MUSIC 101: The 1980s

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A fun INTRO into the great musics
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in one Music Player!

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M U S I C
1 0 1 :
1 9 8 0 s !

MUSIC 101: The 1980s
by Tym Stevens
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101 SONGS
FROM 101 GREAT ALBUMS!
In chronological order,
one album per act,
one song per album.
Punk! HipHop! New Wave!
Funk! Hardcore! Psychedelic!
World! GoGo! Industrial!
Metal! Blues! Grunge!



From 1980 through 1989!
A crash course in crucial!

Music Primer series:
350 Albums: 1956-2020
The 1950s
The 1960s
The 1970s

The 1990s
The 2000s

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The Music Player contains one song each
from these 101 classic albums!

1 9 8 0
01) David Bowie, "Scary Monsters"
Art Rock.

02) Grace Jones, "Warm Leatherette"
New Wave Dub Disco.

03) The Cramps, "Songs The Lord Taught Us"
Psychobilly.

04) Devo, "Freedom Of Choice"
New Wave.

05) The Cosmopolitans, "Wild Moose Party"
Frat Garage.

06) The Specials, "More Specials"
Mod Ska.

07) The Soft Boys, "Underwater Moonlight"
Punkadelic.

08) Peggy Scott, "Great Scott"
Soul and Disco.

09) Split Enz, "True Colours"
New Zealand New Wave.

10) The Undertones, "Hyptonized"
Punk Pop.

11) The Delmontes, "Carousel" (rec. early '80s)
Mod Pop.

12) Professor Longhair, "Crawfish Fiesta"
New Orleans gumbo.

13) X, "Los Angeles"
L.A. Punk.

14) Rockpile, "Seconds Of Pleasure"
Mod Power Pop.

15) The B-52s, "Wild Planet"
Punk Mod.

16) Capt. Beefheart And His Magic Band, "Doc At The Radar Station"
Post Blues.

17) Squeeze, "Argybargy"
Mod Pop.

18) Utopia, "Deface The Music"
Beatlesque tribute.


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1 9 8 1
19) The Rolling Stones, "Tattoo You"
Rawk.

20) The Knack, "Round Trip"
"Revolver"-esque Pop.>

21) The Go-Go's, "Beauty And The Beat"
Mod Pop.>

22) Gang Of Four, "Solid Gold"
Punk Funk.

23) Pretenders, "Pretenders II"
Beat Pop.

24) Black Flag, "Damaged"
Hardcore Punk.

25) The Police, "Ghost In The Machine"
Art Reggae.

26) Buzz And The Flyers, "Buzz And The Flyers"
Rockabilly.

27) Girlschool, "Hit And Run"
All-female British Metal.


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1 9 8 2
28) Zapp, "Zapp II"
Electro Funk.

29) The Fabulous Thunderbirds, "T-Bird Rhythm"
Blues Soul.

30) The Spongetones, "Beat Music"
Beatlesque Pop.>

31) The BusBoys, "American Worker"
New Wave Soul.

32) Kas Product, "Try It"
Coldwave.

33) Barrence Whitfield And The Savages, "Barrence Whitfield And The Savages"
Rockabilly and Garage Rock.

34) The Atlantics, "Atlantics" (rec. early '80's)
Punk Wave.

35) Bruce Springsteen, "Nebraska"
Eerie singer/songwriter.

36) War, "Outlaw"
L.A. Funk.

"DJ's spinning/ I said my, my..."


37) The Clash, "Combat Rock"
Punk Dub Protest.

38) Marvin Gaye, "Midnight Love"
Erotic Soul.

39) The Prisoners, "Come To The Mushroom"
Art Punk.

40) Pigbag, "Dr. Heckle And Mr. Jive"
Alternative Dance.

41) Roxy Music, "Avalon"
Art Wave.

42) Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five, "The Message"
New York HipHop.

43) Paul McCartney, "Tug Of War"
Beatles coda.>


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1 9 8 3
44) Malaria!, "Compiled: 1981-1983"
Coldwave and Industrial.

45) Liquid Liquid, "Optimo" (early '80s)
Punk Funk.

46) Bad Brains, "Rock For Light"
Hardcore Punk (+ Reggae).

47) Sly And The Family Stone, "Ain't But The One Way"
Funk redux.>

48) The Creatures, "Feast"
Polyrhythmic PostPunk.

