Excellent Tom. My top 10. 10 Ramones Too Tough to Die 9 The Smiths s/t 8 New Model Army Vengeance 7 The Replacements Let it Be 6 Cocteau Twins Treasure 5 King Crimson Three of a Perfect Pair 4 Xmal Deutschland Tocsin 3 XTC The Big Express 2 Robyn Hitchcock I Often Dream of Trains 1 Minutemen Double Nickles on the Dime
I love that you have R.E.M. as your favorite from 1984. I grew up in Athens, GA in the 1970's - 1980's (and attended UGA). 40 Watt Club was big back then. I still love R.E.M. (and B-52's). I live in Colorado now and actually saw them for the last time at Red Rocks in 2008.
Lists are always interesting.. I have that Style Council and 3 others.. So funny, I just picked up the Bangles title digging for records in the real wild ! Everything But The Girl has always been a favorite! Watching the rest..
Another fine list. Los Lobos, along with X and Little Feat are the best American bands (one man's opinion). Always intrigued with how political Style Council's lyrics are. They do a masterful job of masking social commentary with their pop/jazzy vibe.
You remind me that this period in the mid-'80s (after "new wave" was washed up and early Britpop MTV synth bands had become passe), some really popular music was also some of the most deeply satisfying. I realize that while I was immersed in R.E.M. and Replacements and Los Lobos at the time (I got into The Smiths a little later), they weren't exactly top-of-the-pops, but they seemed to be everywhere I went then... along with stuff that was just breaking into the mainstream, like Prince and Pretenders and "Stop Making Sense"-era Talking Heads... Also: "Big bottom, big bottom/Talk about mudflaps, my girl's got 'em/Big bottom drive me outta my mind/How could I leave this behind" -- Spinal Tap. They don't write 'em like that anymore. I am told by friends who were high schoolers in suburban Spokane, WA, in 1984 that they knew kids who honestly thought "This Is Spinal Tap" was an actual band documentary about a forgotten hard rock band. Well, in retrospect, I guess it was...
Glad to see the albums by Everything But The Girl, Cocteau Twins, and The Smiths in your list. 'Eden' and 'Treasure' are two of my favorite albums. I also like those albums by The Smiths. Another favorite album from '84 is 'Diamond Life' by Sade. I was really into those bands back then. 😊
Great mention of the Style Council and Everything But the Girl. I would say: Husker Du "Zen Arcade" and Depeche Mode "Some Great Reward" are also great for '84..
Great list. A couple there that I need to check out, 84 really was a great year for music. I'd include these at least as honourable mentions. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand the Weather Siouxsie and the Banshees - Hyaena U2 - Unforgettable Fire Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain Marillion - Fugazi
David Sylvia's Brilliant Trees released June 1984 Loved the world over apart from USA-though he lives there now.Same vibe as Cocteau Twins, Treasure will survive and get a mention in a hundred years time same with Hat full of Hollow
I have to agree almost a hundred percent with your choices and taste. I don't have the soundtrack to Spinal Tap but I have the movie on VCR lol. I also don't have that Cockteau Twins album but I have others. The rest I have and love on my shelves, cool vid.
Great call on the Bangles and Spinal Tap. The Pretenders lost a step with Honeyman-Scott's death, in '82, and Pete Farndon's, in '83. I saw them at the Civic Auditorium in Spring 1980, at the taping for the Andy Kaufman-hosted Friday's telecast, in Feb 1981 (Chrissie threw her guitar pick at my feet, when I interrupted Andy rambling on about "drugs are bad", with a LOUD "Rock 'n' roll!", bleeped out of the West Coast airing), and, lastly, at the US Festival, on Memorial Day 1982. You didn't mention Bruce's Born in the USA, or Thriller, the mega-hits that defined the year. Purple Rain put Prince in the mainstream, Stop Making Sense redefined soundtracks, Private Dancer proved Tina Turner was the creative force that made Ike rich, The Unforgettable Fire made U2 superstars, Don Henley resurrected his career with Building the Perfect Beast. It was a year of transitions, from the old ways, to the new ways, some still to be invented. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan were a distant memory, if that, to rock fans, the music biz now streamlined and ready for digital, already being promised.
