Michael Jackson was black Flatty, so that good.
Would Ultravox’s greatest hits count?
Actually
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Guys we need some background here.
Music is heavily linked to emotions. When you throw on the album now does it bring you back to a happy time, an insecure time a chaotic time…
Some effort please. Ultimately we are looking at getting little snippets of posters lives in here so it can be used against them in years to come. I’m OK with this.
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The Wedding Present - Seamonsters
I recall listening to this album with my brothers in my Dad’s car while it was stationary outside of my house. Our tape player didn’t work (it used to scrunch up the tape on certain albums) is this was our only outlet for listening to music. There was only a forward button so if you wanted to rewind you had to forward the other side. Where there’s a will and all that.
As for the album itself it just sounds incredible. Gedge with this usual angst driven lyrics about women screwing him over combined with Steve Albini’s brilliant production. I would later piece together that Albini was involved in many of my all time favourites records.
By chance I came across news that the Weddos were playing the album from start to finish in the Button Factory about five years back. It was a great show completed by Gedge totally blanking me when I approached him afterwards to tell him how much I loved the album.
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The Clash -Combat Rock
A tour de france from a band trying to retain it’s angry mantra while coming to grips with the lavishes of fame. The album itself ranges from punk, funk, reggae, electro to disco.
From the off Joe comes in shouting ‘know your rights’ which sets the tone for the album - 'You have the right to food money, providing of course you don’t mind a little Investigation, humiliation and if you cross your fingers, rehabilitation…
The album delves into issues in the mid east, vietnam, immigration, drugs, war and tyranny of governments … it’s not punk, I think the Clash were never truly Punks, that was just their way in … it’s a classic pop album but the ethos and questions asked are very much a fuck you to the establishment in a lot of the songs which are all delivered in a fun way.
As mentioned, the diversity of the album musically is what makes it great and what makes the band great – if a band is not growing and evolving album on album they are at nothing and this for me is peak Clash. Plenty of holes can be poked at the band’s Punk credentials and how they were created - Simonons was only there because he looked cool … but they transcended all that early bullshit quickly enough.
Should I stay or should I go - is just a fantastic foot tapping, head bopping pop song - The catchy chant of Rock the Casbah is not far behind. The jazz back drop of Sean Flynn and the dub beat behind Ghetto Defendant are almost hypnotic. And of course Straight to Hell is just an all time classic song that has been musically sampled by multiple artists since but is lyrically fantastic.
I’ll leave you with Inoculated City - A song that laments the futility of war and loss but the boys give us a great uplifting bit of pop in doing so …
The soldier boy for his soldier’s pay, obeys
The sergeant at arms, whatever he says
The sergeant will for his sergeant’s pay, obey
The captains until his dying day
The captain will, for his captain’s pay, obey
The general order of battle play
The generals bow to the government, obey the charge
You must not relent
What of the neighbours and the prophets in bars?
What are they saying in our public bazaars?
We are tired of the tune, “you must not relent”
At every stroke of the bell in the tower, there goes
Another boy from another side
The bulletins that steady come in say those
Familiar words at the top of the hour
The jamming city increases its hum, and those
Terrible words continue to come
Through brass music of government, hear those
Guns tattoo a roll on the drums
No one mentions the neighbouring war
No one knows what their fighting is for
We are tired of the tune, “you must not relent”
The generals bow to the government
We’re tired of the tune, “you must not relent”
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It requires a bit of thought.
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A masterpiece, plain and simple
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Had been listening my Mam’s Horslips records for a while, progressed to a bit of Thin Lizzy too. Thought life peaked when Rats were no. 1 on TOTP with Rat Trap. But a great pal saw the errors of my ways, gave me a loan of Hunky Dory and that was it, a truly remarkable album by my favourite ever Englishman
A few more favourites from the 60s and 70s.
@KinvarasPassion, I discovered the joys of the Clash in Chicago over a three month stint I did there doing concrete for a muck man from Kiltimagh, Mayo… I went over to a mate who had been illegal over there for 2years at the time…I had split up from a 6 year relationship from my childhood sweetheart and was a little vulnerable and unclear about my future but also free and horny. It was one of the best experiences of my life… I had been pretty sheltered up to that point, same girl and more or less the same job since leaving school… Navigating a big city with a bicycle and an Irish accent is as good as any school learning as was digging concrete 10 hours a day with 6 Mexicans. My mate had befriended another Limerick character while over there and I got to know him and he introduced me to the clash… Combat Rock was the backing track to my growth from a boy to a man.
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Hard to believe you were under some young wans thumb.
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…
And now he’s under an auld wans thumb.
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I wouldn’t have one favourite album but there are albums that I enjoyed a lot at particular times. My older brother bought the first record player in our house around 1978/79 I think so the first listens were things like “Bat out of Hell” and The Beatles Red and Blue compilations.
But well before that, I always listened to a lot of radio, from very early on, that’s why I can recognise a lot of the hits from the 70’ and the 80’s of course. Radio Luxembourg on 208 Medium Wave.
Anyway, just skimming through the music library there. I wouldn’t listen to all these now but here goes:
OMD - Architecture and Morality
ABC - The Lexicon of love
Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour
Frank Sinatra - Come Fly with me
Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swinging Lovers
Lightning Seeds - Jollification
Joe Jackson - Body & Soul
Dire Straits - Dire Straits
Electronic - Electronic
Hall & Oates - Rock & Soul Part II
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Radiohead - The Bends
Simple Minds - New Gold Dream
Stan Getz plays Antonio Carlos Jobim
Utah Saints - Utah Saints
U2 - Achtung Baby
Soundtrack from “Saturday Night Fever”.
Soundtrack from “My Fair Lady”
Soundtrack from “The Sound of Music”
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
A couple of compilations in that list probably.
Edit: And Scott Walker 1-4
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The Good Son by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. 9 songs with none even approaching average and many all time classics,
His following album Henry’s Dream is almost as good.
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I’m surprised nobody likes ELO.
I was going to tell you about Philomena Begley’s Greatest Hits album but I’ve had a rethink.
Boxtyeater approves this message.
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