Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #8 – R.E.M. - Murmur

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards, finally into the top 10:

# 8 - R.E.M. - Murmur

Released April 1983, Murmur was R.E.M.s first full lengh album, following the Chronic Town EP.  It would reach #36 on the US album charts, and spawn a minor hit, with Radio Free Europe (which peaked at #78).  But it was voted Rolling Stone's "Best Album of 1983".  In addition to being #8 of the "Best of the 80's" list, it is #197 of the list of 500 Best albums of all time.  As noted in the original Rolling Stone Review:  "R.E.M. fashioned its own smart, propulsive sound out of bright pop melodies, a murky, neopsychedelic atmosphere and a host of late-Sixties pop-rock touches". Or as Allmusic puts it:  "Murmur sounds as if it appeared out of nowhere, without any ties to the past, present, or future"

Personally, Murmur was one of the albums that simply blew me away.  It came out not quite a year after my college graduation, and not quite 6 months before my marriage. A time of "new and different".  And R.E.M. was certainly something new and different.  With a sound the hooked me.  I'm pretty sure I first heard about R.E.M. through my older brother (who has introduced me to a high percentage of the great music in my collection, but I know they quickly became staples of the community radio I listened to back then (WHFS).  And in the fall of 1983 (Oct. 7), I saw R.E.M. at the Ontario Theater in Washington DC, with Let's Active and The Fleshtones.  The was the day after their first appearance on national TV, which I didn't know until standing in line for the show.  And I was hooked harder.  But by the end of the 80's my passion faded, as R.E.M. became more commerical, more political, more successful. 

Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
#70 - Travelling Wilburies - Vol. 1
#57 - Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
#55 - John Fogarty - Centerfield
#52 - Dire Straits - Making Movies
#48 - XTC - Skylarking
#26 - AC/DC - Back In Black
#20 - Pretenders - Prentenders
#17 - Police - Synchronicity
#14 - Peter Gabriel - So

The journey wasn't exactly how we planned it, but to win the West in this fashion means a whole lot.

The post title is a comment recevied on my Tuscarora post yesterday..   But why?  I mean, what does "Winning The West" it have to do with Travel to Bogota?  What does Tucsarora Trail in central Pennsylvania have to do with either?  What inspired these folks to go through the Blogger's word verification and spam this post?

It sure can't be based on this blog's traffic....

More info:  A quick google tells me that this is a quote from Tina Slinker.  A subsequent googles tells me that Tina Slinker isthe former coach of the women's basketball team at the University of North Texas.  No clue if she's ever been to Bogota.

So the comment led me down some interesting paths.  None of which included their site for travel to Bogota.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

So, my son's on the 7th grade football team this year, and he had his first game today.  I managed to get off work a little early and make (most of) the game.  Big Fun.

Of course, he's not the biggest 7th grade kid.  Nor the fastest.  Nor the most experienced (this is his first year playing "real" football).....  So he spent most of the game on the sidelines.  He's #62 above.  And #62 below:

But he did get in for a couple of plays.  He's playing right-guard below, on a 2-point conversion attempt.

Kind of like little league baseball 3-4 years ago, it was ALMOST like watching a football game.

They'll play 7 games, it'll be interesting to see how they progress (and how he progresses).

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #14 – Peter Gabriel – So

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards, into the top 20:

#14 – Peter Gabriel – So

Released 1986, So is the best selling album of Peter Gabriel’s career. Propelled by the #1 hit Sledgehammer, the album peaked at #2 on the US charts, and went 5x Platinum in (US) sales. That’s 5 million albums sold for you non-geeks.   As noted in the original Rolling Stone review:  “the popularity of the record indicates a taste for elegance and intelligence in the sterile corridors of AOR  ...  'So' is a record of considerable emotional complexity and musical sophistication”

So… I have to admit I’m a bit of a late-comer to the album “So”. I was a big fan of the Peter Gabriel Genesis, but by the time he spilt (1975), I was transitioning into southern rock, and then into a more punk / power pop direction. So Gabriel was essentially off my radar. I knew the minor hits, “Solisbury Hill” (#68), “Games Without Frontiers” (#48), “Shock The Monkey” (#29), but none of the albums. I did pick up 1983’s “Plays Live”, but didn’t exactly wear out the grooves.

