Top 50 of the Eighties
David does know any of these.The Duran Duran fan club put together a Top 50 albums of the Eighties list.
Here are my thoughts:
First note: I was surprised that Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual didn’t make the list!!!
50. Bruce Springsteen – Born In The U.S.A. (1984) – I had it (but I no longer do) , and I am not surprised it’s on this list
49. Joy Division - Closer (1980) – This was the last Joy Division Album, and not nearly as good as Substance.
48. Lenny Kravitz – Let Love Rule (1989) – Not a big LK fan, never was
47. INXS - The Swing (1984) – A lovely album by a great band, still not as good as Kick though
46. New Order – Technique (1989) – Wow, this shoulda been higher.
45. Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985) – OK, a good solid album – I like Nothing Like the Sun more
44. Yaz – Upstairs At Eric’s (1982) – The best Yaz album, and better than Alyson Moyet’s initial solo work
43. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love (1985) – Her best album by far
42. U2 – The Unforgettable Fire (1984) – Yeah, I know – this is the start of poeple overplaying them
41. Madonna - Like a Virgin (1984) – Wow, I cannot believe this is not higher
40. Def Leppard – Pyromania (1983) – I cannot stand this album because my brother overplayed it
39. Berlin - Pleasure Victim (1982) – Whatevs – how did this make top 50?!?!
38. New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies (1983) – I don’t think this one is as good as Technique – but it’s still new Order, so it’s still pretty amazing
37. Blondie - Autoamerican (1980) – Sadly, their only 80s album. And not their best
36. Madonna – Like A Prayer (1989) – This shoulda been higher, too!
35. The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987) – This shoulda been WAAAY higher – brilliant album!
34. Pixies – Doolittle (1989) – I do like the Pixies, but don’ love them.
33. a-ha - Hunting High and Low (1985) – It does have a couple quintessential 80s tunes on it, but other than that…
32 Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988) – Wasn’t a fan, still aint.
31. Van Halen - 1984 (1984) – Ugh, another one my brother destroyed for me.
30. Depeche Mode – Music For The Masses (1987) – In my humble opinion, their best album of the 80s.
29. The Police – Ghost in the Machine (1981) – One my sister played too much, but I still kinda like it.
28. AC/DC – Back In Black (1980) – My brother Kevin killed this one for me.
27. Crowded House – Temple of Low Men (1988) – Ah, Crowded House’s best album, period. Would have been waaaaay up in my top 10s.
26. Japan – Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) – They’re good, but a bit twee, and that they’re this hgihg is like giving a lot of weight to a Flock of Seagulls album…
25. Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes (1983) – Yep, and right where it belongs!
24. Depeche Mode – Some Great Reward (1984) – It’s a good album, but should be lower than Music for the Masses
23. Duran Duran – Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) – Yep, and again, right where it belongs.
22. Duran Duran – Notorious (1986) – Should be a bit higher, a brilliant turn for a band going through changes, and it gave birth to the late 80s Blue Eyed Soul movement
21. U2 – War (1983) – Wow, should be higher, by far their best album (but them I like Zooropa, so what do I know?)
20. Terence Trent d’Arby – Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent d'Arby (1987) – I know a ton of people who love this. I find its egotism fun, but not earth-shattering musically.
19. INXS - Kick (1987) – Should be waaaaaay higher, like top six or seven.
18. George Michael – Faith (1987) – A good album, but this woulda been lower for me.
17. The Power Station - The Power Station (1985) – Again, woulda been in my top 50 but lower, more like 29 or 34.
16. Roxy Music – Avalon (1982) – Ahh, well. Here’s a lovely arthouse pop album, but again would’ve have been 21 or 23, not this high.
15. ABC - Lexicon of Love (1982) – There is a whole contingency of ABC lovers on Duran Duran’s board, but they’re a slight bit too twee for me. Would’ve been in the 40s.
14. David Bowie – Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (1980) – Nope, not even sure why this is on the list, not a good album – he did better later.
