The 1982 Riddim & Funk poll

King Sunny Ade, Orchestra Baobad, 23 Skiddoo fighting it out in my record collection for supremacy (sad for Fela, New Age Steppers, Gregory Isaacs, Trouble Funk who just get to watch.) Amazing fucking list.

I'd probably cornily go with Thriller, then The Message, but there are a lot of really great albums up there. Some others you could maybe have included:

Marvin Gaye: Midnight Love
Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society: Mandance
Clint Eastwood & General Saint: Two Bad DJ
Ray Parker, Jr.: The Other Woman
Itals: Brutal Out Deh
James Booker: New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live!
Gang of Four: Songs of the Free
B-52's: Mesopotamia
Sweet Pea Atkinson: Don't Walk Away
Material: One Down
Devo: Oh No! It's Devo
Talking Heads: The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Majestics: Mystic Miracle Star
"D" Train

Also, didn't a live Trouble Funk LP called Straight Up Funk Go Go Style also come out the same year? (Not that I've ever seen a copy.)

And there were a couple of those Disco-O-Wax Be-Bop Cut Creators live rap LPs too, I think.

(Actually, scratch that Devo LP, probably; they were starting to de-funk by then. But add Ornette Coleman's Of Human Feelings.)

This is impossible! Juju Music, Thriller, Tongue in Chic, Wise Guys -- all wonderful. Chuck OTM about Midnight Love, especially in its remastered form.

There's a CDR in my car containing these and... a couple others that are slipping the mind (no shit, all '82 and mostly within this stylistic frame, and was trying to avoid slickness):

Andre Cymone - Livin' in the New Wave
Gwen Guthrie - Peek-a-Boo
Exodus - Together Forever
New Order - 5 8 6
Aurra - Nasty Disposition
Zalmac - What's in It for Me
Cabaret Voltaire - Invocation
Gang of Four - Call Me Up
A Certain Ratio - Knife Slits Water
Roundtree - Hit on You (Tony Humphries Dub Mix)
Shriekback - Accretions

Seven Songs with a slight edge over Alligator Woman from UF's list and Mandance from xhuxk's list. "Mesopotamia" for best song off any of the albums/EPs listed thus far.

holy crap why didnt anyone tell me about 1982 when i was living in it

Voted Chaka Khan

ack! 7-way tie for first?

what the hell, i'll go with Pirates Choice--seeing as that's the last one i heard.

It was Prince, Gap or Zapp. Went with the last on a total whim.

It's been a P-Funk year for me, so I held my breath in the face of so many other great choices and voted Computer Games.

yes!

http://www.azusadental.com/ulmer.gif

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1096/800659276_7d99f42e1f.jpg?v=0

great list though, what a year!

Wow.

Has to be "Thriller" but several great albums here. The early 80s were probably the best era for R&B dance music ever.

And btw. I missed Kid Creole & The Coconuts' "Tropical Gangsters". I see you have included another one by them, but IMO the pinnacle was that album. "Annie I'm Not Your Daddy" is glorious!

i thought those two were one and the same (save the diff. title)?

Hmmm.. Sure "Wise Guy" may be the American version. That's his greatest one then. My vote for "Thriller" is still correct though as evident on http://rateyourmusic.com/list/GeirH/my_top_75_albums_of_1982 :)

Great stuff up there, but by '82, "real" capital-F funk was vanishing, transforming itself into something more dominated by synths/samplers than bass/drums. (Not a bad thing in itself - just a matter of personal preferences and prejudices...)

I choose Black Rock.

Other worthy candidates: What Time Is It?, Come Away With ESG, We Want Miles, Mandance (Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society).

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

AMAZING list. I voted, as you'd imagine, 1999

Great stuff up there, but by '82, "real" capital-F funk was vanishing, transforming itself into something more dominated by synths/samplers than bass/drums.

This is an era dominated by synths, first and foremost. Later in the 80s you got an era dominated by samplers, and a strong Prince influence, which led to somewhat "rougher" hits from such acts as Alexander O'Neal, Janet Jackson, Jody Watley, Donna Allen, Vesta Williams, Timex Social Club/Club Nouveau etc.

juju music!

even tho 1999 probably deserves it most

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Interesting results! I'll pull out the Trouble Funk right now. I had no idea people liked Zapp, guess I gotta check more out.

Anyone gonna check out the Eddy Grant reissues in a couple weeks? They're great albums.

I picked up Zapp II and it's good fun. Definitely inspired Daft Punk and Clinton (Cornershop side project in '99).

Also got Gaye's Midnight Love double deluxe used. I learned the first track, "Midnight Lady" was originally called "Clique Games/Rick James." It definitely shows some James influence. Not bad! I actually like this better than What's Going On/Let's Get It On. Did anyone get the double disc reissue of 1981's In Our Lifetime, where the second disc is the Love Man version that's closer to what Gaye intended? It just came out last year, but it's already $60+.

I think the Eddy Grant reissues are UK only for now. Now that exchange rates are better, it's not a big deal.

I got the vinyl edition of IOL a few months ago; was surprised how different it sounds from Midnight Love: earthier and confused, the morning after precipitating a massive hangover (Midnight Love suggests that he went out again a few hours later and had an even better time).

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JWENRJN4

THE NEXT GROZART - Rhythm'82

This is my entry to the ILX DJ Mix comp 2009. Thought I'd post it up here as it's loosely inspired by this thread, it's not wholely from 1982, but I wanted to go for a certain, albeit fairly eclectic vibe.

Mixed in Acid Pro 4

01 tom tom club - genius of love
02 sly and robbie - boops
03 grace jones - pull up to the bumper
04 mantronix - boogie down dub
05 cabaret voltaire - yashar
06 paul hardcastle - guilty
07 prince - head
08 rick james - give it to me baby
09 loose joints - is it all over my face
10 human league - hard times
11 was not was - tell me that i'm dreaming
12 lizzy mercier descloux - funky stuff
13 tom tom club - wordy rappinghood
14 dinosaur - kiss me again
15 konk - baby dee
16 rip rig and panic - bob hope takes risks
17 delta 5 - mind your own business
18 the slits - heard it through the grapevine
19 beastie boys - cookie puss
20 4 be 2 - one of the lads
21 specials - rasta call you
22 magazine - definitive gaze
23 talking heads - crosseyed and painless
24 prince - baby i'm a star
25 james white and the contortions - contort yourself
26 cinquo ocho bastardos - head potato
27 scientist - blood on his lips
28 devo - peekaboo
29 david byrne and brian eno - help me somebody
30 23 skidoo - last words
31 talking heads - the great curve
32 new age steppers - problems