1983 - A Year in Music

I was looking for a nice way in to this 1983 post, but I couldn't find one. When I looked through the news of the year it was so depressing (Thatcher wins by landslide) that I thought I should just focus on the music. I have a very distinct memory of hearing 68 Guns by The Alarm for the first time. It was either on or walking past Morecambe pier which, just like The Alarm, no longer exists. The similarities don't end there either, as 68 Guns and the seaside town are both blustery and full of wind, and even though they have passed their peak there is a certain faded grandeur and pomp in both, that appeals a great deal to me.

The Alarm - 68 Guns

Aztec Camera - Oblivious
Big Country - Fields of Fire
Eddie Grant - Electric Avenue
Eurythmics - Love is a Stranger
Grand Master Flash - White Lines
Heaven 17 - Temptation
Icicle Works - Whisper to a Scream

Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing
REM - Radio Free Europe
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Pride and Joy
The Beat - Can't Get Used to Losing You
The Lotus Eaters - First Picture of You

The Mighty Wah! - The Story of the Blues (might be 1982?)
The Rolling Stones - Undercover of the Night
Violent Femmes - Add it Up

Wiki Danger Jelly Femmes

Amber, who is nearly 5 months old, decided last night that 3.55am was the perfect time to start the new day. She let us know this information by waving her arms around and squeaking. This went on for quite some time and also co-incided with my pain killers wearing off, so I got up to take back-knack pills. Shortly before going to bed I had watched two shows on TV, 'Shameless', which I believe is a Channel 4 show, and Live from Abbey Road (which I shall comment on shortly). Unfortunately they don't give out pills for that. The combination of squeaking, back-knack and bad telly conspired to prevent me from returning to sleep, so I turned to the same place I always seek consolation in the early hours - Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is a great place to find out about music. No, it really is. After watching the Abbey Road show I looked up The Feeling, only to discover that they were the most played group on UK radio in 2006. They struck me as Jet-lite, or a poor Jellyfish, and I was astonished to read about their success. Another surprise, for even I have been touched by the annoying 'Craaaaayzeee' of Gnarls Barkley, was how much I enjoyed seeing Gnarls Barkley run through three numbers in the studio. It helped that one of their three was a cover of 'Gone Daddy Gone' by the Violent Femmes, although I liked the other two, too. Wikipedia told me that half of Gnarls Barkley is Danger Mouse, the fella that mixed the Beatles White Album with Jay Z's Black Album, to get The Grey Album. The Helter Skelter/99 Problems mashup is my personal favourite, so here it is, along with Jellyfish, as they were much better that The Feeling.

99 Problems (Danger Mouse)


The King is Half Undressed by Jellyfish