Was that because so much of 'punk' was UK centric and not available in the US or were they just too old and 60s hangovers looking for music like they had as a youth?
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Friday, 5 April 2019 15:32 (five years ago) link
Here's the acclaimed music list for 79
http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/year/1979a.htm
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Friday, 5 April 2019 15:33 (five years ago) link
Rolling Stone 1979 Critics
Album
• Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young
Single Of The Year
• Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Friday, 5 April 2019 16:12 (five years ago) link
Melody Maker End Of Year Critic Lists - 1979
Albums
1. Fear Of Music - Talking Heads2. Bop Till You Drop - Ry Cooder3. Entertainment - Gang Of Four4. Forces Of Victory - Linton Kwesi Johnson5. Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young6. The Undertones - The Undertones7. Off The Wall - Michael Jackson8. I Am - Earth, Wind & Fire9. Metal Box - PIL10. London Calling - The Clash11. The Original Sin - Cowboys International12. Squeezing Out Sparks - Graham Parker13. We Are Family - Sister Sledge14. Armed Forces - Elvis Costello15. Tom Verlaine - Tom Verlaine16. 154 - Wire17. Drums And Wires - XTC18. Exposure - Robert Fripp19. Rock On - Raydio20. Bad Girls - Donna Summer
• Public Image Limited - Death Disco
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Friday, 5 April 2019 16:14 (five years ago) link
Most critics were on board with punk, though boundaries have shifted since. Elvis Costello's vitrol got him called punk. There was a year or more lag for a lot of those NME records getting issued in the States, Metal Box becoming Second Edition. Mid-eighties, when I started buying these records, Slits, Wire, The Fall were all still hard to find. Urgh A Music War is a pretty good example of the New Wave acts that were promoted and distributed more thoroughly in the US.
https://www.discogs.com/Various-URGH-A-Music-War/release/1104550
― bendy, Friday, 5 April 2019 17:28 (five years ago) link
btw found a person on ilx who is a graham parker fan. He's a former ilxor from way back in the early days.
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Friday, 5 April 2019 20:07 (five years ago) link
tough one. went with Throbbing Gristle.
― buttigieg play the blues (crüt), Friday, 5 April 2019 21:07 (five years ago) link
do you know what Throbbing Gristle is Yorkshire slang for?
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Friday, 5 April 2019 23:13 (five years ago) link
I wouldn't call myself a Graham Parker *fan* exactly but Squeezing Out Sparks is a decent pub rock LP
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 5 April 2019 23:17 (five years ago) link
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy)
i don't know what the hell was wrong with american critics in the '70s, i was three, and i'm a little grumpy about it because complaining about their utterly tepid and anodyne tastes makes me sound like fucking lj or something, i try to be a live and let live person, but jesus fucking christ their list looks like the shit the grammy voters come up with.
― Jaki Liebowitz (rushomancy), Friday, 5 April 2019 23:39 (five years ago) link
"60's hangover" gets closest to the vibe imo, it is very distinct and I mostly blame Dave Marsh
― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Saturday, 6 April 2019 00:29 (five years ago) link
yes. also agree about the lag in US availability of a lot of the UK albums
― Dan S, Saturday, 6 April 2019 00:40 (five years ago) link
this IS The B-52's, but in absence of that Joy Division.
this was the very first year i did the acclaimed series, which i ended up doing over five summers and then singles in the fall. what happened when i did the 1979 one is that the B-52's won. i did not know the B-52's at that time and knew that if it won a poll on ILM that it must be a special album. flash forward to 2018 and here i am doing the B-52's artist poll for ILM which Karl Malone ended up having to finish for me. i will never forget my reaction on the winning of the poll and being introduced to a band that i now love with all my heart. all thanks to ILM and why i love this place.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 6 April 2019 01:21 (five years ago) link
Acclaimed Music Top 25 from 1979 poll
15 The B-52's - The B-52's 121 The Clash - London Calling 112 Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures 103 Michael Jackson - Off the Wall 1014 Chic - Risqué 89 Talking Heads - Fear of Music 84 Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps 722 Wire 154 6
― Bee OK, Saturday, 6 April 2019 01:23 (five years ago) link
There was a CD compilation of Graham Parker and the Rumour from about 20 years ago called You Can't Be Too Strong that collected everything you'd ever need to hear by them. It's well written and executed pub rock but I always found his voice was like nails on chalkboard. At the time, I couldn't understand what critics saw in him, especially because they were ignoring that Van Morrison was still in peak form.
