#'80s music

[bayareabadboy]

#classic rock #rock #hard rock #heavy metal #Pink Floyd #rock and roll #'80s music #'70s music

[mywifeleftme]

327: XTC // Black Sea

Black Sea XTC 1980, Virgin

XTC’s discography has a very organic flow to it. Andy and Colin’s voices aside, it’d be tough to guess the same band was behind the albums that bookended their career (convulsive 1978 New Wave speedball White Music and the lavishly arranged psych pop of the turn of the century Apple Venus tandem), but if you follow the band over time, from one album to the next there are few radical departures. Each link in the chain contains elements of the record that precedes it and the one that follows it. Still, you can clearly divide their discography between their early years as a hard-touring New Wave act and their second act as a pastoral psych pop studio project—and, in that light, the albums that straddle that transition (today’s album, Black Sea, and 1982’s English Settlement) could be considered the “definitive” XTC records.

It’s easy to forget what a spectacular live act XTC were in their early days, something like a combination of ‘60s bubblegum, Devo, the Residents, and Wire, but with cardio that would’ve put most of those acts to shame. As a guitarist, Andy Partridge scorned anything that smacked of blues, slashing out hiccupy riffs way up the neck, hurling himself into head-spinning rhythms that often wouldn’t be out of place on a Fugazi record (if he didn’t have such a sweet tooth). He surrounded himself with collaborators whose ability as players was such that they were able to make their own marks on the band’s sound despite Partridge’s dictatorial tendencies—not only minority songwriter and exceptionally melodic bassist Colin Moulding, but ultimate utility man Dave Gregory (who flitted with ease from lead guitar to keys) and their gem of a drummer Terry Chambers, a non-writing / arranging member who would be lost when the band’s studio transition reduced him to a glorified session man. Chambers was an absolute machine, and many of the band’s most memorable early statements rely on his power and precision behind the kit.

Black Sea is their last record to be dominated by the quirky sound-over-sense rhythm workouts on which they built their name, and they go out with a bang: “Rocket from a Bottle,” “Burning with Optimism’s Flames,” and especially “Paper and Iron (Notes and Coins)” are fine reminders that new wave was as much Body as Head music, while the tribal stomp of “Travels in Nihilon” feels like a hint at what XTC would’ve sounded like as some kind of Swindon krautrock band. But the songs that are best remembered from this one are those first stirrings of their burgeoning reinvention as basically the attention deficit disorder Kinks.

By his own admission, Colin Moulding’s early songwriting efforts had aped Partridge’s style, but here it seems Partridge was inspired by Moulding’s sardonic kitchen sink satire “Making Plans for Nigel” (from the previous year's Drums and Wires). “Respectable Street” reads almost like Partridge proving to himself he can write his own “Nigel,” while the chiming psychedelic pop of “Towers of London” scales its social commentary to the Empire itself. His finest moment though is “No Language in Our Lungs,” one of the band’s first genuinely emotional statements. The wordy lyric is typically “clever” (“I would have made this instrumental / but the words got in the way”) yet it captures the feeling of being overwhelmed by the intensity of…well, a feeling. The credit lies mostly with its arrangement, which heaves and stumbles behind Andy’s inconsolable howl like someone dragging their feet in exhaustion.

Black Sea usually sits somewhere between third and fifth in my personal XTC rankings, but it’d be the place I recommend a new fan start with the band (or would be, were the record available on streaming services). Between Andy’s peculiar voice and a smartass quality that can get a little cloying, XTC’s not for everyone—but for those on the wavelength, their catalogue is one of the greatest of the rock era.

320/365

Bonus

For the hell of it, my personal XTC discog rankings.

Skylarking English Settlement Black Sea White Music Drums and Wires Apple Venus Volume 1 Go 2 Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) Oranges & Lemons Mummer Nonsuch The Big Express

#xtc #xtc band #andy partridge #colin moulding #virgin records #new wave #art rock #post punk #psych pop #'80s music #music review #vinyl record

[the-mozzarella-brothers]

Hii I have a survey to do with 80s music and itd be great if anyone in their teens or 20s could fill it out :) it is completely anonymous

it is here :)

#80s #music #'80s #'80s music #80s music #old music

[woodelf68]

There were a lot more I would have liked to include, but since there are only ten slots in a poll... If there are enough "other" suggestions, maybe I'll pit them against each other in a part two poll.

#polls #new wave #'80s music #poll #the police #duran duran #billy idol #inxs #howard jones #the cure #culture club #u2 #adam ant #woodelfmisc.

