Here’s Part 2 of my favorite songs for each year from 1980 through 1999. I’ve written in some detail about several of these songs in previous posts over my eight-plus years of blogging, so won’t write lengthy narratives about any of them here. Just the year, the song and the artist, and the best video I could find for each one.
1980 CALL ME – Blondie
1981 BETTE DAVIS EYES – Kim Carnes
1982 MANEATER – Daryl Hall & John Oates
1983 EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE – The Police (my #1 song of the 1980s)
1984 WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT – Tina Turner
1985 EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD – Tears for Fears
1986 WEST END GIRLS – Pet Shop Boys
1987 WITH OR WITHOUT YOU – U2
1988 WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS? – Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield
1989 GOOD THING – Fine Young Cannibals
1990 NOTHING COMPARES 2 U – Sinéad O’Connor
1991 LOSING MY RELIGION – R.E.M. (my #1 song of the 1990s)
Just for fun, I thought I’d do a series of posts listing my favorite songs for each year starting with 1955, when many music historians claim the so-called “rock era” began, as well as the first full year of my life, to the present. There were so many tremendously great songs, especially from about 1964 through 1973, it was a real challenge to pick just one for each year. That said, this listing will provide a sort of snapshot of my life, at least in terms of the music I’ve loved over the years. I’ve written in some detail about many of these songs in previous posts over my eight-plus years of blogging, so won’t write lengthy narratives about any of them here. Just the year, the song and the artist, followed by one sentence and the best video I could find for each one. Enjoy!
1955 ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK – Bill Haley & His Comets
Often considered to be the first big rock’n’roll hit song that set the standard for many to come.
1956 MOONGLOW & THEME FROM “PICNIC” – Morris Stoloff
A sublime melding of an old standard and the score from one of the best films of the 1950s.
1957 LITTLE DARLIN’ – The Diamonds
A rather silly, over the top song I foolishly thought would be fun to sing karaoke to back in the 1990s. Boy was I wrong, as I humiliated myself!
1958AT THE HOP – Danny & the Juniors
Just a delightfully upbeat rock’n’roll song celebrating the joys of youth and going to a dance, that always makes me happy.
1959MACK THE KNIFE – Bobby Darin
A great, sophisticated classic by one of the finest singers of his time.
1960 THEME FROM “A SUMMER PLACE” – Percy Faith
A bit overly sentimental and cheesy, but my favorite instrumental track of all time.
1961 RUNNING SCARED – Roy Orbison
A short, but emotionally powerful song by one of the greatest male vocalists of all time.
1962 ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK A HEART – Gene Pitney
Few songs are as overwrought as this one, but I love Gene Pitney’s heartrending vocals and the lush orchestration.
1963 BE MY BABY – The Ronettes
The Mt. Rushmore of Phil Spector’s wall of sound production, and a stellar performance by the great Ronnie Spector and Co.
1964 SHE LOVES YOU – The Beatles
An exuberant love song by the greatest band ever, and one of my all-time favorites of their many incredible songs.
1965 (I CAN’T GET NO) SATISFACTION – The Rolling Stones
Though grossly overplayed over the many years since its release, I still love this song and its biting lyrics.
1966 CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ – The Mamas & The Papas
Their vocal harmonies were exceptional, the lyrics simple yet profound, and oh my, that gorgeous flute! My third-favorite song of all time.
1967 LIGHT MY FIRE – The Doors
It’s the extended album version, showcasing Ray Manzarek’s spectacular organ riff, that makes this my second-favorite song of all time.
1968 HEY JUDE – The Beatles
It goes on a bit too long, but a great song nevertheless.
1969 AQUARIUS/LET THE SUNSHINE IN – The 5th Dimension
I remember how much my mother loved both “Hey Jude” and this song by the fabulous 5th Dimension.
1970 BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER – Simon & Garfunkel
A stunning masterpiece that slowly builds to a stirring crescendo.
1971 IT’S TOO LATE – Carole King
An understated yet powerful song that perfectly encapsulates the painful reality of a break-up.
1972 STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN – Led Zeppelin
What can I say about this monumental tour-de-force by one of the greatest hard rock bands of all time? It’s remained my favorite song for the past 50 years.
1973 DANNY’S SONG – Anne Murray
This lovely cover by Anne Murray of a sweet Kenny Loggins song just resonated with me for some reason, and I adore it.
1974 LOVE’S THEME – Love Unlimited Orchestra
I’ve always been a sucker for lush, cinematic instrumentals, and this one by Barry White and his Love Unlimited Orchestra is one of my favorites.
1975 I LOVE MUSIC – The O’Jays
The greatest Disco song ever in my opinion, by one of the finest R&B bands to come out of Philadelphia in the 1970s. It could also serve as my own theme song!
