Music Blogs

1988 was the year we elected Michael Dukakis as our President, right? No, that's not what happened. It was quite a year for music. 1988 was the year that Sub Pop Records in a little known sleepy west coast village called Seattle in Washington State began its conspiracy to change the world as we know it. They were, of course, the record label that first introduced Nirvana to the music industry and later the Postal Service and other bands who've reshaped the musical landscape like garden bush animals. But before they could do that, they had to get us prepared. So, they issued albums by other bands. One of them was called Mudhoney. And though Mudhoney were very good, Mudhoney were only acknowledged by people with questionable hygiene and too many vinyl records in their dorm rooms.

1988 was also the year that Public Enemy threatened to infiltrate the state. I don't know what that actually means. But people sure were nervous. That album was played everywhere. Even by people who never buy music.

And Bon Jovi, R.EM. and U2 continued to rise in popularity. Or at least get better record distribution, enabling more people to buy their albums.

Now how to explain this list? It's what I like to call a complete compromise.

It's both partially my own bizarre tastes and partially a reflection of what came out in 1988. American Music Club didn't change the world. Bon Jovi did. Everyone who follows this blog knows I don't like Poison. But their album announced they were in the room and while I don't enjoy their music, other people do. Talk Talk made a pretty album, as did Australia's Go-Betweens and it seemed worth mentioning.

In a sense, we are walking down memory lane together. Some memories are good. Some ungood. Not unlike dining at an all-you-can-eat-buffet--where you should stay away from anything with mayonnaise.

You probably remember 1988 differently than I do. That because you're not me. Be thankful for that.

25) New Jersey--Bon Jovi: I grew up in New Jersey and would do just about anything to avoid these guys. So when I hear people talking about them like they were this great ‘80s band, I can only sigh to myself and think they must just like the hair. Because the people that lived around me sure tried to duplicate it. And many of them succeeded as my high school yearbook clearly attests.

24) Rattle And Hum--U2: It's always amazed me at how albums that sell millions of copies often leave me wondering what people hear in them. Why am I getting bored when other people are getting inspired? Maybe there's something wrong with me? I liked the one tune the Edge sings but the rest of this just seemed dull. It seems people now don't like this album as much as they did when it came out. It's sure been seen in a lot of used record and CD bins.

23) Forever Your Girl--Paula Abdul: Before she was acting weird on American Idol, Paula Abdul had a recording career of her own. I didn't listen to her music then and I don't intend to start now. But I remember the posters and an awful lot of guys who never listened to her music owned them. Why make records? Stick with calendars!

22) Open Up And Say...Aah--Poison: Yes, the band I picked as the Worst Hair Metal Band of All-Time are here because they made a "cultural impact." Like Splenda. Judging from people's comments, Poison are both loved and hated. They evoke extreme reactions in people. To be fair, they're safer than most prescription drugs where the side effects include greasy stools, involuntary muscle spasms that may become permanent, suicidal thoughts, coma and death. Now that's something you might want to stay away from.

21) Vivid--Living Colour: I'm not sure what came first, this album title or the laundry detergent, but in any case, Living Colour were an odd innovation because their members were all young black men playing heavy metal, which was, as you may have noticed, played primarily by white kids with lots of hair. That their guitar player had been a member of Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society made you wonder if this whole thing wasn't some sort of plot to undermine the fabric of mainstream rock society. Or else Vernon Reid had just gotten bored playing experimental jazz and funk and decided to make some money.

20) Hairway To Steven--Butthole Surfers: They were never meant to be big stars. You didn't name yourselves the Butthole Surfers back in the 1980s with the idea of becoming popular--maybe to qualify for an NEA grant, but that's about it. For this, the band's most conventional sounding--near folk-rock!--album they opted to bypass song titles for drawings, making it extremely difficult for radio DJs to explain what song had just played. "That was man swinging baseball bat while urinating."