I saw the Pretenders once in September 1981 at Perkins Palace in Pasadena. Great show. Springsteen came out on the encore and they did Jackie Wilson’s Higher and Higher. The original line up of the Pretenders was the best. Honeyman-Scott was brilliant.
@@tomrobinson5776 I opened an office, in April 1981, did nothing but spend money for a year. I wanted to go to the Pasadena show, but decided to stay home and save the bucks. Friends who went told me I missed a great one!
Great picks. All Over The Place is so solid. I too prefer Hatful Of Hollow over the 1st album. Have you ever heard the Pavement song Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence? It's a song all about REM Reckoning - not the greatest song but I like the nod
Definitely agree with your top choice for ‘84! In addition to REM, Replacements, Smiths, Bangles you mentioned I’d also include Go-Betweens, Felt, Lloyd Cole, Guadalcanal Diary. Take Care/ Matt
Initially, I didn't think this was such a great year, but looking at the releases, yeah, I see your point. I gather you're not a fan, but I want to give some love for the great Bruce Springsteen and Born in the USA, not my favorite album by him but arguably his most brilliant, wherein the artist takes on Reagan's America on its own terms, detailing working class pain in the format of short, catchy singles the way Reagan had a tendency to sugarcoat his policies via pithy feel-good slogans. Not many albums, or works of art in general, can represent the time in which they were released as accurately and entertainingly as this record. It took me years to appreciate it because of how prevalent it was on the radio, but if you give yourself some distance and then listen to it with fresh ears, far removed from the overexposure, you can appreciate what a truly cohesive album this really is. Aside from that, you mentioned a lot of my own favorites, but here are some others that didn't make your video. New Sensations by Lou Reed is a classic, underrated because for some reason there are Lou Reed fans who think he isn't allowed to have fun. Meat Puppets II is an alt rock classic, probably my favorite album by them. The Unforgettable Fire deserves some recognition, a haunting record that features my favorite song by the band, Bad. Red Sails in the Sunset might be Midnight Oil's weirdest album, perhaps not as cohesive as some others but an ambitious success. Joe Jackson's follow up to Night and Day, Body and Soul, is great. A debut you didn't mention, Stone Age Romeos by Hoodoo Gurus. Heartbeat City by the Cars might have made my list if it weren't so overproduced by Mutt Lang. Anyway, terrific video!
Hi Chris, I need to pick up New Sensation by Lou Reed. I’ve heard a lot of raves about that one . I only know I Love You Suzanne. It’s kinda hit and miss with solo Lou. I really like Coney Island Baby. I like early Springsteen, but after The River I lost interest. I have Meat Puppets II, but my absolute fave is Up On The Sun. A perfect record. Never heard Joe Jackson’s Body and Soul. I’ll have to check that out. Love his early stuff.
84 was a pretty stellar year, think I mentioned Cope's Fried and Echo and the Bunnymen's Ocean Rain on your neo-pysch video. Lloyd Cole and the Commotions- Rattlesnakes is still a big favourite to this day, Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense is still awesome. One of my all time favourite British indie albums Felt's The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories is superb if you haven't heard it, well worth a listen.
As mentioned, I really like your list. Other albums that would contend for my top 10 of 1984: Echo & The Bunnymen- Ocean Rain Lou Reed- New Sensations U2- Unforgettable Fire Lloyd Cole- Rattlesnakes This Mortal Coil- It’ll End in Tears And maybe the best of 1984- Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense but the “rules” may not allow it’s inclusion (live album). Also begs the question- would these selections still hold up as your top 10 or were they top 10 at the time? For example I absolutely loved Unforgettable Fire at the time- the first one U2 did with Eno/Lanois and a major shift in their progression- but I’m not interested in U2 anymore. Curious how you approach that in your selections.
Hi Fitz, I was a huge U2 fan from Boy to War. I thought Boy was one of the greatest albums ever at the time. By the time of Unforgettable Fire I lost interest. I thought the album lacked balls and the pretentious and pompousness came into play from there on. That’s just my opinion.😉 I think this particular list pertains to how I feel about these selections at present. Like the Replacements and early REM still hold up. I loved the Smiths back then, but they remind me more of that time period and what was going on in my life. It’s strange depending on the listener what still holds up and what doesn’t. When I do these years lists it’s a little of what still holds up on a personal level and selections that made a huge impact on me at that time, but I still respect from a personal perspective.
