My Albums – the 1980s

Michael Jackson

Thriller (1982)

• Still the best-selling album of all time (with world-wide sales of maybe 100 million), Thriller was significant musically, visually, culturally, and in terms of racial equality. Thirty years later, with the fragmentation of contemporary culture, mass media, and methods of musical delivery, there can never be another Thriller. Yet Michael Jackson’s achievement remains secure. This album was released the year before we came to the USA. For a single track, how can one not choose the title track “Thriller?” A great cut, indelibly linked with an innovative video and Michael Jackson’s dancing.

Dire Straits

Love Over Gold (1982)

•  In 1985, my nephew Mike O’Brien recommended Dire Straits to me, while we were watching Live Aid from Wembley Stadium in London. Brothers in Arms (1985) was my first album, but later I bought this album, less well-known except to Dire Straits fans. I return to Love Over Gold often. It could be described as Dire Straits’ version of progressive rock. My favorites would be the 14′ long track “Telegraph Road” and “Private Investigation,” with its hypnotic blend of a sardonic Philip Marlow voice and a disillusioned lover.

The Police

Synchronicity (1983)

•  Sting brought all kinds of literary influences into this Police album, including Carl Jung (synchonicity), W. B. Yeats (Spiritus Mundi), and Paul Bowles’ 1949 post-colonial novel The Sheltering Sky (“Tea in the Sahara”). This could be called intelligent Rock. Yet, apparently members of The Police came to actual blows in the studio: certainly, the psychic tension & musical energy is very evident in this album. The track “Synchonicity I” has one of the most exciting Rock sounds out there, as does “Every Breath You Take.”  For all its rough edges, Synchronicity remains a great example of 1980s Rock.

Bruce Springsteen

Born in the USA (1984)

• The first CD physically pressed in the USA, this blockbuster album was Springsteen’s magnum opus. Perhaps it still is. Personally, Born in the USA reminds me of our 1983 move to the USA, and our time living in Baton Rouge, LA (1983-87). For me, along with CSN and the Eagles, Bruce Springsteen represents the America of the 1970s & 1980s, the promise of the American Dream, and the later realities of the Reagan presidency (1981-89). Many of the tracks on Born in the USA are superb and memorable, but my favorite track is his “Dancing in the Dark.”

Dire Straits

Brothers in Arms (1985)

•  The first of several Dire Straits albums that I purchased, this one is indelibly linked in my memory with our son Will. After witnessing his birth on 1st August 1986, I remember driving home late that night along LA Highway 1 and across the Mississippi River Bridge in my T-Bird Turbo, roof open windows down, humidity thick enough to see, with Dire Straits blasting out across the swamp. An suitable anthem for fatherhood!  Brothers in Arms is an album full of great music, but for me the standout track is “Your Latest Trick,” with its famous, instantly-recognizable sax introduction, Mark Knofler’s laconic voice, and his beautiful guitar tone.

Sting

The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985)

• Sting’s first album after The Police brought powerful metaphors, intelligent lyrics, and seductive music. The level of Sting’s writing in “Russians” (“there’s no such thing as a winnable war / It’s a lie we don’t believe anymore”), “Children’s Crusade” (linking the poppies memorializing “the lads” of the Great War with the heroin / poppy addiction of today’s lads in London’s Soho), and “We Work the Black Seam” (about the 1984-85 UK Miners Strike) has not been equaled, it seems to me, even by Lennon & McCartney. But my favorite track on The Dream of the Blue Turtles is probably the fascinating “Moon Over Bourbon Street,” inspired evidently by an Ann Rice vampire novel. The fact that we lived only seventy miles from New Orleans at the time may have added some spice.

Paul Simon

Negotiations and Love Songs, 1971-1986 (1988)

• In my book, this is the best work of Paul Simon. But I also valued his Graceland (1986), an enormously influential album, marking the birth of World Music. There is not a bad song on the album, and many are masterpieces: “Kodachrome” using music to portray our visual images of the world, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” on the games we play, “Still Crazy After All These Years” on nostalgia, meeting old lovers, and the craziness of life. It is hard to choose one cut, but let me mention the lesser-known “Train in the Distance,” from which the album title comes. The song ends with these words, “What is the point of this story / What information pertains? / The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly / Into our hearts / And our brains.” Paul Simon, wordsmith extraordinary, never wrote more poignantly than on his Negotiations and Love Songs, 1971-1986.
  

