Author: ifmyalbumscouldtalk

Today, we burst into the Top 20 of my favorite New Wave albums. I hope this ride has been as enjoyable as it has been for you as it has been for me. Each album represents a small stroll down memory lane for me, back to a simpler time. Well, let’s just jump into the countdown!

20. The B-52’s – The B-52’s (1979). This album was THE party album of 1979, while opening the door to a fantastic music scene down in Athens, Georgia with bands like R.E.M., Pylon and others. Supposedly, this album inspired John Lennon to re-enter the whole rock life. Lennon thought The B-52’s signified that rock music had finally caught up to his wife’s, Yoko Ono’s, music. “Rock Lobster” was the hit, but this album is stuffed full of party tunes.

19. David Bowie – Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (1980). That’s right! The Godfather of most Eighties music released his best new wave album near the beginning of the show. This album is a slightly more commercial version than the three previously released albums known as “The Berlin Trilogy.” An album that contains “Ashes to Ashes” AND “Fashion” has got to be a great album. And, this album is great.

18. Various Artists – Times Square Soundtrack (1980). Back in 1980, Robert Stigwood was on a something of a roll with movies and their soundtracks, like Saturday Night Fever, Grease and, to a certain extent, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Stigwood had the idea to base a movie around a nice collection of fantastic New Wave tunes from the likes of XTC, Talking Heads, Gary Numan and so many other great artist of the era. Too bad the movie was terrible because the soundtrack is timeless.

17. Tom Tom Club – Tom Tom Club (1981). After Talking Heads released their seminal world music-influenced Remain in Light album, the four heads went on to make great albums on their own. David Byrne and Brian Eno continued their foray into African music-rock and roll fusion on their terrific My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, while the versatile Jerry Harrison released his outstanding Red and Black album. The married rhythm section of drummer Chris Franz and bassist Tina Weymouth formed their own band that took the lessons from Remain in Light and set it to fun lyrics, while loosening the reigns on the musicians to create the highly influential Tom Tom Club album. At the time, rock radio said this band sounded “too black” (how racist!) for their playlists, yet, as if we are living through a revisionist’s history, their first single “Genius of Love” is played quite often on the radio in Central Indiana now. It should too! It’s one of the more sampled songs in rock history.

16. Culture Club – Colour by Numbers (1983). While working in Wisconsin, Culture Club’s “Time (Clock of My Heart)” was riding high on the charts here in the States. A group of young Brits had just arrived to work at the resort the week that a whole bar sang “Time” together during the weekly “Talent” Show after party. I remember a young man from the British group telling me that if I like “Time”, then I will LOVE Culture Club’s next album. Boy, was he correct! This was a Motown-update tour de force. “Karma Chameleon” is the timeless hit. “Church of the Poisoned Mind” was a huge hit at the time. But, “Victims”, the closing song, is the heart and soul of the album. Unfortunately, the band never lived up to the expectations laid down by this album, as singer/songwriter Boy George succumbed to the dreaded drug monster. Still, Colour by Numbers stands as a testament to the greatness of this band.

15. Duran Duran – Rio (1982). This album kicked off the whole “Beatles of the Eighties” thing. This album is arguably Duran Duran’s finest moment. And, coupled with their cutting edge videos, the singles “Hungry like the Wolf” and “Rio” stand out. Video-wise, the band might have been the Pink Floyd of the video era in that Duran-squared pushed the medium as much as the Floyd pushed the aural aspects on their albums. This album is ground zero for the Duran Duran-mania that followed.

14. The Knack – Get the Knack (1979). This album has gotten a raw deal over the years. The whole “Knuke the Knack” thing was funny, but not meant to put a hex on the band. I’m sure the Baby Boomers were not ready for New Wave to push their tired artists, such as Zeppelin, the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. But, for a glorious two months during the Summer of 1979, The Knack ruled the charts, as both the album and their timeless single “My Sharona” topping the charts for extended periods of time. Of course, their management screwed up their whole career (who in the world tells the hottest band in the whole not to perform at the Grammys or on Saturday Night Live!), but this album is proof The Knack had the goods.

13. The Cure – Disintegration (1989). Throughout the Eighties, I had fun calling the great music created by The Cure “mope rock.” You have to realize that I feel in love with this band’s music the moment I heard it for the first time after we moved to Oxford, Ohio, back in 1986. But, I always enjoyed their compilation Staring at the Sea more than their individual album, at least, until they released Disintegration. This album represents leader Robert Smith’s finest moment, as he balanced all of his dark moods with the lighter sides of life. This album is immortal if only for their sexy song “Lovesong” (and, no, Adele did NOT improve this song!), but the whole album is a great statement.

12. Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo (1978). Like I have said before, everything changed for me the moment I saw Devo on Saturday Night Live. This band was made for the video era. But, you don’t need to see them to enjoy Devo. While the band created some outstanding albums, this one remains the game-changer. Plus, where else can you hear their version of the Stones’ immortal hit “Satisfaction” (this one really pissed off the Boomers!), as well as “Uncontrollable Urge”, “Jocko Homo” and the totally un-PC “Mongoloid”. This is a classic worthy of the word.

11. New Order – Substance 1987 (1987). Yes, this is technically a compilation album. But, it is a compilation of this alternative dance band’s 12-inch remix songs. And the remixes all pump more life into already lively songs. “Bizarre Love Triangle” remains my favorite New Order song, not matter how it is edited. The same goes for “True Faith” and “Celebration” and “Perfect Kiss” and “Blue Monday” and…

Whew! Those ten albums are STRONG! How did they not get into my Top 10? I really think I sat on this list a while, so I think you will like the Top 10 if you liked today’s list. Finally, wish me luck as I begin an endeavor to lose weight. As a sufferer of chronic pain, I can no longer run or play basketball or lift weights or anything much more than walking my small dogs about 100 to 200 meters (track and science people think in the metric system!). So, NutriSystem, here I go! Keep on rockin’ in the free world!

