Matt's Books and Music

[This post is part of a large project in which I am going through the popular music released in each year. Please see the note at the bottom of the post re: omissions and limitations.]

Introduction

If 1980 still mostly felt like the ‘70s, ‘81 was more of a transitional year. There was still ABBA and Electric Light Orchestra, but also the start of the post-punk evolution into new wave with Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, and Soft Cell, the solo debuts of Phil Collins and Stevie Nicks, and a breakout release from the Go-Go’s, so it was starting to feel more quintessentially ‘80s. All in all, it was a really fun music year and I revisit its playlist often.

Top 10 Albums

1. Bella Donna (Stevie Nicks): With six songs that made it not only into my top sixty playlist but into the top forty, including the number one over-all song, there was little doubt this album was going to end up in the top spot.
2. Speak & Spell (Depeche Mode): This isn’t quite Depeche Mode in their final form, but this more dance-pop-oriented version of the band (featuring Vince Clarke, who would quietly dominate the decade with not only this album, but also in his later bands Yazoo and Erasure), is my favourite.
3. Escape (Journey): Journey’s run at the start of the 1980s was very impressive, and this album is the peak.
4. Time (Electric Light Orchestra): This time-travelling concept album is a retrofuturist masterpiece.
5. I Love Rock ‘n Roll (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts): No one did post-punk retro rock like Joan Jett.
6. Kim Wilde (self-titled): While not having the top-level hits of some of the other albums on this list, this is a deep, well-balanced, and very professional debut album, and that goes a long way.
7. Beauty and the Beat (The Go-Go’s): If I were to write a book about the emergence of pop as a distinct genre in the ‘80s, there would be a chapter about The Go-Go’s, and this album in particular.
8. Freeze-Frame (J. Geils Band): The right band at the right time, this album features two all-time classics in the title track and “Centerfold.”
9. The Visitors (ABBA): This final ABBA album strikes a more melancholy tone than their earlier music and only had one lasting hit (“One of Us”), but that an ‘off’ album from a band that was running on fumes can be this solid shows just how much talent is there.
10. You Want It You Got It (Bryan Adams): In this sophomore effort, Adams hadn’t quite landed on his trademark sound yet, but I enjoyed the experimentation, and “Lonely Nights” and “Coming Home” were signs of things to come.

Other Albums of Note

• Trust (Elvis Costello): Costello released two albums in 1981 and put together they’d put him well into my top ten list, but of the two Trust is definitely my favourite.
• Juice (Juice Newton): This is probably the pinnacle of country-pop crossover artist Juice Newton’s oeuvre and features several big hits.
• Face Value (Phil Collins): This album is far more than “In the Air Tonight” and reaches towards the characteristic sound that made Phil Collins the surprising biggest artist in the world by mid-decade.

Top 10 Songs

It was truly an embarrassment of riches at the top for me in 1981. I went back and forth between number one and two, and on any given day, any of the top six could find themselves in the top spot.

1. “Edge of Seventeen” (Stevie Nicks): Few songs have been sampled as often and as successfully as this, but nothing comes close to touching the original. (Favourite lyric: “The sea changes colours
   but the sea does not change”)
2. “Under Pressure” (Queen and David Bowie): Another oft-sampled track, this collab that I didn’t know I needed is my favourite thing either of these huge and prolific artists did. (Favourite lyric: “That’s the terror of knowing what this world is about”)
3. “Don’t Stop Believin’” (Journey): There’s a reason why forty-five years after its release, this song is still everywhere. (Favourite lyric: “Just a small town girl / Livin’ in a lonely world”)
4. “Just Can’t Get Enough” (Depeche Mode): It’s hard to believe just how young these guys were when this came out, especially since it’s so polished and feels so fully formed. (Favourite lyric: “We slip and slide as we fall in love”)
5. “Tainted Love” (Soft Cell): I’ve loved this song so much for so long that it was really sad to discover I couldn’t put it at number one. (Favourite lyric: “Once I ran to you / Now I’ll run from you”)
6. “In the Air Tonight” (Phil Collins): A truly haunting song with an absolutely iconic drum fill. (Favourite lyric: “I’ve seen your face before, my friend / But I don’t know if you know who I am”)
7. “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (The Police): This is just a lovely, fun song. (Favourite lyric: “It’s a big enough umbrella / But it’s always me that ends up getting wet”)
8. “Jessie’s Girl” (Rick Springfield): A classic rock song about falling for someone off-limits (Favourite lyric: “And she’s watching him with those eyes / And she’s lovin’ him with that body, I just know it”)
9. “Centerfold” (J. Geils Band): Another classic song about an awkward crush. (Favourite lyric: “My blood runs cold / My memory has just been sold / My angel is the centerfold”)
10. “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” (Soft Cell): I first encountered this song in David Gray’s cover version, but I think I like the original even better. (Favourite lyric: “You and I, it had to be the standing joke of the year”)

Other Songs of Note

• “867-5309 / Jenny” (Tommy Tutone)
• “Strict Time” (Elvis Costello)
• “Belinda” (Eurythmics)

Most Surprising Inclusion

• “Happy Birthday” (Altered Images): This is a very very weird song, but I kinda love it.

Notable Song that Missed the Cut

• “9-to-5 (Morning Train)” (Sheena Easton): This is a missed-the-cut-without-prejudice. I like it a lot; it just didn’t crack the top sixty.

[Note: It’s of course impossible to listen to everything, so while I’ve tried to be as comprehensive as possible, omissions are inevitable. For consistency’s sake, I’ve gone with the year music was released, rather than when it became popular. Any ratings or rankings are my own and entirely subjective. This has nothing to do with objective quality but is simply reflective of my personal taste.]