When “So” came out, I was captivated by the #1 hot “Sledgehammer”, a rollicking good time complete with a wacky video. And I knew Big Time. But that was it. I actually owned all of the previously mentioned songs (except Big Time), either digitally, or on 45.

Fast forward ~20 years to Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. And there’s “So” at a rather lofty 187. Hmmm, maybe I should check it out? A seed was planted. A few years later, I heard “In Your Eyes” at a dance recital, and immediately recognized Gabriel’s voice (Though I didn’t know the song). The seed sprouts. Not long after, I did check it out, literally (from the local library). Which led to a purchase. No points for promptness, but I got there.



So this album from 26 years ago is one of the newer additions to my iPod. And I really enjoy it. As with several of the other albums I’m listed recently, it has a great sound. Better late than never, huh?

Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
#70 - Travelling Wilburies - Vol. 1
#57 - Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
#55 - John Fogarty - Centerfield
#52 - Dire Straits - Making Movies
#48 - XTC - Skylarking
#26 - AC/DC - Back In Black
#20 - Pretenders - Prentenders
#17 - Police - Synchronicity

From The Archives - Tuscarora Overlook

Another scanned slide form my high school days, back in the late 70's.  This is from a backpacking trip, looking out over central Pennsylvania from the hiking trail along Tuscarora Ridge.

Bull Thistle, About to Flower

Another macro from St. Ellen Mine Park....  Bull Thistle

Samsung = Bad, Lowes = Good

Folks who are Facebook friends with me may remember that our 3.5 year or dryer failed about 2 weeks ago.  Short version:  The rotating drum split along a weld line, which then split along the front edge of the drum.  Something like this (actually, exactly like this):

Well, we've been messing around since then, working towards a resolution.  Sadly, Samsung threw up the stone wall of "we can't help you"....  "It's out of warranty"...  "did you buy the extended warranty?".  After the maze of trying to contact them, infinite do-loops in the system, etc.  they offered to send out a repair person, but quoted a repair cost that I considered excessive, especially for a failure that I don't consider normal.

So we went to Lowes (where we bought the failed one) to look at a replacement.  The freindly folks there pretty much refused to sell us a new dryer.  They declared (as I had done) that a dryer drum simply should not fail at 3.5 years, and that we should push Samsung harder, to try and get some form of consideration.

That turned out to be fruitless.  They finally sent us a form email declaring that out TV was out of warranty.  TV???  Really???  Nothing says "We don't value our customers" like a sloppy mistake in a form letter response.

So we went back to Lowes again, and when we explained they said "that's ridiculous".  They even offered to call and appear to Samsung as their distributor. 

That turned out to be fruitless.


Back to the replace plan.  'Cause I'm not spending big bucks to replace something that shouldn't have broken in the first place.

As it turned out, Lowes made us a really great deal, we're getting a new machine for essentially what Samsung was going to charge for a repair.  And the Lowes manager says he's going to store the old machine until he can show it to the Samsung rep. in person.

One company showed dedicated customer service, and earned our future business.  The other?  Well, I'm not exaclty a fan of Samsung right now.  Now I know that they were well within their rights, but it would've been nice if they could've at least pretended to care.

/RANT
 

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #17 - Police Synchronicity

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards, into the top 20:

#17 - The Police - Synchronicity

Released in June 1983, Synchonicity was the 5th and final album from the Police.  The original Rolling Stone review called it a "bleak, brilliant safari into Sting's heart and soul".  Certainly thier most successful, it is also my least favorite.  It spawned 4 Top 20 hits (3 of which were Top 10), while the previous four Police albums combined for only 5.  But Synchonicity also has some of my least favorite Police songs.  To me, it is a hugely uneven effort.  "Every Breath You Take" (#1) is offset by the positively grating "Mother".  "King Of Pain" (#3) is offset by "Oh My God".  Etc.