I cannot believe how enjoyable this countdown has been for me. Usually when I tackle a countdown, I begin my research a couple months in advance. I pull out my old albums. I listen to CDs. I even, against my growing disdain for the format, listen to music on my computer and iPod. And, lately, I have been using a streaming service in order to find obscure music. Still, I prefer my music in the physical form. I guess, according to researchers on such topics, that preference for an album on vinyl or CD points to the fact that I am getting old, since older folk prefer their music on physical means.

But, I started my modest collection when I was in grade school, so I should not be surprised that I prefer my music in a physical form. When you have an album in vinyl or CD form, you also get all of the information that I enjoyed reading: lyrics, recording credits and, most importantly, a track list. I guess that’s the historian in me. Needless to say, my collection is dominated by New Wave and Power Pop music, which, back in the late-Seventies, were lumped together under the New Wave banner. So, in honor of that great music, let’s get back to the countdown! Today, we are covering numbers 21 through 30. Roll tape!

30. Nick Lowe – Jesus of Cool (known in the USA as Pure Pop for Now People) (1978). Most of remember Nick Lowe for his terrific hit single from 1979 “Cruel to Be Kind”. But, his solo career began with this flawless album that for reasons unknown to me never really produced a top single, although this is full of great songs such as “So It Goes.”

29. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts – I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll (1981). Back in 1981, Joan Jett was a dominant creative force at the time behind this album and the number one single title song, which was a cover of The Arrows’ Glam song. This the album that established Jett as the biggest female rocker at the time, along with The Go-Go’s and Pat Benetar.

28. Cyndi Lauper – She’s So Unusual (1983). Lauper was the perfect woman to a represent New Wave: she was quirky; had a unique singing voice; and had a television presence that all worked together to blast her into the stratosphere. Many of us felt Lauper would have been the more successful singer when compared to Madonna back in the day. That didn’t happen, but, at least, we have She’s So Unusual as proof of that assertion.

27. Joe Jackson – Look Sharp! (1979). Is there ever been a hit song that summed up the frustrations of being a teenaged boy than “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” And, Look Sharp! is full of so of universal teen angst terms. This album was a great reason for all of the Elvis Costello comparisons.

26. Orange Juice – Rip It Up (1982). Orange Juice was a popular New Wave band from the UK. Unfortunately, this terrific album was nearly totally overlooked here in the States. Yes, I am a Johnny-come-late-to-the-party with regards to Orange Juice. But, as the cliche goes, better late than never. This album will only improve with age. This is British power pop at its finest.

25. Billy Idol – Rebel Yell (1983). Idol perfected his punk/metal/pop mix on this album. Although I will always associate Billy Idol with his great remake of his old band’s, Generation X, hit “Dancing with Myself”, Rebel Yell is stuffed with hits like the title song, “Eyes Without a Face” and “Flesh for Fantasy.”

24. Tears for Fears – Songs from the Big Chair (1985). This English duo switched from a synth pop sound to a more sweeping, panoramic arena rock sound to great success as this album topped the US Album Chart. This terrific album had two number one hits on it with the power pop “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and “Shout”.

23. Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (1979). Most of us here in the States did not learn about this band until after lead singer Ian Curtis’ suicide. But, once we heard this band’s brand of darkness, we were hooked. Yet, the was some glimmer of light shining through this haunting music.

22. The Human League – Dare (1981). This album and its big hit, “Don’t You Want Me”, was an example of a synth pop album that really sounded like a rock album. It’s almost as though The Human League were trying to make their own Dark Side of the Moon, except the League left off the strange voices.

21. Peter Gabriel – So (1986). This is the album during which the world finally caught up with Peter Gabriel. No longer would Gabriel be a cult artist. Now, he has a number one album (this one), number one song (“Sledgehammer”) and one of the five greatest rock videos of all-time (“Sledgehammer”). And, I haven’t even mentioned “In Your Eyes,” “Big Time” and “Don’t Give Up.”

Oh boy! We are getting close to the top. Just hang on for two more days! See you all tomorrow!

Today is Day 2 of my wife’s Spring Break. A year ago, we were getting ready to fly out to see Son#1 and his beautiful wife and then travel to New York City for a week-long visit. This year, we were expecting to be helping out my step-father with his post-surgery recuperation, but that was unexpected cancelled due to a blood test, So, now, we are stuck at home just trying to find things to do so we aren’t, in the words of Bruce Springsteen from a 1985 concert we attended, “just having to look at each other’s face again tonight.” That was such a great, funny introduction to his song “No Surrender”.

However, today is not about The Boss, it’s about some great New Wave music. This is Day 7 of my countdown, which means we are beginning to list the albums that are part of the Top 40 of this list. Specifically, we are counting down albums 31 through 40. Hold on tight, as the numbers get smaller and the hits get larger. On with the countdown!

40. Marshall Crenshaw – Marshall Crenshaw (1982). Power Pop’s second era had ended two years earlier when Crenshaw burst on the scene like a mix between John Lennon and Buddy Holly. This album is full of Power Pop delights, such as ” Someday, Someway”, “Cynical Girl” and “Mary Ann”.

39. Depeche Mode – Music for the Masses (1987). When Depeche Mode first started recording, they were a run-of-the-mill synth pop group, led by Vince Clark, who later formed Yaz and Erasure. Clark left after the first album, so it took the guys to forge their own, darker sound. Now, their efforts came to fruition on this brilliant goth album.

