“Map Ref. 41ºN 93ºW”, Wire

This way: Map Ref. 41ºN 93ºW

I would put this in the list of my favorite top ten albums of all time. 

154 is the third album by the English post-punk band Wire, released in 1979 on EMI imprint Harvest Records in the UK and Europe and Warner Bros. Records in America. Branching out even further from the minimalist punk rock style of their earlier work, 154 is considered a progression of the sounds displayed on Wire's previous album Chairs Missing, with the group experimenting with slower tempos, fuller song structures and a more prominent use of guitar effects, synthesizers and electronics.  The album is so named because the band had played 154 gigs in their career at the time of the album's release.

[Spotify] Map Ref. 41ºN 93ºW

“Anthrax”, Gang of Four

This way: Anthrax

Entertainment! is the debut album by English post-punk band Gang of Four, released in September 1979. The album was released on EMI in the UK and on Warner Bros. in the US. Stylistically, it draws heavily on punk rock but also incorporates the influence of funk, dance music, reggae and dub. Its lyrics and artwork reflected the band's left-wing political concerns.  

[Spotify] Anthrax (live version)

[Extra early version] Anthrax (earlier EP version)

“Angel Tongue”, Light Asylum

This way: Angel Tongue

Light Asylum is a Brooklyn-based electronic music duo consisting of Shannon Funchess and Bruno Coviello. The band released their first EP “In Tension” in 2010. The four track EP was re-released in 2011 through notable indie label Mexican Summer. Their self-titled début album was released in May 2012. But where did they go? Put out a few stellar releases and then . . .

[Spotify] Angel Tongue

“Catapult”, R.E.M.

This way: Catapult

Perhaps the best song ever written about a catapult.


R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe. One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. was noted for Buck’s ringing, arpeggiated guitar style, Stipe’s distinctive vocal quality and obscure lyrics, Mills’s melodic basslines and backing vocals, and Berry’s tight, economical style of drumming. R.E.M. released its first single—“Radio Free Europe”—in 1981 on the independent record label Hib-Tone. The single was followed by the Chronic Town EP in 1982, the band’s first release on I.R.S. Records. In 1983, the group released its critically acclaimed debut album, Murmur, and built its reputation over the next few years through subsequent releases, constant touring, and the support of college radio. Following years of underground success, R.E.M. achieved a mainstream hit in 1987 with the single “The One I Love”. The group signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1988, and began to espouse political and environmental concerns while playing large arenas worldwide. This song is from the period where Michael Stipe had hair. 

[Spotify] Catapult

“Hitchin' a Ride”, Vanity Fare

This way: Hitchin' a Ride

It’s One Hit Wonder Day, who knew? Well here is one of my earliest favorite songs from the AM radio of my youth. 

“Hitchin’ a Ride” is a song written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander issued as a single by the English pop/rock band Vanity Fare in late 1969. It reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1970, but was a bigger hit in the United States, reaching number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 27, 1970. Billboard ranked the record as the number 14 song of 1970.

[Spotify] Hitchin' a Ride

“Alchemy”, Richard Lloyd

This way: Alchemy

Richard Lloyd is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the rock band Television. A fantastic guitar player here he is in fine form on his first solo LP from 1979.

Lloyd’s backing band on the album featured a number of notable New York musicians, including guitarist James Mastro (of the Bongos), Television bassist Fred Smith and drummer Vinny DeNunzio, formerly of the Feelies. 

[Spotify] Alchemy

“Breakin’ in My Heart”, Tom Verlaine

This way: Breakin’ in My Heart

Tom Verlaine is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman of the New York City rock band Television. He has put out a ton of solo LPs at this point. Here is a gem from his first solo record circa 1978. Ricky Wilson guitarist of the B-52’s, plays guitar on “Breakin’ in My Heart”. 

[Spotify] Breakin’ in My Heart

“Bikage”, Descendents

This way: Bikage

The Descendents are a punk rock band formed in 1977 in Manhattan Beach, California by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson. In 1979, they enlisted Stevenson’s school friend Milo Aukerman as a singer, and reappeared as a punk rock band, becoming a major player in the hardcore punk scene developing in Los Angeles at the time. They have released seven studio albums, three live albums, three compilation albums, and three EPs. Since 1986, the band's lineup has consisted of singer Milo Aukerman, guitarist Stephen Egerton, bassist Karl Alvarez, and drummer Bill Stevenson. 