@@tomrobinson5776 Hey Tom, that makes sense in terms of balancing the past and the present in making one’s selections. It is weird what holds up, what has tremendous nostalgia value and what I can’t listen to again. Then again, during my punk days I thought I’d never listen to, or appreciate “classic rock” again and while it’s not my go-to sub-genre, I now can enjoy Led Zeppelin or Lynrd Skynrd again. It is funny, and awesome, that our tastes change over time. Cheers!
My list of favorites for 1984. Alert the media: Prince: Purple Rain Linton Kwesi Johnson: Making History Husker Du: Zen Arcade Minutemen: Double Nickels On The Dime Swans: Cop Replacements: Let It Be Los Lobos: Will The Wolf Survive? Bill Frisell And Vernon Reid: Smash And Scatteration Meat Puppets: Meat Puppets II Die Kreuzen: Die Kreuzen
Seems like I'm first this time! Great video as always. We seem to have very similar taste in music and musical genres so I find myself nodding in approval at your selectins. That being said, no Born in the USA. To me that was the monumental record of 1984. But perhaps you are not a fan. Anyway, enjoyed the video. Excellent top 10 choices as always. Cheers!
Excellent Tom. My top 10.
10 Ramones Too Tough to Die
9 The Smiths s/t
8 New Model Army Vengeance
7 The Replacements Let it Be
6 Cocteau Twins Treasure
5 King Crimson Three of a Perfect Pair
4 Xmal Deutschland Tocsin
3 XTC The Big Express
2 Robyn Hitchcock I Often Dream of Trains
1 Minutemen Double Nickles on the Dime
I love that you have R.E.M. as your favorite from 1984. I grew up in Athens, GA in the 1970's - 1980's (and attended UGA). 40 Watt Club was big back then. I still love R.E.M. (and B-52's). I live in Colorado now and actually saw them for the last time at Red Rocks in 2008.
Lists are always interesting.. I have that Style Council and 3 others.. So funny, I just picked up the Bangles title digging for records in the real wild ! Everything But The Girl has always been a favorite! Watching the rest..
Another fine list. Los Lobos, along with X and Little Feat are the best American bands (one man's opinion). Always intrigued with how political Style Council's lyrics are. They do a masterful job of masking social commentary with their pop/jazzy vibe.
You remind me that this period in the mid-'80s (after "new wave" was washed up and early Britpop MTV synth bands had become passe), some really popular music was also some of the most deeply satisfying. I realize that while I was immersed in R.E.M. and Replacements and Los Lobos at the time (I got into The Smiths a little later), they weren't exactly top-of-the-pops, but they seemed to be everywhere I went then... along with stuff that was just breaking into the mainstream, like Prince and Pretenders and "Stop Making Sense"-era Talking Heads...
Also: "Big bottom, big bottom/Talk about mudflaps, my girl's got 'em/Big bottom drive me outta my mind/How could I leave this behind" -- Spinal Tap. They don't write 'em like that anymore. I am told by friends who were high schoolers in suburban Spokane, WA, in 1984 that they knew kids who honestly thought "This Is Spinal Tap" was an actual band documentary about a forgotten hard rock band. Well, in retrospect, I guess it was...
Glad to see the albums by Everything But The Girl, Cocteau Twins, and The Smiths in your list. 'Eden' and 'Treasure' are two of my favorite albums. I also like those albums by The Smiths. Another favorite album from '84 is 'Diamond Life' by Sade. I was really into those bands back then. 😊
Great to see some love for The Replacements!! Let It Be is my favorite.
Side note: Darren Hill from Red Rockers became Westerberg's bass player, then manager.
As i listened to the 1983 video i remembered in the 80s i listened more to 60s + 70s bands. I really don't remember many 80s songs or bands.
Great mention of the Style Council and Everything But the Girl. I would say:
Husker Du "Zen Arcade"
and
Depeche Mode "Some Great Reward" are also great for '84..
