Standing On A Beach

This weekend bonus commute disc, soundtracking my journey to Villa Park for the ESPN showing late kick off was The Cure's first retrospective, Standing On A Beach.
I genuinely believe The Cure to be amongst the top three singles bands ever to pick up a guitar pick, Ash and The Jam being the other two. The problem with The Cure though is the singles, the good singles, only started really towards the back end of the period this album covers.
Obviously that statement doesnt apply to the sublime, Boys Don't Cry, on any given days one of the most perfect pop songs ever created. Better than Teenage Kicks, better than Video killed the radio star, even better than over the hills with the swords of a thousand men. On it's day.
On this album there is a bit of a wait up to that track and then a bit of a wait till the goods are produced again, Lets go to bed.
This is the start though of something rather special, and it didnt stop there, because as a band, they never got crap after that. For me from Let's Go To Bed to now, The Cure produced/s singles of the highest quality. Restricted to this album we have The Walk, Love Cats, the fantastic In Between Dayas and the equally wonderful Close To Me.
It's a pity about the stuff inbetween, all gothy and brooding and painting pictures. I could smell the patchouli and see the rooms painted black. Cheer up gothy kids, Friday I'm In Love is only 3 albums away! 6 out of 10.



Boys Don't Cry by The Cure

A Year in Music - 1979

For reasons known only to myself (and other closet list makers) I have been putting together compilations based on particular years. This started in a round about way when, after a string of random songs on the ipod of more or less the same age, and with no hobbies or interests or friends to speak of, I decided to group some music by year, just for the sheer edge-of-seat, surf the internet / burn a cd crazy wildness of the thing.

As a starting point I chose 1979. Don't ask me why. The lists, of course, only consist of things I would listen to. There are ridiculous omissions, whole genres ignored, but they are true to the year they purport to be. Some years seem ridiculous in the amount of decent music released, while others are dusty barren tumbleweed strewn wastelands (1986 springs to mind).

My starting year, or year zero, is 1979, and there are far too many decent songs to choose from. It was year zero for Britain also, as Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister on May 4th, and nothing was ever the same again.

So, my 1979 top picks, interspersed with a couple of vids are

London Calling - The Clash
ELO - Don't Bring Me Down
AC/DC - If You Want Blood
Amii Stewart - Knock on Wood
The Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Elvis Costello - Accidents will Happen
Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With Him
Joy Division - She's Lost Control
Eddie Grant - Livin' on the Front Line

Madness - The Prince
Motorhead - Overkill
Rainbow - All Night Long
The Beat - Rankin Full Stop
Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster
Sugarhill Gang - Rappers Delight
The Cure - Killing an Arab
The Jam - Eton Rifles
The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
XTC - Making plans for Nigel