Stupefied: The NME UK Top 50 Singles of 1980

Back by no demand whatsoever, I felt inspired to continue the series of NME year-end lists, so here you go - 1980 in all of its glory. Lake Placid, Russian boycott, great records & more video with each release. You could easily do a second, completely different, list, and it would be just as good. Please note that the Spotify list is not as complete as the YouTube list due to availability.

01. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

02. The Jam - Going Underground

03. The English Beat - Mirror In The Bathroom

04. Joy Division - Atmosphere

05. David Bowie- Ashes to ashes

06. Bow Wow Wow- I Want My Baby On Mars

07. Grace Jones - Private Life

08. David Bowie - Fashion

09. BOW WOW WOW - C30 C60 C90 Go!

10. Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster (Jammin')

11. The Teardrop Explodes - Treason

12. Dexys Midnight Runners - Geno

13. The Jam - Start

14. UB40 - Food for Thought/King

15. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - New Amsterdam

16. A Certain Ratio - Shack Up

17. Echo and the Bunnymen - Rescue

18. UB40 - My Way Of Thinking

19. Kurtis Blow - The Breaks

20. The English Beat - Best Friend

21. Elvis Costello & The Attractions ~ I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down

22. The Cramps - Drug Train

23. The Fall - Fiery Jack

24. Dexys Midnight Runners - Dance Stance (Original 7'' Version)

25. Robert Palmer - Johnny and Mary

26. The English Beat - Hands Off... She's Mine

27. The Subterraneans - My Flamingo

28. Magazine- A Song From Under The Floorboards

29. Comsat Angels - Independence Day

30. The Undertones - My Perfect Cousin

31. Stray Cats - Runaway Boys

32. Robert Wyatt - At Last I Am Free

33. Robert Palmer - Looking For Clues

34. Dexy's Midnight Runners - There, There My Dear

35. Madness - My Girl

36. Squeeze - Another Nail In My Heart

37. A Certain Ratio - Flight

38. Au Pairs - Diet / It's Obvious (7")

39. Tom Browne - Funkin' For Jamaica

40. Caberet Voltaire - Seconds Too Late

41. Diana Ross - I'm Coming Out

42. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - High Fidelity

43. Aswad - Warrior Charge

44. Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Love Comes in Spurts

45. Smack - Edward Fox

46. The Police - Don't Stand So Close To Me

47. Bette Bright - Hello I Am Your Heart

48. Linx - Rise and Shine

49. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Happy House

50. Adam and the Ants - Dog Eat Dog

Documentary of Note: Love Is The Message - A Night At the Gallery 1977

Check out the trailer for Love Is The Message below - filmed during a typical night at the Gallery disco in 1977. Along with David Mancuso's Loft parties, Nicky Siano's Gallery is a storied and influential institution in the history of disco & dance music. Nicky just celebrated his 60th birthday with a party out on Coney Island, and it looks like they had a fantastic time!

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I'll Be There: New Chic single hits March 20, UK dates, new album in June

Nile Rodgers posted this teaser video recently, and wow...does it sound good! The single, "I'll Be There" (instrumental version shared here) is available March 20 from iTunes & on vinyl here, and a new album is due in June on Warner Brothers. As I understand it, it's a mix of old & new, as Nile has dug up some old tapes, reworked them, added some new stuff, and presto! New Chic! The world could use it.

UK dates are in March (see below), and I HIGHLY suggest catching them if possible. I was lucky enough to see them in NYC a few summers ago, and besides being easily the most diverse audience I've ever been a part of, the show is just pure joy from beginning to end. Nothing but hits and a really good time.

Documentaries of Note: Take Me To The River & Rock Your Baby

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Henry Stone RIP

Henry Stone - RIP

Visit Henry Stone Music

Stupefied: The NME UK Top 40 Singles of 1979

Not.

Its been a few months since I've run a playlist, but here we are. The first day of summer seems a good time for it, and picking up where we left off, 1979 is a great year. This list would serve a party well...I hope you enjoy it!

As usual, stream/watch below or do it directly on Spotify or YouTube. (If you have the time, check out the YouTube version - there are always some surprises & things forgotten.)

1. Eton Rifles - The Jam
2. Gangsters - The Specials
3. London Calling - The Clash
4. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
5. Strange Town - The Jam
6. Message In A Bottle - The Police
7. Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
8. Spacer - Sheila B Devotion*
9. Shake Your Body - The Jacksons
10. Memories - Public Image Ltd.
11. Death Disco - Public Image Ltd.**
12. My Feet Keep Dancing - Chic
13. Rock Lobster - The B52's
14. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson
15. Making Plans For Nigel - XTC
16. Queen Of Hearts - Dave Edmunds
17. The Pictures On My Wall - Echo & The Bunnymen
18. Life During Wartime - Talking Heads
19. She's Beyond Good & Evil - The Pop Group
20. Boogie Wonderland - Earth Wing And Fire
21. Rowche Rumble - The Fall
22. Living On The Front Line - Eddie Grant
23. The Prince - Madness
24. Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
25. Touch - Lori & The Chameleons*
26. Transmission - Joy Division**
27. Get Over You - The Undertones
28. Memphis Tennessee - Silicon Teens
29. On My Radio - Selector
30. Pop Musik - M
31. Girls Talk - Dave Edmunds
32. Heart Of Glass - Blondie
33. We Are Family - Sister Sledge
34. Stop Your Sobbing - Pretenders
35. Where’s Bill Grundy Now - Television Personalities*
36. Saturday Night Beneath The Plastic Palms - Leyton Buzzards*
37. Time Goes By So Slow - Distractions*
38. Protection - Graham Parker**
39. A Message To You Rudy - The Specials
40. Electricity - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

* - No version on Spotify available
** - Studio version replaced by live version

The Origins of Saturday Night Fever: Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night by Nik Cohn

The story that changed a whole lot things, I've been meaning to post this for quite some time. Written by Nik Cohn, and published by New York Magazine on June 7, 1976, it would eventually lead to the making of Saturday Night Fever, and the disco-fication of the States and beyond. Not to mention a serious career revival for the Bee Gees. Art by James McMullan.