No love on this board for Doll by Doll, who released two superb albums in 79, Remember and Gypsy Blood. They were a vicious live act too.
There was something in the air then. Every week there was a new album that left your jaw on the floor. Even acts like the Slits and Joy Division, who could come across so unfocussed and sloppy live, would startle you with releases as good as Cut and Unknown Pleasures. I voted for Entertainment, GO4 were pretty special that year.
― Ρεμπετολογια, Saturday, 6 April 2019 02:51 (five years ago) link
"There was something in the air then. Every week there was a new album that left your jaw on the floor. Even acts like the Slits and Joy Division, who could come across so unfocussed and sloppy live, would startle you with releases as good as Cut and Unknown Pleasures. I voted for Entertainment, GO4 were pretty special that year."
love this post
― Dan S, Saturday, 6 April 2019 03:09 (five years ago) link
aw shucks
― Ρεμπετολογια, Saturday, 6 April 2019 03:21 (five years ago) link
I think my first exposure to Gang of Four was "I Love a Man In a Uniform" in 1982, I looked but couldn't find Entertainment! for the longest time after that
― Dan S, Saturday, 6 April 2019 03:41 (five years ago) link
GO4 feels predictable after reading thread but was immed at top for me. london calling is jan 80 in my mind tho i wouldnt hear it til later when i begged a classmate to tape it for me
― Hunt3r, Saturday, 6 April 2019 04:01 (five years ago) link
I still reckon Tusk will win, its ILM
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Saturday, 6 April 2019 13:34 (five years ago) link
even with the typo
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Saturday, 6 April 2019 13:35 (five years ago) link
20 Jazz Funk Greats. It's one of the most urgent and beautiful records I've ever heard.
― kraudive, Saturday, 6 April 2019 14:57 (five years ago) link
Is there a tribute act based in the NW England, called Fleetwood Manc?
― Mark G, Saturday, 6 April 2019 17:39 (five years ago) link
Tubeway Army is on the list but 1979 was also the year that Gary Numan went solo. The Pleasure Principle isn't the best album of the year but it's better than a couple on that list.
― Ashley Pomeroy, Saturday, 6 April 2019 18:10 (five years ago) link
Went solo in name only. Tubeway Army was as much of a solo project as anything he did under his own name.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 6 April 2019 18:43 (five years ago) link
Except Tubeway army carried on without him, under a slightly modified name
― Mark G, Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:19 (five years ago) link
Er, no they didn't.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:26 (five years ago) link
"slightly modified"?
https://www.discogs.com/artist/45761-Dramatis
― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:28 (five years ago) link
Numan's backing band circa '81 formed Dramatis after Numan announced his "retirement", but none of its members were on Tubeway Army or Replicas. Paul Gardiner (who was) continued to work with Numan on 'Stormtrooper in Drag' etc. and Jess Lidyard (the drummer on those records) featured on Dance. None of the members of Dramatis had any legal claim to the name Tubeway Army.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:32 (five years ago) link
In fact, Denis Haines was only ever on Telekon. Payne, Bell and Sharpley would be back with Numan on Warriors etc.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:34 (five years ago) link
If I had voted anywhere in '79, think it would have gone something like this, based on the ones I heard then---didn't yet know XTC, Slits, Tom Verlaine's s/t, or Metal Box ever (though did get Second Edition eventually) and remember best---10 points each:1. Entertainment!- Gang of Four 2. Rust Never Sleeps- Neil Young & Crazy Horse3. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division4. Into the Music- Van Morrison5. Entertainment - Gang Of Four6. The B-52- The B-52s7. Do It Yourself - Ian Dury8. London Calling - The Clash9. Squeezing Out Sparks - Graham Parker10. The Raincoats- The Raincoats
― dow, Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:51 (five years ago) link
Also didn't hear Bad Girls and Risque 'til later, though would have been a source of my Singles list.
