1981

Beginnings:
Billy Idol leaves the band Generation X to begin a solo career.
The Go-Go's sign to IRS Records.
MTV debuts on cable television in the United States, playing music videos 24 hours a day
Phil Collins releases his first solo album

The following bands started their illustrious careers:
10,000 Maniacs
Anthrax
The Bangles
Big Country
Beastie Boys
Butthole Surfers
Culture Club
Do-Re-Mi
Green Jellÿ
Hoodoo Gurus
Hunters & Collectors
Mercyful Fate
Metallica
Ministry
Mötley Crüe
Napalm Death
Pantera
Pet Shop Boys
Queensrÿche
Scream
Shonen Knife
Slayer
Sonic Youth
Spy vs Spy
Suicidal Tendencies
Talk Talk
Tears for Fears
The Dream Syndicate
Uncanny X-Men
Wham!
Yazoo

The following debut albums were released:
Prayers on Fire - The Birthday Party
Of Skins and Heart - The Church
Duran Duran - Duran Duran
Only a Lad - Oingo Boingo
Beauty and the Beat - The Go-Go's
Face  - Phil Collins
Was (Not Was) - Was (Not Was)
KooKoo - Debbie Harry
Dark Continent - Wall of Voodoo
Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash - The Replacements
Penthouse and Pavement - Heaven 17
Kollaps - Einstürzende Neubauten
Speak & Spell - Depeche Mode
In the Garden - Eurythmics
Journeys to Glory - Spandau Ballet
Business As Usual - Men At Work
Movement - New Order
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret - Soft Cell
Too Fast For Love - Mötley Crüe

It's certainly tough to pick just one of those debuts to showcase. The list certainly shows the increasing dominance of the synthesizer and the decline of guitar music (don't worry, it comes back). I was tempted to go with Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight just for that tremendous drum fill, but in the end I figured you'd already be familiar enough with the piece. There's some excellence on The Birthday Party's debut as well, but I think we'll intersect with Nick Cave at a later point in his career. The track I've chosen is one of those rare cases where the cover is so good it completely surpasses the original. Most people think that Soft Cell wrote Tainted Love, but they took an old soul track and completely reimagined it. The original (recorded by Gloria Jones) is well worth looking up, but this cover is a perfect example of the 'New Romantic' movement that was to sweep through England in the first half of the eighties. Over thirty years later this track will still fill the dance floor.

Middles:
The following albums were released in 1981:
Trust - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Killers - Iron Maiden
Moving Pictures - Rush
Point of Entry - Judas Priest
Faith - The Cure
Slates - The Fall
Fair Warning - Van Halen
The Electric Spanking of War Babies - Funkadelic
Mistaken Identity - Kim Carnes
Waiata - Split Enz
Present Arms - UB40
Heaven Up Here - Echo & the Bunnymen
Computer World - Kraftwerk
Juju - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Talk Talk Talk - The Psychedelic Furs
The Baron - Johnny Cash
What's THIS For...! - Killing Joke
High 'n' Dry - Def Leppard
Pleasant Dreams - Ramones
Dreamtime - Tom Verlaine
Precious Time - Pat Benatar
Give the People What They Want - The Kinks
Pretenders II  - Pretenders
New Traditionalists - Devo
Denim and Leather - Saxon
Rage in Eden - Ultravox
Abacab - Genesis
Mark of the Mole - The Residents
Private Eyes - Hall & Oates
Special Forces - Alice Cooper
Ghost in the Machine - The Police
October - U2
Controversy - Prince
Underneath the Colours - INXS
Dare - The Human League
See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah! City All Over, Go Ape Crazy! - Bow Wow Wow
7 - Madness
Mob Rules - Black Sabbath
Shake It Up - The Cars
Architecture & Morality - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
I Love Rock 'n' Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
La Folie - The Stranglers
For Those About to Rock We Salute You - AC/DC
Wilder - The Teardrop Explodes
Place Without a Postcard - Midnight Oil

Another bumper year for great albums. The 'new wave of British heavy metal' (NWOBHM) is still churning out great heavy albums (that seem tame by todays more sophisticated standards). Great artists of the '70s are still putting out some great stacks of wax. Bands are starting to mature and establish themselves. It would be another five years before John Hughes would get America to pay attention to this song, at which point they recorded a new lighter more palatable version. The pressure to follow it up with new material ended up breaking the band. The original, darker, version of the song is unsurprisingly far better.

