Greetings all and welcome to LongLiveYorke’s 80’s mix. I decided to strictly choose songs that were made in the 80’s. None of this “it sounds like the 80’s so it counts” stuff. I think that misses the point. I intended to find songs that either embody the “sound” of the 80s or create a new sound that would appear in later decades. This isn’t a list of the best songs of the 80’s, and it isn’t a list of the best bands of the 80’s. It’s just a group of songs that I enjoy and that I think are thematically connected to the decade.
I was born half way through this decade, and I was way too young to actually appreciate any of this music when it came out. But most of the music that I enjoy from the 80’s was so influential and original that it feels fresh and new even decades later. Anyway, here we go:
Isolation, by Joy Division
Could any mix claiming to be an 80’s mix actually not contain Joy Division? I would say that it’s impossible. And this is quite a remarkable statement, actually, since the band was only around for about two years before, well, you know. I would say that Joy Division was ahead of their time, but I think that statement wouldn’t encompass the influence that the band had. Many bands on this list are influential in the sense that their sound was copied over and over. I would argue that this isn’t the case for Joy Division. Rather, when they came into being, they immediately permeated all of music at once. It is impossible to point to a band and say that they copied joy division (in the way that one could with the Pixes, for example) because no band from then on could claim not to be influenced by Joy Division. The musical age that we call the 80’s was immediately born out of the death of the 70’s by Joy Division. And so I couldn’t help myself by opening my mix with a decent helping of Joy Division.
Isolation seems to fit musically and thematically with the decade that this mix is attempting to exemplify. It is dark, dreary, lonely, and sad. It is upbeat, energetic, driving, urgent, and addicting. It is so many things at the same time, which I guess was a trend for Joy Division. It embodies the dark and somewhat electronic sounds of the eighties, as well as the depression and loneliness that come through the synth and the groaning vocals.
Age of Consent, by New Order
Okay, I’m not sure whether it’s necessary or idiotic to follow a Joy Division song up by a New Order song. I did it here to contrast between the two. The driving guitars and alien beats of Isolation contrast with the melodic hooks and uplifting drums of Age of Consent. It would be difficult to argue that the hook in this song isn’t the greatest ever. It permeates your brain. If you hear it in a day, you’re going to be humming it the rest of the day. Whenever you’re waiting around, you will find your foot tapping, struggling to make out that sound. Yet the overall style is incredibly similar to Isolation, and this New Order masterpiece represents a similar yet opposing side of the eighties. It shows the happy and uplifting themes that actually were present in eighties music (though they were of course surrounded by synth and an understood sense of loneliness). The song, like most of my favorite songs, is a perfect crescendo, and each added layer brings this closer and closer to the perfect song.
More Than This, by Roxy Music
If the first two songs were meant to instantly exemplify the themes and musical styles of the eighties, this third number is meant to form a direct connection to the decade by pure example. I wasn’t alive in the early 80’s. But when I think of it, I think of everybody listening to and singing this song all at once. While Roxy Music aren’t musical juggernauts on the level of Joy Division, they were masters of pop. They blended gentle electronic synth with beautiful guitar plucks and almost electronic drum kit machine sounding percussions. This song creates a beautiful atmosphere of sound that makes one simply, well, happy.
The Lung, by Dinosaur Jr
I claim that this mix contains two types of 80’s music. The first type was the electronic and synthetic music of the first three tracks. Whether dark and dreary or light and poppy, this type of music was almost unique to the 80s. But the decade also offered the very beginnings of what we would call today the standard indie rock. Fast but not too fast, heavy but not too heavy, melodic, hooky, sonic, and true to rock and roll, Dinosaur Jr was probably the father of indie. This song, with its limited lyrics, is more of an indie guitar ballad. It seems to be presenting, possibly for the first time, the sound that would dominate rock starting in the mid 90’s onward. In a different sense than Joy Division, they were ahead of their time. Almost every indie band after Dinosaur Jr directly copied their sound. Cut and paste. But who can blame them all? The sound is so well crafted and conceived. It’s hard to do the originality of this sound justice. One must pretend that they are in the late 80’s. The radio is filled with Van Halen, Poison, Whitesnake, Ratt, and the whole lot. Now do you get why this band is so good?
