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Posts Tagged 80s

Archive

January 30, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Seemingly By Fluke

Twelve years old when we finally got a CD player – not the last house in the street I’m sure, but certainly not the first. First album though, what a strange one, ‘Tutu’ by Miles Davis. Not his worst but a very strange entry point. I’m so grateful, I loved that album. And I dig […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 80s, Billy Hart, CD, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Jazz, John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis, Omar Hakim, Poem, Poem: Seemingly By Fluke, Seemingly By Fluke, Sonny Rollins, Tutu ·

Archive

November 17, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 16

The Staple Singers, Turning Point (1984) I love checking out the “out of place” albums by a heritage act – sixties and seventies groups that ‘failed’ in the 1980s…that sort of thing. The Staple Singers were making gospel gems and spirituals through the late 1950s and early 1960s and then political funk and soul in […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1984, 80s, Cover, disco, LP, Record, Slippery People, Talking Heads, The Staple Singers, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 16, This Is Our Night, Turning Point, Vinyl ·

Archive

November 15, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 18

Toots & The Maytals, Knock Out! (1981) The song Beautiful Womanwas everywhere when I was a kid. I remember it well. I didn’t particularly like it. Nor did I know who it was by. It was just everywhere. It was years – and possibly even a few more years after that – before I found […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1980s, 1981, 80s, Beauiful Woman, Careless Ethiopians, Knock Out!, LP, Record, Reggae, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 18, Toots, Toots & The Maytals, Toots Hibbert, Vinyl ·

Archive

November 10, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 40 – Frank Zappa, “Jazz From Hell”

Frank Zappa, Jazz From Hell, 1986 Almost a trick question really – looking for the crap Frank Zappa albums that are good. His music lives in the vacuum of its cult endorsements. Ask the wives and girlfriends. Ask the bemused best friends of certain music nerds. Ask yourself. Is there an enjoyably Frank Zappa album? […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged “Jazz From Hell”, 1986, 80s, Black Codes (From The Underground), Crap Albums, Frank Zappa, FZ, Instrumental, Jan Hammer, Jazz, Jean Michel Jarre, Miami Vice, Shit Albums, Shit That's Good, Shit That's Good - Crap Albums I Love, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 40, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 40 – Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Synclavier, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron, Zappa ·

Archive

October 29, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 29

Cyndi Lauper, She’s So Unusual (1983) I have things under control now – I’m down to just one copy of this album. I had four vinyl copies, the CD reissue (anniversary) and my original cassette tape. I grew up with this album. It was almost a guilty pleasure for a time, I remember being teased […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1983, 80s, All Through The Night, Cyndi Lauper, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, LP, Record, She Bop, She's So Unusual, Tape, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 29, Vinyl ·

Archive

August 3, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 81

Transvision Vamp, I Want Your Love [Single] (1988) I wasn’t a big Transvision Vamp fan but I always loved the song I Want Your Love. Big song. Popular video and really the whole thing can be summed up in two words: Wendy James. She was everywhere. Music mags. Music TV. The radio. She was everywhere. […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1988, 80s, Elvis Costello, EP, Evolution Evie (Acoustic Version), I Want Your Love, LP, Record, Single, Sweet Thing, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 81, Transvision Vamp, Vinyl, Wendy James ·

Archive

May 5, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 125

Earl Klugh, Low Ride (1983) If I have a record – and artist – that would jump in and out of the “Guilty Pleasure” category (if I did actually have a Guilty Pleasure category) then it would be this album in particular, and more generally Earl Klugh. Look, he’s obviously great – and I love […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1983, 80s, Acoustic, Earl Klugh, George Benson, Guitar, Low Ride, LP, Night Drive, Record, Smooth Jazz, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 125, Vinyl ·

Archive

April 21, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 130

Amazulu, Amazulu (1986) Just the other day I was remembering Aswad – I pair them with Amazulu. Both British bands fusing a type of light reggae with pop, both big in the mid-80s, both beginning with ‘A’ – a lot of surface comparisons I guess. I pair them simply because I discovered them around the […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1980s, 1986, 80s, Amazulu, Aswad, LP, Montego Bay, Record, Reggae, Self-Titled, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 130, The Young Ones, Vinyl ·

Archive

April 14, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 134

Hoodoo Gurus, Mars Needs Guitars! (1985) I don’t know a whole lot about Hoodoo Gurus – but I guess all you really need to know is that they knocked it out of the park with their first two albums – and had some highlights after as well. I bought the first two albums on vinyl […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1985, 80s, Aussie, Australian, Death Defying, Hoodoo Gurus, LP, Mars Needs Guitars, Record, The Gurus, The Vinyl Countdown # 134, Vinyl ·

Archive

December 10, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 202

Paul McCartney, Pipes of Peace (1983) Of all the Paul McCartney material to be reissued this is the one I hated the most hearing it the second time around – I had lost love for it, rather than gained any. And I say that as a fan of the title track purely because my intermediate […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1983, 80s, LP, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Pipes of Peace, Record, Ringo Starr, Say Say Say, So Bad, The Beatles, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 202, Vinyl ·

Archive

December 9, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 18 – Mick Jagger, “Primitive Cool”

Mick Jagger, Primitive Cool, 1987 I’d argue this is the least crap of any of the Mick Jagger solo albums actually – but a lot of you didn’t think so. Including Jagger. I went with this – not only because I genuinely love it and it’s my favourite of his solo records (She’s The Boss […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1987, 80s, Crap Album I Love, Crap Albums, Dave Stewart, Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, Mick Jagger - Primitive Cool, Primitive Cool, Shit That's Good, Shit That's Good - Crap Albums I Love, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 18 – Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

Archive

May 19, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 302 

David Lee Roth, Crazy From The Heat [EP] (1985) When “Diamond Dave” released this he was still a member of Van Halen – though not for very much longer. This EP was basically his resignation letter. He’d blown the world apart with that band and reconfigured heavy metal – and now he was off to be a silly/wonderful pop star. The motor-mouth of charisma […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged "Diamond Dave", 1985, 80s, California Girls, Coconut Grove, Crazy From The Heat, Debut, Easy Street, EP, Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody, LP, MTV, Record, Solo Debut, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 302, Van Halen, VH, Vinyl ·
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