38. Scritti Politti – Cupid & Psyche 85 (1985). What’s more subversive than a former leftist punk going full-tilt pop? That’s exactly what Green did with his band Scritti Politti. And their big hit, “Perfect Way”, was the perfect vehicle to announce this abrupt change in musical directions.

37. Adam Ant – Friend or Foe (1982). The world’s favorite proponent of the “Burundi Beat”, that Central African tribal drumming style that Ant co-opted for his own. In his hands, the beats are tempered a bit and the songwriting is tight. Plus, who didn’t love “Goody Two Shoes”. “Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do?”

36. Eurythmics – Touch (1984). This album represented the duo’s peak of synth pop backing a white soul singer juxtaposition. After this album, the Eurythmics will drop the synth part and begin making rocking soulful pop. But, on this album they perfected the icy sound backing Annie Lennox’ vocals to great effect on “Here Comes the Rain Again” and the sublime “Who’s That Girl”.

35. The Go-Go’s – Beauty and the Beat (1981). Sure, The Runaways were the first all-female rock band, but it wasn’t until The Go-Go’s debut album that an all-female band hit number one on the Billboard Album Chart for the first time in history, opening the doors for Bangles, the Donnas and so many others.

34. INXS – Kick (1987). In the same year during which U2 released their classic album The Joshua Tree, another band made a similar statement on their latest album that same year: INXS with their multi-platinum mega-hit Kick. The band perfected their Stones-on-dance-rhythms sound on this album that ended up being their commercial zenith.

33. Squeeze – Argybargy (1980). It was on this album that Squeeze’s songwriting duo Chris Difford and Glenn Tillbrook started to be compared to Lennon and McCartney. It may have been unfair to place that albatross around the duo’s necks, but they rose to the occasion multiple times in the future. Still, Argybargy represents Squeeze finding their own pop/rock voice.

32. Ramones – Road to Ruin (1978). Yes, the Ramones started punk rock with their self-titled debut album in 1976. But, by 1978, the foursome wanted radio airplay, so they cleaned up the rough edges from the previous three album’s sound while coming up with this New Wave classic. Plus, any album that contains as brilliant of a single as “I Wanna Be Sedated” is, that album would be a hands-down classic.

31. Blondie – Parallel Lines (1978). This was the album that broke Blondie around the world. And, their became one of the biggest bands in the world with this punk/New Wave classic. In addition to the disco parody “Heart of Glass”, this album contains the Pogo-inducing “One Way or Another” and “Hanging on the Telephone,” a cover of the immortal Nerves’ song.

Three days to go until we find out which album is my number one of all-time. I feel as though I have listed some classics so far. But, the best has yet to come. Tune in same Bat-time, same Bat-channel! Rock on!

Today is Day 6 of the countdown of my Top 100 New Wave Albums, specifically numbers 41 through 50. Yes, that means we are moving downhill in this two-week countdown of one of my favorite eras AND genres of rock music. And, yes, I realize that I have many emotions of a simpler time tied in with this music as the heighten senses of a teen/twenty-something will put with their favorite songs of an era. And, my thing happens to be with this music. Many of these songs are associated with some extremely emotional moments in my life that I could never share. Yet, those memories are what intensifies our reactions to music. And, that’s a beautiful thing.

So, enough of my waxing poetic, let’s start the countdown before I get lost on Memory Lane again. That stupid street doesn’t always have a road map.

50. Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes (1983). I spent the Summer of ’83 in Southeastern Wisconsin working at a resort. That was a crazy summer of work, partying, great music and my introduction to the music of Violent Femmes. Never had I heard a band who played acoustic instruments rock so hard. There is a reason we remember “Blister in the Sun” and “Add It Up” to this day.

49. Pet Shop Boys – Please (1986). The Pet Shop Boys were a late entry into the synth pop sweepstakes, but they may have outlasted all of their genre competitors by making their synthesizers rock as hard as guitars and filling their music with more pop hooks that a fisherman’s tackle box.

48. The Vapors – New Clear Days (1980). Most of my friends thought that The Vapors’ lone hit, “Turning Japanese”, was a novelty hit. But, this album is stuffed full of more great pop songs than the Bay City Rollers’ Greatest Hits album. Let that one sink in.

47. The Psychedelic Furs – Forever Now (1982). The band whose music always seemed to end up in John Hughes’ movies had a great run of albums in the early Eighties with this Todd Rundgren-produced album being the bands most focused effort. “Love My Way” was the big hit on this one.

46. Boomtown Rats – The Fine Art of Surfacing (1979). In late 1979 or early 1980, I saw the Rats on American Bandstand, lip syncing the UK megahit “I Don’t Like Mondays”. I immediately drove to Sun Records to place an order for a copy of this album. What I discovered was this album was filled with fine music of great diversity, from the rocking “Someone’s Looking at You” to the quirky “Wind Chill Factor (Minus Zero)” to the baroque “I Don’t Like Mondays”, the Rats were at their creative peak. Unfortunately, the album fell on the deaf ears of radio programmers.

45. The [English] Beat – Special Beat Service (1982). The Beat created this sophisticated version of ska, and it caught on with the public behind such hits as “I Confess” and “Save It for Later”. Just a great album, simply put.

44. Gary Numan – The Pleasure Principle (1979). If it wasn’t for this album, Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails might have sounded different. Numan mined synth pop’s icy, detached side for great effect of isolation. Plus, everyone loved the hit “Cars”.

