TODAY’S TOP TEN ALBUMS OF THE ’80s (by Mark Lancaster) 1. The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths 2. Strawberries - The Damned 3. Movement - New Order 4. The Stone Roses - Stone Roses 5. Doolittle - Pixies 6. Psychocandy - Jesus & Mary Chain 7. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back - Public Enemy 8. In My Tribe - 10 000 Maniacs 9. 8 Legged Groove Machine - The Wonder Stuff 10. Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth. ‘The Smiths for me were the band of the 80s and their records meant more to me than any other artist,’ says Mark Lancaster from Southend. ‘I was 18 when their first album came out so I was at an age where music made a lasting impression on me. The Queen Is Dead was the pinnacle of their career and the closing song, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, is their greatest song. It’s a bit of a cliché I suppose, but for a lovelorn bloke in his late teens and early twenties, The Smiths were the perfect band. There are bands I like more than The Smiths now and certainly records I prefer, but nothing beat this at that time of my life.’ Done your Top Ten Albums Of The ’80s yet? Message, don’t post, your selection and if you could mention why you chose your No. 1 that would be great. If you want to promote anything – record, book, film, gig etc. – send the details at the same time. We guarantee to post every one we receive. Also, if you’d like to nominate a friend or friends to do the Top Ten challenge, please be our guests. The aim is to produce the Ultimate Flexipop! Top 40 Albums Of The 80s Chart so please put your choices in order. Last year, NME voted The Queen Is Dead as the greatest album of all time. Nice way to start a review of Mark’s favourite ’80s album. The Queen Is Dead was The Smiths third studio album. It was released in June 1986 and peaked at No. 2 in the UK (where it spent 22 weeks on the chart), No. 28 in Canada and No. 70 in the US. The album cover, designed by Morrissey, features Alain Delon from the 1964 film LInsoumis. The album was produced by Morrissey and Marr, alongside engineer Stephen Street. Most of the album was recorded in the winter of 1985 at Jacob Studios in Farnham, under the working title Margaret On The Guillotine The first song from the album to be recorded, in July 1985, was The Boy With The Thorn In His Side. It was released as a single in September 1985 and made No. 23 in the UK. Morrissey says it was his favourite Smiths song. Although the album is generally reckoned to be The Smiths’ greatest album, both Morrissey and Johnny Marr regard the next album, Strangeways, Here We Come, as their best. Pitchfork Media made it the 6th best album of the ’80s, Q magazine rated it No. 3 of the ’80s and Slant magazine listed the album at No. 16 of the ’80s saying, ‘There may never again be an indie-rock album as good as The Queen Is Dead. Rolling Stone said, ‘This is one of the funniest rock albums ever, and if even the Queen was not pleased with the album then she was the only one.’ ‘The Queen Is Dead is the Smiths great leap forward, taking the band to new musical and lyrical heights,’ says AllMusic. ‘The rich musical bed provides Morrissey with the support for his finest set of lyrics. Shattering the myth that he is a self-pitying sap, Morrissey delivers a devastating set of clever, witty satires of British social mores, intellectualism, class, and even himself. He also crafts some of his finest, most affecting songs.’ Track List 1. The Queen Is Dead 2. Frankly, Mr. Shankly 3. I Know Its Over 4. Never Had No One Ever 5. Cemetery Gates 6. Bigmouth Strikes Again 7. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side 8. Vicar In A Tutu 9. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out 10.Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others In 2000, Mojo magazine placed There Is A Light That Never Goes Out at number 25 on its list of the 100 greatest songs of all time. Co-incidentally, that was the number it reached in the UK when it was finally released as a single in 1992 five years after The Smiths split up. It was their last appearance in the Top 40. The song features lyrics drawn from Lonely Planet Boy by the New York Dolls. According to Marr, ‘When we first played it, I thought it was the best song Id ever heard.’ Simon Goddard, author of Songs That Saved Your Life days, ‘In a straw poll among Smiths fans today, There Is a Light That Never Goes Out would more than likely still come out victorious, because of the perfect balance of Marrs compositional skills and Morrisseys lyricism.’ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out trivia corner: Morrissey released a live version as a double A-side with his cover of Patti Smiths Redondo Beach in 2005. It reached No.11 in the UK. A chapter in Irvine Welshs novel Trainspotting is named after the song. It’s played by Doris in the fifth episode of Gavin And Stacey. In the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympic Games, there was a part named after the songs title when seven young athletes lit the torch before converging to create the cauldron. Model Levy Tran has a tattoo of the title across her collar bones. It was covered by Miley Cyrus in 2014 during several stops of her Bangerz Tour. ‘Take me out tonight, take me anywhere, I dont care…’
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 13:20:19 +0000
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