80s Thursday continues with a look at four important albums from 1980. Hope you enjoy the selections!
(I've read unflattering things about Lennon's turbulent personal life, yet he definitely showed his best side in his music. Double Fantasy, which was a bitter sweet album due to Lennon's tragic murder, includes several timeless classics. Won Album of the Year at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards)
Listen to:
Woman
(Just Like) Starting Over
Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
Watching the Wheels
(Most people know these songs. The album has filler tracks, yet the best stuff stands the test of time. For some Queen fans, it marked the end of the road, for the first time the band used a synthesizer and guitars were less domineering. The pop sound was different to what Queen were doing in the 70s. In my case, I enjoy both the 70s and 80s material)
Listen to:
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Another One Bites the Dust
Play The Game
Save Me
(Features some of AC/DC's most popular songs. Amazing guitar riffs. Following the unfortunate passing of lead singer Bon Scott, AC/DC regrouped and hired Brian Johnson to take his place. The song Have A Drink On Me was a tribute to Scott. Johnson's vocal style was similar and did not diminish the power of their music. Back in Black remains the best-selling album ever released by an Australian musical act)
Listen to:
Back in Black
You Shook Me All Night Long
Hells Bells
(Showed early promise. I Will Follow is the standout with its signature U2 sound)
Listen to:
I Will Follow
Best songs of 1980 (part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6) (part 7) (part 8) (part 9) (part 10) (part 11) (part 12) (part 13)
What do you think of this music, any favorites? Did I miss any songs from these albums which you think deserve praise? As always, comments are welcome
Good stuff. Another One Bites the Dust is the song that introduced me to Queen since it became popular on urban radio and even on Soul Train. That just does not happen for a rock band, but it did. Familiar with all of the acts mentioned in this post, but strangely, not these particular albums. As a sidenote, another important album that came out that year was Uprising by Bob Marley and the Wailers. And I wouldn't be me if I didn't mention that Prince's Dirty Mind also dropped in 1980.
ReplyDelete@Wendell: Thanks, Another Bites the Dust is great and the memorable beat has been sampled by other artists. I don’t think we got Soul Train over here in Europe, but it sounds like that show provided an alternative to MTV.
DeleteDon't worry, I haven't forgotten them. I’m saving Bob Marley for a post on reggae, and Prince for a post on funk.
Not quite on what Soul Train was. It was a dance show that provided an alternative to American Bandstand starting in the late 60s or early 70s and ran into the earliest parts of this century. It was very much like the dance shows depicted in Grease and, more recently Hairspray. The difference was that, to paraphrase the latter movie, 'every day was Negro day.' Looking forward to more of these posts.
Delete@Wendell: Thanks for enlightening me about Soul Train, and for showing an interest in this series on 1980!
DeleteThose are 4 great albums. Let's not forget Scary Monsters by David Bowie as it's the album that would become the standard bearer for all Bowie albums afterwards to follow. I also want to add love for Dirty Mind by Prince. Such a dirty album but man, a fucking classic.
ReplyDelete@thevoidd99: I agree 3 of the 4 are great. U2 album, I love the single, but didn't connect with the other songs.
DeleteThere are many releases to talk about from 1980, I’m just getting started. I’ve listened to Scary Monsters and Dirty Mind and those will feature at some point.
I always thought Back in Black and Another One Bites the Dust were late 70's songs
ReplyDelete@The Vern: Well Queen and AC/DC were big in the 70s, so maybe that's why you thought so
DeleteLove the tracks from Queen and AC/DC, and I really want to check out Boy, as I like most of U2's early work.
ReplyDelete@Josh: Glad you love those tracks too! Have to admit I was slightly underwhelmed by U2’s debut, although I love the song "I Will Follow".
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