The Shadows

At Their Very Best (1989)

• This is a compilation of re-recorded tracks, and I have to admit that purchasing this album was an exercise in nostalgia.  Thirty years before, The Shadows had been my introduction to Rock, and in many ways my first inspiration for my own playing. As I have aged, I realize the simplicity in the work of The Shadows. I say this, not as criticism of Hank Marvin’s playing, but with a pang of appreciation & recognition. I think that my own guitar playing, despite a love of subtle jazz chords like Dm7-5 or Am7-11, increasingly values simplicity. Less really can be more. One track that exhibits that motif is “Theme for Young Lovers,” which speaks of a simpler, less complicated time that the 1960s represented – in our myths if not always in reality. For all of us, music, albeit briefly, may evoke such simpler times.

Raymond M. Vince
My Albums – the 1980s
rayvince.wordpress.com/
© 19th September 2012

________________________________________________________________________________________

Notes on these Albums

• This an annotated list of the thirty (30) Rock albums that have meant the most to me over the years. The albums are arranged by decade from the 1960s to the present millennium. In the 1960s & 70s, this music was bought as vinyl LPs (although I also used reel-to-reel tape for some music back then), the middle period were bought as cassettes, the late period were CDs. Virtually all my top music from earlier eras, I now have on CD. I never did get into the strange US format of eight-track tapes, nor into Internet downloads.

• I have used the genre Rock liberally. But this is a very personal list. Many classic albums are not here: no Stones, no Bob Dylan (I knew Dylan via PPM), no Elvis, and so on. I listened to such greats: I often bought them as singles. But, for various reasons, I did not buy their albums. There are no singles here, either, only my top albums are listed. These are mainly Rock Albums, but I have included what some would call outliers – such as The Dixie Chicks, Peter Paul, & Mary, and others. But, whatever the genre, for good or ill, these are the thirty albums that are woven into my timeline, that have interpreted my life.

• Obviously, I have not included classical music or jazz in these selection of albums, though such music has been and still is an important part of my life – both as recorded music & live. I hope that my classical and jazz choices may be for another occasion. But for now, these are my thirty Rock Albums.

Raymond M. Vince
September 2012

My Albums – the 1970s

Simon & Garfunkel

Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)

• In 1970, I was twenty-five, reading Kierkegaard & D. H. Lawrence, and working on my first graduate degree, an MA in Theology and English Literature. For many of us, the optimism of the 1960s was being replaced by an “inward turn.” Reflection was replacing revolution. A perfect example of this “inward turn” is Simon and Garfunkel’s gorgeous album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970).

• For me, the standout cut on this album is “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright,” an ode to the great American architect, but also (though I did not realize it then) a foreshadowing of the impending break-up of Simon & Garfunkel. Words and music have rarely been so perfectly matched. A musical note: this song was where I first encountered a favorite chord, the m7-5. It was in a delicious sequence:  Bb maj7 > Bm7-5 > A7. This is a song that I still love, and sing regularly.

Carole King

Tapestry (1971)

•  Tapestry sold 25 million copies, and for forty years held the record for the most weeks at #1 for a female artist (until Adele’s 21 in 2012). We forget how significant it was culturally: here was a strong woman, a “natural woman,” writing her own songs, and creating her own singer-songwriter genre. We are used to those characteristics now: in 1971 this was very much a new development. In that sense, Carole King was a musical & cultural pioneer.

• Like the preceding album, Tapestry revealed something of the “inward turn” of the early 1970s. For this album, with so many artistic greats, I have to choose two favorites here, “It’s Too Late” and “Will You Love me Tomorrow?” Yes, I sing these songs also.

The Eagles

Hotel California (1976)

•  With this album, The Eagles defined a particular place & time. They also gave us a language to evoke that era, using phrases like “life in the fast lane,” “brutally handsome” and “terminally pretty.” For a Brit who had married an American in 1972, and who in 1983 came to live in the USA, this album has come to define America and Americana. Don Henley once said that it was “a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream.”

