15 Albums" one that's been going around this week. Not only can I not resist talking favorite albums, long before the Internet was around, I used to kill time at various jobs writing endless lists of things just for fun -- everything from lists of every tennis racket I'd ever used and every album I own to lists of every book I'd ever read and every apartment I'd ever lived in (I still remember every address and ZIP code dating back to 1967). So this "15 Albums" list was a must-do.
Mind you, these are NOT my 15 favorite albums of all time -- I doubt I'd have forgotten "Beauty and the Beat" (Go-Go's), "Desperate" (Divinyls), "Dusty in Memphis" (Dusty Springfield), "Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?" (Waitresses) or everything but Rosanne Cash if it had been. Instead, this is a list of "15 albums you've heard that will always stick with you." Here's what I came up with under the gun. Please grab an egg timer and feel free to put your list in the comments section -- I'd love to argue with you about your choices!
THE RULES: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you've heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.
1. PRETENDERS (1980) -- The Pretenders
2. PLASTIC LETTERS (1978) -- Blondie
3. IT'S A CONDITION (1981) -- Romeo Void
4. SUMMER DAYS (AND SUMMER NIGHTS) (1965) -- The Beach Boys
5. THERE GOES RHYMIN' SIMON (1973) -- Paul Simon
6. ALL OVER THE PLACE (1984) -- The Bangles
7. TAPESTRY (1971) -- Carole King
8. TWO SIDES TO EVERY WOMAN (1979) -- Carlene Carter
9. UNDER THE BIG BLACK SUN (1982) - X
10. SLOW CHILDREN (1981) -- Slow Children
11. RATTLESNAKES (1984) -- Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
12. HIGH LAND, HARD RAIN (1983) -- Aztec Camera
13. BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT (1986) -- Everything but the Girl
Had a wonderful time seeing legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb at City Winery with my friends David, Lynn and Lucy. Webb, who is now 80 but sti...
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1983
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Click to revisit the heyday of Chelsea's 8th Avenue
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
Little Larry left us too soon.
With Debbie Harry
With Robert Buckley
With Roger Federer
With Ed Burns
With Thomas Roberts
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