1980 - A Year in Music

Don't you just love the 80's? No? Well, you've got a point. If you were to ask my wife what the 80's meant for her she'd have to say something along the lines of learning to walk and leaving the nappies behind. For me the 80's immediately conjures up mental images of TV news footage of many a grim going on; hunger strikes, the Falklands war, Handsworth and Brixton riots, unemployment, the miner's strike, CND and so on. It's not a pretty picture, and for a lot of the 80's, growing up in a fairly depressed midlands new town (not that I was economically affected), not a pretty picture is about as well as I can put it. A couple of the upsides that spring to mind are the Sony Walkman and post punk, a great combination.

So, get off your BMX, hitch up yer leg warmers, and have a look at my top picks for the year 1980, the year John Lennon got shot.

UB40 - King
Echo & The Bunnymen - Villiers Terrace
Bob Marley - Redemption Song
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Geno
Dolly Parton - 9 to 5

Hot Chocolate - Emma
John Martyn - Sweet Little Mystery
Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster
The Ruts - Staring at the Rude Boys
The Specials - Do Nothing
Willie Nelson - On the Road Again

The Who - You Better You Bet
Neil Diamond - America
AC/DC - Have a Drink On Me
Wah! Heat - Better Scream

John Martyn RIP

This may be the only time I open with a Phil Collins quote.

"He was uncompromising, which made him infuriating to some people, but he was unique and we'll never see the likes of him again"

John Martyn died a few days ago. The first time I ever saw him was on a BBC2 folk show, and he played an acoustic guitar and beautifuly drawled a song of his classic Solid Air album. Even to a novice like me he was clearly an unusual talent, and I spent the next few years tending to agree with Phil Collins, as purchasing his albums could be infuriating. Think you've got a folkie? Think again. Some called him the 'father of trip-hop', which I don't understand, as I'm not sure what it is.

I saw him live once, at the Cambridge folk festival. He did a version of Johny Too Bad that had guitar sounds which sounded like a chopper scene from a Vietnam film. Several hard core folkies in the tent were highly disturbed. I loved it.

Here are 3 John Martyns

Johnny Too Bad, 1981.

A slightly oriental version of Don't Want to Know



One for The Road, 2004