Now:
Although I got a lot out of my system last time, I'm still stuck between Luciano Pavarotti, the Drive-By Truckers, Dvorak, Lou F*cking Reed, and Sonic Youth. They go together surprisingly well, but because I kept bouncing back and forth between them, I didn't quite connect with any of them.
So, what to do when faced with such musical constipation? Well, the doctors say don't force it. So while we're waiting why not look back?
Greek Chorus: Oh Jesus, another World History Project post? What is it this time, Jaybee? Music by Dinosaurs?
Well, one dinosaur, but it's just the newest Secret History. This is when I look at a year in the past (as opposed to the future, which is much harder) and try to identify some great records released that year that flew under people's radar. This is a different approach than my usual one, which is to write about records when I'm hearing them for the first time, no matter when released. But don't worry! I will try to make it about me somehow.
Then:
The last Secret History I did was for 1979, which I posted in May of 2018. I paused there because - get this: I thought I was going at too fast a pace. The lesson here, of course, is that I don't procrastinate enough.
I also was hesitant to proceed because it was such a weird year. Great in some ways. Awful in others. Here are some, good to bad, more or less:
- I became "single" again.
- I got a new job.
- I got really into Neil Young.
- I got my first Clash record.
- I heard a tremendous amount of good current music.
- I had a fantastic record store trip, which - after the small steps I took in 1978 and 1979 - was my first major foray into punk/new wave/alternative whatever you want to call it with my first Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, David Bowie records.
- Me and Roommate Mike hosted a couple of Swedish hitchhikers who shared a lot of our musical tastes. We hung with them, me taking sick-day here and there. Ah, youth!
- After a long "uneventful" summer, realized that being single wasn't all that great.
- We got a new president
- John Lennon got shot
A couple of notes:
- Nine and ten are kind of a tie. Lennon's death was a reminder that - if you didn't know already - the sixties were quite literally dead. St. Ronnie came in to rein in the "excesses" of the seventies, making things immeasurably worse in the process. The seventies were certainly messy, but they were vibrant, too.
- I cheated a bit. I found a new girl, but that came at the end, chronologically.
Musically, 1980 strikes me as an "obvious" year. In other words, there were certain major records released then that we can all agree are well, major. London Calling, Remain in Light, and The River all come to mind. And to my misanthropic ears, each is ever so slightly overrated. But it's okay. Things could have been - and would be - much worse.
So here are the ones that matter to me:
This actually came out in 1979, but I somehow missed that. So I'm cheating to make up for it.
It is, however, one of the best ska revival albums out there. Very spare, almost spectral arrangements. A nice piercing guitar, though.
I got this in early '81 while getting to know that new girl, so it's got all kinds of romantic memories attached to it that have nothing to do with the music itself.
You know how Elton John kept pumping out albums in the seventies, not all of which were great?
Well, Elvis 2.0, cranked out dozens and dozens of songs from 1980 - 82, twenty of which he put here - not all of which were great. So it's quantity over quality, but a lot of quality anyway. "King Horse", "New Amsterdam", and "Clown Time Is Over" are classics. A bunch more are not far behind. A few are negligible but you'd hardly notice.
Just like Elton.
And for some very odd reason, I play "Side Two" first.
A-
Gotten in the summer of '80 after the recommendation of our new Swedish friends. We had agreed on Exile on Mainstreet, after all.
By this time I should have been done with this classic rock dinosaur, but Pete really brings it on this record. A bit overdone, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
And he gave me some lyrics to raise my spirits, whose default setting is depressed:
Don't worry smile and dance
You just can't work life out
Don't let down moods entrance you
Take the wine and shout
The Psychedelic Furs: The Psychedelic Furs
After he left Genesis but before he hit it big, Peter Gabriel put out a few solo records. This one is his third and is generally considered the best before the commercial breakthrough of So.
This one is very serious, and I wish he'd crack a joke occasionally. But "Biko" is so great, all is forgiven.
Also known as Metal Box in England because it came in one there.
Perfect for depression, assuming you want to stay depressed.
I got it in June of '80, but it was so odd, offputting, and flat-out noisy, that I had to put away Johnny Rotten's new band for almost six months. I guess Lennon and Reagan put me in the mood.
Then one cold, dark day, I felt like hearing it. And it hit, hard. The dub-heavy bass and beats, the most expressive - of horror, that is - electric guitar I have ever heard. And Johnny Rotten proves that he wasn't just a one-trick pony. Of course, he eventually proved to be too clever by one and a half.
The Sex Pistols would hit you over the head but this one gets into it and never leaves.
A
The English Beat: I Just Can't Stop It
Maybe the greatest ska revival album. And just like the Specials, two-toned, as they used to say.
So propulsive. So tuneful. And the arrangements are more varied than on the Specials record. And slightly less political, too, which allows the songwriting to be more universal and personal.