1976 LOVE HANGOVER – Diana Ross
Once again, it’s the extended version of this song by one of the greatest female vocalists of all time that makes this a favorite of mine. I can’t remember how many times I danced to this.
1977 DREAMS – Fleetwood Mac
My favorite song by one of my all-time favorite bands, “Dreams” strongly resonated with me as I went through a painful breakup at the time.
1978 STAYIN’ ALIVE – Bee Gees
Though technically not a Disco song, “Stayin’ Alive” nevertheless came to represent the entire genre and all that was both great and bad about it. That said, it’s a perfect song.
1979 DO YA THINK I’M SEXY? – Rod Stewart
I know many fans of Rod Stewart absolutely hated this song, but I loved it the moment I heard it, and never grew tired of it.
Not a lot of changes to this week’s Top 30, with the songs in the top six spots remaining in place for a second week. Green Day‘s “The American Dream Is Killing Me” is #1 for a third week, while Brittany Howard‘s “What Now” holds on the #2 spot for a second week. The lovely “Cool About It” by boygenius climbs three spots to enter the top 10 at #8. The biggest upward mover again this week is “Lose Control” by Georgia singer-songwriter Teddy Swims, jumping seven spots to #12. The sole debut this week is “nice to know you” by L.A. pop-rock trio lovelytheband, who I had the pleasure of seeing in concert last June. In fact, in addition to lovelytheband, I’ve also seen two other acts on this list – Cold War Kids and Cannons.
THE AMERICAN DREAM IS KILLING ME – Green Day (1)
WHAT NOW – Brittany Howard (2)
DARLING – Western Jaguar (3)
NOW AND THEN – The Beatles (4)
ATTRACTION – Wild Horse (5)
MY LOVE MINE ALL MINE – Mitski (6)
RUN AWAY WITH ME – Cold War Kids (10)
COOL ABOUT IT – boygenius (11)
MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (7)
HONEY (ARE U COMING?) – Måneskin (8)
ONE MORE TIME – blink-182 (9)
LOSE CONTROL – Teddy Swims (19)
ALL I DIE FOR – SWiiMS (14)
MODERN GIRL – Bleachers (15)
ATOMIC CITY – U2 (12)
WILD – Brian Lambert, Harmoni Kelley & Marc Schuster (13)
Unquiet Nights is an outstanding rock band I’ve been following for nearly six years, ever since frontman Luke Mathers reached out to me about their superb single “Promise of You”, which I loved at first listen. Originally started in 2006 as a solo project by Mathers, a talented singer-songwriter and guitarist from Belfast, Northern Ireland, with help by Rodger Firmin on drums, he began recording songs for what would become the first Unquiet Nights album 21st Century Redemption Songs. In 2010, Luke relocated to Italy, where he eventually finished and released the album.
He was later joined by Italian musicians Francesco Piciucchi on bass and keyboards, and drummer Matteo Bussotti for live shows, though Rodger still played drums on their recordings. In 2015 they released their beautiful and compelling second album Postcards in Real Time. One of the tracks from that album, “George Best City”, which was never released as a single but was used in the Federico Buffa Racconta documentary series, landed them several live national appearances on Italian TV stations. Their best known and most successful song, it’s now garnered more than 486,000 streams on Spotify alone. Mathers eventually moved back to Belfast in 2016, where he continues to record and release music with Firmin and Piciucchi as Unquiet Nights.
I’ve written about them three times over the past six years, most recently two years ago this month when I reviewed their excellent single “In Spite of It All”. The song was released in conjunction with, and included on, their compilation album First Ten (2012-2022), a sort of ‘greatest hits so far’ work commemorating the 10-year anniversary of their debut album 21st Century Redemption Songs. Now they’re back with a great new single “Diamond and the Missing Son“, their first new music in two years. The lead single of their forthcoming album Seasons in Exile, to be released on January 19th, the song (and album) was produced by Mathers, and mixed and mastered by Neal Calderwood, who’s also mixed and mastered all previous Unquiet Nights releases.
The song’s a bona fide rock gem, with a strong Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers vibe, courtesy of Mathers’ vibrant soaring guitars. His masterful guitar work never ceases to amaze me, and he doesn’t disappoint here as he delivers spine-tingling riffs that smolder and wail throughout. Meanwhile, Firmin deftly sets the driving rhythm with his muscular drumbeats that propel, but never overpower, the song. And as always, Mather’s vocals are equal parts commanding and pleasing, with just a hint of a rasp to convey the right amount of passion. It’s a marvelous introduction to what promises to be another stellar album by Unquiet Nights.
