Old Enough to Forget

By 1984 I wasn't buying a lot of Christian music. Oh, there were exceptions but for the most part I'd grown pretty weary of shitty sounding music wrapped around the same time tired heavy handed lyrics within the structures of an inferior pop song. I'm painting with a wide brush here and I'm pretty much throwing the baby out with the bath water, but for every decent "Christian" record there was a mountain of trash that was supposed to be appreciated because it was a ministry , not an art. Now, to prove my point I'll enter into evidence those first three North American releases from Jerusalem. From 1980 through to 1982 I bought three albums of rather tired hard rock that seemed to have lyrics translated into English from Swedish using a travel dictionary. I'll admit I look back rather fondly on these albums, but it's not because of the music. The cover of the first album was a homage to Boston, the second featured a Les Paul leaning against a smoking...

With 1985's Scarecrow John Cougar Mellencamp's transition into what would later be known as Americana was complete. However when this was sparkly and new it was a little harder to peg. It was definitely rock, with echoes of times gone by and it was at odds with what currently in fashion. That didn't stop this from being embraced by those who liked rock. For me it was an odd experience. I'd never really been a huge fan, but I had to give the guy props, because when he was good he was untouchable. His previous album had "Pink Houses" which alone was enough to earn my respect. However, with Scarecrow I got my back up, almost immediately after the first time I heard the song "Small Town." In fact I got a bee so far up my ass it coloured everything, and I mean EVERYTHING he was to release after, and even altered my perception of the stuff already out there. I started to think of him as a second tier Bruce Springsteen, and that he was a preening little pe...

"Life in a Northern Town" has long been one of my favourite songs. A dreamy (see what I did there?) song that seemed to be out of sync with the trends of the times, and yet it fit like a glove at the same time. The song propelled the band into the public consciousness but didn't seem to pull the album along with it. I know for me as much as I loved the song, and it's association with co-producer David Gilmour, a little nugget that was often mentioned on the radio, I never bought the album. I likely wasn't the only one. The song would over time become one of those tracks that would appear on multiple '80s compilations, as for the band, they were relegated to that most horrible of fates: The one hit wonder. Of course as is the case with so many of these bands who had their 15 minutes of fame, there was a lot more going on. Airplay and hit singles (in the singular) often do not define a band. For me it would take almost thirty years for me to hear more of their ...

"Whisper to a Scream" was one of those songs that was so good once it got under your skin it stayed there. I also recall buying the album and listening to the it all the way through probably a grand total of one time, then passing judgment: in these grooves there be nothing but filler. So on this instalment of A Streaming Pile of Hit - where you put the "s" in hit is up to you, I present for my revisionist listening pleasure the 1984 debut album from The Icicle Works, coincidentally also called The Icicle Works . Since I lost my original copy, this was an album I wanted to find on vinyl. Over the last few years I've come up empty. It's not like I was trying super hard, but I looked. Every so often I'd hear "Whisper to a Scream" and think, there had to be more to the band than just this one song. So I kept looking ... until I gave up and just found it on my streaming service. Why not? It doesn't have to be hard, and while there are a lot o...

After All was a band that seemed so full of promise. The band was based in Vancouver, and the members were Scott Acomba on vocals, Jordy Birch on bass and backing vocals, Todd Simko guitar and backing vocals, and Leigh Grant on drums. The band was signed to Capitol, and I'm guessing they were licensed from Nettwork but that's just a guess on my part.  I did buy the CD when it came out in '88, and even saw them open for Bruce Hornsby at the old Expo Theatre - a great venue, now gone. It was an odd pairing, but they gave it a good go, and I remember rooting for them as I'd just picked up the album and it was cool to see them run through their short set. "Bullets" was getting a little bit of airplay here at home, and I suspect it was a regional thing, but for me it counted. I can't remember if they got a little pop when they played it. I like to think they did. It was an unexpected pleasure to find the record. I didn't need it. I wanted it. This was a bit...

In 1983 David Bowie ruled the world. After years of flirting with mainstream success, he was suddenly the flavour of the day. It was the latest strange turn from one of rocks most durable and creative voices.  I'll also freely admit I was not a fan. At all . Not at first. To me he was the guy who did "Space Oddity" and that song weirded me out as a kid. I didn't like it, and thought it sounded terrible. It didn't help that when I was in my teens there was a young Bowie singing a duet with Bing Crosby on a Christmas Special where he mashed up some ridiculous counterpoint "The Little Drummer Boy." I hated it. Ick, phooey. Somehow I'd gotten it into my head that Bowie was unlistenable. He was a dinosaur who kept desperately throwing whatever he could against the wall trying to make anything stick to make so that  his 15 minutes would last a little longer. It didn't matter that there were quite a few of his classic songs that were pretty amazing. I h...

This was actually the album that turned me into a Roger Daltry fan. In '85 when this came out Roger was 41 and out to prove that he could still rock with the kids. While the album may not have been a huge commercial success, it certainly seemed like a big deal in my house.  My buddy Otto had the cassette copy of the album that contained the bonus track "Love Me Like You Do" which was an incredible song, and it was too bad it didn't make the cut for the album. There was a time, thankfully a short time, that record labels were trying to push cassette sales and a number of artists from Phil Collins to Flock of Seagulls included bonus tracks on their tape releases, and later this translated to CDs where extended versions and bonus tracks weren't restricted to 22 and a 1/2 minutes a side. Roger's voice was his instrument, and boy howdy he let it loose. Speaking of voices, I remember being really excited to see Mark Williamson's name listed as the backing singer...