VIDEO THRWBCK: The Smiths - Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before (1987)
Surprisingly, it's taken us this long to THRWBCK to the Smiths, who are categorically the band we refer to as "the best ever" when we are posed with such a ridiculous questions as "who is the best band ever?" Our favorite Smiths album varies from hourly, but lately it's been Strangeways Here We Come, their 1987 swan song, which is by far their most realized and complete LP (and Morrissey's favorite, legend has it). If you've ever not wanted to ride your bike through a foggy Manchester morning, this video will change that.
VIDEO THRWBCK: Cocteau Twins - Carolyn's Fingers (1988)
Cocteau Twins are probably the most recurring band in our VIDEO THRWBCK series, but that's only because they're one of our favorite bands. Tonight, we're going to go check out Chairlift at Knitting Factory, and we can't wait to bask in their Cocteau-esque reverb and female vocal acrobatics. Enjoy "Carolyn's Fingers" from Blue Bell Knoll above, but don't try to sing along. Seriously, Elizabeth Fraser is totally major.
VIDEO THRWBCK: Heaven 17 - Temptation (1983)
OK, this is the last thing we're going to say about the Steel City Tour for a while (i.e.: the joint Human League/ABC/Heaven 17 tour that's going to be AMAZING), so listen up: Heaven 17 are the band that Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh founded once they left the Human League in 1980 (thus liberating the remaining members to make the wholly commercial synthpop they'd always wanted to create). Heaven 17's first two albums, From Penthouse to Pavement and The Luxury Gap have stood the test of time to become synthpop masterpieces, and their most popular single, "Temptation" (from 1983's Gap) still sounds quite astonishing. Enjoy!
VIDEO THRWBCK: The Human League - (Keep Feeling) Fascination
Yesterday we found out that The Human League, ABC and Heaven 17 are touring this winter as the "Steel City Tour" ("Steel City" being the nickname given to the bands' hometown, Sheffield), and dutifully freaked out, like any self-respecting electropop enthusiast would. We've been on a severe YouTube kick ever since, so enjoy "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", one of our favorite Human League tracks ever, off of the 1983 LP Fascination!. Nice way to start your week off...
VIDEO THRWBCK: ABC - Poison Arrow (1982)
Mmmm, more '80s Britpop. We just about lost our minds when a friend recently told us that ABC, The Human League, and Heaven 17 were all going to tour the UK together this winter. We will definitely pay a hefty sum in air fare/currency rates to check that scene out. We'll report more when we hear more, but for now here's "Poison Arrow", one of ABC's best, and most dramatic, early singles.
VIDEO THRWBCK: Prefab Sprout - The King of Rock 'N' Roll (1988)
You either love Prefab Sprout or you hate them--there's really no middle ground when it comes to their particular brand of Top 40 '80s Britpop. There's something super cheesy about it but for some reason that's also their charm. Which other band would dare have dancing hot dogs in their video? Its kind of a mess but at least it's fun and catchy, wouldn't you agree? NB: The Mystery Jets pretty much took this sound wholesale for their last single "Two Doors Down"...
VIDEO THRWBCK: Madness - Our House (1982)
Oh, come on, it's summer, the notorious, yearly NYC heatwave has come to a close, and we feel like rocking out to a little Madness. Is that so insane?
VIDEO THRWBCK: Colonel Abrams - Trapped (1985)
Our new favorite blog ever, The Highness, posted this insane remix of "Trapped" by '80s "urban contemporary" pop star Colonel Abrams. We hadn't heard this song in a good while, so we thought we'd dig up the original video. The song was produced by Richard James Burgess, who also produced the first two Spandau Ballet albums (figures, right?). In short: we want that jacket.
VIDEO THRWBCK: Cyndi Lauper - The Goonies 'R' Good Enough (1985)
Grab a bowl of popcorn, because we've unearthed (i.e. searched on YouTube) the original 12-minute version of "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" by Cyndi Lauper. We were inspired, of course, by yesterday's post about the Acorn covering "Good Enough", but we had totally forgotten what a trip this video was: Andre the Giant, weird Technicolor, skeletons... spooky.
VIDEO THRWBCK: The Cure - A Forest (Live in Amsterdam) (1980)
We had such a rainy, crappy weekend indoors that we self-inflicted a total Cure-in and listened to loads of their records on repeat. Not that it was punishment, as more often than not Mr. Smith & Co made the most brilliantly depressing pop singles of the '80s (though have you ever listened to "Hand On Your Heart" by Kylie? What a downer, right?). Anyway, here's a clip of the Cure doing one of our favorite songs, "A Forest", live in Amsterdam in 1980.
Site developed by Gelo Factory
