Reeling in the Years: 1987

In wrapping up the exhaustive look at the music of 1987 that Brian Salvatore and I did on CompCon (check out parts 1, 2 and 3 if you haven't already), I also compiled a playlist based on our favorite albums of that year. One notable exception was George Harrison's Cloud Nine, which for some reason isn't on Spotify (along with the rest of his catalog even though I could've sworn it was a few months ago).

Nevertheless, here's a pretty damn diverse playlist based on those episodes:

Completely Conspicuous 297: Sign O' the Times

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1987. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Jay's #2 album of '87: The Cult's Electric
- Used to crank it while working supermarket night shifts
- Brian's #2: R.E.M.'s Document
- Mike Mills is the band's secret weapon
- R.E.M. was burdened by U2 comparisons
- Stipe and Mills formed Automatic Baby with U2's Clayton and Mullen
- Jay's #1: GNR's Appetite for Destruction
- Paved the way for rawer hard rock
- Brian's #1: Pixies' Come On Pilgrim EP
- New Pixies is okay but nowhere near the old one
- Teenage metalhead Jay also dug Joe Satriani's Surfing With the Alien
- Enjoying That Metal Show
- Terrible moments in '87 music
- Jay: Bruce Willis releases an album
- Brian: Pink Floyd's post-Waters output
- "That's What Friends Are For"
- Jay: Terrible movie soundtrack music, like Bob Seger's "Shakedown"
- "Shakedown" was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe
- Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"
- Brian: The death of legendary jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius
- The fascinating story of Aaron North (ex-Icarus Line and NIN guitarist)
- The Jesus Lizard got a record deal thanks to Kurt Cobain
- Next on our hit list: 1980
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Sebadoh - I Will
The Men - I Saw Her Face
The Besnard Lakes - People of the Sticks
 
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Sebadoh song is on the album Defend Yourself on Joyful Noise Recordings. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) as part of the Paste Fall Preview 2013 at NoiseTrade.
The song from The Men is on the album Campfire Songs on Sacred Bones Records. Download the song for free at Aquarium Drunkard.

The Besnard Lakes song is on the album Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO on Jagjaguwar Records. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 296: These Important Years

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1987. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Brian: Birth of the cassingle
- Inexpensive way to buy singles, B-sides
- Brian: Collecting 45s for a jukebox
- Jay: 1987 was big for female pop artists
- Madonna, Bangles, Belinda Carlisle, Lisa Lisa, Heart
- Older songs like "Stand By Me" were re-released
- Young Brian bought his first album in '87: The Monkees' Greatest Hits
- New Monkees TV show came and went
- Jay: Made two top 5 album lists, Then and Now
- Jay: Then list (#5 to #1): Def Leppard's Hysteria, INXS's Kick, Cult's Electric, Whitesnake's s/t and U2's Joshua Tree
- Whitesnake was the hard rock version of Ringo Starr's All Starr Band
- Brian's #5: George Harrison's Cloud Nine, despite Jeff Lynne's heavy handed production
- Jay's #5: Husker Du's Warehouse, not their best but still pretty great
- Incredible run of albums over a short period
- Brian's #4: Prince's Sign o' the Times, maybe his last great album
- Jay's #4: Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me; Westerberg's focuses on songwriting and less on aggression
- Brian's #4: Tom Waits' Franks Wild Years; did Izzy Stradlin play on this album?
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Okkervil River - Stay Young
Beachwood Sparks - Make It Together
Midlake - Antiphon

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Okkervil River song is on the album The Silver Gymnasium on ATO Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) on Goodbye Summer: ATO Records 2013 Fall Sampler at ATORecords.com.
The Beachwood Sparks song is on the album Desert Skies on Alive Naturalsounds Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.

The Midlake song is on the album Antiphon on ATO Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) on Goodbye Summer: ATO Records 2013 Fall Sampler at ATORecords.com.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 295: Here I Go Again

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1987. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Different perspectives: Brian was 5 in 1987, Jay was in college
- Brian: The impact of La Bamba, movie about Richie Valens
- Kicked off a roots rock revival
- Jay: Big year for alternative rock
- Breakout year for R.E.M., The Cure, The Cult
- Jay: Making the transition from metalhead to alt-rock fan
- No regional radio anymore
- Brian: CDs started catching on, especially when Beatles catalog was released
- CDs provided definitive versions of albums
- Became easier to make mixtapes
- Jay: Huge year for U2 with The Joshua Tree
- Landing tickets for U2 in '87 was no easy feat
- Brian: GNR's Appetite for Destruction actually paved the way for hair metal's demise
- Harked back to sleazier sounds of '70s garage rock
- Jane's Addiction seemed dangerous back then
- Guitar music was moving in different directions
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Guillermo Sexo - Fall Lens
Natural Velvet - Dark Inertia
Speedy Ortiz - Plough (live)

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Guillermo Sexo song is on the album Dark Spring on Midriff Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Natural Velvet song is on the EP Salome with the Head of John the Baptist. Download the EP for free at Bandcamp.