Itnteresting, 4 of the 5 Police albums made Rollings Stone's list of the Top 500 albums of all time. But Synchonicity ranked 4th of those 5 at #455.  1981's Ghost In The Machine ranked as the best Police album in that list (at #322) but didn't make the cut for "Best Of The 80's".  In fact, my personal ranking of the Police's albums peaks with their 1st release, and ramps steadily down over the 5 albums...   But that's just me, I suppose.

Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
#70 - Travelling Wilburies - Vol. 1
#57 - Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
#55 - John Fogarty - Centerfield
#52 - Dire Straits - Making Movies
#48 - XTC - Skylarking
#26 - AC/DC - Back In Black
#20 - Pretenders - Prentenders

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #20 - Pretenders - Pretenders

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards, into the top 20:

#20 - Pretenders - Pretenders

Released January 20, 1980, the debut from the Pretenders just barely qualifies for Best Of The 80's.  But close enough, it is.  This came out in the spreng of my sophmore year of college, and it really caught everyone's attention.  From pretty pop songs like "Brass In Pocket" and "Kid" to punky "The Wait" and "Precious", this was not boring.

And of course, there's "Space Invaders" with the sounds of the (then dominant) Space Invaders video game in the background (at the end).  I dropped too many quarters into Space Invaders in that time period, the song really hooked me.

Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
#70 - Travelling Wilburies - Vol. 1
#57 - Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
#55 - John Fogarty - Centerfield
#52 - Dire Straits - Making Movies
#48 - XTC - Skylarking
#26 - AC/DC - Back In Black

From The Archives - Little Grassy Lake

One from the archives for a Sunday morning.  This is from the pre-digital days, shot on film!  This was taken at  Little Grassy Lake in southern Illinois.  The Methodist Conference has a campground down there, and our Church used to go down there a couple of times a year.  This would've been mid-late 90's.

We had a lot of good times there, but it's been years since I've been there.  I think they had to impose a lot of rules for liability reasons, which impacted the costs pretty dramatically for smaller groups.  But I could be wrong.

Let The Praises Ring!

Our church had a "Community BBQ / Picnic" today, and we decided to take the Praise Band on the road!!  Well, "the road" is overstating it.  We moved everything about 100' west; from the front of the sanctuary to the front of the building.  But we had a lot of fun, and hopefully added to the spirit of the event.  We played 3 sets, about 30-45 minutes each.  It's been a long time since I've played that much in a day.

What Will They Think Of Next?

Earlier this week I noticed a new sign taped to our copy machine.  I chuckled.

I haven't noticed anybody actually talking to the machine yet.  I'll bet you'd get a few takers in a larger office with fewer engineers.

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #26 - AC/DC - Back In Black

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards:

#26 - AC/DC - Back In Black

Landing just outside the Top 25 is AC/DC's 1980 release Back In Black.  This here is a rock and roll album.  You won't find any comments about "elemental imagery"  or music that is "pastoral, understated and carefully arranged".  Nope, we're talking "real party atmosphere" that " captures all the blood, sweat and arrogance of the [heavy metal] genre".    Yep good fun, not necessarily of the "clean" variety.

The album peaked at #4, and chruned out a couple of minor radio hits:  "You Shook Me All Night Long" (#35) and "Back In Black" (#37).    But this isn't about pop hits.  Back In Black is the #3 selling album of all time with of 50 million copies.  Wow.

I have to admit that I'm not a huge AC/DC fan, and didn't even own this album in the 80's.  Just no my preferred stlye of vocals...   But somewhere along the way I picked it up, for the 3 or 4 iconic songs.  And it's a great album for what is it, good time head banging rock and roll!

Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
#70 - Travelling Wilburies - Vol. 1
#57 - Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
#55 - John Fogarty - Centerfield
#52 - Dire Straits - Making Movies
#48 - XTC - Skylarking

More Hating On The Cloud.....

You may recall my recent post about Amazon's move to force me onto their cloud.  About Amazon changing their defaults for MP3 purchases, so that new files are saved to the cloud, and NOT downloaded to my computer.  And the struggles I had to correct that "improvement".  The whole experience had me rather livid.

