Favourite Album Of Each Year Since 1970...

‎1970 – Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band – Lick My Decals Off, Baby
1971 – David Bowie – Hunky Dory
1972 – David Bowie – The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
1973 – Funkadelic – Cosmic Slop
1974 – Brian Eno – Here Come The Warm Jets
1975 – Parliament – Mothership Connection
1976 – AC/DC – High Voltage
1977 – David Bowie – Low
1978 – Public Image Ltd. – First Issue
1979 – Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
1980 – The Damned – The Black Album
1981 – Van Halen – Fair Warning
1982 – Duran Duran – Rio
1983 – Van Halen – 1984
1984 – Echo & The Bunnymen – Ocean Rain
1985 – The Jesus & Mary Chain – Psychocandy
1986 – Van Halen – 5150
1987 – The Jesus & Mary Chain – Darklands
1988 – Siouxsie & The Banshees – Peepshow
1989 – The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
1990 – Depeche Mode – Violator
1991 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – BloodSugarSexMagik
1992 – The Jesus & Mary Chain – Honey’s Dead
1993 – Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
1994 – Guided By Voices – Bee Thousand
1995 – Pulp – Different Class
1996 – The Afghan Whigs – Black Love
1997 – The Elevator Drops – People Mover
1998 – Saint Etienne – Good Humor
1999 – David Devant & His Spirit Wife – Shiney On The Inside
2000 – Fosca – On Earth To Make The Numbers Up
2001 – Panamaformat – Das Hättest Du Früher Haben Können
2002 – Club 8 – Spring Came, Rain Fell
2003 – The Real Tuesday Weld – I, Lucifer
2004 – The Divine Comedy – Absent Friends
2005 – Saint Etienne – Tales From Turnpike House
2006 – Mr Solo – All Will Be Revealed
2007 – The Real Tuesday Weld – The London Book Of The Dead
2008 – The Indelicates – American Demo
2009 – Mr Solo – Wonders Never Cease
2010 – The Indelicates – Songs For Swinging Lovers
2011 – Jah Wobble & Julie Campbell – Psychic Life


I found this INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT.  In fact, it took me almost 2 weeks to complete, having to search out, aside from the available lists, other albums I'm fond of from each year.  It killed me to have to choose some over others for a definitive "favourite album of the year".  This was apparent even from 1971.  Do I really like Hunky Dory better than Maggot Brain?


I found 1987 particularly hard, having to choose between Mad, Bad & Dangerous To Know, Hysteria, You're Living All Over Me, and Earth Sun Moon.  Then I remembered Darklands!  In 1989 there was Auotomatic, Technique, and The Stone Roses.  3 of my favourite albums!!! 


1991 as well - Green Mind, The Real Ramona, God Fodder, Loveless, Nevermind.  1992's runners-up were Doppelganger, Laser Guided Melodies, Slanted & Enchanted, and Henry's Dream. 1993 had So Tough, Songs of Faith & Devotion, Suede, Modern Life Is Rubbish, Laid, Gentlemen, and Very.


1994 was almost impossible choosing between Bee Thousand and Dog Man Star.  Plus there were Tiger Bay, Promenade, Parklife, Let Love In, and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. 


How about you?

David Lee Roth's videos...

I showed these to Soph last night and she commented, "This explains a lot about how you became the way you are".  I love these songs and I love these videos.  They were SO EXCITING when they came out.  And I don't think anyone's ever made videos this great before.  A very bizarre world, that's all David Lee Roth.  I can't think of anything else they have to do with or relate to so it must be all that man's unique vision.

First up, Van Halen's Hot For Teacher.  Which I think is the greatest video ever made.  Such a killer song too.  Eddie once called it "a boogie beyond anything" which pretty much nails it.  The drumming and guitarwork is still incredibly impressive.




Then Dave's first two solo videos, before we knew he'd left VH.  I had that Dave TV shirt when I was 10 : )

California Girls:




Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody:




Yankee Rose.  The video that made me want to start playing guitar.  When I saw it in July 1986 I thought Steve Vai making his guitar "talk" was the coolest thing ever.




Going Crazy:

Saint Etienne - Departure Lounge

A great synthpop song from Saint Etienne's Valentine's Day 97 EP.

Panamaformat...

In the autumn of 2003, when I was living in London for the very first time, I went over to Frankfurt to play at an Apricot Records clubnight en route to meeting up with an old friend in Amsterdam.  The Apricot night was fantastic, I really enjoyed myself.  I shared the bill with Holger from Panamaformat.  I was VERY impressed with his songs, it was just him on a nylon string guitar (the album is quite orchestral).  It was great hanging out with him and the Apricot gents as well.  Holger told me that the name Panamaformat came from himself and the other member of the band, Marek, each saying the first word that came into their head and then combining them.  Johannes very kindly gave me the Panamaformat cd (along with some of their other releases, which was ace), Das Hättest Du Früher Haben Können.  I highly recommend you seek it out, a magnificent pop album.  From the bio on the Apricot site:

With each song, they refined: frenchy melodies and playful German lyrics (very Holger), British taste and Italian elegance (very Marek), Preussian pride and Swedish ingenuity (very Jean) ... assembling bits and pieces together in a `song-bricolage´ - until the first album was completed with a pretty nonchalant care that is so typical for each of them.


I remember my friends Liisa and Rick coming to visit me shortly after I got back.  I put it on in the morning and so impressed was Liisa, she bought it later that afternoon at the Rough Trade shop on Talbot Road.  It is a shame I can't find Milchkaffee anywhere on the internet for it is in every respect a perfect pop song, one I really love.  But here are the songs on YouTube.  Incredibly good stuff.

Bourbon Stranger:



Phantasie:




Retrospektiv:

R.I.P. Whitney Houston...

I loved these three songs when I was a kid and still always smile when I hear them, reminding me of that time.

Primal Scream - Ivy Ivy Ivy...

Primal Scream's Ivy Ivy Ivy has been getting stuck in my head the past couple of days (ever since I put on Higher Than The Sun [A Dub Symphony In Two Parts] again to hear Jah Wobble's bassline).  It is arguably my favourite thing by Primal Scream, a great rock n roll song.  Lead-off track on their self-titled second album, which I don't think was ever released in America.  I found it on holiday in the UK in 1998/99.

Public Image Ltd. - Poptones...

PiL's Poptones is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I know.  It blew me away the first time I ever heard it (especially coming after the "difficult" first 3 songs on Metal Box), I remember sitting there in awe as it played.  It's lovely - hypnotic, haunting - very unique, I've never heard anything else like it.  The guitar and bass parts are mesmerizing.  I've been reading Jah Wobble's autobiography (an excellent read) and he gives a slightly different version of the inspiration for the lyrics that I've heard for years (both are told here).  He also says that it's Keith Levene playing drums on the track, which I didn't know.  Wobble himself played drums on The Suit.



The live Paris Au Printemps version:




Live on The Old Grey Whistle Test:




And then there's this "infamous" performance (along with Careering) on American Bandstand in 1980.  Good anecdote on the YouTube page.  I'm amazed this ever even happened.  Metal Box is about the farthest thing you'd think of as being on prime time American TV.