The Speedy Ortiz song is on the band's Epitonic Saki Session. Download the song for free at Epitonic.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 294: Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we discuss actors turned singers. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").
 


Show notes:
- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ
- John Travolta's music career was dragged out over three albums
- "All Strung Out on You" could've been a Velvet Underground outtake
- Co-writer Nino Tempo had an illustrious acting career as an extra
- Burt Reynolds made an album in '73
- Burt reads from his childhood diary
- Ric serves up crap on my podcast, not his
- Adam West's novelty record
- Other actors who made albums: Telly Savalas, Ted Knight
- Plenty of musicians who became actors: Kris Kristofferson, Jagger, Bowie
- Mark Wahlberg and Justin Timberlake have done well as actors
- Actors turned musicians: Kevin Bacon, Bruce Willis, Keanu Reeves, Russell Crowe, Steven Seagal, Don Johnson
- Rick James produced Eddie Murphy's "Party All the Time"
- Eddie had already moved from comedian to movie star
- In "Boogie Nights," Dirk Diggler thinks he's got musical talent
- Murphy and Michael Jackson teamed up in '93's "Whatzupwitu"
- Corey Feldman's musical aspirations
- Ric's list of actresses who shouldn't make records
- Jodie Foster made an album when she was a kid
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Sebadoh - State of Mine
Mind Spiders - Make Make Make Make
Diarrhea Planet - Separations

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Sebadoh song is on the forthcoming album Defend Yourself on Joyful Noise Recordings. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Mind Spiders song is on the forthcoming album Inhumanistic on Dirtnap Records. Download the song for free at LargeheartedBoy.
The Diarrhea Planet song is on the album I'm Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams on Infinity Cat Recordings. Download the song for free at Amazon MP3.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 293: Don't Give Up on Us

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we discuss actor-turned-singer David Soul's massive 1977 hit song. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ
- David Soul, aka Hutch from "Starsky and Hutch," just turned 70
- "Don't Give Up on Us" hit #1 in April 1977
- Soul started out as a folk singer
- "Don't Give Up on Us" in the same vein as wuss rock by Bread, Dan Hill, Manilow
- Ric: Soul was on Private Stock Records, which churned out pop hits
- Label run by Larry Uttal, who was previously a hitmaker for Bell Records
- Private Stock master tapes were all lost after label went bankrupt
- Soul just had the one hit
- The B-side was weird song called "Black Bean Soup" that sounded like old Robert Palmer
- John Travolta was another actor with a record deal in the '70s
- Travolta was a teen idol after "Welcome Back, Kotter" and "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble"; pre-Saturday Night Fever and Grease
- Big single was "Let Her In," even schmaltzier than the David Soul song
- No vocal range whatsoever
- "Rack jobbers" were big business; putting records in racks in drugstores and supermarkets for impulse shoppers
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Mean Creek - Cool Town
Los Campesinos - What Death Leaves Behind
Shearwater - I Luv the Valley OH!

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Mean Creek song is on the forthcoming album Local Losers on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Los Campesinos song is on the forthcoming album No Blues on Wichita Recordings. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Shearwater song is on the album Fellow Travelers on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Sub Pop.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 292: Over and Out

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss our society's obsession with the apocalypse. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at Chez Phillion
- Neil Gaiman's American Gods may someday become an HBO series
- Seven stories keep getting retold
- When authors can't finish their series
- John Irving writes last line of a novel first
- Writing novels vs. screenplays
- Barrier to entry in moviemaking was cost of film, with books was publishing
- Now you can self-publish online
- Matt's film Certainly Never was screened at Massachusetts Independent Film Festival
- The satisfaction of slamming down a phone is gone
- Fun at the Boston "Nerd Prom," aka ComiCon
- Nerds rule the world
- Why does The Hobbit require a movie trilogy?
- When reality and satire are easily confused
- Outrage-powered culture
- Viagra has created an army of horny geezers
- Hopefully we won't have to deal with the End Times
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Marnie Stern - This Was It
The Superman Revenge Squad Band - A Funny Thing You Said
Radstewart - Beer Swindlers
Thee Oh Sees - Castiatic Tackle

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Marnie Stern song is part of the Adult Swim Singles Program 2013. Download the song for free at Adult Swim.
The Superman Revenge Squad Band song is a single released on Audio Antihero. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.
The Radstewart song is the EP Whig Crooks and Beer Swindlers on Alcopop. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Thee Oh Sees song is on the album Warm Slime on In the Red Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
 
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.