― dow, Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:53 (five years ago) link
don't think I heard The Raincoats' first album until a reissue in the early '90s, or The Slits' first album until even later
― Dan S, Saturday, 6 April 2019 23:34 (five years ago) link
Re Tubeway whatever..
I'm sure I saw it at the time, but can't remember it and can't find it now.
Put it into the unconfirmed pile, then.
― Mark G, Saturday, 6 April 2019 23:37 (five years ago) link
Wait, I didn't hear Dury right then, did I? Can't swear---make it Blondie, Eat To The Beat, I know I played the hell out of that for most of the year. Regarding glaring omissions, late entries etc,, the Voice used to make allowances for "year of impact" (on the voter, not nec. the charts), so that may be why Entertainment! didn't show up on the 1979 P&J (says here release date was Sept. 25).
― dow, Saturday, 6 April 2019 23:53 (five years ago) link
there were so many great albums from 1978-1981
I remember in 1980 or 81 visiting my sister and her older boyfriend in Austin and being driven out into the middle of nowhere - seemed like it took hours - into some vast desert landscape to visit a friend of theirs. Drums and Wires was blasting from the stereo. I was such an odd disconnect and I fell in love with it instantly
― Dan S, Sunday, 7 April 2019 00:01 (five years ago) link
*It was
― Dan S, Sunday, 7 April 2019 00:04 (five years ago) link
also remember the Rickie Lee Jones album being a favorite at the time, and I got to meet her!
― Dan S, Sunday, 7 April 2019 00:26 (five years ago) link
I never got into XTC either but you probably realised that by now
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Sunday, 7 April 2019 12:58 (five years ago) link
i could probably do a poll like this for a few years of the '80s but the record selection would be way stupider
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Sunday, 7 April 2019 13:12 (five years ago) link
Agreed, an embarrassing amount of great music!
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Sunday, 7 April 2019 13:36 (five years ago) link
Michael B is taking over for the 80s series of pollsxp
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Sunday, 7 April 2019 14:31 (five years ago) link
oh good he's got good taste
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Sunday, 7 April 2019 15:19 (five years ago) link
its ilm though, he wont please everyone. However it's cool to be able to check out albums you have never heard that people mention so all's good.
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Sunday, 7 April 2019 15:28 (five years ago) link
agree, you posted a lot of reggae I didn't know and want to follow up on
― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Sunday, 7 April 2019 15:30 (five years ago) link
I did? I hardly know any and everyone pointed that out to me. I need to hear more for sure.
I do regret forgetting about augustus pablo - king tubby meets rockers uptown because Ive had that cd twenty years and i dunno how i forgot it in my list of (76 i think?)
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Sunday, 7 April 2019 15:38 (five years ago) link
the 1980s are ILMers most beloved decade so no way was I taking that on. Dont fancy the ire of 80s pop, hair metal, synthpop fans etc :D
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Sunday, 7 April 2019 15:40 (five years ago) link
xp was thinking of the Keith Hudson specifically
― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Sunday, 7 April 2019 15:44 (five years ago) link
Sure there will be plenty of people to vote for This Heat or Wire so I went with Dragnet. Remarkably little that strikes me in your list. The Raincoats sure.
Some favoritesBlack Uhuru - ShowcaseBob Marley - SurvivalLinton Kwesi Johnson - Forces of VictoryBarrington Levy - EnglishmanJohnny Osbourne - Truths and Rightslot of reggae actually (Words of Wisdom, Wild Suspense)XTC - Drums and WireThe Only Ones - Even Serpents ShineCamarón de la Isla - La leyenda del tiempoThe Damned - Machine Gun EtiquetteVan Morrison - Into the Music (iirc)YMO - Solid State Survivor
― Nabozo, Sunday, 7 April 2019 18:02 (five years ago) link
here were so many great albums from 1978-1981
― Dan S, Saturday, April 6, 2019 7:01 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Dan S Now that you mention it, I can totally imagine the disconnected combination and balancing act! Well "totally" as I can without your actual experience. ILX always needs this kind of testimony (I j mainly just remember several of my Top Ten in certain rooms, or sometimes out on the street, blasting through windows and sometimes walls [cheapo offcampus housing]---especially The B-52s),
― dow, Sunday, 7 April 2019 21:30 (five years ago) link