Over the past few months, much of my time has been spent in watching this new generation. Moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, from disco to disco, an explorer out of my depth, I have tried to learn the patterns, the old/new tribal rites. In the present article, I have focused on one club and one tight-knit group which seem to sum up the experience as a whole. Artist James McMullan also spent many hours observing this development, but his paintings, reproduced here, are less specific; although they deal with the same locations and group, they are generalized images of these Saturday night rituals.

Everything described in this article is factual and was either witnessed by me or told to me directly by the people involved. Only the names of the main characters have been changed. Continued here.

The New Jazz: Kanye, Daft Punk, and Thundercat

Stephen Bruner aka Thundercat

 

By Adrian Nieves (Concert Writer for TicketLiquidator.com)

Daft Punk's Random Access Memories

In the deluge of hype following two of the biggest releases of the summer, Kanye West’s Yeezus and Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, a smaller, quirkier, better produced album quietly slipped into the ether, and will probably remain long after the others have receded into the dustbin of forgotten playlists. While Kanye was reinventing himself as a barbarian at the gates of the record label industrial complex, affecting a punk swagger and quite literally layering in the sound of laser beams to announce that he had done something “new” and “different”, and while Daft Punk had jumped in their robot time machine and were busy filching disco sounds from the 70s, Stephen Bruner, the man known as Thundercat, unveiled his debut album Apocalypse to relatively little fanfare. 

Kanye West's Yeezus

If Yeezus and R.A.M. represent two sides of a spectrum with Yeezus as the vanguard of pomp and bombast and R.A.M. drenched in the nostalgic past, Apocalypse falls somewhere in the middle.  Bruner’s Apocalypse is a liberating affair.  No panic, no fire and brimstone, nor rending of the skies by Bruckheimeran meteorites.  His Apocalypse is a vision of revelation founded on the subtler context of change, in this case the departure of Bruner’s longtime friend and collaborator, 22 year old pianist, Austin Peralta, from his mortal coil.

Released on the Los Angeles-based Brainfeeder label, Apocalypse was produced by another longtime Thundercat collaborator, label founder Steven Ellison, more commonly known as Flying Lotus.  Brainfeeder’s Low End Theory nights in L.A. have become a hotbed for the experimental jazz, funk and electronic fusion featured on their studio productions.  While introspective, Apocalypse doesn’t sacrifice fun for gravity.  This is a party at the end of world.  Thundercat’s bass prowess is reminiscent of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones’ Victor Wooten, and his sugary vocals, along with vintage soul, R&B and disco influences, are funneled through the FlyLo production apparatus to produce a self-assured masterpiece.  Part Stevie Wonder, part Mahavishnu Orchestra, the true revelation here is that life goes on and the future is happening right now in Los Angeles.

Thundercat - Apocalypse: purchase here

Movie of the Week: The Godfather of Disco - Mel Cheren & West End Records

Since we ran the Paradise Garage footage yesterday, here's a look at a major reason the club existed in the first place - Mel Cheren, and the legendary West End label he founded prior to opening the legendary King Street dance club in 1976. Includes music and appearances by Danny Krivit, Louie Vega, Nicky Siano, Joey Llanos, Kevin Hedge, Barbara Tucker, Joi Caldwell, Tony Humphries, Johnny Dynell, Louis Benedetti, and, of course, some of the greatest West End Records releases.

Movie of the Week: Paradise Garage Closing Party, August 22 & 27, 1987

 

This is a true document of a time and place: Two hours of ecstasy on the final two weekends at possibly the last great large underground dance club in New York City, the Paradise Garage. The quality is a little rough, but you'll get the idea. You may even start dancing. Hat tip to the Paradise Garage NYC tribute page on Facebook. 

Is there anywhere a disco ball DOESN'T look good?

According to the photo source, this disco ball, made for the Civic Hall in Southampton, is being lowered out as it was too heavy for the ceiling - so it was hung in the Royal Pier (1958).

Vince Montana Jr. RIP

Vince Montana Jr. - RIP

Shot by: Josh Cheuse

Source

Let's Go Swimming with Arthur Russell

Some great sounds for summer...Two versions of Let's Go Swimming (Gulf Stream Dub) & Let's Go Swimming (Coastal Dub) by Arthur Russell. The video for the Coastal Dub version was made by Walter Gibbons on his VHS machine!

Robin Gibb RIP

 Robin Gibb - RIP

Donna Summer RIP

 Donna Summer - RIP

Movie of the Week - Disco Double Feature!

Unsung: Sylvester



Joy of Disco:



Thanks to Dangerous Minds

Jimmy Ellis (Trammps) RIP

Jimmy Ellis - RIP

Label conscious

Hat tip to Flea Market Funk. Buy this poster here for a limited time.

Just Because - Fiorucci

 

Thanks to Disney Rollergirl for digging up these Fiorucci images (see more here). For me they're completely evocative of the late 70's/early 80's which is when they had a store in NYC. Evocative for me probably because of my age at the time, but in reality, the Italian designer has been around since the late 60's, and they've always seemed to have had this new wave/disco sheen to everything they do. I love it.

In case you've never seen it, here's a great television news piece on the New York store featuring Klaus Nomi, and then-Fiorucci employee Joey Arias: