Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

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Moonbeam
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Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by Moonbeam »

Use this thread to post recommendations for 1984! Album and song recommendations are welcome. :happy-partydance:

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Father2TheMan
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by Father2TheMan »

[youtube-https]https://youtu.be/6NnzcKKE7zs[/youtube-https]

[spotifytrack]https://open.spotify.com/track/4VG7MuQG ... 49UZZZg3hg[/spotifytrack]

I love this track for the pounding drums of Aaron "A-Train" Smith, slightly jangly guitars of Michael Roe and lyrics like this opener:"I saw you smiling from the corner of your mouth, in the corner of my eye, you didn't know that it was there..."

I'm having trouble getting these to show up as embedded video so to cover my bases:

YouTube https://youtu.be/yL1cXJZMASc
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/4VG7MuQG ... 49UZZZg3hg
"The laughs come hard in Old Lang Syne....."
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bonnielaurel
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by bonnielaurel »

Several essential 1984 albums are unacclaimed:

*Wham! - Make It Big: One of the biggest pop albums of the decade, with George Michael's first solo single Careless Whisper and the three best Wham! songs.
*Alison Moyet - Alf: After leaving Yazoo she made her big solo album, which is one of the greatest vocal performances of the era, with some soulful originals.
*Art of Noise - Who’s Afraid of the Art of Noise: Important innovators in the field of synthesizer sounds, with experimental tracks and the atmospheric Moments in Love.
*Queen - The Works: Radio Ga Ga is a landmark of synthpop and a nostalgic tribute to the radio era. Yes, they were still good in the eighties.
*Paolo Conte - Paolo Conte: Collection of poetic and comical songs, with jazz influence.
*France Gall - Débranche: Happily relaxed album, with Cézanne peint, a tribute to the French painter.

My favorite unacclaimed songs of 1984:
  1. Alison Moyet - Invisible
  2. Wham! - Everything She Wants
  3. Jennifer Rush - The Power of Love
  4. Pia Zadora & Jermaine Jackson - When the Rain Begins to Fall
  5. Paolo Conte - Sotto le stelle di jazz
  6. Herman van Veen - Hilversum 3
  7. Bananarama - Robert de Niro’s Waiting
  8. Jim Diamond - I Should Have Known Better
  9. Alison Moyet - All Cried Out
  10. Ultravox - Dancing with Tears in My Eyes
De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum.
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Moonbeam
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by Moonbeam »

Well, 1984 was Prince's year, wasn't it?! I guess I'll start with all things purple. Of course, Purple Rain is well-known, but Prince was incredibly active in 1984 and there are a number of under-the-radar gems that I'll recommend here.

Prince wrote almost everything for The Time's Ice Cream Castles album, including the hits "Jungle Love" and my favorite, the heater "The Bird". Also featured in the movie were Apollonia 6, the follow-up act to Vanity 6 after Vanity left the group (more about Vanity in a moment). The big featured track is the slinky, libidinous "Sex Shooter", which is fantastic, but the album has more to offer, including the funky fire of "Blue Limousine" and the psychedelic leanings of "Happy Birthday, Mr. Christian" and the hyper dark electro of "Ooh She She Wa Wa" which sounds a bit like a precursor to Peaches. For the Purple Rain tour, Prince enlisted the help of Sheila E., whose Prince-penned album The Glamorous Life found decent success in 1984 thanks in large part to the evergreen title track. Also worthy are the bouncing "Oliver's House" and the lush ballad "Noon Rendezvous", simultaneously tender and explicit. Speaking of Vanity, she released her first solo album in 1984, Wild Animal. Although no longer in the Prince camp, the album still sounds a fair bit like Prince in cases, from the lurid "Pretty Mess" to the robotic synth funk of "Mechanical Emotion" in which Morris Day guests. Most surprising of all is the poignant midtempo starlit pop of "Samuelle", which showcases a vulnerable tenderness that was far-removed from Vanity 6's surpreme confidence. It seems to recount the falling out that Prince and Vanity had that led to her leaving Minneapolis: "I do recall carnivals were filled up with crazy guys and paper dolls, thought it would last forever, Oh Samuelle I'm running down the aisle, wedding lace was written all over". Even without the context, it is utterly beguiling.