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

Happy birthday to one of rock's greatest bassists, Tony Butler! (b. 13 February 1957)

If you have never heard of Tony Butler or think you've never heard his work playing the bass, please check out at least one or two of the tracks that I've linked to (though, once you hear/realize how good his bass playing is, you'll probably want to hear them all!):

"Wonderland" - Big Country // "My City Was Gone" - Pretenders // "Where the Rose is Sown" - Big Country // "Back on the Chain Gang" - Pretenders // "Girl With Grey Eyes" - Big Country // "Let My Love Open The Door" - Pete Townshend // "In a Big Country" - Big Country // "After the Fire" - Roger Daltrey // "East of Eden" - Big Country // "Here Comes the First One" - Tony Butler

#happy birthday! #Tony Butler #Big Country #classic rock #rock music #'80s music #gifs #my gifs #sorry this gifset makes it seem like Tony's most well known with his dreadlocks when this is almost definitely not true. #it's just my favorite look for him. I mean...how could it not be? he's fucking gorgeous. #but I'M the gifmaker I choose the propaganda! and also the songs to highlight :) oh also scratch my apology. I am not sorry. #btw no I did not listen to that Roger Daltrey song because I do not like Roger Daltrey. I did listen to the Pete Townshend one though #and it turns out well apparently I like one (1) Pete Townshend song. thank you Tony specifically. LOL

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (14-20 Jan 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

Death in Soho (Augusta Peel #1) (Emily Organ, author; Sarah Nichols, narrator) - acceptable cozy mystery set post-WWI. Perfectly cromulent and will probably read another when I'm craving an uncomplicated read. Did appreciate that Miss Peel is middle-aged, not an ingenue/flapper

Ever Since New York (AHM1121) - 94K, shrunkyclunks omegaverse - just a really satisfying omegaverse fic, loved these versions of them

Running on Air (eleventy7) - 74K, drarry - it's 8 yrs post-war, draco's been missing for 3 of them and harry's been assigned the cold case. There's driving and melancholy and eventually sorting out feelings and stuff

💖💖 +199K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Quench (AidaRonan) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 9K - reread, all time forever fave with possibly my fave description of thick steve: 'built like a mack truck made out of ribeye' (all the simile action in this fic is fantastic tbh)

This Light-Struck Country (TentacleParty) - The Witcher: eskel/oc (monster), 18K - some truly quality monsterfucking

sunrise supplications (liadan14) - The Old Guard: kaysanova, 12K - great modern AU enemies-to-lovers with a very clever spin on joe & nicky's canonical meeting

Slow Boat to China (Penguinjava) - A Charm of Magpies series (KJ Charles): Merrick & Lucien, 7K - wonderful vignette of the boat trip to china after lucien's horrible father banished them & the foundation of their relationship

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Brooklyn Nine-Nine - s8, e1-4

Dirty Laundry - s3, e10

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Summer Breakdown" (s21, e2)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Fs Get Defgrees" (s16, e2)

Mrs Sidhu Investigates - s1, e1-4

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

⭐ Desert Island Discs - Greta Gerwig, writer and director

What Next: TBD - Is Your Car Tracking You?

Ologies with Alie Ward - Carcinology (CRABS) Part 1 with Adam Wall

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Our Emmys Recap

Switched on Pop - Soundalikes: Lil Nas X and Ariana Grande

⭐ The Sporkful - The Hidden Battle Over Grocery Store Shelves

99% Invisible #566 - Imitation Nation

Code Switch - The women who masterminded the Montgomery Bus Boycott

⭐ Films To Be Buried With - Joel Kim Booster

Just One Thing - Take Vitamin D

NPR's Book of the Day - 'The Golden Screen' chronicles the films that shaped the Asian American diaspora

Vibe Check - Wesley Morris, or Wesley Snipes?

Welcome to Night Vale - Bonus Ep: Riddle Guy

NPR's Book of the Day - 'The Frozen River' tells the fictionalized story of a real 18th century midwife

Sara & Cariad's Weirdos Book Club - Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer with Winnie M Li

Today, Explained - How the war in Gaza ends

99% Invisible - Power Broker #01: Robert Caro

Dear Prudence - I Spend Hours a Day Having Intense Romantic Daydreams. Help!

Endless Thread - Where's the Beef?

What Next: TBD - The Great British Library Hack

It's Been a Minute - The political power of white Evangelicals; plus, Biden and the Black church

Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - When Bad Commercials Become Cult Classics

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - David Oyelowo

You're Dead to Me - The Bloomsbury Group

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

The Definitive Croce

Classic Bedtime Favorites

Presenting Lionel Richie

'80s Pop Party

Green Day

Presenting Gordon Lightfoot

Presenting Steely Dan

#sunday reading recap #bookgeekgrrl's reading habits #bookgeekgrrl's soundtracks #fanfic ftw #mrs sidhu investigates #dimension 20 #fantasy high: junior year #green day #jim croce #gordon lightfoot #'80s music #steely dan #lionel richie #99% invisible podcast #vibe check podcast #you're dead to me podcast #endless thread podcast #films to be buried with podcast #switched on pop podcast #npr's code switch podcast #npr's pop culture happy hour podcast #ologies podcast #under the influence podcast #welcome to night vale #what next: tbd podcast #it's been a minute podcast #today��� explained podcast #npr's book of the day podcast #wait wait... don't tell me!

