Seven Of The Greatest Albums Of All Time

Hey Howdy! 


Another installation of Music Mondays is coming your way.  I can tell you that Herc is the single most music driven person I have ever known.  He has an incredible knowledge of it, an amazing history built around it, and great stories all about it.  This is a wonderful post by Herc, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!


7 Of The Greatest Albums Of All Time
(that just happened to be released in 1982!)
[part of ongoing series 7 Greatest Albums]

In 1982, Herc was in his teens, a crucial time for any music lover: bonds are formed, memories are made and allegiances are pledged that will affect the rest of our lives. Herc was one of those kids who walked around with headphones on, listening to cassette tapes he recorded, in his trusty Sony Walkman. Walking down the street, sitting in class or riding the bus, the headphones and Walkman were ever-present. Music was his drug of choice, the one thing that got him through the day, all day, every day. It fueled the fires of his passions, bandaged his bruised ego and helped heal his heart. Over the past 30 years, these albums (like Herc) have withstood musical trends and fashion fads, not too mention the epic and expensive transition from physical media (records, tapes) to digital media (CDs, files). Music is still his drug of choice, though, and these are some of his biggest highs.

all 7 albums in one Spotify playlist
or click on each album title to listen, one at a time

Blackout - Scorpions
unleashed 3/29/1982

The lead single from Blackout was entitled “No One Like You” and in interviews with the band they say it was originally written in their native German and lost its meaning in the English translation. It must have been inconceivably brilliant because the song as it was released is absolutely fantastic from that first drum beat. The album itself begins with a rocking guitar siren on the title track and gets better and better from there. The second track, “Can’t Live Without You”, is a throwback to 70s British Glam Rock with its counted off intro, self-referential lyrics and helium-voiced sing-along chorus. Then comes “No One Like You”, a blast of harmonic high guitars and longing lyrics. There are other songs, most notably the tour memoir valentine “Arizona”, that round out the album but after those first three tracks the rest of the album sounds familiar.

Rio - Duran Duran
unleashed 5/10/1982

From it’s stylish cover illustration to the equally stylish grooves within, Rio hastened the arrival of the New Romantic portion of the New Wave: pretty boys in pretty clothes playing gussied-up disco music for the next generation. A major factor in their popularity was the ability to see the band in music videos filmed in exotic locales, yet another layer of stylishness. Simon, Nick and the three unrelated Taylor boys played dance/pop music and released a series of 12”s and EPs featuring enhanced dance remixes of the songs from Rio making them a feature in clubs as well as the radio and the (M)TV on both sides of the Atlantic. In hindsight after nearly 30 years, some of the music does sound stuck in the Eighties but most of it holds up.

Combat Rock - The Clash
unleashed 5/14/1982

“This is a public service announcement/With GUITARS!” are the first words your hear when you drop the needle/press Play on The Clash’s fifth full-length release. The guys had toured the world, read the newspaper and, after six years together, they were reaching a breaking point both as a group and in their popularity. The songs they recorded for the album that eventually became Combat Rock were musically as diverse as ever, a sonic trademark of the musical alchemists known as The Clash. Two of the band’s biggest hits emerged from the album, “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” and “Rock The Casbah.” But the one Herc keeps going back to is “Straight To Hell” which was later sampled in M.I.A.’s global smash “Paper Planes”. By 1983, the band that had recorded Combat Rock was all but extinct, limping along after firing two members. Fortunately for us, we’ll always have this memento.

The Lexicon Of Love - ABC
unleashed 6/25/1982

As rhythmically funky as it orchestrally lush and packed with more heartbreak scenarios than any romance novel, The Lexicon Of Love still manages to sound contemporary almost 30 years after its release. Love, after all, is timeless. and this is love in its purest romantic form. Martin Fry is hardly original in his delivery, drawing on everyone from Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra and Bryan Ferry before him, but somehow it doesn’t matter because the words he sings and the way he sings them ring true. All of this hopeless romanticism is set against a wall of sound constructed by Trevor Horn (featuring many of the players who would later go on to form Art Of Noise) that melds the burgeoning new wave sound of the time with classic soul and rhythm & blues sounds of the late Sixties and early Seventies. The album flows lyrically and musically towards an all too soon end but that’s okay because you can play it again. And again.

