Revisiting music you haven't heard in 20+ years

I've been spending some time recently listening to albums from 1984-87 that I hadn't thought about let alone heard since the late 80s. Not necessarily because they weren't that good. It's mainly because I had them on tape, and my tape collection was gradually lost and destroyed in a series of moves, a flood, and lent to a friend for a roadtrip, never to be seen again (friend came back, tapes didn't). I wasn't moved to replace them on CD, possibly because they inhabited that odd line that wavered between mainstream rock and alternative, before most people had a label for it. I remember writing notes with a classmate around 84/85 arguing about the merits of "independent rock" versus mainstream pop. I think that's what we were calling it, though the majority of this stuff were on major labels.

The Alarm - Strength (1985)
It's amazing how the memories come back so quickly on hearing it. I remember a lot of the lyrics, and I'm pretty sure I haven't heard this since 1987. I would have been embarrassed to play "Spirit Of '76" on my college radio show, but I used to love it, and it still is kind of moving in that Springsteen/Generation X "Kiss Me Deadly" kind of way. They sound less like the U2 copyists of my memory, and Strength really doesn't sound too dated next to the new Gaslight Anthem. I enjoyed it enough to download Declaration too.

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Tinderbox (1986)
This was my first Siouxsie album, but after I had heard the earlier ones, I sort of turned on this and felt it was a pretty diluted shadow of the earlier stuff in attempt at wider commercial success. Not it just sounds pretty much as brilliant as anything they've done.

World Party - Private Revolution (1987)
This seemed dorky at the time, but "Ship Of Fools" is still a jam. Some of it reminds me of Prince's Beatles influenced stuff. Not I'll keep listening to this much though.

Julian Cope - Saint Julian (1987)
I didn't even know about Teardrop Explodes until after this album. I downloaded MP3s after reading the Cope biography. What a kook. It's pretty solid, and I'd buy it again if they reissued it properly, even though there are some annoying qualities about it.

David & David - Boomtown (1986)
Blah, I don't know what I heard in them. Polished, professional, unexciting.

That Petrol Emotion - Babble (1987)
I was obsessed with this album for a while, and really thought the band would have come out with more great stuff, but I think they shot their wad here. Production managed to push the envelope in parts like Shriekback and The The, but also sound a little dated at the same time.

The Call - Reconciled (1986)/Into The Woods (1987)
How big was this band? They seemed arena ready, but don't know what kind of crowds they ever drew. Never saw 'em. I really loved Reconciled at the time, Into the Woods less so. Doesn't move me anymore, any pleasure of hearing again is pure nostalgia.

Game Theory - Big Shot Chronicles (1986)/Lolita Nation (1987)
I really thought I would like these more on re-hearing. They albums seem to have maintained a pretty strong critical reputation over the years. The off-kilter minor key stuff maybe isn't what I want to hear right now, will try again later.

Sisters Of Mercy - First And Last And Always (1984)/Floodland (1987)
I'd completely forgotten about this band, and used to mix them up in my mind with The Mission. Not a fan of the goth that was inspired by them, but as silly as some of it is, I kind of like it.

The Cure - The Top (1984)
Always thought of this as their worst album. Picked up a used copy of the double deluxe remaster and hearing it on good headphones was enlightening. Songwriting may not be there, but the sounds are fun to dig into.

Shriekback - Oil & Gold (1985)
I actually did get Big Night Music on CD and have listened to that the most, even though many probably consider this their best. It's less slinky and atmospheric, but still pretty great.

The Waterboys - This Is The Sea (1985)
When I was a big U2 fan in 84-85 I probably should have been a fan of these guys, but could never get into this one. Still having trouble with it, though I did think Fisherman's Blues was pleasant. Something about Mike Scott's voice or their arrangements just aren't doing it for me.

Hugo Largo - Drum (1984)
Freakin' gorgeous. They should do a deluxe reissue treatment of this.

Next up, XTC - The Big Express (1985).

I'd love a deluxe reissue treatment of the whole Hugo Largo catalog. Drum is from 87 btw.

Freakin' typos. I'm going to bed.

That Petrol Emotion - Babble (1987)

I didn't get into them until Chemicrazy in 1989, but Babble probably turned into my favorite of theirs. I was just playing it last week, fwiw.

I think we listened to the same stuff back in the day! Just about all these albums crossed my path, or at least the singles did from some of them.

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Tinderbox (1986)

This was my introduction to Siouxsie and I still think it's possibly their most consistent, strength-to-strength album though it's hard to argue with earlier choices.

Julian Cope - Saint Julian (1987)

I agree with your assessment. His solo albums are a bit patchy, better to get the BBC comp.