[nvr04mnd]

#the cure #robert smith #'80s #'80s music #post punk #the cure music #the same music over and over #music healing #tumblr memes

[dramasetter]

In a sea of faces, in a sea of doubt

In this cruel place your voice above the maelstrom

In the wake of this ship of fools I'm falling further down

If you can see me, Marian, reach out and take me home

I hear you calling Marian

Across the water, across the wave

#Goth #Gothic rock #Rock #the sisters of mercy #Sisters of mercy #Marian #Song #Music #'80s #'80s music #dramasetter #Spotify

[unicornery]

Hello to my lovely friends

If you want to have some fun and listen to cool tunes tonight, drop by the VJBigSuit twitch stream from 8-10pm central time. You don't need a twitch account to view the videos, but if you want to login I'm one of the mods and I will make sure no one is weird to you.

SUBSTANCE SEMESTER the first-Thursday-of-the-month video showcase of classic 80s/90s modern/"college" rock

this is the link: https://www.twitch.tv/vjbigsuit

The regular schedule is 8-10pm Tuesday nights, but that conflicts with the Best Show live airing on Tuesday nights, so the host Jeffrey created the first-of-the-month Thursday stream to give others a chance to get involved!

#'80s music #VJBigSuit #twitch

[marco-dalissimo-blog]

#youtube #spotify #music #love #'80s music

[rock-ette]

Mark Slaughter 

#mark slaughter #slaughter #slaughter band #classic rock #hair bands #1980s #80s #'80s rock #'80s music #rock n roll

[bayareabadboy]

Jimmy Page

#classic rock #rock #hard rock #heavy metal #led zeppelin #Jimmy Page #'70s music #'80s music

[mywifeleftme]

363: R.E.M. // Murmur

Murmur R.E.M. 1983, IRS

Some Short, Disconnected Statements on the Matter of Murmur

1. Insert the following into Waring blender

The Velvet Underground, Pylon, the Byrds, Gang of Four, Patti Smith, the Feelies, Joy Division, the Method Actors, Big Star, the dB’s, the Monkees. Press “Blend” button. (I’ve never owned a blender; I don’t know what the buttons say.)

2. Easy formula for a great band

Having one temperamental genius songwriter guy sounds kind of hard to maintain. Have you considered simply getting four people who are really excellent and distinctive at the respective things they do (at least three of them great singers), who all write well, get along, lack substance abuse issues, have good taste, and modest egos? Why don’t more bands do this?

3. Notes on the early discourse

A lot of the things people wrote back in the early ‘80s to champion this band were dumb as hell. R.E.M. weren’t good because they didn’t use keyboards or synths; pop music didn’t need to be returned to its "honest" folk-rock roots; giving them a thumbs up for not wearing flashy clothes and makeup is dork behaviour.

They were good because they made weird music that derived organically from their time (early ‘80s), place (a college town in the South), and selves (bright, independent, adventurous, sincere, ¼ gay).

Anyone who listened to Chronic Town or Murmur, with their post-punky murk and lyrical references to Laocoön and Marat, and thought to themselves, “As yes, the second coming of Roger McGuinn, this will put those effete new wavers to flight,” was an idiot.

4. Veteran of the psychic war

Somewhere around age 22, R.E.M. took over the mantle Metallica had held as My Favourite Band in the World Forever and Ever, and I proceeded to be almost as annoying about them as I had been Hetfield and the boys. I posted a lot about them; rigged “best music” polls on random message boards I didn’t even post on in their favour; cornered people at parties; crowbarred them into playlists; grumpily chose to dislike bands I saw as stealing their shine; etc. etc. Some (some) of this is maybe cute in retrospect, but really: don’t be like this about music. If you love a band this much, learn how to play their songs on an instrument; write a few poems; paint something. Worst case: review them.

5. Learning nothing, 2024

6. Athens: Lyrics & Enunciation

The matter of what exactly Stipe was singing on the early R.E.M. records was a subject of intense speculation, and eventually, parody. Some of the mystery’s in the mixing, some’s in his Georgian accent, and some’s in his enunciation (never quite as mushy as people claimed, but not exactly Ella Fitzgerald either). But most of it’s in the arbitrary decisions he makes with regard to syntax that cause even accurate transcriptions to seem implausible. Stipe is probably a little bit autistic, which goes some way to explaining the impressionistic intuitiveness of his words, and also went to art school, which fetishizes that sort of thing, but he was always shy of people seeing the words to something like “Sitting Still” on the page because he thought he might be exposed as a nincompoop. “Up to par and Katie bars / The kitchen side, but not me in / Sitting top of the big hill / Waste of time sitting still,” goes the chorus, according to at least one gnostic sect, but the important passage is the one everyone agrees on, when the stream of impassioned babble releases into a howled “I can hear you / Can you hear me?”