Endings:
The following bands called it a day in 1981:
Yes
Bay City Rollers
The Buzzcocks
The Knack
Sam & Dave
Starland Vocal Band
Steely Dan
Throbbing Gristle
Toots & the Maytals
Paul McCartney & Wings

We lost the following artists:
Bill Haley
Bob Marley
Harry Chapin

Adam and The Ants released their final album, Prince Charming, in 1981. Adam was basically responsible for taking the style of glam and turning it in a pop direction. A legion of oddly dressed, extravagantly made up, androgynous pop acts would follow. After the band broke up Adam Ant would continue to record music, but never quite to the same level as that which he recorded with the band.

It occurs to me that I've chosen tracks from three British acts. I'm not sure if this is an indication of my rampant anglophilia, or a measure of the quality of the music that was being produced in the United Kingdom at the time.

1980

Recently I received an email from my father. Very connected to the music of his youth (I have him to thank for many excellent records I inherited when my parents moved away) he has awakened to realise that three decades of music have, more or less, passed him by. He has tasked me with updating him. Giving him the highlights and must listens of the last thirty years or so. However, in order to make this a task of a manageable size I've been given a limit of 100 tracks.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take a chronological journey through 33 years of music. Three tracks per year from 1980 - 2012. I'll go a year at a time, and then with a little feedback from dad (or anyone else who reads this) about what he likes and what he's interested in we'll create a picture of the world of music he missed.

All great stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Music is full of lots of all of them, so it seems as good a way as any to choose my three songs. I guess that'll make more sense if I show you, so without any further ado, here we go.

All of the 'facts' I'm basing this information on are found on Wikipedia, so take with a sprinkling of salt. This is more about the spirit of the journey than an iron clad adherence to what happened when.

1980

The Beginnings

The following bands formed in 1980. We'll hear from a couple of them later in our journey no doubt:

Bow Wow Wow, The Church, Depeche Mode, Dead Or Alive, ABC, Divinyls, Einstürzende Neubauten, Eurythmics, Happy Mondays, Heaven 17, Meat Puppets, Men Without Hats, Minor Threat, Mr. Mister, New Order, R.E.M., Reagan Youth, The Sisters Of Mercy, The Smithereens, Soft Cell, The Sunnyboys, Violent Femmes.

1980 also saw the first Monsters Of Rock festival at Donnington(which was succeeded by the Download festival).

The Epitaph, Geffen, and Roadrunner record labels all opened their doors for the first time in 1980

The following debut albums were released in 1980:

Bryan Adams - Bryan Adams

The Psychedelic Furs - The Psychedelic Furs

The Cramps - Songs The Lord Taught Us

The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro

U2 - Boy

Flowers - Icehouse

Killing Joke - Killing Joke

It's from one of these that I've taken our first track. Long before Bono became the sanctimonius voice of whichever cause he felt strongly about. Long before the experimental leaps they took in the '90s. Long even before they stormed to the attention of the world at Live Aid. U2 were four working class boys from Dublin, who scrimped and saved to go to London to record their debut album. They were originally to work with famed Joy Division producer Martin Hannett, but after the suicide of Ian Curtis, Hannett was unable to fulfill his obligation. This is the sound of those four young boys. Full of youth and hope and dreams of something more than where they'd come from.

The Middles

It's a little tougher to measure the middles, but some great artists put out some great albums in 1980:

Split Enz - True Colours

Ramones - End Of The Century

Elvis Costello - Get Happy

The Cure - Seventeen Seconds

Judas Priest - British Steel

The Clash - Sandinista!

