Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Playing With A Different Set List (The B Sides)

Morphing Into A Music Blog (3)

How many letters are there in the alphabet? I could throw the blog over totally to this sort of stuff. Or at least for the years 1978-1984. Struggling like a bastard with the late eighties and the late nineties, but nice to see that the last few years have seen a re-emergence in good left-field pop music. Even if it's only because of the post-punk reload/revival. The hipsters will no doubt move onto the next fad, but at least they will have left us with a few good albums with the requisite scratchy guitars and oh-so-arch vocals.

Thought I'd start with '78 this time. No point scrambling my brains over the period 71-77 once more. I was struggling the first time. I'd end up having to pick a Bread album at some point, and that wouldn't be right.

Nice to see that there is a tad more variation with the B list. Some people might think I'm taking the piss with the Rachel Stevens album, but it's a hidden gem. Perfect pop and all that. Weird to admit that . . . what with me being a Jo fan from SC7.

Shame to discover that The Sound Team have since broken up. No great claims about them. A quick google search of the album, 'Movie Monster', will reveal that I obviously rated the album more than most, but they're worth checking out. I should have played it safe by listing a Spoon or Shins album instead and I'm sure I'll retract my high opinion of them at a later date. I did the same with The Wendys a few years back.

PS I know the Au Pairs aren't in the list - and with Gang of Four, Orange Juice, Josef K, Elvis Costello, Japan etc etc, they should be - but I love the album cover.

  • 1978 - Parallel Lines, Blondie
  • 1979 - Singles Going Steady, The Buzzcocks
  • 1980 - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, Dexys Midnight Runners
  • 1981 - Dare, The Human League
  • 1982 - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), Simple Minds
  • 1983 - High Land, Hard Rain, Aztec Camera
  • 1984 - Rattlesnakes, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
  • 1985 - Our Favourite Shop, The Style Council
  • 1986 - The Queen is Dead, The Smiths
  • 1987 - Sign o' the Times, Prince
  • 1988 - Sunshine On Leith, The Proclaimers
  • 1989 - Cosmic Thing, The B-52's
  • 1990 - Heaven or Las Vegas, Cocteau Twins
  • 1991 - Bandwagonesque, Teenage Fanclub
  • 1992 - Mexican R'n'B, The Stairs
  • 1993 - Debut, Björk
  • 1994 - Parklife, Blur
  • 1995 - Different Class, Pulp
  • 1996 - Fuzzy Logic, Super Furry Animals
  • 1997 - OK Computer, Radiohead
  • 1998 - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill
  • 1999 - How I Learned to Love the Bootboys, The Auteurs
  • 2000 - Tropical Brainstorm, Kirsty MacColl
  • 2001 - Feminist Sweepstakes, Le Tigre
  • 2002 - Life On Other Planets, Supergrass
  • 2003 - Keep Going, Stephen Duffy & The Lilac Time
  • 2004 - Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand
  • 2005 - Come And Get It, Rachel Stevens
  • 2006 - Movie Monster, Sound Team
  • 2007 - Once (music from the motion picture), Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová
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