43. Pretenders – Pretenders (1980). The debut album by Pretenders remains the band’s best and most focused album of their illustrious career. How things might have been different if guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon hadn’t OD’ed within a year of each other. This album shows what might have been.

42. Roxy Music – Avalon (1982). Next to David Bowie, Roxy Music just may be the second most important artist to New Wave artists everywhere. And, although Roxy began as a glam rock group, they too evolve with the times so much so that by the release of Avalon, they were now New Wave artists. Few could have made this success change.

41. ABC – The Lexicon of Love (1982). The youth of the late-Seventies and early-Eighties were in love with Motown music. So, it was very little surprise when a New Wave band from the UK called ABC repackaged the sound and shipped it back to us in the States. And, we ate this stuff up! Thanks should go to the band for helping us rediscover that Motown sound. The success of this album paved the way for the mega-success of The Big Chill soundtrack that was stuffed full of Motown hits.

Now, we are ready for the Top 40! Hold onto your pants. Be back tomorrow.

Happy Friday everybody! Remember when we lived for “Thirsty Thursday” and the unofficial opening to the weekend. How we always played Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend” or Elvis Costello’s “Welcome to the Working Week” or The Easybeats’ “Friday on My Mind”. Well, time’s have changed, the party train has been parked (it’s a little rusty and needs a bunch of maintenance), so I find the weekend a time for decompression more than anything. In the meantime, let’s continue the countdown in order to get to the halfway point. Today, we are covering albums in the positions 51 through 60.

60. Various Artists – Valley Girl Soundtrack (1983). This is the movie that launched Nicholas Cage as a leading man but is better known for its killer new wave line-up. The Plimsouls are seen playing their most famous song, “A Million Miles Away”, as a band at a dance. Josie Cotton’s immortal “Johnny, Are You Queer?”, Modern English’s New Wave love song “I Melt with You”, The Flirts’ fun “Jukebox (Don’t Put Another Dime)”, The Payola$’ haunting “Eyes of a Stranger” and “Love My Way” by the Psychedelic Furs lead the way on this impeccable collection of New Wave hits and should-have-been hits.

59. Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984). Sure, the album is a bit pretentious and over-indulgent, as most double albums are to begin with. But, issuing a double album as the group’s debut? Well, that is over the top. But, when you have such classics as “Relax” and the incomparable “Two Tribes”, then I guess I can give the band a pass.

58. Fine Young Cannibals – The Raw & the Cooked (1988). Fine Young Cannibals was the brainchild of two former members of the English Beat; however, it was singer Roland Gift who stole the show with his young soulful voice full of pain pleading on the mega-hit of 1988, “She Drives Me Crazy”. Unfortunately, FFC never released another album. However, I do recommend their debut album (Fine Young Cannibals, 1985) as another great album to listen to. Unfortunately, they only have two albums in their discography, which is a shame.

57. Yazoo (aka Yaz) – Upstairs at Eric’s (1982). Right after keyboardist and songwriter Vince Clark left Depeche Mode, he formed Yazoo, also known as Yaz, with husky-voiced Alison Moyet, to record this classic album, along with another, before he disbanded this project to go form the electronic band Erasure. Yaz released a couple of terrific songs with “Don’t Go’ and “Only You”.

56. The Art of Noise – (Who’s Afraid of) The Art of Noise (1983). The Art of Noise was the studio vehicle for mega-producer Trevor Horn, who had been a member of the Buggles and Yes for one album. This album is full of studio wizardry that was mind-blowing at the time. However, the US audience seemed to treat The Art of Noise more as a novelty act rather than the actual band they became. Still, The Art of Noise were dancefloor favorites, as “Close (To the Edit)” and “Beat Box (Diversion One)” proved.

55. Buggles – The Age of Plastic (1979). This album is famous for “Video Killed the Radio Star”. And if this were the only good song on the album, the album would still be considered a landmark. However, the album is full of potential hits. The band members of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes went on to greater things, with the former becoming one of the greatest producers of the Eighties, and the latter joining the supergroup Asia as a keyboardist.

54. Madness – One Step Beyond (1979). Madness was the best of the Twin Tone label-backed ska-revival band. And, “One Step Beyond” was the band’s signature song, an instrumental hyperactive ska song that cracked up the American market for this punked out Jamaican sound of ska and its smooth older brother reggae.

53. The Church – Starfish (1988). I once read that this album’s hit single, “Under the Milky Way”, had been voted Australia’s Favorite Song of All-Time, which is quite a statement since the country gave us The Easybeats, AC/DC, The Saints, Midnight Oil and so many others. Still, this album is a great album to relax to.

52. Talk Talk – It’s My Life (1984). I know that most critics love Talk Talk’s next two albums more than this one. But, I love title song. Plus, the rest of the album showed more of a Roxy Music influence than their hyper debut album forecasted. Plus, No Doubt did a respectable, and respectful, cover of that title song.

51. Wall of Voodoo – Call of the West (1982). I saw Wall of Voodoo open for Devo in concert during a live, closed circuit, “3-D” showing, and Wall of Voodoo was outstanding. The album is so much more than the hit “Mexican Radio”. It may be the quirkiest album released during the New Wave era, and Frank Zappa was quite prolific during that time period. However, Wall of Voodoo never lost track of their pop hooks in their songs.

That’s it for this week people! And, we are half-way through the countdown. I wish everyone a safe and exciting weekend. Cheers!

Today is Day Four in my countdown of the Top 100 New Wave Albums of the original era of this terrific music. For me, the era began when I first purchased Cheap Trick’s In Color in the Fall of 1977. And, I have read that the genre began simultaneously with the punk era, since there is relatively no separation between the two related genres. Basically, we can think of New Wave as Punk’s tame little National Honor Society member brother. Distilled down, Punk is about revolution, and New Wave is about fun pop music. Yet, both share DNA, even artists.