The song lyrics tell a tale of two characters who find themselves entwined with each other, serving as a kind of first chapter to a much bigger story involving a character named ‘Diamond’, who I’m guessing is a woman, and a man referred to as ‘The Missing Son’. Mathers provides some background to the premise: “Sometimes I force myself to try and write songs that aren’t directly about myself, and to just approach the song like it would be a movie. The back story of these two characters isn’t fully expanded on in ‘Diamond And The Missing Son’ itself, because of the limitations of a three minute single, so I thought if we were going to release it that I would challenge myself to write the whole third album from the point of view of these two characters. This is what our new album ‘Seasons In Exile’ turned into, which was a useful experiment because I’ve ended up getting a lot of songs that definitely wouldn’t have existed without the continuity. The funny thing is that when someone thinks they’re writing fiction, they usually discover it’s the most honest they’ve ever written about themselves. This seems to have happened here.”
Tonight we roll the dice If just to stop and pray for paradise to come through Straight in to the dark Straight into something looking for the spark that we knew
No thinking of tomorrow We only got today
You are the only thing that keeps me hanging on And on and on There’s nothing else could ever come between us ’cause we are The diamond and the missing son
Diamond, you should know Nothing and no one makes me feel anything like you do For all the things you show There’s always something that leaves we wondering and blind and confused
No thinking of tomorrow We only got today
You are the only thing that keeps me hanging on And on and on There’s nothing else could ever come between us ’cause we are The diamond and the missing son
I generally prefer music videos that show the musicians or bands performing their song, so the video for ‘Diamond and the Missing Son” is right up my alley. Filmed in black and white, it shows Mathers and Firmin working their musical magic, while the in-house cat makes its rounds, seeming to express approval of the proceedings.
I became a huge fan of British psychedelic pop/rock act Solar Eyes in the summer of 2021 when they first released their brilliant single “Naked Monkey on a Spaceship”. They subsequently dropped an even better single “I See the Sun”, which I loved so much, it went all the way to #1 on my Weekly Top 30, and ended up ranking #18 on my 100 Best Songs of 2022 list.
Their music is an arresting style of pop/rock awash in dramatic psychedelic grooves, twangy Western-style guitars and dreamy cinematic synths, giving them a distinctly unique sound. Based in Birmingham, they now consist primarily of singer-songwriter, musician and producer Glenn Smyth and drummer Sebastian Maynard-Francis, along with new bassist Emily Doyle (former member, guitarist Tom Ford, moved out of the area and no longer performs live with them, but still helps with the production of some of their music).
Glenn and Sebastian in Austin, Texas
Their music has been featured in numerous televised sporting events, including Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC Match Of The Day and Birmingham City Football Club, as well as traditional alt-rock radio channels such as BBC Introducing Hereford, BBC 6 Music and The Guardian. Last spring, they had the privilege of performing at the legendary SXSW (South by Southwest) festival in Austin, Texas. In February 2022, Solar Eyes signed with the label Fierce Panda Records, through which they’ve released three EPs – Dreaming of the Moon, Alcatraz, and Naked Monkey on a Spaceship. (I’ve reviewed quite a bit of their music, and you can read some of those reviews by clicking on the ‘Related’ links at the end of this post.)
Now they’re back with a terrific new single “Let’s Run Away“, the second single from their forthcoming debut self-titled album Solar Eyes, set for release on February 16th, which they’ll be launching with a hometown show at Birmingham’s Hare & Hounds. The song was written by Smyth, who co-produced it with Francis, and mixed and mastered by Jeff Knowler. Smyth played guitar and sang vocals, Francis played drums and percussion, Liam McKeown played additional guitar and keyboards, and Tom Boddison played slide guitar.
Smyth wrote, and the band recorded, the song following Solar Eyes’ appearance a SXSW last year, where he was inspired by the historical lore and Tex-Mex flavor of the Austin region. Specifically, he drew inspiration from “small-town tales of daylight robberies in times of old and rumours of the last crimes of the infamous duo Bonnie & Clyde“. He elaborates: “‘Let’s Run Away’ was one of the last songs to be written on the album; it was written in Texas last March when we were out there playing South by Southwest. You can sort of hear it as well, there’s that Americana haze type sound. Spaghetti western vibe. I sort of had in my head – now this might sound a bit mad – Tracey Chapman ‘Fast Car’ – in essence, but with a brummie slant.”
Accordingly, the song features their signature exciting Spaghetti Western-style guitar lines layered over lush cinematic synths and a haunting psychedelic groove, fortified by Francis’ energetic galloping drumbeats. It all beautifully conveys a sense of intrigue and remorse expressed in the lyrics delivered by Smyth’s wonderful droning layered vocals: “I hope that given time, you’ll forgive my crimes, I don’t wanna die alone, I love you, I let you go, I’m to blame / I see it all, I heed the call, let’s run away…”
“Let’s Run Away” is another fine song from Solar Eyes, and in fact, their entire forthcoming album is outstanding. The colorful animated video was created by the band’s new bassist Emily Doyle.
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 