“Speech Rapid Fire”, Eyeless In Gaza

This way: Speech Rapid Fire

One of my all time favorite songs. This guy really unleashes the vocal demon. Eyeless In Gaza are an English musical duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker, based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. They have described their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles." Formed in 1980, the group went into hiatus in 1987, re-emerging in 1993.  

[Spotify] Speech Rapid Fire

[extra credit—live 2012] Speech Rapid Fire

“Yeah, Right”, Dinosaur Jr.

This way: Yeah, Right

Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name.

The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow (bass, vocals), and Murph (drums). After three albums on independent labels, the band earned a reputation as one of the formative influences on American alternative rock. Creative tension led to Mascis firing Barlow, who later formed Sebadoh and Folk Implosion. His replacement, Mike Johnson came aboard for three major-label albums. Murph eventually quit, with Mascis taking over drum duties on the band's albums before the group disbanded in 1997. The original lineup reformed in 2005, releasing four albums thereafter.

Mascis’s drawling vocals and distinct guitar sound, hearkening back to 1960s and 1970s classic rock and characterized by extensive use of feedback and distortion, were highly influential in the alternative rock movement of the 1990s. 

[Spotify] Yeah, Right

“Strange”, Galaxie 500

This way: Strange

Galaxie 500 were a bit of an anomaly when they came out. They created a slow and thoughtful sound that was unlike most of their contemporaries. American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums. On Fire is the second studio album by American indie rock band Galaxie 500, released in 1989 on Rough Trade Records. The Rolling Stone Album Guide called it Galaxie 500's best album by far. In 2002, Pitchfork placed it at number 16 on “Top 100 Albums of the 1980s” list.  

[Spotify] Strange

“Cuts You Up”, Peter Murphy

This way: Cuts You Up

Peter Murphy (born 11 July 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the vocalist of the goth rock band Bauhaus and later went on to release a number of solo albums, such as Love Hysteria, Deep, and Holy Smoke. Thin with prominent cheekbones, a baritone voice, and a penchant for gloomy poetics. By 1983, Bauhaus had broken up and Murphy went on to new projects not involving Bauhaus members Kevin Haskins, David J or Daniel Ash. After some brief dabbling with acting and dance – including a television performance to Bauhaus's "Hollow Hills" – he formed Dalis Car with Mick Karn, the bass player from Japan. The group recorded only one album. 

After Dalis Car's lack of commercial success, Murphy's first solo album, Should the World Fail to Fall Apart, was similarly overlooked. Should the World Fail to Fall Apart did spawn several singles, including a cover of Pere Ubu's "Final Solution" that made a minor splash on the club scene.

[Spotify] Cuts You Up

“Tied Up in Chain”, The Chills

This way: Tied Up in Chain

The Chills are a New Zealand rock band formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band is essentially the continuing project of singer/songwriter Martin Phillipps, who is the group’s sole constant member. For a time in the 1990s, the act was billed as Martin Phillipps & The Chills. In the 1980s and 1990s, The Chills had some significant chart success in their homeland, and were a cult band in other parts of the world as one of the earliest proponents of the Dunedin sound. 

Submarine Bells is an album by New Zealand group the Chills, released in 1990. This was the band’s first album on a major label, as Martin Phillipps signed to Warner Bros. Records subsidiary Slash Records, to release the album in the U.S. The album reached #1 on the New Zealand album charts and had significant support from American college radio. The album was awarded gold status in New Zealand and represents the peak of the Chills' popularity at home. It is considered to be one of the defining albums of the Dunedin sound. 

[Spotify] Tied Up in Chain 

“Small Stakes”, Spoon

This way: Small Stakes

Spoon is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas, formed in 1993. The band is the brainchild of Britt Daniel (vocals, guitar) and Jim Eno (drums) and has seen many lineup changes throughout their history. Alex Fischel (keyboards, guitar) and Gerardo Larios (guitar, keyboards) are also currently members of the band.  