• This “emblematic” album (Phil Booth) has evoked much interpretation. It seems set in the mid-1970s, yet is able to evoke the American culture of other times also. The album is full of good stuff, but the crucial track is still probably the title track, “Hotel California.”

Genesis

A Trick of the Tail (1976)

• From 1975 onwards, we were living in London. Genesis represented British art rock or progressive rock, a genre of Rock that may have seemed somewhat self-indulgent, but which could also be complex & interesting musically. The album still recalls for me our time in London – living in a city that was exciting, loud, innovative, and always interesting.

• For me, the quaint title track, “A Trick of the Tail,” is the highlight of the album, based, it would seem, on The Inheritors by William Golding, author of the better-known dystopia, The Lord of the Flies (1954). This Genesis album, A Trick of the Tail,  is firmly embedded in its time of the 1970s, yet still manages, at times, to transcend it.

Raymond M. Vince
My Albums – the 1970s
rayvince.wordpress.com/
© 18th September 2012

________________________________________________________________________________________

Notes on these Albums

• This an annotated list of the thirty (30) Rock albums that have meant the most to me over the years. The albums are arranged by decade from the 1960s to the present millennium. In the 1960s & 70s, this music was bought as vinyl LPs (although I also used reel-to-reel tape for some music back then), the middle period were bought as cassettes, the late period were CDs. Virtually all my top music from earlier eras, I now have on CD. I never did get into the strange US format of eight-track tapes, nor into Internet downloads.

• I have used the genre Rock liberally. But this is a very personal list. Many classic albums are not here: no Stones, no Bob Dylan (I knew Dylan via PPM), no Elvis, and so on. I listened to such greats: I often bought them as singles. But, for various reasons, I did not buy their albums. There are no singles here, either, only my top albums are listed. These are mainly Rock Albums, but I have included what some would call outliers – such as The Dixie Chicks, Peter Paul, & Mary, and others. But, whatever the genre, for good or ill, these are the thirty albums that are woven into my timeline, that have interpreted my life.

• Obviously, I have not included classical music or jazz in these selection of albums, though such music has been and still is an important part of my life – both as recorded music & live. I hope that my classical and jazz choices may be for another occasion. But for now, these are my thirty Rock Albums.

Raymond M. Vince
September 2012

My Albums – the 1960s

The Shadows

The Shadows (1961)

• I bought my first guitar, a Rossetti Lucky Seven, in January 1962, and the guitar playing of Hank Marvin, lead guitar of the Shadows, was my first influence, along with my good friend Nick Whitley. Back in 1959, Hank had the very first Fender Strat (Fiesta Red) imported into England, playing it through a Vox AC15, and later an AC30. In 1964, I had a little Tripletone 12W all-tube amp, playing through a gutsy 12″ Goodman speaker.

• I had to wait four decades, till Christmas 1998, to get my Fender Strat (American Standard blonde), along with a big 100W Marshall amp. But it was worth the wait! The Shadows have accompanied me on my five-decade guitar journey. For me, the classic track on this album is “Apache,” which was also the first 45 rpm vinyl single I bought.

Peter, Paul, & Mary

In the Wind (1963)

• If I learned guitar tone from Hank Marvin, then I learned claw-hammer finger picking from P&P of PPM, wearing out the vinyl of this album. I loved their songs, their harmony, and their powerful interpretations. I still do. Fifty years later, I am still playing many PPM songs at Yeoman’s Road pub in Tampa, FL on Tuesday nights.  Of course, Bob Dylan’s classic “Blowin’ in the Wind” is here, but my standout track is probably “Polly Von,” a sad and salutary tale about girlfriends and the perils of swan hunting.

• PPM were as formative influence on my teenage consciousness, my love of music, my guitar-playing, and my social conscience, as any artist. I knew and loved Dylan’s music & poetry, but through PPM’s sound rather than via Dylan’s voice. Along with the Beatles, Paul Simon, and (later) Queen, they form my early Rock pantheon. Others would come later: these were the foundation.

