Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno put together one of the most underrated album gems of the 1970s with Diamond Head. Miss Shapiro is a great cut from the album.
I don’t know much about Alive N’ Kicking, but I love this 1970 version of Tighter and Tighter.
One of my favorite instrumentals from my vinyl collection days. Astradyne, from the album Vienna by Ultravox, is pretty much dominated by synthesizers and a fantastic opening to the album.
Karl Wallinger, the force behind World Party, passed away last week. World Party had some great albums in the late 80s and early 90s, and my favorite was Goodbye Jumbo. And my favorite track – Way Down Now – had classic lyrics.
I just discovered the song “Fun Destruction” by Teleman about half a year ago and it quickly became an earworm. I find it very reminiscent of Ultravox, not so much due to the music as the lyrics.
People today don’t remember her well, but Melanie had giant hits in the early 1970s and performed at Woodstock in 1969. This song – Lay Down – was inspired by her performance at Woodstock and how the crowd responded to her.
Suzanne Vega made beautiful songs in the 1980s, none any more beautiful than Small Blue Thing.
This is one of the coolest and moodiest songs of the 1990s, and I missed it for over 25 years. Hell, it would be one of the coolest and moodiest songs of the 1960s as well.
Sometimes harmonies make a song. In a lot of country music, that’s the case. And it is definitely the case in Miranda Lambert’s song “White Liar”.
This might end up being the longest title for any song that gets selected on this list.
Thanks, Jethro Tull!