19) Green--R.E.M.: Not exactly jumping the shark, but jumping from an independent label to a major one was considered quite an ethical dilemma for "indie-rock" bands. It's right there in the definition. What to do with an "indie" rock band who aren't indie anymore? Fans actually debated whether they could still like them. Since Green has turned out to be one of the band's lesser albums it made things even more difficult. Were people not liking the new album because it was on the "wrong" record label? Or because it wasn't as good as their previous albums? Who can you trust? Moms prefer Jif.

18) Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1--The Traveling Wilburys: The 1980s were a tough time to be a veteran musician. While classic rock radio played your old hits, unless you sounded like Steve Winwood and had lots of keyboards and schlocky sounding drums on your records, you didn't get played. It also didn't help that you were probably also not writing very good songs. So, one day Tom Petty, a younger guy who liked old dudes, gets together with Jeff Lynne, who always wanted to be in the Beatles, and they call George Harrison, who actually was in the Beatles, and they grab Bob Dylan, who was in Bob Dylan, and just to make themselves feel younger, added Roy Orbison, who figured he hadn't had a hit in years and no one else in the music industry was around when he first broke, so why not? And a supergroup was born!

17) Nothing's Shocking--Jane's Addiction: Remember that kid from second grade who always drank all the glue? He grew up and formed a band.

16) Tracy Chapman--Tracy Chapman: For some incongruous reason, in the midst of all that high tech record production that was happening in 1988, a major record company thought they could have a hit on their hands with a modest-looking young black lady who sang thoughtful folk songs. It worked for that Luka kid, er Suzanne Vega, right? And while a new wave of folk never happened, I'm sure at least for a few moments the still living members of the Kingston Trio were planning a comeback.

15) Surfer Rosa--The Pixies: Considering that now they're practically legends--thanks Kurt Cobain--it's hard to convince people that back when they originally functioned as a group they played mostly small clubs and didn't really stand out all that much. People seemed more impressed with the idea that Steve Albini was their record producer--or rather, their recorder--and that he made them sound like a very loud demo tape. Which is what a lot of underground bands wanted back then for some reason.

14) 16 Lovers Lane--The Go-Betweens: What do you do when you're from Australia? You move to where the action is. But you'll always feel like a stranger in a strange land and while other malcontents will immediately relate and fall under your melancholy gaze, the rest of the world will ignore you because they don't understand. Even if you do have two great songwriters in your band. But I could've told you Grant and Robert, this world was never meant for ones as sensitive as you. It was meant for Van Hagar.

13) Straight Outta Compton--NWA: The album that set the gold standard for cursing. Seriously. Sure, the beats are hard and Ice Cube and Dr. Dre got their start and Eazy-E eventually made it to a dinner with some Republicans, but really people were mostly shocked by the pull-no-punches profanity and the chance to take a looksie at gang-culture without getting out of the car or even driving into a dangerous neighborhood.

12) ...And Justice for All--Metallica: It was nice of Metallica to hire a new bass player after their old one was killed, but it would have been even better if they'd mixed him onto the record. They were obviously taking their inspiration from Pussy Galore on this album. The White Stripes would eventually sell this idea wholesale.

11) South Of Heaven--Slayer: Ah, Slayer: the band that made other metal bands look slow and dull and un-heavy. Metal, in general, wouldn't be metal without a game of "Top This" going on and this band had a pretty good streak going. Then Phil Anselmo and his Pantera unit found a way to go to 12 and then things got really out of hand.

10) Copperhead Road--Steve Earle: Before Steve Earle became the guy on the cover of every music magazine aimed at people over the age of 35, he was more a mainstream country guy who didn't fit in. He knew it, but there wasn't yet a place for him, so he waited around and made records that Nashville people didn't really get and rock people wouldn't touch because it was country and then after disappearing for a very long time doing things that he shouldn't have been doing, showed back up and became a guy who Nashville still doesn't get, but that rock people with kids can now relate to.