13. The Police - Synchronicity (1983) – My sister played this too much
12. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead (1986) – This would have been 3 or 4 on my list. Pure brilliance.
11. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (1986) – I HATE Bon Jovi!!!
10. Depeche Mode – Black Celebration (1986) – Eh feh – other people love this album. It’s good, not great.
9. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain (1984) – Whoo hoo!!! EVERYONE had this album! This was the one I made my brothers and sisters sick of.
8. Tears For Fears – Songs From The Big Chair (1985) – Yep, another one in the right spot. Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Shout, Head Over Heels. Lovely album.
7. U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987) – OVERPLAYED – The point where their pretension hit the tipping point.
6. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (1989) – The best 1-hit alternative crash-and-burn. This album is BRILLIANT, their second one not so much and then complete melt-down! This is crying for a musical version, in that they had such critical praise, indie cred, and fan base, and then BOOM!
5. Guns ‘N’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987) – This is a good album, but my little brother Tom overplayed it for me. It's the one of the 80s Heavy Metal I like the most.
4. Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982) – I knew this would be high. It was important in my life for about a month.
3. Duran Duran - Duran Duran (1981) – I should burn this for Marcie and Joshie, so they can share in its early New Wave Brilliance. In the real world, this should be in the teens, but....this is a Duran Duran list.
2. Arcadia – So Red The Rose (1985) – Another one that was wonderful, and I should burn this for Marcie and Joshie. Woulda been 8 6 or 7 for me.
1. Duran Duran - Rio (1982) – Again, I knew this would be very high, and it is a classic, but I personally overplayed this one.
WWJD - Women Who Jesus Disses
@ CNNhttp://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/21/menonly.sundayschool.ap/index.html"Sunday school teacher dumped for being femaleWATERTOWN, New York (AP) -- The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job -- outside of the church.The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on August 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." I personally think that the Southern Baptist Church should pay for sex change operations for their female teachers to rectify the situation.
Favorites Survey!!!
It's Friday, have fun posting your answers!!!FAVORITES SURVEY!!!!Favorite way to get started in the morning:
Favorite thing to do on a rainy day:
Favorite childhood cartoon:
Favorite pet name for someone you love:
Favorite gum:
Favorite sexual position:
Favorite pizza toppings:
Favorite superstitious method for gaining luck:
Favorite excuse for embezzling from your employer:
Favorite high school/college class:
Favorite way you’ve broken your mother’s heart:
Favorite food you fantasize about while getting off through rubbing yourself on public transportation:
Favorite method for mentally scarring children:
Favorite place to bury those hobos you killed:
Laughing at Myself
We make choices every day on how to present ourselves and our thoughts. We aren’t necessarily dishonest (most of us), but we decide to “spin” the data a bit. It’s a natural human compunction.
Yet sometimes I worry that this “spin” – whether conscious or unconscious – is less than honest. So I decide to be transparent and honest with people.
But sometimes, in this process, I open my mouth and blather on honestly and then suddenly realize halfway through that I am entirely and completely wrong. Or instead of giving the truth as I currently perceive it, I haven’t taken into effect my true feelings and end up uncovering something about myself.
I asked a couple straight people to dine with a group of friends and my brother and his wife coming in from Oklahoma City, to make them more comfortable with my gay friends. Because they aren’t the most open and accepting people…
Think about this.
I needed straight buffers?!?!?!
I am laughing at how stupid I am, at how buried some of my feelings of inadequacy can be and then WHAM, there they are. I always think of myself as pretty liberated and then, BOOM!
The good news is now I am laughing at my stupid ass.
All the sudden last night in bed, I’m asking:
What the fuck’s so wrong with my friends that I feel uncomfortable introducing them to my family?
I should be more embarrassed introducing my redneck family to my friends! God knows, my friends are waaaay more important to me!
Or maybe I shouldn’t be embarrassed at all.
Anyway, to the two straight couples, thanks for handling it more gracefully than I deserve. Gah!. Please feel free to point at me and laugh. I am.