Teenage Age Riot, by Sonic Youth
I think it was a requirement that this song be on the album. But that’s probably a pretty silly requirement. I mean, was there really any chance that I was making this mix without this song? Teenage Age Riot begs the obvious question: is this the greatest song ever? I’m not going to take sides in the debate, but I certainly think it’s a close one. Sonic Youth’s influence was in the style of Joy Division. You can’t pinpoint who copied them because everybody copied them. Sonic Youth was the dye in the fabric. Once it was cast, it was everywhere at once, and it could never be taken back. I remember literally having the hair on my body stand on end when I listened to this song for the first time. That’s not just a metaphor; I looked down and hairs were sticking up. I don’t think any song has sounded like this song. It’s just so unbelievably original. And yet every song written after must stand in its shadow. At nearly 7 minutes of perfection, I think Teenage Age Riot is the centerpiece of this mix. The others songs are just build up and recovery.
In Between Days, by the Cure
Robert Smith claimed that Just Like Heaven was the greatest song he had ever written. He was right. But this song must come in a very close second. It mixes the beautiful hooks of Age of Consent with the happiness and pop of More than This. And yet it’s the Cure, so ever present is the depression and wallowing of Joy Division. Does this band more than any other represent the 80’s? I would certainly say that it is the number one candidate. I think the only cure for having Age of Consent in your head is listening to this song (pardon the pun). The Cure probably wrote the greatest pop songs of all time (to use the term loosely, I guess). At less than 3 minutes, I think it’s a far enough departure from Sonic Youth to avoid being forgotten in the wake of Teenage Age Riot.
There is a Light that Never Goes Out, by The Smiths
Okay, I lied. The Smiths, maybe more than the Cure, are the embodiment of the 80’s. I was initially turned off by Morrissey’s voice. It was just so different than anything I had ever heard. I would say that his and Ian Curtis’ stand out more than any others on this mix in their uniqueness and in the seemingly depressed nature of their voices. Morrissey is able to, through lyrics and tones, seem like the saddest little moping boy in the world, yet at the same time will blow you away with his melodic pipes. Mix in the brilliant musicianship of Marr and you have a truly dynamic duo that was destined to be happy together forever. Thankfully, before they started to hate each other, they released one of the greatest albums of all time. It is perfection from beginning to end. I didn’t know which song off of the album to pick (I mean, I obviously had to include a song from the Queen is Dead on an 80s mix. If not, then what’s the point of it all?) I went with this one. I was originally going to go with The Boy with a Thorn in his Side, but I changed my mind. Does it really matter, though? They’re all so good! I mean, does romance get any better than the line, “To die by your side, such a heavenly way to die.” It is beautiful and yet morbid enough to escape being laughed at. Or maybe it was meant to be laughed at. Who knows (I have long since stopped trying to read too much into lyrics of any sort). The song as a whole is just incredibly mellifluous. I don’t know if the Smiths are as directly influential as some other bands on this list, but who cares, really? Please buy the Queen is Dead if you don’t own it. Just, do that, okay?
Crosseyed and Painless, by Talking Heads
Some people call Remain in Light a concept album. I’m not sure what the concept would be, though? I guess the concept is “be brilliant and insane at the same time.” But doesn’t that describe everything about the Talking Heads? Byrne’s obsession with jungle rhythms and tribal beats is more than obvious from listening to this album. The songs on this album are great, but it works so much better as a whole than as a sum of its parts. Once in a Lifetime is a different song in the context of the rest of the album. But I think that Crosseyed and Painless is my favorite song from the album. It never stops. It’s relentless. It’s just so nasty from start to finish. I can help dancing whenever I hear it. “Siiiiiiilllll waiting……” This song is wild and this album is amazing. How can a person as nerdy as Byrne make music this savage and untamed? If I ever start a post apocalyptic revolt or something akin to Lord of the Flies, I’m going to be sure that this song is playing at all times. It’s really a big “screw you” to anything dull, repetitive, normal, or mundane. You can keep your 80’s pinstriped power suites and your cubical power broker lifestyles. I’m going to strip off my clothing, dance around a fire, and listen to the Talking Heads! Okay, maybe I’ll wear a giant, oversized suit when I do.