Great picks! I have many of these and I'll also include General Public's "...all the rage".
Great list. A couple there that I need to check out, 84 really was a great year for music.
I'd include these at least as honourable mentions.
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand the Weather
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Hyaena
U2 - Unforgettable Fire
Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
Marillion - Fugazi
I thought I had the Stevie Ray Vaughan record in my collection or I would have included it. Love Texas Flood. I’ll put that in another video.
David Sylvia's Brilliant Trees released June 1984 Loved the world over apart from USA-though he lives there now.Same vibe as Cocteau Twins,
Treasure will survive and get a mention in a hundred years time same with Hat full of Hollow
Very strong list. I need to get more Replacements.
Indeed!
Great list. Love Paris Match, EBTG, Replacements and Reckoning is my favourite REM record.
R.E.M., The Smiths, and Prince and the Revolution were on constant play for me that year. Great list!
Some great choices here 👌
Great video. Nice that you showed Icicle Works. I thought I was the only one that liked the album.
Yes, very underrated.
I have to agree almost a hundred percent with your choices and taste. I don't have the soundtrack to Spinal Tap but I have the movie on VCR lol. I also don't have that Cockteau Twins album but I have others. The rest I have and love on my shelves, cool vid.
Nice list! No Zen Arcade?
Great call on the Bangles and Spinal Tap. The Pretenders lost a step with Honeyman-Scott's death, in '82, and Pete Farndon's, in '83. I saw them at the Civic Auditorium in Spring 1980, at the taping for the Andy Kaufman-hosted Friday's telecast, in Feb 1981 (Chrissie threw her guitar pick at my feet, when I interrupted Andy rambling on about "drugs are bad", with a LOUD "Rock 'n' roll!", bleeped out of the West Coast airing), and, lastly, at the US Festival, on Memorial Day 1982.
You didn't mention Bruce's Born in the USA, or Thriller, the mega-hits that defined the year. Purple Rain put Prince in the mainstream, Stop Making Sense redefined soundtracks, Private Dancer proved Tina Turner was the creative force that made Ike rich, The Unforgettable Fire made U2 superstars, Don Henley resurrected his career with Building the Perfect Beast. It was a year of transitions, from the old ways, to the new ways, some still to be invented. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan were a distant memory, if that, to rock fans, the music biz now streamlined and ready for digital, already being promised.
I saw the Pretenders once in September 1981 at Perkins Palace in Pasadena. Great show. Springsteen came out on the encore and they did Jackie Wilson’s Higher and Higher. The original line up of the Pretenders was the best. Honeyman-Scott was brilliant.
@@tomrobinson5776 I opened an office, in April 1981, did nothing but spend money for a year. I wanted to go to the Pasadena show, but decided to stay home and save the bucks. Friends who went told me I missed a great one!
Great picks. All Over The Place is so solid. I too prefer Hatful Of Hollow over the 1st album. Have you ever heard the Pavement song Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence? It's a song all about REM Reckoning - not the greatest song but I like the nod
Never heard it. I’ll check it out.
Definitely agree with your top choice for ‘84! In addition to REM, Replacements, Smiths, Bangles you mentioned I’d also include Go-Betweens, Felt, Lloyd Cole, Guadalcanal Diary. Take Care/ Matt
Guadalcanal Diary. I remember seeing them at The Roxy back in 1986. Great show.
Initially, I didn't think this was such a great year, but looking at the releases, yeah, I see your point. I gather you're not a fan, but I want to give some love for the great Bruce Springsteen and Born in the USA, not my favorite album by him but arguably his most brilliant, wherein the artist takes on Reagan's America on its own terms, detailing working class pain in the format of short, catchy singles the way Reagan had a tendency to sugarcoat his policies via pithy feel-good slogans. Not many albums, or works of art in general, can represent the time in which they were released as accurately and entertainingly as this record. It took me years to appreciate it because of how prevalent it was on the radio, but if you give yourself some distance and then listen to it with fresh ears, far removed from the overexposure, you can appreciate what a truly cohesive album this really is. Aside from that, you mentioned a lot of my own favorites, but here are some others that didn't make your video. New Sensations by Lou Reed is a classic, underrated because for some reason there are Lou Reed fans who think he isn't allowed to have fun. Meat Puppets II is an alt rock classic, probably my favorite album by them. The Unforgettable Fire deserves some recognition, a haunting record that features my favorite song by the band, Bad. Red Sails in the Sunset might be Midnight Oil's weirdest album, perhaps not as cohesive as some others but an ambitious success. Joe Jackson's follow up to Night and Day, Body and Soul, is great. A debut you didn't mention, Stone Age Romeos by Hoodoo Gurus. Heartbeat City by the Cars might have made my list if it weren't so overproduced by Mutt Lang. Anyway, terrific video!
