As I turned 30, winter 2008 became “the season of DEVO”. There’s a few old favourites here, but mostly these are new purchases, the most notable being the new releases by Peter Gabriel (Big Blue Ball) and Byrne & Eno (which essentially amounts to a new Talking Heads album).

1. “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” - Sting (from Ten Summoner’s Tales, 1993)
2. “Wrong” - Lindsey Buckingham (from Out of the Cradle, 1992)
3. “Modern Love” - David Bowie (from Let’s Dance, 1983)
4. “Big Time” - Peter Gabriel (from So, 1986)
5. “Kiss the Bride” - Elton John (from Too Low For Zero, 1983)
6. “Errol” - Australian Crawl (from Sirocco, 1981)
7. “Sensation” - Bryan Ferry (from Boys and Girls, 1985)
8. “Photograph” - Def Leppard (from Pyromania, 1983)
9. “Come On Come On Come On” - Cheap Trick (from Rockford, 2006)
10. “Tempus Fugit” - Yes (from Drama, 1980)
11. “Babooshka” - Kate Bush (from Never For Ever, 1980)
12. “Scare Easy” - Mudcrutch (from Mudcrutch, 2008)
13. “Longest Days” - John Mellencamp (from Life, Death, Love and Freedom, 2008)
14. “Big Blue Ball” - Big Blue Ball (from Big Blue Ball, 2008)
15. “I Feel My Stuff” - David Byrne & Brian Eno (from Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, 2008)
16. “Fade Away and Radiate” - Blondie (from Parallel Lines, 1978)
17. “Somebody” - Eagles (from Long Road Out of Eden, 2007)
18. “Beautiful World” - DEVO (from New Traditionalists, 1981)

Mean: 1992, Mode: 2008, Median: 1986—hey, we’re making progress!

No, most of these aren’t current tracks, but they were my favourite tracks during autumn this year:

1. “The Lady Don’t Mind” - Talking Heads (from Little Creatures, 1985)
2. “Refugee” - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (from Damn the Torpedoes, 1979)
3. “Sledgehammer” - Peter Gabriel (from So, 1986)
4. “Down Under” - Men at Work (from Business As Usual, 1981)
5. “Trouble” - Lindsey Buckingham (from Law and Order, 1981)
6. “Waiting For a Girl Like You” - Foreigner (from 4, 1981)
7. “Rosanna” - Toto (from Toto IV, 1982)
8. “Original Sin” - INXS (from The Swing, 1984)
9. “Four Chords That Made a Million” - Porcupine Tree (from Lightbulb Sun, 2000)
10. “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2″ - Pink Floyd (from The Wall, 1979)
11. “Walking on the Moon” - The Police (from Reggatta De Blanc, 1979)
12. “Serengeti Long Walk” - Stewart Copeland (from The Rhythmatist, 1985)
13. “truenorth” - no-man (from schoolyard ghosts, 2008)
14. “Heroes” - David Bowie (from “Heroes”, 1977)
15. “Avalon” - Roxy Music (from Avalon, 1982)

There you go: tracks spanning 31 years!

*cough* (Mean: 1985, Median: 1982) *cough*

What was I listening to during the warmer months of 2007 and 2008?

Here’s a hint:

1. “Invisible Touch” - Genesis (from Invisible Touch, 1986)
2. “Just What I Needed” - The Cars (from The Cars, 1978)
3. “Moonlight Shadow” - Mike Oldfield (from Crises, 1983)
4. “Reggatta de Blanc” - The Police (from Reggatta de Blanc, 1979)
5. “The Gold It’s in the…” - Pink Floyd (from Obscured by Clouds, 1972)
6. “Love Is the Drug” - Roxy Music (from Siren, 1975)
7. “One of These Nights” - Eagles (from One of These Nights, 1975)
8. “Golden Years” - David Bowie (from Station to Station, 1976)
9. “Go Insane” - Lindsey Buckingham (from Go Insane, 1984)
10. “Maneater” - Hall & Oates (from H2O, 1982)
11. “The Boys of Summer” - Don Henley (from Building the Perfect Beast, 1984)
12. “You Got Lucky” - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (from Long After Dark, 1982)
13. “Normal” - Porcupine Tree (from Nil Recurring, 2007)
14. “Solsbury Hill” - Peter Gabriel (from Peter Gabriel, 1977)
15. “Sara” - Fleetwood Mac (from Tusk, 1979 (single released 1980))
16. “Little Red Corvette” - Prince (from 1999, 1982 (single released 1983))
17. “Running Up That Hill” - Kate Bush (from Hounds of Love, 1985)
18. “Africa” - Toto (from Toto IV, 1982 (single released 1983))

In 2007 my tastes shifted rather dramatically from pastoral, symphonic progressive rock (such as Genesis and Yes) towards blues and country-influenced rock (e.g. Tom Petty and Eagles). Sure, it’s all still rock — I grew up on AOR in the ’80s, damnit, and I won’t apologise for it!