So you can imagine how thrilled I was to receive an email  with the following:
Your 20 GB + Cloud Player Premium Promotion subscription has ended and you are now limited to 250 imported songs in your Amazon Cloud Player library and 5 GB of free storage in Amazon Cloud Drive

Now of course, 250 songs worth of storage is pretty worthless to me.  I have rather dramatically more than 250 songs added to my iPod in 2012 alone.  And "Cloud Player Premium" would cost me $24.99 per year.  $25.year may not sound like much, but I'd rather have a could of albums of new music per year than something that I don't want and won't use.

So I'm still as irked as before.  And wondering what Amazon will come with next to try and ensure their cash flow.

Meanwhile, the photo:  Just a humble sunset, taken a few years ago from a hotel room in Spokane, Washington. 

Long Hot Summer Days

Another picture from my recent lunchtime walk at St. Ellen Park.    I rather like this with the monochrome treatement....

The title is from the John Hardford song, from the Mark Twang album.

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #48 - XTC Skylarking

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards:

#48 - XTC - Skylarking

Rolling Stone states Skylarking "abound[s] in elemental imagery and music that is pastoral, understated and carefully arranged.".  Allmusic states the XTC  "expand[ed] their signature sound by enhancing their intelligently melodic pop with graceful, lyrical arrangements and sweeping, detailed instrumentation".   I can agree with that.   I have several earlier XTC albums, and while they're good, none has the "feel" that Skylarking has.  It just sounds lush....  Maybe it's the production by Todd Rungren.

Now, that said, I'm not sure I'd rate Skylarking quite so high.  I'd put it above John Fogary's Centerfield, but none of the other prior albums.  The sound is really great.  And there's 4-5 outstanding songs (my favorite is "Earn Enough For Us").  But it's simply not that memorable overall.  the album peaked at #70, and no songs in the Top 100.  It wasn't a breakthrough, it didn't really sell that many copies.  They had more success before, and after......  So I kind of don't get it.

But, like Suzanne Vega, it has that great sound, and it was different.  And like Suzanne Vega, it's an album I had on cassette back in the 80's.  Sometime in  the digital age, I picked up a few of my favorite songs from the album, and (only recently) completed the album.

Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
#70 - Travelling Wilburies - Vol. 1
#57 - Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
#55 - John Fogarty - Centerfield
#52 - Dire Straits - Making Movies

Summer Day

I've posted about St. Ellen Park before; it's a great place to spend some time at lunch.  This is from the trail that loops the mound, location here. 

We've had a nice break from the heat lately.  But recent rains have not come remotley close to denting the drought.  You can't really tell from this picture, but the lake it quite low.

Spotted Berries?

Another scene from Monday's lunch time walk at St. Ellen Park.    I saw these little berries and had to try a macro.  Not quite as sharp as I'd like, but better than my average macro! 

Mrs. Seibold's, Since 1920....

I was in downtown Wood River over the weekend.  Not exactly the most thriving area around.  I noticed this former Bakery, "Since 1920", but no longer.  Mrs. Seibold's had several locations in the St. Louis Metro East area, we used to have their stuff at the occasional Church function.  But they're all are gone now.

Passion Is No Ordinary Word (Ain't Manufactured....)

During a lunch-time walk this week, I came across a really WILD looking wildflower:

I'm no botanist, I had no clue what it was.  But, hey, this is the 21st centrury, we have Google!  So I did an image search on "wildflower crazy purple".  And scrolling through the results I found: Purple Passion Flower.  Also known as Maypop or Ocoee.  And it is the "State Flower" of Tennessee. 

So I learned something today....

Meanwhile, the title is from the Graham Parker song, from the album "Squeezing Out Sparks".

A couple more images:

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #52 - Dire Straits - Making Movies

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards:

#52 - Dire Straits - Making Movies

Making Movies was Dire Straits’ 3rd album, released in late 1980. It didn’t generate any Top 40 hits, although “Skateaway” made it to #58. But Dire Straits was more of an AOR band, with only 4 Top 40's overall.  MM is a very solid album, with the exception of 1 song: “Les Boys”. Allmusic describes that one as “borderline offensive”, another site declared it:  "offensive, boring and dinky".  I tend to agree (althoughI'm not sure what "dinky" is in the context of a song")...  . But I also agree when Allmusic said “the remainder of Making Movies ranks among the band's finest work”. And , IMHO, “Romeo And Juliet” is a no-doubt-about-it “5-star” song, One of my 3 or 4 favorites Dire Straits songs.