Friend Or Foe - Adam Ant
unleashed 10/14/1982

On the morning of May 16, 1981, Herc watched Adam & the Ants perform (lipsync) “Antmusic” and “Dog Eat Dog” on American Bandstand. After lunch, he rode his bike up to the Base Exchange (BX) and bought their album Kings Of The Wild Frontier. Six months later, Adam & his Ants issued Prince Charming, which was more of the same music but the make-up and costumes had changed, from a Pirate/American Indian mash-up to a Pirate/Dandy Highwayman mash-up. Within 12 months, Adam had jettisoned all but one Ant and released this, his debut solo album. This time out, he wore minimal make-up and dressed like a Pirate/Cowboy hybrid. The music was just as dense and as rhythmic as the previous two outings, proving he had chosen to retain the right Ant and, on the first day of 1983, Adam returned to American Bandstand performing what would become his biggest hit, the hyperkinetic “Goody Two Shoes”.

1999 - Prince
unleashed 10/27/1982

One night in November 1982, while ironing a couple of shirts to wear to school the following week (snicker, snicker), Herc was listening to “The New Music Test Department” on a local radio station as he usually did on Sunday evenings. It was a chance for the deejay to break from the “rock” format and play new releases in all genres from punk to funk. On that particular night, he first heard “Little Red Corvette” and a lifelong obsession began with the music of the artist who will always be known as Prince. A sprawling and ambitious double album, 1999 featured tight funk jams and longer, looser workouts with drum machines and layered synths paving the way for what would become known in the Eighties and early Nineties as the “Minneapolis sound”. The music was the soundtrack to parties, the background for make-out sessions and inspiration for at least one American Government term paper. Within two years, Prince would be the biggest recording artist in the world, rivaled only by Madonna and Michael Jackson. But his ascent is easily traced back to this, his launching pad and proving grounds.

Thriller - Michael Jackson
unleashed 11/30/1982

Herc ain’t gonna lie, he probably slept on this record until Christmas 1982, when he finally picked up a copy for himself after listening to his father’s copy far too often. “Billie Jean” was an awesome song and his live performance of it on the Motown 25 show, where he revealed his new Moonwalk, lit the fuse on this firecracker which went on to become the biggest selling album of all time even before MJ’s untimely death. All but two songs were released individually and became Top Ten singles and when the mini-movie for the title track was released, millions would stop whatever they were doing and just watch. The performances are breathtaking but it is the polished production by Quincy Jones that does it for Herc. Even after all the tabloid tales, this is still a great listen.

>>>Bonus 1982 Spotify Playlist<<<
For the record (get it?), Herc also played the groove out of these vinyl albums from 1982 and has since owned compact disc versions. Tracks from these albums (as well as the albums above) are the bedrock of Herc’s Digital Music Archive.


Asia - Asia***Picture This - Huey Lewis & the News***8th Wonder - The Sugarhill Gang***Just Another Day In Paradise - Bertie Higgins***Mountain Music - Alabama***The Golden Age Of Wireless - Thomas Dolby***Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet - Rick Springfield***All Four One - The Motels***Toto IV - Toto***American Fool - John Cougar***Diver Down - Van Halen***A Flock Of Seagulls - A Flock Of Seagulls***Hot Space - Queen***Built For Speed - The Stray Cats***Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor***Eye In The Sky - Alan Parsons Project***Night And Day - Joe Jackson***Emotions in Motion - Billy Squier***Billy Idol - Billy Idol***The Party’s Over - Talk Talk***Screaming For Vengeance - Judas Priest***Upstairs At Eric’s - Yaz***What Time Is It? - The Time***Fast Times At Ridgemont High soundtrack***New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) - Simple Minds***H2O - Hall & Oates***Kissing To Be Clever - Culture Club***The Nightfly - Donald Fagen***Shabooh Shoobah - INXS***Spring Session M - Missing Persons***Hello, I Must Be Going - Phil Collins***Long After Dark - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers***Computer Games - George Clinton***Oh No, It’s Devo! - Devo***Gap Band IV - GAP Band***The Distance - Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band***Business As Usual - Men At Work***Dare - Human League***Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing - Soft Cell***The Message - Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five***