9) Brian Wilson--Brian Wilson: At one point, just getting Brian Wilson out of the house was a big deal. Those pikers in Metallica may have found their Dr. Phil, but Wilson had Dr. Eugene Landy and unlike the guys in Metallica, Wilson pretty much let Landy into the band. No one expected a return to the Beach Boys. I'd say no one knew what to expect. They were just glad to hear him doing something. And even with all the accumulated rust, he did pretty good. I believe he switched doctors eventually.

8) Tender Prey--Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Nick Cave had been making records for years at this point and among the few people who were paying attention back then, it was probably figured that they'd heard pretty much what he could do. Then this album opens with "The Mercy Seat," one of those career-defining songs where he both creates a masterpiece and sticks himself with a song he's going to have to play every night until either he or his audience dies. At this point, I say his audience goes first.

7) Daydream Nation--Sonic Youth: I prefer Sister, but I can see how the "double album" impact of this album would make it some people's preferred album. Of course, these days, with two decades of CD making out there, making an album that lasts longer than an hour is no big deal and even expected. Seems to happen by accident these days. But this one at least has a reason for being so long. They knew it was the right thing to do at that point in their career. Smashing Pumpkins would eventually come along in the pure CD era and have to make a 2 CD collection to seem just as important. Good god.

6) Spirit Of Eden--Talk Talk: Is stillness a virtue? It took people a long time to realize that Talk Talk were no longer the band that made that first album that doesn't sound like this one. It probably didn't help that the band decided to do everything at the musical equivalent of a whisper. You don't get much attention that way. People need to be hit over the head. The squeaky wheel gets the oil? The other wheels are lucky if they get air.

5) Viva Hate--Morrissey: It seems most people think I hate this guy just because I said he was a cheesy singer. And he is. But, again, that's what I like about him. He has to sing these songs as if he's having an emotional breakdown, otherwise what's the point? People like extremes. They want to see the World's Greatest Rock n' Roll Band, the World's Mopiest Singer, the World's Dumbest Female Midget Wrestling Band. I don't know why. But if you bill yourself as the "A Pretty Mediocre Cabaret Act with Pretty Good Songs" it just doesn't catch on.

4) California--American Music Club: Yeah, I know. Who? Can't be any good. No one's heard of them. Well, with a name like American Music Club, who isn't expecting to buy their album for a penny and have to buy four more selections at club prices within the next three years? You see, there used to be this thing called...oh, never mind. The music business used to sell people records and CDs and cassettes. That was a long time ago. They don't anymore, so you could make the point that American Music Club were like the music industry of 2008, but 20 years too early. Really pretty songs, though.

3) I'm Your Man--Leonard Cohen: This is the album that sparked the great Leonard Cohen revival. Before this, the jokes were mean and cruel. The Young Ones TV show went so far as to describe someone as being like a Leonard Cohen album: old and boring and no one listens to you anymore. Now LC has the last laugh. He's been paid tribute several times over and been inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, even though nothing he's ever done could really be considered "rockin'." Love the banana on the cover. Love the shopping mall keyboards and the diner waitress backing vocals. Love the lyrics. Love the man. Could he be my grandpa?

2) Superfuzz Bigmuff--Mudhoney: Getting the notice in the email that this album was being reissued and expanded in honor of its 20th Anniversary, all I could think was how this would make everyone feel old. Because this was kid's stuff when I was a kid, so if you were a mature thinking grown-up when this came out, well, you must be speaking with an investment advisor about your retirement plans. If not, get to it. I'm not paying for you.

1) It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back--Public Enemy: Yes, this is the one hip-hop/rap album that everyone owns. It was everywhere in 1988. You couldn't get away from it and I quite enjoyed it myself. It had these complex sound montages going on and Chuck D was blessed with a voice that could sell you anything. Did writers treat him like Coltrane, insane? Well, if they did, Chuck? That's my-t-fine company to be keeping. Better that than being treated like, who, Sinbad?