Later on, when he would sing more clearly over airy arrangements, with the lyrics neatly printed in the booklet, he’d occasionally try one of those old sound-over-sense moves and embarrass himself (“Leaving New York was never my proud” still rankles). But Murmur’s eternal elusiveness is in the way fragments of sense catch your ear from out of its sleeptalk glossolalia:

“The pilgrimage has gained momentum” “Conversation fear” “Lighted, lighted / Laughing in tune” “Hear the howl of the rope / A question” “A perfect circle of acquaintances and friends / Drink another, coin a phrase” “Shaking through / Opportune” “Take oasis” “Heaven assumes / Shoulders high in the room” “Did we miss anything?”

7. Permission to be arbitrary

I remember sitting in the basement of my college house with my old hometown buddy Brad (mostly a metal/classic rock guy), playing him “Shaking Through” and explaining one of the things I love about old R.E.M. is that it’s great music to yell to. I don’t know how much he really got it, but we were drunk and it’s a catchy song, so we howled and made keening, wordless, Stipean noises along with it and the next few until one of my roommates came and asked us to keep it down.

Also: one theory for why cats purr when they’re injured is that the vibrations somehow reduce pain and encourage healing. From many experiences humming these songs while wrapped up in headphones and bedsheets in the middle of a day that’s passing like a kidney stone, I can confirm.

8. Note on the modern discourse: Influence?

Black Francis, Kurt Cobain, Bob Mould, Steve Malkmus, Bob Pollard, and Thom Yorke loved R.E.M. So did, to his own apparent consternation, Metallica’s Cliff Burton. Still, you sit down with someone and listen to those musicians with the goal of showing them the R.E.M. influence (don’t do this, why would you do this?) and it’s honestly pretty oblique. Most of the bands who directly aped aspects of R.E.M.'s early sound were at best pleasantly minor (see Captured Tracks’ Strum & Thrum comp), and the ones who seemed to be listening most closely to their ‘90s efforts were not who you want.

Their ultimate influence was probably simply showing what an art-first, indie-adjacent rock band could accomplish by sticking to their guns and bending the system to their desires instead of being bent by it. They were like a Velvet Underground for the college rock era, except everyone talented who heard them was inspired to start a band that didn’t sound much like them. They always used their spotlight to introduce people to other bands and, when they really got huge, they modeled how to deal with success. There don’t seem to be many R.E.M. stories, Peter Buck’s airplane incident aside, about them being anything other than kind. That’s a fundamentally less exciting type of influence than most other “great” bands have. But I do think it’s kinda cool they were the wise old heads for an entire national movement of alternative music.

8b.

Of course, it still bugs me people don’t think they’re cool. Murmur at least, should be considered cool. And Reckoning, mostly. Chronic Town for sure. Some of Fables. Am I crazy for saying some of Monster and New Adventures even? I’ll stop. I’ll go on.

9(-9). The music

They were a pop band, they were an art band; they sounded like children, and like craggy old men buried in kudzu weed; natural and pretentious; date-stamped and timeless. Decide yourself. Happy 41st birthday Murmur.

363/365

#r.e.m. #rem #michael stipe #peter buck #bill berry #mike mills #murmur #mitch easter #jangle pop #athens music #athens #'80s music #college rock #alternative rock #indie rock #perfect circle #self indulgence #music review #vinyl record

[maintitle]

As I was wheeled into the OR today, the nurses that brought me in informed me that they would be listening to ‘80s music’ while they did surgery.  As I crossed the doorway, their music playlist shuffled to ‘Fortunate Son’, causing my vision to be filled with Vietnam imagery as I was laid upon the table for people to poke around my chest.

It wasn’t until I got in the car to get home that I remembered Fortunate Son came out in 1969.

#tw: surgery #creedence clearwater revival #Fortunate Son #'80s music #'60s music #Apocalypse Now

[sinesindensineme]

birden çok yüreği öpen kalbin bana tükürürmüş . ben yağmur sandım ya

#'80s music #spotify #slow music #music #emir can iğrek #beyaz skandalım #beyaz leke #müzik kutusu #love #3391kilometre #wattpad #01.01 bugün adımı sen koy #art

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

Happy birthday, Stuart Adamson! (11 April 1958 – 16 December 2001)

"For me, being in a band is writing songs and playing the guitar. The most important response we can get is if one of our songs can affect someone's life in the same way a song can affect my life, if someone can just identify with it." (x)

#happy birthday #Stuart Adamson #Big Country #classic rock #rock music #'80s music #gifs #my gifs #I wish he was still here with us. I'm sure he knows he is greatly missed.