With that said, let’s get on with our countdown.

70. M – New York – London – Paris – Munich (1979). To start, M is the project of Robin Scott. And, everyone knows his lone hit, “Pop Muzik”, was a number one hit throughout the world, then he disappeared. At least he left behind a pretty interesting album of synth pop music.

69. Flash and the Pan – Flash and the Pan (1979). Flash and the Pan were a new wave project of former Easybeats and production/songwriting team of Harry Vanda and George Young, older brother of AC/DC guitar duo Angus and the late Malcolm Young. This album is known for the terrific single “Hey St. Peter.”

68. A Flock of Seagulls – A Flock of Seagulls (1982). First off, this album is an awesome album mix of new wave pop music and AOR guitars that was putting the band onto rock radio. But, when lead singer Mike Scott gave himself that stupid yet iconic hair style, the band’s luck began to wane. At least this album gave us “I Ran (So Faraway)” and “Space Age Love Song”.

67. Crowded House – Crowded House (1986). After the seminal Australian new wave band Split Enz called it a day, Neil Finn started Crowded House. The band’s debut album has all of the pop chops of the Enz without all of that band’s pretentious art band stylings.  This album is the reason Crowded House is the most success rock band in New Zealand history.

66. The Power Station – The Power Station (1985). When Duran Duran reached the pinnacle of their success, when the members decided to decompress in 1985 and follow their own muses. Guitarist Andy Taylor and bassist John Taylor hooked up with Chic drummer Tony Thompson and singer Robert Palmer to create a great super band with the aid of producer Bernard Edwards. This album is a fun concoction of Chic funk, Sex Pistols punk and T. Rex glam for a perfect. “Some Like It Hot” is a sexy slice of pop/rock/dance heaven.

65. Split Enz – True Colours (1980). As Australia’s first successful band not named AC/DC, Split Enz earned a world-wide hit in 1980 with “I Got You” and this album. At least on this album the Enz toned down their Peter Gabriel-inspired quirky dress and focused on their songcraft, which obviously paid big dividends.

64. Haircut One Hundred – Pelican West (1982). Nick Heyward, the creative mind of this band, showed off his songwriting skills immediately on this new wave classic of great pop songs with Caribbean undercurrents while the band sported preppy clothing. After this album, Heyward went on to a critically successful solo career. The band had two hit songs from this album: “Love Plus One,” “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl),” “Fantastic Day” and “Nobody’s Fool”, all UK Top Ten hits.

63.  Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady (1980). Buzzcocks were ground zero for the whole pop punk phenomenon of the Nineties and beyond. And, this album is the perfect introduction to the bands’ music, as it is a compilation of singles from other albums, non-LP singles and B-sides. In any case, it is a classic album.

62. Bram Tchaikovsky – Strange Man, Changed Man (1979). After Tchaikovsky left The Motors, he started a new band with his name. And, this debut album is a near perfect power pop classic. The album is led by “Girl of My Dreams” and “Lady from the USA”, both odes to some messed-up love affairs between a man and sex dolls. Listen closely to the lyrics.

61. General Public – All the Rage (1985). When The English Beat broke up, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger started General Public as their new project, while the others went on to form Fine Young Cannibals. General Public’s debut album was the best, spawning two great Top 40 hits that should have been bigger hits than they were. The first, “Tenderness”, went light on the ska and heavy on the pop to create a plea for utopian love, while “General Public” was more of the band’s mission statement. Unfortunately, the duo could not follow up this great album.

Well, sports fans, we are now three-fifths the way through this countdown. I hope its stirring up some memories.

Just a reminder that Record Store Day is coming in mid-April, and the list of special vinyl and cassette releases has been posted on the holiday’s website, http://www.recordstoreday.com. Bowie fans, there are three new vinyl releases scheduled for that day. The list is long and interesting, and, in my humble opinion, lacks any true must-haves. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to the day.

Welcome to Day Three of my self-indulgent countdown of my 100 favorite albums from the original Golden Age of pop/rock/dance music called New Wave. Technically, those years ran from the mid-Seventies to the beginning of Nineties Alternative Nation. And, although most of us were impressionable kids back when this music was popular, New Wave is considered to be a great era for music. In other words, we were lucky to be alive during this time period, although I personally never want to go back to my teenage years without the wisdom I have gained through my “hard knock life.”

Enough of this! Let’s get to the countdown of Day Three of my countdown of the Top 100 New Wave Albums.

80. Midnight Oil – Diesel and Dust (1988). In the wake of U2’s Joshua Tree, artists were making grandiose statements both lyrically and musically. Australia’s Midnight Oil was primed for such a leap in their music when they released Diesel and Dust, which was all about the plight of Australia’s Aboriginal population. The difference with this band was the lead singer actually entered government work in the climate department by helping the country make a positive impression. This is one band who actually put money where their mouths were.

79. Berlin – Pleasure Victim (1982). L.A.’s Berlin represented the USA’s entry into synth pop sweepstakes with the release of their debut album, Pleasure Victim. While the music was pure European, the lyrics of female sexual awakening was purely American. The best songs are “Sex (I’m A…)” and “The Metro”.

78. XTC – Drums and Wires (1979). Before XTC became known for their take on lush Rubber Soul-like pop music in the mid-Eighties and beyond, they were a new wave band with herky-jerky rhythms ripe for Pogo-ing on the dancefloor. Drums and Wires was their finest album of this stage of their career, with the great “Making Plans for Nigel” being the hit song here.

77. The Undertones – The Undertones (1979). Their are two versions of this album. My preference is the re-release of the album because it includes The Undertones’ greatest single “Teenage Kicks”. That song alone is worth the price of admission, but the rest of the album is excellent as well. This album is highly regarded in the UK, where it is often listed at the top, or very near the top, of numerous polls of the greatest albums of the Seventies. Here, The Undertones is a footnote and a cult delight.

76. Men at Work – Business as Usual (1982). This album ruled the American album chart in the second half of 1982, battling John Cougar’s American Fool and Asia’s self-titled debut album for Album of the Year in the States. This is pure pop for the new wave crowd, as the band from down under taught Americans how to have fun again.

75. Katrina & the Waves – Katrina & the Waves (1985). Group leader and lead singer and songwriter Kimberly Rew had been a fixture around London during the punk days of the Seventies, being in and out of bands quickly until she finally formed Katrina & the Waves in the early-Eighties. Their debut album was full of great songs written from a powerful woman’s point of view, not unlike Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. But, they became known for a song that is a slice of Power Pop heaven, “Walking on Sunshine”. It’s not anyone’s fault that the band got reduced to one song, which is a shame because this album is terrific.

74. Echo & the Bunnymen – Crocodiles (1980). When Echo & the Bunnymen hopped on the scene, they were being touted as New Wave’s answer to The Doors. And, the similarities are striking if you go looking for them: deep, gloomy lyrics; lower-registered vocals from the singer; dark musical soundscape. Still, the band was not the second coming of The Doors. No, they were the first coming of Echo & the Bunnymen, and they, along with Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Cure, and the other goths brought some much needed darkness to this pop scene.

73. Rick Springfield – Working Class Dog (1981). I got over the fact that Springfield was acting on the soap opera General Hospital when he released this Power Pop gem of an album. Led by the great singles “Jesse’s Girl” and “I’ve Done Everything for You”, Working Class Dog was easily Springfield’s most muscular album and his most consistent.

72. Bananarama – Deep Sea Skiving (1983). Before Bananarama became New Wave’s own Supremes, they were the female street urchin trio with great songs that sounded as if Motown had nurtured these women. The band did a terrific job of finding the right songs for their debut album, with the highlights being a cover of Paul Weller’s “Dr. Love” and the singles “Shy Boy” and “Na Na, Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)”, a cover of Steam’s 1969 hit.

71. The Waitresses – Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? (1982). The Waitresses burst onto MTV with the video of their first single, the sassy “I Know What Boys Like,” the theme song of all the teases of the day. But, that wasn’t the only song this post-punk band from Akron, Ohio had on their debut album. It was a unique album as the band’s songwriter was a man, Chris Butler, who wrote songs from a strong woman’s point-of-view. He then discovered the perfect vehicle for his songs in lead singer Patty Donahue, who possessed just the right amount of sassy-ness necessary to pull of Butler’s songs. It’s a shame that these two creative forces could not have lasted together long, since they also created the eternal New Wave Christmas standard “Christmas Wrapping”, which, unfortunately, is not on this album. This may be THE lost classic album of the era.

That’s a wrap on Day 3! And, I am looking forward to working on this over the next seven days, before my Spring Break hiatus.

Even though New Wave is considered to be a singles genre, I believe the reason the genre has so many great songs is that there are a large number of fantastic albums. Plus, many of those albums are now considered classics. When compared to glam or punk, New Wave’s hold upon the late Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers is the high quality of songwriting that was put into the songs. Plus, may of those artists created albums that contained multiple hit songs.

Of course, this genre is not without is share of posers. Yet, overall, there is a large number of quality acts. So, let’s get on with today’s countdown.

90. Bangles – All Over the Place (1984). As the most successful band from L.A.’s Paisley Underground scene, the Bangles burst onto the scene with this Beatlesque masterpiece that fully displayed a formidable band with four distinct personalities, songwriting points-of-view and voices that blended together like sweet honey. Their full-length debut album remains their best.

89. Utopia – Utopia (1982). Todd Rundgren’s band of four musicians recording in a total democratic environment released this corker of an album upon an unsuspecting public that was ready for the band’s progression from a art/prog band to an AOR band to a power pop band to a new wave band on this album. And, they made the whole transition seem so effortless. FYI Utopia fans: they are reuniting for a tour this spring.

88. Spandau Ballet – True (1983). These New Romantics stumbled upon their updated Motown sound simply by chance. But, once they did, they made an album for the ages. No other music the band created in their career ever reached the heights of this one. Plus, the timeless title song is one for the ages.

87. The Tubes – The Completion Backwards Principle (1981). When The Tubes burst on the scene back in 1975, they were something beyond description, almost like a traveling performance art ensemble-cum-Broadway show on tour-via-a-rock-band with a sound that was equal parts punk, art rock and Rocky Horror. But, the band pared down the membership to only musicians, bought matching suits and became a rock band of corporate AOR raiders on this new wave classic. This album was everything that The Tubes had been promising since they debut album.

86. Tracey Ullman – You Broke My Heart in 17 Places (1983). Before Tracey Ullman displayed her greatness in her late-Eighties sketch comedy variety show, The Tracey Ullman Show (NOTE: The Simpsons debuted on this show!), on FOX, she dropped this masterpiece ode to the girl group sounds of the Sixties. This whole album is pure fun.

85. The Romantics – The Romantics (1980). Detroit’s The Romantics burst on the scene like a modern day Kinks as their debut single “What I Like About You” blasted through radio speakers announcing The Romantics were here. Unfortunately, the band slowly softened their sound in an effort to guess what the radio. But, at least we have this metal-melting album of superhero-proportions.

84. Big Country – The Crossing (1983). Rolling Stone once described this album as having guitars louder than AC/DC. Well, I wouldn’t have used such hyperbole to describe this album, but the guitars are aggressive and, at times, sound like bagpipes. However you want to describe Big Country, they at least brought the guitar back to new wave.

83. Stray Cats – Built for Speed (1982). Literally, anything was a go during the New Wave days of the Eighties. So, these New Yorkers who moved across the pond to jolly old England to find an audience ready for some big time retro rockabilly. And, the Stray Cats gave it to them. So, their record company compiled the best cuts from their two UK releases, titled it Built for Speed and brought rockabilly back to the masses in America. “Rock This Town” or “Stray Cat Strut”, which do you prefer? Can’t go wrong with either.

82. Various Artists – Pretty in Pink Soundtrack (1987). John Hughes tapped into the whole youthful Gen X zeitgeist in his teen films of the Eighties. And, his films’ soundtracks were impeccable. But, Pretty in Pink remains his finest soundtrack statement of Eighties youth angst.

81. Love and Rockets – Love and Rockets (1989). These goth rockers finally got the hit they deserved with the highly sensual “So Alive”. Still, this album, along with The Cure and Depeche Mode, brought the goth scene to the States, and darkness has never been so beautiful as on this album.

Now, we are twenty albums into this countdown, and I have been discovering just how timeless this music is. Long live New Wave!

For my regular readers, you probably have noticed that I have been on something of an Eighties music kick lately. Let’s just say that I have been going through my collection and pulling out albums that I have not listened to in ages. And, when I enjoy something I am doing, I like to go overboard a bit and get hyperfocused on a subject until I totally have ripped through that subject matter as if I were earning a PhD in that particular subject. Not to make light of mental illness, but it is a symptom of being ADHD. As my long-time friends know, I have always have a short attention span; yet, I was never diagnosed until I was in my late thirties. Anyway, I make a very cognizant effort to compensate by remaining organized, writing checklists and other methods to aide me without relying on medication.

Still, the hyperfocused moments tend to yield some fine ideas, though I do wish that I could stretch the hyperfocused moments for longer periods of time so I could write a book or a screenplay. But, for now, let’s get on with the outcome of my latest obsessive behavior. First, I have been totally re-enjoying my fifteen-CD set of Rhino’s Just Can’t Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the ’80s that were released in clusters of five CDs during the years of 1994 and 1995. On each CD, Rhino has placed 15 to 17 songs from the New Wave era from 1978 through the late Eighties. This is the most complete collection of the finest examples of pop/rock songs from the era. However, the set is missing some key artists, such as Elvis Costello and Eurythmics, in addition to key cuts by Duran Duran, among others. Still, overall, this is the finest collection of New Wave songs, giving credence to the belief that this genre was a singles medium. But I would like to put an end to that notion.

Over the next two weeks, I am going to present my Top 100 New Wave Albums from that Golden Era of New Wave music. Yes, I will acknowledge that there are many fine artists out there right now who are part of a loosely-arranged scene of Post-Punk/New Wave revivalists creating something excellent music today that sounds as if the music were from those glory days of the late-Seventies and early-Eighties. Artists such as No Doubt, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand and my beloved DREAMCAR are all of this ilk. But, I am sticking with the music of my youth.

So, over the next ten days of this blog, I invite you to jump into my Wayback Machine as we travel back nearly 40 years ago to put lay to the myth that New Wave was a medium of the 45 rpm single, and that there are some excellent full-length albums ready for your enjoyment. And, as my immortal DJ hero, Casey Kasem, would say, “On with the countdown!”

100. Trio – Trio & Error (1983). One of the bigger influences on New Wave has been Krautrock from the Seventies, as created by Kraftwerk. But, Germany produced its share of New Wave artists, like Nena, whose “99 Luftballoons” was a Top 5 hit in 1984. But, in 1983, Trio released one of the strangest New Wave albums of stripped down Casio-sounding keyboards with simple melodies of the usual instruments. The big song was “Da, Da, Da I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me, Aha, Aha, Aha” which was used in Volkswagen commercials in the Nineties.

99. The Specials – The Specials (1979). By the end of 1978, punk was in its waning days in England. In its place, many ska, that primitive pre-reggae Jamaican sound that was popular in the UK in the Sixties, bands popped up that coupled punk’s energy with ska to bring anger to the masses. And The Specials’ self-titled debut album was at the forefront of this “Twin-Tone” sound, so named for the interracial make-up of these bands.

98. Gang of Four – Entertainment! (1979). The New Wave era was a great moment in time for political bands, such as The Clash. Gang of Four set their political, left-leaning (well, more like Communistic) lyrics to stripped down dance grooves, much like Joy Division, although not as dark. Gang of Four loved to juxtaposition their Communist lyrics with their dance beats, which could sound downright foreign, even satanic, to many of the Reagan Youth with whom I went to high school and college. Gang of Four would have jokingly referred to those more as Hitler Youth. Oh, how I miss a Communist’s sense of humor.

97. a-ha – Hunting High and Low (1985). This Norwegian trio hit Number One with their huge international hit “Take on Me”, which had a unique live action vs. animation video that should be kept in a time capsule to represent the Eighties. These synth pop pin-up boys remained huge in England and Europe, while they were unable to follow up their one mega-hit here in the States. Still, these guys did create one terrific album.

96. Soft Cell – Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (1981). For the better part of a decade, Soft Cell’s huge synth pop hit, “Tainted Love”, set the record for most consecutive weeks in the Hot 100 as the song held on for 40 weeks. The rest of this album was a little left of Prince’s Dirty Mind for the sexual perversion of the lyrics. Still, their album remains one of the finest examples of synth pop of the Eighties.