49) Was (Not Was), "Born To Laugh At Tornados"
Art Soul.

50) Tears For Fears, "The Hurting"
Soulful New Wave.

51) King Sunny Ade, "Synchro System"
Nigerian Jùjú.

52) Talking Heads, "Speaking In Tongues"
Art Funk.

53) Dicks, "Kill From The Heart"
Political Hardcore.


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1 9 8 4
54) Katrina And The Waves, "Katrina And The Waves I"
Beat and Motown.

55) The Art Of Noise, "Who's Afraid Of...?"
Synth Pop Dub.

56) The Fuzztones, "Leave Your Mind At Home"
Garage Rock.>

57) Cocteau Twins, "Treasure"
Ethereal Wave.


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1 9 8 5
58) The Untouchables, "Wild Child"
Ska and '60s Soul.

59) John Fogerty, "Centerfield"
Swamp Rock.

60) Koko Taylor, "Queen Of The Blues"
Chicago Blues.

61) Jesus And Mary Chain, "Psychocandy"
Fuzz Alternative.

62) Mark Stewart, "As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade"
Industrial Conscious Rap.

63) Various Artists, "The Indestructible Beat Of Soweto"
South African Mbaqanga collection.

64) Eurythmics, "Be Yourself Tonight"
Soul Wave.

65) The Smiths, "Meat Is Murder"
Alternative croon.

66) LL Cool J, "Radio"
Def Jam HipHop.

67) Thee Mighty Caesars, "Beware The Ides Of March"
Garage Rock.


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1 9 8 6
68) The Delmonas, "5!"
All-female Garage Rock.

69) African Head Charge, "Off The Beaten Path"
World Dub.

70) Let's Active, "Big Plans For Everybody"
Pop Psyche.

71) Marcia Ball, "Hot Tamale Baby"
Soulful Blues.

72) Film soundtrack, "GOOD TO GO"
Go-Go Funk collection of Washington D.C. bands.

73) Peter Zaremba's Love Delagation, "Spread The Word"
Psyche Pop.

74) Run-DMC, "Raising Hell"
Hard Rap.

75) XTC, "Skylarking"
Alt Psyche.


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1 9 8 7
76) Tom Waits, "Frank's Wild Years"
Art Cabaret.

77) Wire, "The Ideal Copy"
Alt Industrial.

78) Guadalcanal Diary, "2x4"
Jangle Pop.

79) Love And Rockets, "Earth Sun And Moon"
Alt Goth.

80) Public Enemy, "Yo! Bum Rush The Show"
Conscious Rap.

81) Omar And The Howlers, "Hard Times In The Land Of Plenty"
Texas Blues.

82) R.E.M., "Document"
Alt Americana.


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1 9 8 8
83) The Primatives, "Lovely"
Alt Pop.

84) The Smithereens, "Green Thoughts"
Beat Rock.

85) Bootsy Collins, "What's Bootsy Doing?"
P-Funk.

86) L7, "L7"
All-female Grunge.

87) Living Colour, "Vivid"
Afro Punk.

88) Cowboy Junkies, "The Trinity Session"
Moody Roots.

89) Last Exit, "Iron Path"
Harmolodic Thrash.


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1 9 8 9
90) Bonnie Raitt, "Nick Of Time"
Soul and Blues.

91) Pixies, "Doolittle"
Alternative Rock.

92) 3rd Bass, "The Cactus Album"
Alt HipHop.

93) Bob Dylan, "Oh Mercy"
Political singer/songwriter.

94) Barry Adamson, "Moss Side Story"
Cinematic seeds of TripHop.

95) Lou Ann Barton, "Read My Lips"
Soul and Blues.

96) Lobos Negros, "Lobos Negros"
Spanish Rockabilly.>

97) Nine Inch Nails, "Pretty Hate Machine"
Industrial Rock.

98) Queen Latifah, "All Hail The Queen"
Conscious Rap.

99) Julee Cruise, "Floating Into The Night"
Cinematic Dream Pop.>

100) Chris Isaak, "Heart Shaped World"
Rockabilly croon.

101) Nirvana, "Bleach"
Grunge.

"Raise expectations to a new intention..."