In any case, here’s 75 minutes of my favourite tracks during 2007, sorted not by preference but by flow:

The 2007 Playlist

1. “Who Can It Be Now?” - Men at Work (from Business As Usual, 1981)
2. “Just What I Needed” - The Cars (from The Cars, 1978)
3. “Trouble” - Lindsey Buckingham (from Law and Order, 1981)
4. “Little Red Corvette” - Prince (from 1999, 1982 (single released 1983))
5. “You Got Lucky” - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (from Long After Dark, 1982)
6. “Golden Years” - David Bowie (from Station to Station, 1975)
7. “Solsbury Hill” - Peter Gabriel (from Peter Gabriel, 1977)
8. “Nine Cats” - Porcupine Tree (from On the Sunday of Life, 1991)
9. “Eyes Wide Open” - King Crimson (from The Power to Believe, 2003)
10. “The Boys of Summer” - Don Henley (from Building the Perfect Beast, 1984)
11. “Running Up That Hill” - Kate Bush (from Hounds of Love, 1985)
12. “Turn It On Again” - Genesis (from Duke, 1980)
13. “Maneater” - Hall & Oates (from H2O, 1982)
14. “Avalon” - Roxy Music (from Avalon, 1982)
15. “Africa” - Toto (from Toto IV, 1982 (single peaked in 1983))
16. “Wrapped Around Your Finger” - The Police (from Synchronicity, 1983)
17. “Comfortably Numb” - Pink Floyd (from The Wall, 1979)

My five favourite albums in 2007…

5. Toto: Toto IV (1982)

Winner of the 1983 Grammy for Album of the Year, Toto IV doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny beyond its two big hits, “Rosanna” and “Africa”. The other eight tracks are pretty forgettable examples of ’80s soft rock, but the album as a whole almost has an archetypal feel that gives it “guilty pleasure” appeal. Worth picking up if you’re a fan of 1980s AM rock.

4. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1979)

There are much better (and more representative) albums by Pink Floyd, but in terms of overblown 1970s rock operas, The Wall is still hard to surpass. More-or-less a Roger Waters solo album with the occasional standout contribution by David Gilmour, tracks like Waters’ “Another Brick in the Wall” and Gilmour’s “Comfortably Numb” make it a bona fide classic despite being weighed-down by angst and ego.

3. The Cars (1978)

A seminal piece of late-’70s New Wave, The Cars’ debut album combines radio-ready hits like “Just What I Needed” and “My Best Friend’s Girl” with a dark-edged song cycle (of sorts) on side two — “All Mixed Up” ends the album in a truly impressive manner. The Rhino re-release with a bonus disc of demos is the edition to seek out for true collectors.

2. Don Henley: Building the Perfect Beast (1984)

Dated by its heavy use of synths, former Eagle Don Henley’s second solo album nonetheless survives its era by including two knockout tracks: “The Boys of Summer” (co-written by “Heartbreaker” Mike Campbell) and “Sunset Grill” (also co-written by a member of the Heartbreakers — Benmont Tench — with Danny Kortchmar). Beyond that, Kortchmar’s “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” gets a gold star for being one of the most politically-subversive dance tracks of the ’80s. Henley’s follow-up, The End of the Innocence, is probably a better album overall, but Building the Perfect Beast is still more fun.

1. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Long After Dark (1982)

The third of Petty’s collaborations with producer Jimmy Iovine, Long After Dark is considered somewhat of a disappointment after Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises, but while it’s playing, all you hear is strong, literate rock. The New Wave-tinged “You Got Lucky” and the straight-ahead rocker “Change of Heart” are both superb, but there’s a consistency here that means nothing stands out as being particularly weak. It may not have been Petty & co.’s artistic triumph, but it’s great music nonetheless.