While still short and fast, the songs on Milo Goes to College were also melodic. Singer Milo Aukerman later reflected: "It's interesting: we started very melodic, then moved to hardcore, but melded the two at a certain point and became melodic hardcore." The album's title and cover illustration referenced Aukerman's departure from the band to study biology at the University of California, San Diego. The illustration was done by Jeff Atkinson, based on earlier caricatures by a high school classmate of Aukerman's named Roger Deuerlein.

[Spotify] Bikage

“Indian Summer”, Beat Happening

This way: Indian Summer

Beat Happening is an American indie pop band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members. Beat Happening were early leaders in the American indie pop and lo-fi movements, noted for their use of primitive recording techniques, disregard for the technical aspects of musicianship, and songs with subject matters of a childish or coy nature.

Jamboree is the second album by American indie rock band Beat Happening, released in 1988 through K Records and Rough Trade Records. The album marks a darker approach to the twee pop for which the band is known, due largely to a thicker production than is present on the group's earlier recordings and the dominance of tracks written by Calvin Johnson, while Heather Lewis only provides vocals on two songs, the uncharacteristically brash "In Between" and the more typically understated "Ask Me." 

[Spotify] Indian Summer

“The Revolution Will Not be Televised”, Gil Scott-Heron

This way: The Revolution Will Not be Televised

“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is a poem and song by Gil Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron first recorded it for his 1970 album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, on which he recited the lyrics, accompanied by congas and bongo drums. A re-recorded version, with a full band, was the B-side to Scott-Heron's first single, "Home Is Where the Hatred Is", from his album Pieces of a Man (1971). It was also included on his compilation album, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1974). All these releases were issued on the Flying Dutchman Productions record label.

The song's title was originally a popular slogan among the 1960s Black Power movements in the United States. Its lyrics either mention or allude to several television series, advertising slogans and icons of entertainment and news coverage that serve as examples of what “the revolution will not” be or do. The song is a response to the spoken word piece “When the Revolution Comes” by The Last Poets, from their eponymous debut, which opens with the line “When the revolution comes some of us will probably catch it on TV”. 

[Spotify] The Revolution Will Not be Televised

“Trouble with Classicists”, Lou Reed and John Cale

This way: Trouble with Classicists

“Songs for Drella” is a 1990 album by Lou Reed and John Cale, both formerly of the Velvet Underground; it is a song cycle about Andy Warhol, their mentor, who had died following routine surgery in 1987. Drella was a nickname for Warhol coined by Warhol superstar Ondine, a contraction of Dracula and Cinderella, used by Warhol’s crowd but never liked by Warhol himself. The song cycle focuses on Warhol’s interpersonal relations and experiences, with songs falling roughly into three categories: Warhol’s first-person perspective (which makes up the vast majority of the album), third-person narratives chronicling events and affairs, and first-person commentaries on Warhol by Reed and Cale themselves. A great record about a total master. 

[Spotify] Trouble with Classicists

“People Who Died”, The Jim Carroll Band

This way: People Who Died

Jim Carroll (August 1, 1949 – September 11, 2009) was an American author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries; the book inspired a 1995 film of the same title that starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Carroll.
The Jim Carroll Band released a single, “People Who Died”, from their 1980 debut album, Catholic Boy. The album featured contributions from Allen Lanier and Bobby Keys.  Carroll was a basketball star in high school, but also developed an addiction to heroin. He financed his drug habit by engaging in prostitution in the vicinity of 53rd Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan. Carroll briefly attended Wagner College and Columbia University.

[Spotify] People Who Died

“Up The Junction”, Squeeze

This way: Up The Junction

Squeeze are a British rock band that came to prominence in the United Kingdom during the new wave period of the late 1970s, and continued recording successfully in the 1980s and 1990s.  Though not as commercially successful in the United States, Squeeze had American hits with “Tempted”, “Hourglass” and "853-5937”, and were considered a part of the Second British Invasion.

The vast majority of their material is composed of lyrics by Chris Difford and music by Glenn Tilbrook who are guitarists and vocalists in the band. The duo were hailed as “The heirs to Lennon and McCartney's throne” during their peak of popularity in the late 1970s. 