One of the interesting things about these “Best Of” Lists. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Making Movies as the #52 best album of the 80’s. But it did not make their list of the top 500 Albums of all time. By contrast, Dire Sraits' 1985 release “Brothers In Arms” ranked #56th of the 87 albums from the 80's on the Rolling Stone list of Top albums of all time, but it didn't make the cut for best of the 80's.  

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
#70 - Travelling Wilburies - Vol. 1
#57 - Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
#55 - John Fogarty - Centerfield

Powerlines across the lake

Another image from the Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area.  These transmission lines were buzzing pretty loud yesterday.  Same location as post from yesterday....  This little park is about 0.8 miles west of Exelon's Braidwood Generating Station, the lake is actually cooling water for the plant.
Location here

Waitin' For The Wind

One of the dozens and dozens of wind turbines in the coridor between Dwight and Odell Illinois.  Looking at Google Earth, there's just under 100 meters between this windmill and the barn.  Seems a little close to me.  Location and larger version here.

The post title is from the Spooky Tooth song.  Even thouigh there was plenty of wind when this photo was taken....  Every time I drive across Illinois I see more and more wind farms.  Although the growth rate is down. 

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #57 - Pete Townshend - Empty Glass

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards:

#57 - Pete Townshend - Empty Glass

Pete Townshed's second solo album was released in early 1980, just barely qualifying it for the "Best Of the 80's" list.  The album featured Pete's only "pop" hit (as a solo artist), with "Let My Love Open The Door", which peaked at #9.  Empty Glass is a vastly superior album to The Who's Face Dances, which was released in 1981. 

Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
#70 - Travelling Wilburies - Vol. 1
#55 - John Fogarty - Centerfield

Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish & Wildlife Area

An interesting little spot I found outside Braidwood, IL.  Following those "brown signs"....  Location here.

Sugar Grove Nature Center, Funks Grove, IL

Another panarama, also from yesterday's drive across Illinois.  This is the Sugar Grove Nature Center, Funks Grove Illinois.  Next time I need to allot time to actually stop!  Location here, Larger Version here

County Road 36, McLean, IL

A panorama taken today, a short side trip on my Chicago --> St. Louis "commute".  Eight photos stitched together.  This is about 4.5 miles west of Funks Grove, Illinois.  Click here for location, here for full size version.

I plot your rubric scarab, I steal your satellite.....

 Many moons ago, in mid/late High School, I was a big Blue Oyster Cult fan.  Even before they released "Don't Fear The Reaper" and got huge.  But the big thing back then was that the lyrics, as best as could be understood, made little sense. 

But there was hope.  You could send to the record company and they'd send you the lyrics!!  I think it was something like $2 and a SASE.  (I should dig out my vinyl and confrm, I suppose).  Andway, I sent in my request, and sometime later received several pages of 11x17" green bar computer paper with the elusive lyrics.  And not just for the album I requested, but for all the albums out at the time (3).  That's right kids, we didn't always have Google!

Of course, while this solved the problem of understanding what the word were, it didn't help understand what they might mean.

Flash forward 35 years or so.  I was looking for something in the basement and came across the lyrics sheet for the album "Secret Treaties".  Just imagine if it was in good shape.  Or if I had all three albums....  I could sell it on eBay!

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #55 - John Fogarty - Centerfield

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards:

#55 - John Fogarty - Centerfield

I was a little surprised to see this one on the list, and solidly mid-pack. I guess it was an “important” album, Fogarty’s first release in 9 years, and spawned two Top 20 hits (“The Old Man Down The Road” and “Rock And Roll Girl”). And the title track, which is still a staple at ballparks around the country. It did go to #1 on the album charts. On the other hand, it often sounds so much like CCR that his prior record company sued him for plagiarizing himself. Gotta love the music industry!

But I have this album, and beyond those three songs, it’s pretty “meh”.