Top 20 Snores
Because I sometimes seem obsessed with music from 2 decades ago, I thought I would look at the top 20 songs based on Launch. Wanna share your opinions?
1) Justin Timberlake – Sexyback. I hate this song. I hate his lazy, off-pitch vocals (and he has done some good songs, just this song sucks all over big time)
2) Chris Brown – Say Good-bye. This is typical pleasant background R&B, meant for mood while scrogging your other half on the rec room couch. Nothing wrong with it, just nothing wow.
3) Beyonce – Déjà vu. Hip hop with rap. A good beat and I like the jazz riff and trumpet sampling, and I really like the half-step stuff on the bridge. It’d be a good song to dance to. Also, like the last part of the chorus. The rap stuff is ho hum boring. Not bad overall, though, got this disco vibe even with the crappy rappy stuff.
4) Cassie – Me & U. Lots of R&B now on the charts. This is a pretty good vegging song, and they do a lot of cool vocal and synth stuff. The harmony is nice – this is one that would be on my MP3 for a couple weeks, just because of the chilly approach, the synth work, and the harmony.
5) Ciara – Get up. Lots of women in the Top 20 too, which is good. More plunky synth – the 80s have influenced the music definitely. This is all starting to sound too similar.
6) Shakira – Hips Don’t Lie. Same as the others, except with a Jamaican influence and without the 80s synth. Wow, it’s amazing how little variety there is. I do like the Latin influence, I like the chanting, and I like her simple voice. Toddie? You like this stuff and you don’t think it all sound very similar?
7) Fergie – London Bridge – Twice now they’ve asked me if I’m “ready for this.” Ready for what? Shear boredom? This phrase was cliché, along with the constant “Oh Snap” shit, like 10 years ago. Heavy hip-hop rap with very little singing. This one sucked.
8) Jessica Simpson – A Public Affair. I do like that Beyonce, Christina Aplegate, and Ricky Martin are in the video. Wow, pure disco, roller skates and all. She stole the bass line from Madonna. She’s got a blah voice, but this is fluffy dance song, so… Eh, feh…
9) Lyfe Jennings – S.E.X. Jesus, he starts with “Yo yo!” How f*cking cliché is that? Well, at least his voice is unique. Like a male Macie Gray. Other than that, this is boring.
10) Pussycat Dolls – Buttons. With Snoop Dog. His rapping is better, and their harmony is better than the other stuff I’ve heard. Interesting Middle Eastern influence, but only singing over rhythm mostly. Not different enough to stand out. Wow, as a style, this is a little more than just dull, it’s like super-dull.
11) Rihanna – Unfaithful. Throbbing base, strings, and ghostly slow piano. Good start. Then she ruins it by singing. Adenoidal. That’s the term. Someone with a better voice could’ve really made this song, because the songwriting is not bad.
12) Nelly Furtado. Better beat than others. God, these all sound the same!!!
13) Pyublic version of the Jessica Simpson song. Hehe, watching fans do this song is actually funny.
14) Paris Hilton – Stars are Blind. And deaf and dumb too. The instrumentation is pure Ace of Base. This sound like Peach Union. She’s weak vocally, but the song is trying to be catchy in a sing-in-your-car way. Doesn’t quite hit it.
15) Yung Joc – I Know You See It. This completely sucks, in a rap garage band with no talent sort of way.
16) Panic! At the Disco – I Write Sins not Tragedies. Catchiest title so far. Rangy punk-pop. Not bad.
17) Christina Aguilera – Ain’t No Other Man. The best song out of the list. She does the R&B thing, but she kicks butt. This is catchier, more interesting, and more fun than all the others.
18) Sean Paul – Give It Up To Me. And we’re back to sucky. At least he raps differently than most.
19) Kelis – Bossy. Well, at least Ms. Milkshake has attitude. Other than that, this sucks.
OK, I’m going back to alternative-ville and retro-town. Most of this is undistinguishable R&B/Hip-Hop with very little unique creativity. It’d be cool if one of them could do something that’d blow all these clichés out of the water.