© Tym Stevens

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The Music Primer Series:*
1) 350 GREAT ALBUMS That Will Change Your Life!: 1956-2020

2) MUSIC 101: The 1950s

3) MUSIC 101: The 1960s

4) MUSIC 101: The 1970s

6) MUSIC 101: The 1990s

7) MUSIC 101: The 2000s


* The albums heard on the Decades series are different than the 350 Albums overview.


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Further Study, dept.:

• Revolution 1950s: The Big Damn Bang of Rock'n'Roll!

• 1950s Rock, C: The '80s disciples, with Music Player!
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• BEATLESQUE Albums: 450 Alternate Universe BEATLES Albums You Need!, with 2 Music Players!

• BEATLES 'Reunion Anthology': 1970-Now, with Music Player!

• 'Why We Love YOKO ONO (Or Should)!', with 2 Music Players!
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• Sly Stone > Prince, with Music Player!

• "APACHE", HipHop's Sacred Secret Beat! - Bongo Band > Bambaataa > EVERYONE EVER

• "Amen Break" - How 6 Seconds From 1969 Propel All Modern Music
__________
• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture, with Music Player!

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• 2000 Great Albums on Pinterest!


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Follow The Leader" - Bob James > Eric B + Rakim > P-Funk

ROCK Sex travels at magnificent speeds around the music-verse.

"Follow The Leader" is one of the coolest Rap songs ever made and here's where this intergalactic headtrip took off from.

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This journey into sound begins with "Nautilus" by Fusion Jazz keyboardist Bob James.

Like the classic "Apache", this song is one of the most sampled ever. Over 30 different Rap songs have used portions of it, including hits by Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, Soul II Soul, EPMD, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah, and Jeru The Damaga, as well as singer MAary J. Blige.

It's easy to hear why. This atmospheric Funk-Jazz jam, inspired by the submarine Nautilus captained by Nemo in Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea", is full of hidden depths and strange phenomena.

BOB JAMES -"Nautilus" (1974)



Another key component of "Follow The Leader" is this rare gem by BABY HUEY, who made one killer Funk Rock album in 1970 before his untimely death.

BABY HUEY -"Listen To Me" (1970)



When you combine the eerie keyboards of Bob James (1:51) with the funky rhythm from Baby Huey (1:12) and the opening drums of Coke Escovedo's "I Wouldn't Change A Thing", you get this cosmic classic.

"Follow The Leader" by ERIC B And RAKIM is a micro/macrocosmic journey unlike any vinyl out at the time or much since.

Many Rap records of the late-'80s were still about MCs battling over who was most original and who was biting their style, usually over a spare drum machine and a simple sample loop. MC Rakim leaves that local turf and loud ego stuff in the dust by taking the contest to a literally universal level. It becomes a spiritual journey that canvases the galaxy while challenging the inner self at the same time. Rakim's deft lyrics are put into interstellar overdrive by the def sonics of DJ Eric B, all alien edge and pounding momentum.

ERIC B And RAKIM -"Follow The Leader" (1988)



GEORGE CLINTON was pretty used to being sampled by the early-'90s, but he was so impressed by the sliquid words and infinite scope of this song that he paid it the ultimate compliment by covering it himself.

GEORGE CLINTON + P-FUNK ALL STARS -"Follow The Leader" (1995)



"I'm everlasting, I can go on for days and days
With rhyme displays that engrave deep as X-rays

In this journey you're the journal, I'm the journalist

You're not a slave
'Cause we was put here to be much more than that
But we couldn't see it because our mind was trapped
But I'm here to break away the chains, take away the pains
Remake the brains, reveal my name

I guess nobody told you a little knowledge is dangerous
It can't be mixed, diluted, it can't be changed or switched
Here's a lesson if you're guessing and borrowing
Hurry hurry, step right up and keep following the leader!


A furified freestyle, lyrics of fury
My third eye makes me shine like jewelry
You're just a rent-a-rapper, your rhymes are Minute Maid
I'll be here when it fades to watch you flip like a renegade

And follow and follow, because the tempo's a trail
The stage is a cage, the mic is a third rail!"


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• Cool Insane Rap: GETTOVETTS

• Kraftwerk > Trouble Funk > Afrika Bambaataa > New Order


• BEYOND COOL: Pedro Bell, Funkadelic's visionary!


• How STAR WARS Is Changing Everything!

• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture, with Music Player!


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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