As for Prince himself, he wrote a number of other gems that would either resurface on later protege albums or remain locked in the vault. One of my favorites is "The Dance Electric", a sprawling spiritual funk opus that he later gave to Andre Cymone. The fiery guitar solo, hypnotic rhythm section and Linn drum craziness make it one of his all-time best songs, IMO. Another heater in the form of "All Day, All Night" was later given to Jill Jones and features some outrageous lyrics that only Prince could get away with. Prince's brand of funk started incorporating a more traditional band-like sound in 1984 (especially on tour), and this is apparent in the delicious thumper "Mutiny", with a prominent horn section that would have previously been performed with synths. Both this and the polka-dotted kaleidoscopic pop whirlwind "Desire" were given to The Family for their 1985 album. Best of all are the live rehearsals of "Noon Rendezvous" that appeared on Sheila E.'s album. There is such majesty in his guitar and it is given plenty of room to unfold its magical wings in a couple bootlegged performances, including this incredible 19-minute magnum opus and a 9-minute version at the legendary 1984 First Avenue "birthday show" he performed at First Avenue. That whole show is sublime, and "Noon Rendezvous" comes in around 26:10 here. Transcendent, resplendent pop, it has taken on special meaning for me, as he performed it to my enthusiastic screams at the very last Prince show I saw, a Piano & a Microphone show on February 21, 2016 (you can hear me screaming on the bootleg). This 1984 has great timing as well, because the upcoming Prince album Originals will feature a Prince-helmed studio recording that nobody else has heard before. Apparently, it's just Prince, a piano, and a drum machine, and all of the reviews so far are raving about it, so we'll see what's in store!
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by Moonbeam »

As great as Purple Rain is, it's not my favorite album of 1984 - that honor goes to Eurythmics with their soundtrack 1984: For the Love of Big Brother. While there is some of the synthpop the group had built its reputation with, 1984 is a darker, more haunted affair, with several tracks that are either instrumental or feature wordless vocals. There's an impending dread about the whole thing that fits with 1984 narrative but there is a tortured beauty to it as well.

I'll steal notes from the big Eurythmics thread I started late least year for the poll I helped conduct to highlight some of my favorites:

Julia

Wintry, resigned and haunting, "Julia" is the both the standout of 1984: For the Love of Big Brother and the best representation of its narrative world, in which humankind’s descent into anonymous oppressive machinery is so brutally chronicled, which is likely why it was so heavily featured in the film. In the context of the album, "Julia" is the last song that features Annie's natural voice (along with the vocoder), as if it's one last conflict of human vs machine. The presence of that plaintive, searching, almost hymn-like string melody atop the foreboding, ever-descending bass line further captures this conflict. So many moments take my breath away, including that mournful electronic flute that embodies the spirit of the song, fleeing ever higher in abject horror and sorrow at the crushing dread of it all, as well as the stark beauty of those delicate piano trills that couple with the pulsing electronics to reveal Julia's vulnerability, giving way to Annie's disarming "Oh, Julia", as if she, too, was swept away by the fleetingness of the moment, and then the synth bass adds its own sorrowful embrace before being subsumed into the dread of the deep piano chords.

The fateful answer to the half-human, half-machine existential question "will we still be there?" is given not only by Dave's masterful guitar touching a perfectly somber and mournful tone in eulogy to Julia and her rebellious humanity as the song fades out, but also by the abrupt change in sound and theme of the subsequent songs, with Big Brother's mouthpiece ("DoublePlusGood"), even more processed vocals ("Ministry of Love") and the nightmarish "Room 101" slamming the door with an authoritative resolution. [#2]

I Did It Just the Same

LOOOOOOOVE! This song is an absolute masterpiece from start to finish. Every element of the song is extraordinary. The synths that BLUR in and out of focus create such an eerie ominousness. The interplay between the downright dirty bass guitar which carries such heft, the propulsive synth bass which drenches it in mechanical dread, and the dramatic piano chords, cascading in unison to that wonderful descending pattern creates THE TIGHTEST rhythm of any Eurythmics song, which is given even greater punch by the 2-and-4 drum sequence. Annie's vocals are a masterclass in emotive improvisation, augmenting the tension with both steely defiance and abject horror. Somehow, this song manages to convey so much feeling without using a single word - I dare say it is the most theatrical song in their entire oeuvre. I certainly find myself playing it on loop, lost in its defiant character and unable to sit still.

Forget "Love Is a Stranger". Forget "Here Comes the Rain Again". Forget "Would I Lie to You?". Forget "Missionary Man". Forget "Beethoven". THIS is the best opener to any Eurythmics album... THE perfect song to strut down a city street at night amidst the glow of headlights and the silhouettes of strangers... [#9]

Ministry of Love

What a truly inspired song! It's such a treat from start to finish: those jittery synths coupling with the percussion to spark paranoia before that "HA!" and the percolating synth bass create the menace. As Annie plus electro-Annie grapple for control in singing "Ministry of Love", those beautiful layers of higher pitched synths come in at 1:52 to open up more SPACE than any other Eurythmics song has had, and then...THEN (!) that high lead synth promises such HOPE! The abrupt "HA"s bring back the menace, and Annie's divine "Giovanno donna neva" mantra offers the last vocal resistance on an album where resistance is snuffed out with such cold, calculated brutality. Shimmering, affecting, soaring, majestic beauty like few other songs in their catalogue. An absolute stunner. [#23]

