Top Albums of the '80's - Recap

So, we've completed the series on the Top 100 Albums of the 80's that I have the entire albums.
The final list:

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

# 8 - R.E.M. - Murmur

# 5 - Paul Simon Graceland

# 1 The Clash - London Calling

That's 16 albums of the Top 100, which is more than I expected.  But beyond that, there's another 17 albums that I have portions of (either through "hits" collections or the joys of per-song mp3 purchases).

These include:  Rolling Stones - Steel Wheels (#87), David Bowie - Let's Dance (#83), Van Halen - 1984 (#81), Human League - Dare (#78), Marshall Crenshaw- Marshall Crenshaw (#72), Randy Newman - Trouble In Paradise (#67), Def Leppard - Pyromania (#62), Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (melt) (#46), R.E.M. - Document (#41), ZZ Top - Eliminator (#39), Rolling Stones - Tattoo You (#34), John Lennon - Double Fantasy (#29), Guns And Roses - Appetite For Destruction (#27), Prince - 1999 (#16), Michael Jackson - Thriller (# 7), Talking Heads - Remain In Light (#4), Prince - Purple Rain (# 2)



All in all, it's not a bad collection of music.  Granted, it isn't exactly 1967....  But not so bad.

This inspired me to look at all the albums I own that were relaed in the 80's.  And I have more than I expected (just over 100).  So, I'm thinking I'll do a "Best Of The 80's" series that reflects my humble opinions, rather than the editors of Rolling Stone magazine.
Stay tuned!

September 10, 1983

Twenty Nine years ago today, the girl of my dreams said "I Do".  Almost 3 decades later, and she's still putting up with me (phew!).

SO:  What were the hits that week?

1. Maniac - Michael Sembello
2. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) - Eurythmics
3. The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
4. Puttin' On The Ritz - Taco
5. Tell Here About It - Billy Joel

I actually own the first two....  but that's all from the top 5.  Other's songs from the Top 40 that week  (that I own):

6 - Every Breath You Take - Police
15 - Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler
21 - King Of Pain - Police
23 - China Girl - David Bowie
33 - Burning Down the House - Talking Heads


There's an Elton John song called "Kiss The Bride" which was #28 the day we were married.  Guess I should Youtube it and see what it sounds like! (pause)....  OK, that wasn't worth it.  I'm just not a fan of Elton John after 1975 or so....

Late September, 2002

Occasionally it is interesting to go back through my digital archives, and try to find images which were overlooked "back then", but have some potential.    Here's a couple from late September 2002.  These were taken on a weekend trip to Little Grassy Lake.  With my first (oh-so-humble) digital camera. 

While several other images from this trip have been posted through the years, these two haven't.  ANd while neither is exactly awesome, they're not terrible.  Taken during a dawn walk by the lake....

Cozy Dog!!

So, we ran up to Springfield today for a visit with the granddaughter.  While there, we decided to do an early dinner at Springfield's Cozy Dog, which bills itself as the birthplace of a hotdog on a stick!

And yes, they serve FOOD:

This was our first time to visit this Rt. 66 attraction, and we enjoyed it.  Not exactly Haute Cuisine, though

I've looked at clouds from both sides now.

This image was taken 7 minutes before the image I posted last night.   A rather dramatically different scene.

Meanwhile, this is one of those images that turned out pretty disappointing. Above is uncropped, with only minor adjustments.  The cloud bank at the lower leftlooks fake, and is distracting.  The clouds on the right create a line of dark/bright that really bugs me.  I'm not sure why the top left is so dark.....  And there's not quite enough orange glow.   GRRRRRRR.

So, a year later, I decided to try an dind a crop that I didn't hate.  Try to isolate some of the good, and trim off the bad.  Here's the best I could manage:

A very tall, narrw presentation.  I don't think it's horrible.  But still not exactly great.

Sunset, Clouds

I found this one in my 9/2011 folder, don't actually remember it.  Taken at 7pm on a Thursday last September.  I'm thinking it might be ..  Oh wait!  I've got it now:  This was taken right after one of my son's Flag-Football games, walkin g from the fields back to the car.  Not far from where this photo was taken.

Frick Trucking

Another from the deep archives.  Shot on film in the late 90's

This is one of my favorite images.  I'm not even sure, but I've always been drawn to it.  Unfortunately, it was shot on an early generation didgicam, and includes notable digital crop.  Consequently, it simply doesn't have the resolution tp support printing at any reasonable size.  So what you see is as good as it gets.