This is probably one of the last few albums I purchased on vinyl, back in 1985. My wife gave me a CD player for Christmas in December 1985, and that was the end of vinyl for me.

And a Baseball photo, the centerfielder for the Pittsburgh pirates.  Click for larger version(s):

Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
#70 - Travelling Wilburies - Vol. 1

Slice Of life #4896 - Bottoms Up

A couple of ducks at Moody Park this week.  I tried to get this pair in matching head-down poses, but as soon as I grabbed my camera they stopped cooperating.  The lake is probably 2' or more below normal, thanks to our drought.

And for a musical tie-in, how about Jeff Beck - Constipated Duck?

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #70 - Travelling Wilburys, Vol. 1

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards:

#70 - The Travelling Wilbury's - Volume 1

 

 

I like the comment by David Wild in Rolling Stone's review:  "This is the best record of its kind ever made, Then again," he added, "it's also the only record of its kind ever made."

 

The Travelling Wilbury's was not so much a "supergroup" as it was a group of muscians coming together for some fun, with an album resulting.  Oh yeah, and those musicians just happened to all be legends. 

• George Harrison  - 63 Top 40 hits (including w/ The Beatles), Member of R&RHOF both solo, and as a member of the Beatles.  12 albums in the Rolling Stone list of Top 500 Albums of all time.
• Bob Dylan - 12 Top 40 hits, Member R&RHOF.  11 albums in the Rolling Stone list of Top 500 Albums of all time.
• Tom Petty -  37 Top 40 Hits (With the Heartbreakers, and solo).  Member of the R&RHOF.  1 album in the Top 500
• Roy Orbison - 23 Top 40 hits, Member of R&R Hall Of Fame
• Jeff Lynn - 20 Top 40 hits (with Electric Light Orchestra). Producer, songwriter.....

There is no doubting the creditials of these folks.

But more important, is that Travelling Wilburys comes of as as a group of friends having fun.  There's nothing pretentious here.  There's never any feel that this would be on ongoing enterprise (although they id do a second album).  And while there's no iconic songs, the overall package really "clicks".


Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual

Down To The Dregs - Painted Desert

Getting down to the last few photos from the St. Louis to Flagstaff trip.  This is another from the painted desert.  It's actually a photomerge, of 2 images that were only slightly different.  Actual location is here.

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #75 - Cyndi Lauper, She's So Unusual

Continuing the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's.  Or at least the ones I have....
Continuing to work backwards:

#75 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual

Cyndi Lauper exploded onto the scene in late 1983. "She's So Unusual" was her debut, it would chur out 5 Top 40 hits over the the next year.  Including four consecutive Top 5 hits.  From the MTV favorite "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (peaked at #2) to the Chart Topping "Time After Time" (written by Jules Shears) to #3 "She-Bop" and #5 "All Through The Night".  That's a pretty impressive run for anybody, much less a debut album.  Interestignly, "Time After Time" was the only one of thiose songes written (co-authored, actually) by Lauper.

The album would go on to to be one of the best selling of 1984, and garner half-a-dozen Grammy nominations, winning two.  Sadly, after scoring 5 Top 40 hits on her debut, Lauer would only make the Top 40 five more times in the next 5 years, then disappeared from the charts.

She's So Unusual came out between the time a little over a year after I graduated college, and was a omnipresent through the time leading up to (and subsequent to) our wedding.  I had this album (like Suzanne Vega) on cassette tape.  In May 1984, I saw Cyndi Lauper in concert.  I'd like to say it was a wonderful experience, but it wasn't.   It was really rather bad, one of the most disappointing concerts I've seen.  In retrospect, I imagine she (and the band) were probably run ragged and perhaps overwhelmed, after bursting from relative obscurity into massive stardom. 

Anyway, the cassette is long gone, and I've never purchased a digital copy of "She's So Unusual".  I do have all the hits, which is 1/2 the album, purchased song-by-song.

Recapping: 
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
#80 - Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega

One to the photo: Not quite random, this photo was almost certainly taken during the time that this album was topping the charts.  Based on the location (Dexter!) and the cat (inherited when I got married), this is later 1983 or the 1984.