Queen - The Game

Queen - Flash Gordon

The Boys Next Door - The Birthday Party

The Jam - Sound Affects

The Specials - More Specials

Bruce Springsteen - The River

Prince - Dirty Mind

The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta

Tom Waits - Heartattack and Vine

Kate Bush - Never for Ever

Gary Numan - Telekon

Devo - Freedom of Choice

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Kaleidoscope

David Bowie - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

The B-52's - Wild Planet

Roxy Music - Flesh and Blood

Bob Dylan - Saved

Emmylou Harris - Roses in the Snow

Cold Chisel - East

I could choose tracks from almost any of those albums here. It was a difficult choice to make, but in the end I went for one of the all time greats. Visionary performer, magnificent song, and a landmark music video. Bowie wraps up the '70s, revisits his beginnings, and establishes himself firmly as still completely relevant.

The Endings

We lost some of the greats in 1980; Bon Scott, Ian Curtis, John Bonham, John Lennon. Radio Caroline sent her last broadcast, and the following bands went their separate ways (some of them less permanently than others):

The Eagles

Joy Division

Led Zeppelin

The Lovin' Spoonful

Skyhooks

Wire

As a result we were left with some final works:

John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy

Joy Division - Closer

Joy Division's Ian Curtis hung himself in his home the day before the band were to embark on their first US tour. The band's final single, which was released only a month beforehand has gone on to be their most recognised work. The remaining members of the group stayed together to become New Order (who you would have noticed in our Beginnings section), but more on them later. Here is the last point of the short but extremely influential career of Ian Curtis.

So that's 1980, as I see it. Next week: 1981.

One coin, two sides

Above you will find 'Niggas In Paris', one of the finer cuts from the excellent Jay-Z/Kanye West collaboration of last year 'Watch The Throne'. In which you will find two of the wealthiest musicians working today rapping about how wonderful it is to be wealthy, and what a magnificent life it is that they live. It's such a wild celebration of indulgence that it's almost a comedy of excess. The album, and tour, continue to make even more money for Jay and Ye, taking them ever further away from their humble beginnings.

Below you will find 'Niggas In Poorest' by Yasiin Bey (who until September last year was rapping under the name Mos Def), which uses the same backing track and lyrical structure to paint a picture of the struggle that the average African American is more likely to encounter.

I only stumbled across this cover today, and I've listened to it at least a dozen times. There's something compelling about his conviction, and I love the way he's subverted a popular track to make his statement. I was just going to post it on facebook with the rest of my video trawl, but I thought it was worth a little more coverage than that.

And that keyboard riff is genius. I imagine we'll be hearing that for decades.

Blurring The Line

As part of my re-purposing of this here music blog to be a place for all my music related ramblings I have increased the number of music related blogs and news sites I regularly check. That way I can bring you, dear reader, all the best and greatest music while it's still fresh and piping hot. The result of this is that I see quite a few stories repeated across the blogosphere as various territories catch on to the news.

Most of the time this is fine. When a new video is released, or tour dates scheduled, or awards are won, I can understand how that qualifies as news. I was struck one day last week when on my way to work, flipping through my various Flipboard feeds, I was inundated with the same item being reported across all the major sites. The problem I had was that the item in question was not about music in any substantial way. It was about the personal/romantic lives of two particular musicians.

Tragically even that much information isn't enough for you to know which story I'm talking about, and I'm not going to exacerbate the issue by going into detail. I don't think that music news should ever be indistinguishable from social gossip, but the line has become blurred.

It is my pledge to you, loyal peruser, that I shall never report the personal lives of musicians. I shall bring you only the juiciest, most relevant, pieces of music news. You will not be inundated with the ever changing parade of who is dating/marrying/divorcing/suing who. The only tearful reunions you will hear about will be on stage or in the studio.

If you want the other stuff it seems there are plenty of places you can go to get it, but this blog will always be about the music. Plain and simple.

Ball Park Music

I do this thing from time to time where I become completely obsessed with an artist, or an album. Sometimes it's a single song. When it happens I listen on repeat exclusively again and again and again. At the moment I'm doing this with Brisbane's Ball Park Music.