This was shot in late 2004, at Silver Lake Park in Highland IL, on a drizzly lunchtime in early fall.  I guess you had to be there....

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - # 1 – The Clash - London Calling

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


# 1 - The Clash - London Calling

Released in the US in January 1980, London Calling just barely makes the cut for "Best Of The 1980's".  But, as RS notes:  with London Calling, "the Clash stormed the gates of rock convention and single-handedly set the agenda — musically, politically and emotionally — for the decade to come."  Allmusic calls it "a remarkable leap forward, incorporating the punk aesthetic into rock & roll mythology and roots music" and "a stunning statement of purpose and one of the greatest rock & roll albums ever recorded"

Interesting trivia:  On the original vinyl pressing, the hit "Train In Vain" is not listed on the album cover.  At the time, I presumed it was because the Clash didn't want to acknowledge "selling out".  According to Wikipedia, the real story is "because the track was added to the record at the last minute, when the sleeve was already in production".  "Train In Vain" was the Clash's first Top 40 hit in the US, reaching #23.  They would only have one subsequent Top 40, with 1982's "Rock The Casbah" which reached #8.

My "London Calling" story:  In the spring of 1980, when I was a Junior in college, my girlfriend's roommate worked at the school newspaper (editor, or assistant editor, or something).  She recruited me as a photographer, and I finally relented.  One of my forst time in the paper's offices,I noticed a copy of new Clash album sitting on a desk.  Apparently it had been sent to the school as a review copy, but they didn't do record reviews (foolishly, I didn't offer to step into that role!).   She said I could have it, SCORE!.  And I still have it.  Probably the best album I ever got for free (as a promotional copy, rather than a gift).

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
# 8 - R.E.M. - Murmur
# 5 - Paul Simon Graceland

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's - #5 – Paul Simon - Graceland

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:

#5 – Paul Simon - Graceland

As noted at Allmusic, Paul Simon's August 1986 release "succeeded in presenting listeners with that magical combination: something they'd never heard before that nevertheless sounded familiar".  Graceland combined "his always perceptive songwriting with the little-heard mbaqanga music of South Africa, creating a fascinating hybrid that re-enchanted his old audience and earned him a new one."

The album was hugely successful, reaching 5x Platinum in sales, reaching #3 on the US charts and winning 1987 Grammy for Record Of The Year.  Interestingly, it only generated 1 Top 40 hit, "You Can Call Me Al" which made it to #23.

What I remember most from the time that Graceland was "current" was the political aspect.  Recording in Apratheid-era South Africa, with black muscians.  And violating the associated "cultural boycott".  In late 1986, I was more interested in the impending arrival of my first child than South African politics, or pop music.  Consequently, Graceland didn't make much of a splash in my consciousness.  Oh, I thought "You Can Call Me Al" was a good song (with a better video).  But I didn't dig deeper.  It has only been in the past few years that I have come to know, and appreciate Graceland.  It started with the episode from the "Classic Albums" series, and culminated in purchasing the album to supplement the handful of songs I from a greatest hits 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
#48 - XTC - Skylarking
#26 - AC/DC - Back In Black
#20 - Pretenders - Prentenders
#17 - Police - Synchronicity
#14 - Peter Gabriel - So
# 8 - R.E.M. - Murmur

Striped Barn

This barn is about 1/2 mile from my son's school, half that far from the YMCA.  I took this image after dropping him (my son) at  football practice today...

Labor Local 474, Glen Carbon

This is another oldie, I know I've posted it a few times on previous Labor Days.  I really don't know much about Labor Local 474, except that it hasn't been at this location for quite a few years.

Anyway, Happy Labor Day.  Where we celebrate work by playing all day...  [I remember that from a really old B.C. comic, but I couldn't find it on the net.  We're talking probably 35-40 years ago]

Empty Bench

Taken  during one of my first trips to Spokane, WA, with one of my first digital cameras.  This is riverfront park, right across from the converntion center.  Taken about the same time as this one.  There's a better version of this somewhere on my hrad drive, but this is the only one I could find this morning...  I hate when that happens.

A little something for a Sunday morning...

Taken a couple of weeks ago at St.Ellen.  The "straight from the camera" version didn't strike me on this, so it got pushed aside.  I decided to play around with it this morning, and came up with something I sort of like.  Nothing dramatic, but hopefully not too boring.

Low Water, High Water

This one is from 8/20, not quite 2 weeks ago. the "big lake" at St. Ellen Mine Park.  The water's been quite with the drought.  But the remnaints of Isaac have been giving us some much needed rain. 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the folks who got hammered by Isaac.