Where is my Mind?, by the Pixies
Stop! This is the only song on the list that I got to see preformed live. Of course, this was about three years ago, but it was still a pretty amazing experience. Kurt Cobain admitted that Nirvana was simply an attempt to copy the Pixies. Of course, what he lost was some of the playfulness and silliness of the Pixies, but that’s okay, we’ll forgive Kurt. I guess he just wasn’t as cheery as Black Francis (Frank Black, Frank Black Francis, whatever). To say that the Pixies inspired others is an understatement. Even more than Dinosaur Jr, they invented more than just a sound. They invented a genre, a style, a music that would murder the hair metal of the 80’s and bring us into a new time. Just as Joy Division would murder the happy-go-lucky crap of the 70s, the Pixies would murder (maybe not directly, but certainly through their influence) the cheese of the 80’s. Everybody sounds like the pixies, or at least they should. If they don’t, they’re doing something wrong. Go ahead, pick a band that you like. See if they weren’t directly inspired by the Pixies. If you have any taste, any band that you pick will fail the “Pixies independent” test. Where is my mind, indeed.
Big Black Mariah, by Tom Waits
David Byrne was a nerdy white guy playing the part of an insane hetaeristic musical God. Tom Waits played no part. He actually was a badass pirate, vagrant, murder, devil, whiskey-breathed alcoholic, angry, loud, dark, deep, outlaw, or whatever he was. Okay, I actually know very little about Waits the man. Only know what I can gather from his music. But with a voice like that, how could not actually be his characters? This song doesn’t belong in the 80s. It really doesn’t belong anywhere real. Tom Waits is what the people in that bar in Star Wars play. You know the one, where all those outlaws and bounty hunters hang out. Just add some pirates and you have Tom Waits’ heaven. Wait, there’s actual music? Oh right. Musically, Waits is amazing. His bluely beats and guitar chords seem to evoke the Rolling Stones at their darkest, dirtiest, and most real.
Shaking Through, by REM
After a small interlude of bands and songs that may have taken place in the 80’s but didn’t necessarily belong there, we get to REM. If you were like be but born about 20 years earlier, early REM would have been your bread and butter. They were probably the first indie band way, way before there was such a thing as indie. REM being on this list is a must. I chose a song from their first album, which many consider to be their greatest. Shaking Through is upbeat, hopeful, and about as optimistic as Stipe gets. Again, I lied before when I was discussing vocals. Add Stipe and Waits to Morrissey and Curtis. And probably Byrne as well. Well, I guess it shouldn’t be any surprise that so many great bands have unbelievable vocalists. This song supplements Stipe with a very complicated and layered sound in which no instrument stands out. Guitars, pianos, drums, and probably some other things are mixed together to create a sound that fits perfectly with the decade. I mean, just listen to the very first notes of the song. If you couldn’t put them in the 1980’s without the rest of the song, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. Gee, the 80’s is turning out to be a pretty darn good decade, isn’t it?
Birthday, by Sugarcubes
Was this just an excuse for me to but Bjork on this list? Probably. But I really like this song, too. It’s catchy, it’s pop, it’s pretty, and it certainly belongs in the decade at hand. But we all really know why we like this song. “OH OH ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh. OH oH ohhahhhahhhhhhhaaooao.” My friend has a poster from a New Order concert where the Sugarcubes opened. Now there’s a show to see! Here, they sound to be an upbeat Cure mixed with a tad of New Order. While not the best band appearing on this list, much like Roxy Music, I think they hold their own as a great example of the catchy and entertaining music that was in the 80’s. It wasn’t all Mohawks, leather jackets, and Joy Division, ya know?
Just like Honey, by The Jesus and Mary Chain
Was this band just My Bloody Valentine years earlier? Or were My Bloody Valentine JAMC years later? You never see them in the same place at the same time, do you? Think about it. I decided to end this mix with this song because it would lead so perfectly into the 90’s. Many think that Nevermind began the 90s, but for me it was always Loveless. And so Just Like Honey is the bridge between the dark sounds of the 80’s (Joy Division) with the sonic and electronic noise of the 90s (Loveless, OK Computer). Listening to Psychocandy almost gives me a headache after a while. The sounds are so distorted, echoed, and grindingly unpleasant. It’s beautiful. Also, so what really is this song about? Do I just have a really dirty mind? The JAMC don’t singlehandedly open the door to the experimentation in noise of the 1990’s, but they certainly play a part in that movement.
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