The Beatles

Rubber Soul (1965)

• For me, the Beatles’ album with the most personal memories is undoubtedly Rubber Soul. I was twenty when it was released: the world was my oyster, or so I naively believed. Every track was memorable, with its own connotations & meanings, as it was for many of my generation in the 1960s. My favorite cut would have to be “In My Life,” a perfect song when I was twenty, but no less so in my sixties.

• The Beatles’ cut of “In My Life” is a masterpiece, but also not to be missed is the wonderful spoken version by Sean Connery, on George Martin’s “farewell” album, In My Life (1998). Listen to that soft Scottish brogue interpreting Lennon & McCartney’s words: there will not be a dry eye in the house. Nostalgia defined.

The Beatles

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band (1967)

•  What can one say? This was the album that for ever changed Rock music. At the time, I admit that I did not recognize all its art & innovations, but over the years it has certainly grown on me. There is no doubt that its reputation is well-deserved. Plenty of gems, but for me, the standout track is “She’s Leaving Home” – the fusion of youthful angst and the bewilderment of an older generation. Nobody has told that story more poignantly than Lennon & McCartney.

• The Beatles have generated a vast literature – in print and online. Much has been written about this one album.  Here are two sources that I have enjoyed. One is a book/magazine, The Beatles: the Ultimate Album-by-Album Guide (Rolling Stone 2011), which is a fund of information about each album & track. Another source, recently discovered, is Alan W. Pollack’s Notes on all the Beatles songs, available online at http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/awp-alphabet.shtml.  It is a real labor of love, put together over many years.  Although technical, if you are a musician this may prove to be an invaluable resource.

Crosby, Stills & Nash

Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969)

•  Although I listened to PPM earlier, it was CSN that to me portrayed America – the land & the myth. This was the late sixties: the dream was beginning to fragment, to turn inward. This album seemed to perfectly mark that transitional time. Yes, Deja Vu (1970), CSN with the addition of Neil Young, was also a great LP.  But this album, for me at least, marked the end of the 60s.
  

• But it was also this album especially, with its subtle guitars and gorgeous harmonies, that took me into the magical place. Only one track to choose? It would have to be “Guinnevere” – a blending of Arthurian myth and Folk-Rock.

The Beatles

Abbey Road (1969)

• Another favourite Beatles album. Indeed, for many of us, this may be the best of all. It is certainly a worthy swansong for the four lads from Liverpool. This is an album that has grown on me over the years.

• Abbey Road is full of masterpieces. Indeed, this album is far more the Beatles’ legacy album than Let It Be, which never moved me.  And, like the previous Crosby, Stills, & Nash album, Abbey Road too marks the bitter-sweet end of the 1960s. My favorite cut from Abbey Road is the brilliant final medley, particularly “Golden Slumbers” / “Carry That Weight.”

Raymond M. Vince
My Albums – the 1960s
rayvince.wordpress.com/
© 17th September 2012

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Notes on these Albums

• This an annotated list of the thirty (30) Rock albums that have meant the most to me over the years. The albums are arranged by decade from the 1960s to the present millennium. In the 1960s & 70s, this music was bought as vinyl LPs (although I also used reel-to-reel tape for some music back then), the middle period were bought as cassettes, the late period were CDs. Virtually all my top music from earlier eras, I now have on CD. I never did get into the strange US format of eight-track tapes, nor into Internet downloads.

• I have used the genre Rock liberally. But this is a very personal list. Many classic albums are not here: no Stones, no Bob Dylan (I knew Dylan via PPM), no Elvis, and so on. I listened to such greats: I often bought them as singles. But, for various reasons, I did not buy their albums. There are no singles here, either, only my top albums are listed. These are mainly Rock Albums, but I have included what some would call outliers – such as The Dixie Chicks, Peter Paul, & Mary, and others. But, whatever the genre, for good or ill, these are the thirty albums that are woven into my timeline, that have interpreted my life.

• Obviously, I have not included classical music or jazz in these selection of albums, though such music has been and still is an important part of my life – both as recorded music & live. I hope that my classical and jazz choices may be for another occasion. But for now, these are my thirty Rock Albums.

Raymond M. Vince
September 2012