This song from Kill the Moonlight is the fourth album by American rock band Spoon released on August 20, 2002 through Merge Records. The album features a stripped-down, minimal sound that incorporates various different instruments such as tambourines and pianos along with an idiosyncratic production style. The album has gone on to receive critical acclaim with its lead single "The Way We Get By" being used in various television shows, and has been regarded as Spoon's magnum opus.

[Spotify] Small Stakes

“Hot Wire My Heart”, Sonic Youth

This way: Hot Wire My Heart

Sister is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in June 1987 by SST Records. The album furthered the band's move away from the no wave genre towards more traditional song structures, while maintaining an aggressively experimental approach.

Like Sonic Youth’s previous records, Sister was not successful at the time. It later garnered critical praise, with several publications naming it one of the 1980s best albums.

This is a great cover of a song by the San Francisco band Crime.


[Spotify] Hot Wire My Heart

[extra credit—original version] Hot Wire My Heart

“Dreaming”, Wilco, solo acoustic

This way: Dreaming

I’m not sure were I got this track from but it is one of my all time favorites. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco covering the Blondie classic “Dreaming”.   

[Spotify] Not Likely

[extra credit] Blondie version

“Way over Yonder in the Minor Key”, Billy Bragg, Wilco, Natalie Merchant

This way: Way over Yonder in the Minor Key

This is an album that really shouldn't work. If it did work it would be almost like an academic exercise. Instead it is a fantastic Album bringing words to life from days long ago. The whole LP is brilliant. Mermaid Avenue is a 1998 album of previously unheard lyrics written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, put to music written and performed by British singer Billy Bragg and the American band Wilco. The project was the first of several such projects organized by Guthrie's daughter, Nora Guthrie, original director of the Woody Guthrie Foundation and archives. Mermaid Avenue was released on the Elektra Records label on June 23, 1998. A second volume of recordings, Mermaid Avenue Vol. II. The projects are named after the song “Mermaid’s Avenue”, written by Guthrie. This was also the name of the street in Coney Island, New York on which Guthrie lived. According to American Songwriter “The Mermaid Avenue project is essential for showing that Woody Guthrie could illuminate what was going on inside of him as well as he could detail the plight of his fellow man”.  


[Spotify] Way over Yonder in the Minor Key

“Virgina Plain”, Roxy Music

This way: Virgina Plain

Roxy Music were an English rock band that were formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry–who became the band’s lead singer and main songwriter–and bass guitarist Graham Simpson. Alongside Ferry, the other longtime members were Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and oboe), and Paul Thompson (drums and percussion). Other members included Brian Eno (synthesizer and treatment"), Eddie Jobson (synthesizer and violin), and John Gustafson (bass). Although the band took a break from group activities in 1976 and again in 1983, they reunited for a concert tour in 2001, and toured together intermittently between that time and their break-up in 2011. Ferry frequently enlisted members of Roxy Music as session musicians for his solo releases. 

Roxy Music became a successful act in Europe and Australia during the 1970s. This success began with their self-titled debut album, Roxy Music (1972). The band pioneered more musically sophisticated elements of glam rock while significantly influencing early English punk music, and provided a model for many new wave acts while innovating elements of electronic composition. The group also distinguished their visual and musical sophistication through a preoccupation with glamorous fashions. Ferry and co-founding member Eno have had influential solo careers. The latter became one of Britain’s most significant record producers of the late 20th century. 

The band's final studio album was Avalon (1982), which became platinum-certified in the United States.[10] In 2005 the band began recording a new studio album, which would have been their ninth, and would have been their first record since 1973 with Brian Eno, who wrote two songs for it and also played keyboards. However, Bryan Ferry eventually confirmed that material from these sessions would be released as a Ferry solo album, with Eno playing on "a couple of tracks".

[Spotify] Virgina Plain

[extra credit—Live on top of the pops] Virgina Plain

“Moisture”, The Residents

This way: Moisture

The Residents are an American art collective best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, Meet the Residents (1974), the group has released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects, and ten DVDs. They have undertaken seven major world tours and scored multiple films. Pioneers in exploring the potential of CD-ROM and similar technologies, the Residents have won several awards for their multimedia projects. Ralph Records, a record label focusing on avant-garde music, was started by the band in 1972.

Throughout the group's existence, the individual members have ostensibly attempted to operate under anonymity, preferring instead to have attention focused on their art output. Much outside speculation and rumor has focused on this aspect of the group. In public, the group appears silent and costumed, often wearing eyeball helmets, top hats and tails—a long-lasting costume now recognized as its signature iconography. In 2017, Hardy Fox, long known to be associated with the Residents, identified himself as the band's co-founder and primary composer; he died in 2018. 

Commercial Album is an album released by the Residents in 1980. It is commonly considered a follow-up of Duck Stab/Buster & Glen. The album pares down the concept and structure of the average commercial pop song and reduces it to a one-minute redux. It contains a compilation of 40 such sixty-second vignettes. The album used several session musicians, including Chris Cutler, Snakefinger (who sings lead on many tracks) and Fred Frith as well as two anonymous guest vocalists, Lene Lovich ("Picnic Boy") and Andy Partridge ("Margaret Freeman"). Brian Eno is also thought to appear on the album, but this was never been conclusively confirmed until the release of the 2-CD pREServed Edition in 2019, the liner notes of which confirmed that Eno played synthesizer on "The Coming Of The Crow" as well as David Byrne's appearance on harmony vocals on "Suburban Bathers"..


[Spotify] Moisture

“Bennington”, John Maus

This way: Bennington

John Maus (born February 23, 1980) is an American musician, composer, singer, and songwriter known for his baritone singing style and his use of vintage synthesizer sounds and Medieval church modes, a combination that often draws comparisons to 1980s goth-pop. His early lo-fi recordings anticipated and inspired the late 2000s hypnagogic pop movement. On stage, he is characterized for his intense displays of emotion while performing. He is also a former teacher of philosophy at the University of Hawaii, where he later earned his PhD in political science.

[Spotify] Bennington

“Wild Thing”, Sister Carol

This way: Wild Thing

Love this great song from the film “Something Wild”. Known as the "Black Cinderella" and "Mother Culture," Sister Carol has led the way for women in reggae. Her music is rich with cultural heritage and infused with a vital social consciousness that permeates every aspect of life in the new millennium. 

Many were introduced to Sister Carol through the Jonathan Demme movies Something Wild and Married to the Mob, but she has also had a prolific music career during the past 20 years, that has included over 8 albums , a Grammy nomination, several world tours, and network television appearances. Her music carries a social message for people all over the world.

[Spotify] Wild Thing

“Hog of the Forsaken”, Michael Hurley

This way: Hog of the Forsaken

Michael Hurley (born December 20, 1941) is an American folk singer who was essential to the Greenwich Village folk music scene of the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to playing a wide variety of instruments, Hurley is also a cartoonist and a painter.

Before starting his recording career Hurley contracted mononucleosis and needed to wait several years until he could sign to a record label. Hurley's debut album, First Songs, was recorded for Folkways Records in 1963 on the same reel-to-reel machine that taped Lead Belly's Last Sessions. He was discovered by blues and jazz historian Frederick Ramsey III, and subsequently championed by boyhood friend Jesse Colin Young, who released his 2nd and 3rd albums on The Youngbloods’ Warner Bros. imprint, Raccoon. In the late 1970s, Hurley made three albums for Rounder, all of which have since been reissued on CD. His 1976 LP Have Moicy!, a collaboration with the Holy Modal Rounders and Jeffrey Frederick & The Clamtones, was named “the greatest folk album of the rock era” by The Village Voice's Robert Christgau.


In 1996, Koch Records released Wolfways with Hurley backed by Mickey Bones on drums. Tours with Son Volt and high praise from younger performers like Lucinda Williams, Vic Chesnutt, Woods, Calexico, Cat Power, Julian Lynch, and Robin Holcomb followed.

[Spotify] Hog of the Forsaken

“Pool”, Drunken Boat

This way: Pool

Copping their name from a Rimbaud poem, New York’s Drunken Boat emerged from the same downtown '80s scene that spawned Bongwater, King Missile and Hypnolovewheel. Led by poet Todd Colby and featuring the twin guitars of Steve Gross and Todd Serbousek, Drunken Boat merged Colby's literary sensibility with driving off-kilter indie rock. From the 1992 release, See Ruby Falls. 

[Spotify] Pool

“My Shit’s Fucked Up”, Warren Zevon

This way: My Shit’s Fucked Up

One of my all time favorite artists. I stumbled upon his first LP while trolling the record store bins in the mid 70s. Never got over him.

Warren Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.

Initially successful as a band leader, Zevon struggled to have a solo career until his music was performed by Linda Ronstadt, beginning in 1976 with her album Hasten Down the Wind. This launched a cult following that lasted for 25 years, with Zevon making occasional returns to album and single charts until his death from cancer in 2003. He briefly found a new audience in the 1980s by teaming up with members of R.E.M. in the blues rock outfit Hindu Love Gods.

Several of the album’s songs deal with the topic of death; for instance, “My Shit’s Fucked Up” is a mournful lament on the aging process and the inevitable decay that accompanies it. “Life’ll Kill Ya” and “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” also have prominent death themes. In 2002, just two years after the album’s release, Zevon was diagnosed with mesothelioma and died a year later.

[Spotify] My Shit’s Fucked Up

Extra credit: My Shit’s Fucked Up (Live on Later with Jools)

“I Generate a Feeling”, Pete Shelley

This way: I Generate a Feeling

God do I love this record. There is really nothing else out there in my book. Almost a perfect album. Pete Shelley (17 April 1955 – 6 December 2018) was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He formed early punk band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and became the lead singer and guitarist in 1977 when Devoto left. The group released their biggest hit “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)” in 1978. The band broke up in 1981 and reformed at the end of the decade. Shelley also had a solo career; his song “Homosapien” charted in the US in 1981.

[Spotify] I Generate a Feeling

“Moustache”, Sparks

This way: Moustache

Sparks are an American pop and rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1967 by brothers Ron (keyboards) and Russell Mael (vocals). Known for their quirky approach to songwriting, Sparks' music is often accompanied by intelligent, sophisticated, and acerbic lyrics, and an idiosyncratic, theatrical stage presence, typified in the contrast between Russell's animated, hyperactive frontman antics and Ron's deadpan scowling. They are also noted for Russell Mael's distinctive wide-ranging voice and Ron Mael's intricate and rhythmic keyboard playing style.

While achieving chart success in various countries around the world including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and the United States, they have enjoyed a cult following since their first releases. During the late 1970s, when in collaboration with Giorgio Moroder (and Telex subsequently), Sparks reinvented themselves as a new wave/synth-pop band, and abandoned the traditional rock band line-up. Their frequently changing styles and visual presentations have kept the band at the forefront of modern, artful pop music.


[Spotify] Moustache

“In the City”, The Jam

This way: In the City

This is from the first LP by the Jam. This whole first LP is a masterpiece. I love this song, it sums up the whole attitude and sound of this great band all in 2:18 (does one need more?). In the City is the debut studio album by British mod revival band the Jam. Released in 1977 upon Polydor Records, the album reached No. 20 in the UK Albums Chart. 

[Spotify] In the City

“Love Untold”, Paul Westerburg

This way: Love Untold

One of my favorite songwriters. Paul Westerberg (born December 31, 1959) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter in The Replacements, one of the seminal alternative rock bands of the 1980s. He launched a solo career after the dissolution of that band. In recent years, he has cultivated a more independent-minded approach, primarily recording his music at home in his basement. 

[Spotify] Love Untold

Extra credit: Love Untold (on Letterman 1996)