95. Thompson Twins – Into the Gap (1984). First off, Thompson Twins were a trio on this album, as the name came from a popular comic strip in the UK. Second, the band was much larger on their 1982 debut album, but were stripped down to their core trio when they broke big in the States behind their huge hit “Hold Me Now”. Although this album was big in the clubs, the band only had one other hit from the album, the moody soft-dance tune “Doctor Doctor”.

94. Aztec Camera – High Land, Hard Rain (1983). Lead Camera-man Roddy Frame was being compared to such esteemed songwriters as Elvis Costello when this album came out that it had to be difficult navigating a career with that albatross. And while Aztec Camera released several fine albums afterwards, High Land, Hard Rain was the one that stuck with those awaiting the next Graham Parker. Then again, what artist wouldn’t have wanted an album this good? That’s rhetorical.

93. Thomas Dolby – The Golden Age of Wireless (1983). Yes, the man is known for “She Blinded Me with Science”, an anthem in Cooper Science at Ball State back in the day. But, Dolby was doing some innovative synthesizer work by taking the lessons of Kraftwerk and applying them to pop music. People may not remember that Dolby also played keys on Foreigner’s 4, which gave the band its momentarily updated sound. He should be remembered for much more than that novelty hit, no matter how awesome it is.

92. The BusBoys – Minimum Wage Rock & Roll (1980). Sadly, it was unique in 1980 that a band of African-Americans playing pure rock & roll music as The BusBoys did was more a statement on the racism of the days more than the talent in this band. They were all about bringing back the fun music of the early Sixties that could have been heard in any frat house back in the day, so think of them as being somewhat similar to The J. Geils Band. Today, they are best known for their contribution to the original Ghostbusters soundtrack.

91. Simple Minds – New Gold Dreams (81-82-83-84) (1983). Glasgow, Scotland’s favorite songs took U2’s sweeping anthems and added some icy synthesizers to complete their panoramic sounds on this and all subsequent albums in the Eighties. This album is the one that broke the band in the States to a cult audience that would make up the base of the fandom which pushed their 1985 Breakfast Club theme song “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”. A cool side note: the version of this album I bought back in the day was a marbled gold-colored vinyl album. It happens to be one of my five favorite vinyl colors.

So, there’s the first ten on my Top 100 New Wave Albums, which means there’s 90 more to go over the next nine weekdays.

It’s almost crazy how society can distill a whole decade’s worth of pop culture into one iconic image. For what reason, the images of the “hippies” at Woodstock are that image of the Sixties, while the Seventies are all bottled up into John Travolta’s white leisure suit from Saturday Night Fever. When we all think of the Nineties, many memories are wrapped up into images from Lollapalooza. But, with the Eighties, when much serious crap was occurring such as Iran-Contra, the Iranian Hostage situation, gang wars, the Crack and AIDS epidemics and Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman’s initial influence upon society, we have wrapped up the whole Eighties in one image: the silly haircut of A Flock of Seagulls lead singer Score. We all know that haircut. Shoot, even Millennials think that haircut must have been worn by everyone (for the record, it was not). Still, for a very short moment, the band, A Flock of Seagulls, were hit with the youth of America.

From the beginning, A Flock of Seagulls never really made much of an inroad in their native UK. However, they did have two videos from their 1982 self-titled debut album ready to run on MTV here in the States. And, that first single, “I Ran”, became the band’s only Top 10 hit song, while their album, a watered-down version of the New Romantic sound popular across the pond, also rose into the Top 10 on the Album Chart. It was a heady time for these four ambitious lads from England. Ironically, in the “I Ran” video, Mike Score did not wear his famous hair design. Instead, he was sporting a somewhat normal punk rock tussled coif. Additionally, that famous hair design was not in sight in the publicity photo on the back of the album cover.

But, when the band’s second single, “Space Age Love Song” was released, the haircut was in the video in all of its glory. And, although the second single was a great slice of pop heaven, for some reason it never hit with radio programmers. So, “Space Age Love Song” stalled in the twenties on Billboard‘s Hot 100 and faded from our memories save for one thing: The Haircut.

By the time the band recorded there follow-up album, the public was in the midst of Michael Jackson mania, a fascination with Duran Duran, a beginning obsession with Prince, a love of a cross-dressing queen in Culture Club and the sophisticated rock music of The Police. Unfortunately, A Flock of Seagulls one great single from that sophomore album, “Wishing (A Photograph of You)” was never really given a chance and quickly fade from our collective memory, which is a shame since that song was by far their best musical statement.

But, before the band’s music faded from our memory leaving us with one of the strangest hair cuts of all time, the band did take part in a major MTV-backed concert that took place in Chicago at old Comiskey Park, during the Summer of 1983. I was working in Wisconsin that summer but could not take time off to go to a New Wave blow-out that marked the beginning of the Synchronicity Tour for The Police. The opening bands that day included a who’s who of early MTV New Wave artists such as Ministry, The Fixx, A Flock of Seagulls and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. It’s as if that haircut took on a life of its own and pushed the band’s music to the sidelines. Unfortunately, the band recorded one more extremely weak album in 1984, then faded from the scene.

Yet, the haircut lives on. It pops up from time to time in documentaries about that crazy decade of plastic and decadence. Maybe if Score had not gone with the crazy hair, their music would be what lives on in our memories. The band had some potential to combine AOR with new wave for a modern sound that would have been successful in the States, as “I Ran” proved. However, A Flock of Seagulls simply ended up as a haircut band with three good songs and one iconic haircut to the name.