[Spotify] Up The Junction

“September Gurls”, Big Star

This way: September Gurls

“September Gurls” is a song by the rock band Big Star. Written by Alex Chilton, it was featured on the group’s second studio album Radio City. The track was released in 1974. Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens, and Andy Hummel. The group broke up in early 1975. 

In its first era, the band’s musical style drew on the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Byrds. Big Star produced a style that foreshadowed the alternative rock of the 1980s and 1990s. Before they broke up, Big Star created a "seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations", in the words of Rolling Stone, as the “quintessential American power pop band”.

[Spotify] September Gurls

“Speeding Motorcycle”, Daniel Johnston—Dead at 58

This way: Speeding Motorcycle (please download)

Daniel Johnston Dead at 58

Sad day for music. Daniel Johnston is really one of the greats. He wrote 100% pure music from his own perspective. This version of “Speeding Motorcycle” was recorded live on the air as Daniel called into the station as Yo La Tengo was doing a live on air set. 

Daniel Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 10, 2019) was an American singer-songwriter and visual artist regarded as a significant figure in art as well as lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his early work consisted of cassettes recorded alone in his home. He gathered a local following in the 1980s by passing out tapes of his music while working at a McDonald's in Austin, Texas. His cult status was propelled when Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a T-shirt that featured artwork from Johnston's 1983 album Hi, How Are You. In 2005, Johnston was the subject of the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

Cause we don't want to wreck but
We can do a lot of tricks
We don't have to break our necks

To get our kicks

[Spotify] Speeding Motorcycle

“Alex Chilton”, The Replacements

This way: Alex Chilton

This song is a tribute to former Box Tops/Big Star member Alex Chilton, credited by many as being the founder of Power Pop. He has produced several songs for The Replacements. The song is not only a tribute, but a reminder of Alex’s relative obscurity, as emphasized in the ironically hyperbolic chorus: “And children by the million sing for Alex Chilton/When he comes ‘round/They sing, “ I’m in love/What’s that song?/Yeah, I'm in love, with that”

The Replacements were an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979. Initially a punk rock band, they are considered one of the pioneers of alternative rock. The band was composed of the guitarist and vocalist Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bass guitarist Tommy Stinson and drummer Chris Mars for most of its career. The group disbanded in 1991, with the members eventually pursuing various projects. The band is referred to by their nickname “ he ’Mats” by fans, which originated as a truncation of “The Placemats,” a mispronunciation of their name. Tommy was 14 when the band started. 

[Spotify] Alex Chilton

“Suck the Blood from My Wound”, Ezra Furman

This way: Suck the Blood from My Wound

Ezra Furman is an American musician and songwriter. Furman currently performs solo and tours with his band The Visions. Furman's seventh album, was released 9 February 2018. The album follows a narrative of Furman and an angel on the road, running away from an oppressive government. Furman has a new album that just came out that is also fantastic.

[Spotify] Suck the Blood from My Wound

“True Dreams of Wichita”, Soul Coughing

This way: True Dreams of Wichita

Soul Coughing was an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/guitarist Mike Doughty , keyboardist/sampler Mark Degli Antoni, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and drummer Yuval Gabay. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and garnered largely positive response from critics. Soul Coughing's sound was a willfully idiosyncratic mix of improvisational jazz grooves, oddball samples, hip hop, electronics, and noisy experimentalism. The band's sound was described by Doughty as “deep slacker jazz.” The inventive sampling and unconventional keyboard techniques of Mark Degli Antoni underpinned the band’s distinct sound. I played on the bill once with them at PS122 in NYC. Ton of great music in their catalogue. 

[Spotify] True Dreams of Wichita

“Trailer Trash”, Modest Mouse

This way: Trailer Trash

 Modest Mouse. Here is a song, I really cant think of much to say about it . . .
Dan J. says:  These guys were phenomenal in the ’90s... revolutionary. They weren’t trying to be the next Seattle grunge or whatever—they were from Issaquah, dammit. Never heard of it? Good. They did everything just a little different, and a lot better. I saw them play a show at the HUB on the University of Washington campus when they were still slightly underground that remains one of my fondest memories of experimentation on many levels. Their first few albums were the anthem of my emerging independence. Then, the century turned and all of a sudden... so did they... to total shit. They showed up on minivan commercials, their music somehow got loud, boring, and cloying all at the same time, and their fans... well, I’m not a fan of what they became. Tossed my T-shirts.