Hi Chris, I need to pick up New Sensation by Lou Reed. I’ve heard a lot of raves about that one . I only know I Love You Suzanne. It’s kinda hit and miss with solo Lou. I really like Coney Island Baby. I like early Springsteen, but after The River I lost interest. I have Meat Puppets II, but my absolute fave is Up On The Sun. A perfect record. Never heard Joe Jackson’s Body and Soul. I’ll have to check that out. Love his early stuff.
@@tomrobinson5776 Happy listening!
84 was a pretty stellar year, think I mentioned Cope's Fried and Echo and the Bunnymen's Ocean Rain on your neo-pysch video. Lloyd Cole and the Commotions- Rattlesnakes is still a big favourite to this day, Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense is still awesome. One of my all time favourite British indie albums Felt's The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories is superb if you haven't heard it, well worth a listen.
I’ll check it out 😉
As mentioned, I really like your list. Other albums that would contend for my top 10 of 1984:
Echo & The Bunnymen- Ocean Rain
Lou Reed- New Sensations
U2- Unforgettable Fire
Lloyd Cole- Rattlesnakes
This Mortal Coil- It’ll End in Tears
And maybe the best of 1984- Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense but the “rules” may not allow it’s inclusion (live album).
Also begs the question- would these selections still hold up as your top 10 or were they top 10 at the time? For example I absolutely loved Unforgettable Fire at the time- the first one U2 did with Eno/Lanois and a major shift in their progression- but I’m not interested in U2 anymore.
Curious how you approach that in your selections.
Hi Fitz, I was a huge U2 fan from Boy to War. I thought Boy was one of the greatest albums ever at the time. By the time of Unforgettable Fire I lost interest. I thought the album lacked balls and the pretentious and pompousness came into play from there on. That’s just my opinion.😉 I think this particular list pertains to how I feel about these selections at present. Like the Replacements and early REM still hold up. I loved the Smiths back then, but they remind me more of that time period and what was going on in my life. It’s strange depending on the listener what still holds up and what doesn’t. When I do these years lists it’s a little of what still holds up on a personal level and selections that made a huge impact on me at that time, but I still respect from a personal perspective.
@@tomrobinson5776 Hey Tom, that makes sense in terms of balancing the past and the present in making one’s selections. It is weird what holds up, what has tremendous nostalgia value and what I can’t listen to again. Then again, during my punk days I thought I’d never listen to, or appreciate “classic rock” again and while it’s not my go-to sub-genre, I now can enjoy Led Zeppelin or Lynrd Skynrd again. It is funny, and awesome, that our tastes change over time. Cheers!
My list of favorites for 1984. Alert the media:
Prince: Purple Rain
Linton Kwesi Johnson: Making History
Husker Du: Zen Arcade
Minutemen: Double Nickels On The Dime
Swans: Cop
Replacements: Let It Be
Los Lobos: Will The Wolf Survive?
Bill Frisell And Vernon Reid: Smash And Scatteration
Meat Puppets: Meat Puppets II
Die Kreuzen: Die Kreuzen
Seems like I'm first this time! Great video as always. We seem to have very similar taste in music and musical genres so I find myself nodding in approval at your selectins. That being said, no Born in the USA. To me that was the monumental record of 1984. But perhaps you are not a fan. Anyway, enjoyed the video. Excellent top 10 choices as always. Cheers!
Thanks 😉
My favorite 1984 album : Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane
How do you have the best albums of 1984 without Van Halen's 1984?
I love all the VH albums with Roth, but I think the first 3 are my faves.