For the Love of Big Brother

What an incredible song this is! The lyrics are among the eeriest they ever created, capturing the chilling horror of the subject matter better than any others on the album. Musically, the wonderful mix of Latin rhythm, Dave's wonderful guitar and the foggy electronic haze is endlessly delightful. The entire album is filled with such evocative atmosphere, and yet this song stands out as among the most vivid. Sublime. [#24]

Sexcrime

Oooh, yes! That opening stutter of the title of the song sets the stage for the most wonderful synth stuttering rhythm that percolates and jitters at breakneck pace throughout the song. The obvious “pop” song from 1984 is still full of so much invention. It’s a thrilling bit of synth pop speckled with funk and rock and it absolutely sparks. I adore the Britishness of Annie’s delivery of “can I take this for granted” as well as her wild ad libs. A worthy entry in our top 20 even though I didn’t have it there. [#36]
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by Moonbeam »

There were some other very worth funk jams worth celebrating.

Alicia Myers' "Appreciation" has a delicious bass line and celebratory synth line that makes the exalted feel of the song really shine. Cherrelle's "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" became a hit for Robert Palmer, but the original here is snazzy, rhythmic mid-80s magic. "I'm So Romantic" by Evelyn "Champagne" King features a fun piano run to start and a blistering guitar solo toward the end, but its consistently driving force makes it a perfect aerobic jam. :happy-partydance: And while "Let the Music Play" rightly gets the most attention, Shannon's Let the Music Play album is full of delights, particularly the second single "Give Me Tonight". And while they were past their peak for the most part at this stage, Gap Band deliver a titanic funk bomb in the form of "Beep a Freak", which features all the swaggering testosterone of high points "You Dropped a Bomb on Me", "Early in the Morning", and "Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)".
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by Moonbeam »

Italo-disco was still going strong in 1984, too!

One of the most popular italo artists of the era was Valerie Dore, thanks to atmospheric romantic exercises like "The Night" (that chorus!) and "Get Closer". Of course, Laura Branigan's "Self Control" is another high point in the genre - I wish she had explored this sound more! Much less known are the sparkling pulse of Rose's "Magic Carillon" or the technicolor glory that is "Eyes" by Clio, which ranks up there with "Rocket to Your Heart" by Lisa and "Instant Love" by Sylvia Love among the most effervescent, joyous sound bursts ever recorded. Seriously, anybody who appreciates some good neon pop/dance should give "Eyes" a spin!
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by Moonbeam »

Lots of good synthpop in 1984, too.

Some of my favorite unheralded ones are soundtrack favorite "Together in Electric Dreams" by Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey, and the Oakey-helmed Human League single "Louise" is a sort of follow-up to "Don't You Want Me". Staying within that camp, cousin band Heaven 17 released the glowing "This Is Mine", driven by synths and punctuated by sprightly horns. Probably my favorite synthpop song of 1984 is by Robert Görl and features Annie Lennox on vocals. "Charlie Cat" is a hyperactive, neurotic, warped treat that fits right in with the kookier Eurythmics B-sides from their early career that I so adore. It's a thrill ride through a funhouse dedicated to a cat, and features a demented yet sophisticated snarl that only Annie Lennox can pull off.
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Rob
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by Rob »

Here is a wacky song by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, named Tesla Girls:



Once they were among the most popular dance groups in Europe, but outside of Enola Gay and maybe Maid of Orleans they seem to be forgotten and are mostly overlooked by critics (not helped by the fact that America only started to notice them when they went into decline). Tesla Girls is one of their most danceable tracks and one of the best of it's genre if you ask me. The funny female vocals really add a lot to the track.

Also, do I really have to mention this one:



It seems to be well known, but I'm not sure Forever Young by Alphaville was a hit all around the world. For some reason, critics rank it all the way down at #9957 on AM's all time list (and that's actually a lot better than it has been...). It's will be high up my list and is one of my favorite songs of the era. From the same album also comes:



I have a soft spot for this song. It's not as unique as Alphaville, but certainly a lot of fun.
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Safetycat
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by Safetycat »

Three notable songs for me from 1984. First is Bonnie Tyler's absolutely iconic "Holding Out for a Hero"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWcASV2sey0

And we also have "Whaling", by DD Smash. The DD stands for Dave Dobbyn, and this is his second band before setting off on a solo career that will cement him as one of NZ's finest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ckcwDL3XYI

And the other popular song from DD Smash this year, "Magic (What She Do)"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUDsZwyt9EE
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Pierre
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1984 Poll

Post by Pierre »

No one is mentioning how what is probably the worst cover art of all time came out that year. Shocked.

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Interestingly, I've learned that this album is actually extremely acclaimed in the metal milieu as a glam metal classic. Do of that what you will.
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