[Spotify] Trailer Trash

“Cleanliness & Order”, Boyd Rice & Daniel Miller

This way: Cleanliness & Order

“Darker Skratcher” is this great compilation record of various bands from the Los Angeles area circa 1980. It was released by the Los Angeles Free Music Society, a group of misfit artists and musicians. I was friends with the artist who did the cover (Jeffrey Valance), as well as several of the bands on this release. There are a ton great weird-ass songs on this record. But “Cleanliness and Order” is a stand out. Parenting just got a whole lot easier.

Various ‎– Darker Skratcher
Label: Los Angeles Free Music Society ‎– LAFMS#12
Style: Industrial, Punk, Experimental

[Spotify] Cleanliness & Order

“Rockaway Beach”, Ramones

This way: Rockaway Beach

In my opinion this is the best Ramones song. Of Course there are many to choose from, but I think they really nailed it here. And so if this is the best song by the best band does that mean that this is the greatest rock and roll song of all time? “Rockaway Beach” is a song by the American punk rock band the Ramones from their 1977 album Rocket to Russia. The song was written by bassist Dee Dee Ramone in the style of the Beach Boys and early surf rock bands. The song is about Rockaway Beach, Queens, where Dee Dee liked to spend time. Guitarist Johnny Ramone claimed that Dee Dee was "the only real beachgoer" in the group. Released in 1977, it was the Ramones' highest-charting single in their career, peaking at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100.

[Spotify] Rockaway Beach

“Evening’s Kiss”, Willis Earl Beal

This way: Evening’s Kiss

This is one of the most powerful performances I’ve ever seen on television. The simple guitar accompaniment, the way he pulls the toothpick from his mouth and plays the guitar with it, the tears fall as he nears the end of the song. It really is a special performance. Beal is a complicated person and it isn't easy to get a handle on where he is coming from. But his records are worth exploring. Willis Earl Beal was born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. In his early twenties Beal joined the U.S. Army, moving to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Beal was medically discharged from the army due to intestinal problems. In 2007, Beal moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Here Beal spent some time homeless, and working entry-level jobs, notably as a night-shift security guard. During this time Beal began to record music, leaving CD-Rs in public spaces around Albuquerque. Beal would also leave self-illustrated flyers around the town in the hope of finding a girlfriend. One of these flyers was discovered by Found Magazine who put Beal on the cover of their magazine. Found later released a limited-edition box set called The Willis Earl Beal Collection, which included Beal's poetry, artwork and a 17-song album.  

[Spotify] Evening’s Kiss

“Pork Roll Egg and Cheese”, Ween

This way: Pork Roll Egg and Cheese

Ween is an American alternative rock from New Hope, Pennsylvania, in 1984 by Gene and Dean Ween. After meeting in a middle-school typing class, the two began playing music and immediately chose the name Ween as well as their Ramones-inspired pseudonyms. While Ween is generally categorized as an alternative rock band, they are known for their highly eclectic catalog. They have recorded funk, soul and Country inspired albums. Despite never receiving much mainstream recognition, Ween developed a large, devoted cult following. Not bad for two goof offs and a 4-track recorder. From 1991.

[Spotify] Pork Roll Egg and Cheese

“Ticking”, Elton John

This way: Ticking

I don’t often go for themes, but “I Don’t like Mondays” brought this song to mind. Piano based murder ballads in the time when it was the rare occurrence, not semi-daily like we have it today. This song is from Caribou, the eighth studio album by Elton John, released in 1974. It was his fourth chart-topping album in the United States and his third in the United Kingdom. 

[Spotify] Ticking

[Lets solve this gun problem] Everytown

“I Don’t Like Mondays”, Boomtown Rats

This way: I Don’t Like Mondays

“I Don’t Like Mondays” is a song by Irish group The Boomtown Rats about the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego. It was released in 1979 as the lead single from their third album, The Fine Art of Surfacing. Written by Bob Geldof and Johnnie Fingers, the piano ballad was the band's second single to reach number one on the UK chart.

[Spotify] I Don’t Like Mondays