Their early stuff is brilliant. I would happily substitute any of the first five albums into the list. Absolutely. Prog, glam, pub rock, Philly soul, funk, punk, hard rock, reggae, proper German electronica and not a ****ing flower or overpaid overactive producer in sight. But I suspect everyone’s favourite decade for music will be the one they spent most of their teens in.
I agree, the late 60s paved the way for so many great bands of the 70s. It's true what you say that the music of your teens stays with you. For me 67-75 was the golden era...
In no particular order Smiths - The Smiths INXS - Kick The The - Infected Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro Scritti Politti - Songs to Remember Lloyd Cole - Rattlesnakes New Order - Power Corruption and Lies Texas - Southside Spear of Destiny - World Service Clash - Combat Rock not definitive but 10 albums I remember that were constantly on my turntable.
There was a lot of variety of different sounds in the 80's. My own taste for this era would have included ACDC, Iron Maiden, Madness, Specials, Spirngsteen, The Cure, Teardrop Explodes, New Order, Stone Roses, The Jam, Dexy's Midnight Runners (Geno one of my favourite tunes), Talk Talk U2 (up to 13) so not an easy choice. When I listen to Radio 5, they were disappointed that Wham were not top 10....hum.....not my cup of tea but Faith by George Michael is a decent LP. Again, I am not a Michael Jackson fan (although I did see him at Wembley many many moons ago) and the dancing was good, and he should have an album near the top end. Madonna......I like the way she keeps on changing and reinventing herself and has been fairly successful
I was gonna put down Steel Pulse but their best album was ‘Handsworth Revolution’ which was ‘78. The voice of David Hinds (Steel Pulse) is just amazing. LKJ really was a voice for the early 80’s when times were rough if you were a youth...especially a black youth. Again didn’t pick him as his best album (Forces of Victory) was ‘79
Cure's Disintigration would be right up there for me. I watched a 40 year celebration concert they held in Hyde Park just 2 summers ago. They were brilliant, only scar across their performance was a f""""" Reading FC flag on their stage backdrop.
I was going to put Misty in Roots Live at the Counter Eurovision, but discovered that was seventies too. My missus grew up in Handsworth, Steel Pulse gets a regular outing in our house.
Very similar story here, Out of Time on cassette was my first quickly followed by Murmur. I am very biased but I think they barely set a foot wrong for their first 10 albums, I know Monster gets some stick but I like it. After Bill Berry left the quality was more variable. Yeah totally, Dead Letter office has some real gems, particularly their Velvet Underground covers. I admit i am a little obsessed I've got a load of old bootlegs and still picking them up now where I can.
Prodigal Son and Ku Klux Klan are amazing songs, with Hinds brilliant vocals and the sublime backing vocals from the rest of the band, which stands out the more you listen. Ahh Misty In Roots......Southall lads so always had a soft spot for a local band
The great thing about reggae is that it is timeless. Also, a lot of the ‘heaviest’ reggae sounds seem to have come from British based bands, like Pulse and Misty. I remember those copyists UB40 (actually liked their first album, before they became a covers band) admitting that they could never achieve the heavy bass and drum sounds they wanted. Do you remember a Radio One show, which I think was on early Friday evenings, where a DJ and a couple of guest musicians reviewed new releases? Can’t remember what they called it, but Elvis Costello was on it when they had an early Police single, and he completely panned it, ‘cod reggae’ ‘fake falsetto’ etc. A couple of songs later was the self released Gangsters by The Special AKA and he went nuts, insisting on being told all about them and ending up producing their first and best album.
