I am doing one of these per month and hopefully will finish the eighties before the New Year. See Top Pick 1980 on the last Thursday of March to get the whole story of how I got these. I made them into mixtapes and gave these picks to my friends. My choices always surprised them which was okay with me. I saw many of these bands in concert and played these songs at DJ gigs, mixing them in with the hits. Hard to believe, but some of these songs didn't get much play around town. The Adam and the Ants track was a flexi-disc that came with a magazine. Back then the Nails track wasn't a commercial. Some got played at local clubs and some should have been. The Rick James, I played at the club I DJ'd at as did Balance and Earth, Wind & Fire. I didn't play Pete Shelley there, but I did play him at the Bowling Alley dance floor I also DJ'd at.
Top Pick 1981
01 Squeeze - Tempted
02 Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper
03 The Specials - Ghost Town
04 Bauhaus - Harry
05 Agent Orange - Everything Turns Grey
06 Gun Club - Sex Beat
07 Yoko Ono - Walking On Thin Ice
08 Rick James - Give It to Me Baby
09 Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood
10 Earth, Wind & Fire - Let's Groove
11 Prism - Don't Let Him Know
12 Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
13 Pete Shelley - Homosapien
14 Balance - Breaking Away
15 Plimsouls - Zero Hour
16 Adam and the Ants - A.N.T.S.
17 Robyn Hitchcock - Brenda's Iron Sledge
18 Nails - 88 Lines About 44 Women
19 ZZ Top - Tube Snake Boogie
20 Martha And The Muffins - Women Around The World At Work
One song from 1981 will always be one that is Far-Out.
ReplyDeleteUnunderstandable, it is about a "barg" a young pig, and the curl in its tail. It is by The Eel (De Aal)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZkUQfHyt9s
Totally obnoxious, and after 45 years still unbelievable. Play Loud.
Brilliantly stupid. This is what led to What Does The Fox Say! I blame them
Delete