I saw Ball Park Music last year. They played Transit as part of a tour of Triple J Unearthed acts. Eagle and The Worm were on the same tour, but they didn't play the Canberra show. No disrespect to the other artists on the bill, but Ball Park Music are all I remember of the night. They played well, but failed to blow me away. I wasn't really paying attention though. I was wedged down the bar end of the club having a conversation with my gig buddy.

As the year progressed upbeat hit after upbeat hit graced the airwaves of the nation's youth broadcaster. Still I was resistant to their undeniable charms. It wasn't until the Hottest 100 that I finally relented and picked up their excellent debut 'Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs'. I've been listening to it almost constantly since. I've even bought both of their previous EPs to get myself as close to the full catalogue as possible (I draw the line at the remix of 'ifly').

Now despite my unashamed love of pop, I normally go in for more of the bittersweet/melancholy end of the spectrum. Which means I'm a little bit blindsided by how much I love Ball Park Music. It's an album of such irrepressible joy, that I defy you not to love it too.

Grouplove - Never Trust A Happy Song

The debut, self titled EP from California quintet Grouplove was one of the pleasant surprises of the latter half of 2010. The carefree sense of fun, combined with the impression that every note of the music was drenched in the California sun, made the small collection of songs a perfect soundtrack to the summer. As a result I've been looking forward to the release of their debut long player for much of 2011.

There's a youthful exuberance to Grouplove's music, and somehow that mood translates. It's hard to not find your troubles melting away as you listen to the album. Like that first summer after the end of school when the whole world seems full of possibility. It's a sound that's perfect for summer barbecues and road trips to music festivals.

For all their youth and freshness Grouplove also sound a little familiar. The counterplay of vocals between Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper brings to mind the pop end of the Pixies songbook. The keyboards add such a britpop flavour to the music I'd almost expect to find some of the songs in an episode of Skins. Opening track Itchin' On A Photograph was so reminiscent of erstwhile Irish rock band JJ72 that I listened to one of their albums for the first time in around five years.

For all of their familiarity Grouplove are their own creation though. Effortlessly turning out 12 pop gems in a little over three quarters of an hour. Never feeling too rushed, never outstaying their welcome. Even when they drop the tempo down a notch on Slow and Betty's A Bombshell nothing drags.

At least for our hemisphere, the timing of this album release is perfect. The days are starting to get warmer and longer, and I can foresee another long hot summer soundtracked by Grouplove. Although I imagine that the warmth inherent in the music could make even the short dark days of winter glow.

Kimbra - Vows

It's only been a couple of weeks since I mentioned Melbourne based, New Zealand born Kimbra Johnson. She was a guest on a track on Gotye's fabulous album that I reviewed not too long ago. Her work there, although brief, was perfect for the song, and an integral part of Gotye's musical vision. It left me curious as to how well she'd do out of the shadow of Australia's greatest musical visionary.

Not that the Gotye track was my first exposure to Kimbra. I actually saw her live last year. She was the opening support act at a concert I went to at the ANU bar, and at the time I was far from impressed. It's a tough life being a support act, and in my opinion she failed to rise to the occasion. However since that gig I've heard a few of her songs on Triple J and been more than a little impressed.

The album opens with Settle Down, Kimbra's biggest hit to date, which features a lot of layered and looped vocals. It's almost more sonic experiment than song at first, but eventually it settles down into a groove. This is followed by another radio favourite Cameo Lover, a smooth electro glide with a soaring chorus.

Kimbra has an incredible voice. Possibly the best jazz voice I've heard in recent years, and on top of that she's not afraid to do interesting things. Not everything she tries works for me (the couple of seconds of strings that fade up when she mentions 'history' in Two Way Street seemed to be trying a little bit too hard) but on the whole the reward to risk ratio is very low.

Which isn't to say that the whole album is a series of musical and vocal circus tricks. Sometimes the simple things work the best, and around half of the album is fairly straightforward earnest pop, albeit with an absolutely massive voice at its core. In fact in places it even reminds me a little of Tears For Fears.

In the end Kimbra has accomplished an astounding debut. It can be all too tempting for people that can really sing to make their albums a vocal showcase, and rather than doing that Kimbra has actually written a collection of interesting songs. I can't wait to see what she does next.