That Petrol Emotion - Babble (1987)

Doubtless you know their debut is ever better and feels less dated to me.

The Call - Reconciled (1986)/Into The Woods (1987)

I think I owned one of these - the one with the excellent "Everywhere You Go" with Peter Gabriel and Sting on backing vocals. That song is pretty much all I need from The Call.

Game Theory - Big Shot Chronicles (1986)/Lolita Nation (1987)

Again, I agree with your assessment - I've got the Best Of compilation and it doesn't make me play it. I have more affection for the early Loud Family stuff, frankly.

Sisters Of Mercy - First And Last And Always (1984)/Floodland (1987)

Ohhh, I dig these with their big helping of cheese! HUGE sound at the time, it's kinda good he stopped as I'm not sure I would've liked his next step.

Shriekback - Oil & Gold (1985)

Utter classic! "Nemesis" was another monster song that had some odd crossover appeal with the mainstream and in my mind there's not a weak track on it. The whole thing evokes the sweaty jungle imagery found on the cover and in the lyrics.

Hugo Largo - Drum (1984)

I sold this a while back, maybe I need to revisit it anyway. I saw them back in the day and it was fun as a live experience but the records never called to me.

I've been digging into my tapes, too, though they're mostly bootlegs at this point as I've replaced the contents of the official releases (more or less). But pulling out really old stuff to review, I've had similar reactions as you - I used to love the Dream Academy and then pulled out their debut only to find it had aged TERRIBLY and promptly sold it. Some of the stuff from those days, like Tears For Fears, is a strongly nostalgic favorite which makes me cringe a bit, but overall I still enjoy them.

And XTC's "The Big Express" is possibly my favorite XTC album!!

David & David - Boomtown (1986)
Blah, I don't know what I heard in them. Polished, professional, unexciting.

My favorite album on the list (of the ones I know), fwiw. Bought a $1 copy last year; dead-end-street L.A. studio rock seediness puts it in the same category as, say, Warren Zevon or Stan Ridgway in my book. And to my ears, its professional polish made it more interesting.

Shriekback : i actually prefer Jam Science (its the whole rubbery atmospheric funk groove that does it for me), but this one still does me good things. during my time in Chicago, have tried to find an official version on cd of this, as i thought this was still in print in the US. suspect i am wrong.

That Petrol Emotion : probably due to my love of the whole noise/big drum thing, i still cant but help love this, but i do have to be in a certain mood.

Julian Cope : needs to be given the deluxe remastered 2cd treatment. there were all sorts of fun remixes/amazing b-sides from this era. do i remember a Trouble Funk/Go-Go version of one of the tracks ?

Julian Cope : needs to be given the deluxe remastered 2cd treatment.

This was given the deluxe treatment in 2004 - but only in Japan! I've got it, here's the disc 2 contents:
2.1 I''ve Got Levitation 3:05
2.2 Umpteenth Unnatural Blues 3:00
2.3 Non-Alignment Pact 2:51
2.4 Transporting 3:36
2.5 World ShutYour Mouth (Trouble Funk Mix) 4:36
2.6 Disaster 5:00
2.7 Mock Turtle 4:26
2.8 Warwick The Kingmaker 3:54
2.9 Trampolene (Warne Out Mix) 5:57
2.10 Pulsar NX (Live Version) 2:54
2.11 Shot Down (Live Version) 3:53
2.12 Eve's Volcano (Vulcano Lungo ! (Covered In Sin) 6:49
2.13 Almost Beautiful Child (1 And 2) 5:25
2.14 Spacehopper (Annexe) 4:55

Julian Cope - Saint Julian (1987)
I didn't even know about Teardrop Explodes until after this album.

Me too! And it remains the closest to my heart of anything he's ever produced. I taped him playing "Spacehopper" on the Joan Rivers show and watched it again and again, transfixed.

xp: would totally buy that remaster even though I have most of that stuff on taped versions of the relevant singles. The key stuff (of what I have) is the first four tracks, which are I think from the World Shut Your Mouth 12". "My head is in the oven, won't you help me please?" If you haven't heard it you have to imagine it sung COPE JAUNTY.

i was right ! there was a trouble funk remix.
seem to recall it aint all that, bar a little more oomph in the beats.
but its certaqinly no 10 minute chant-response monster a la trouble funks best.

Ah yes, the 2004 Universal Japan version. All yours for just <a href=http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=julian+cope+saint+julian&x=0&y=0>;$149.00</a>. Hope they release it properly. I've been hunting for the flac files for a year with no luck so far.

Ah yes, the 2004 Universal Japan version. All yours for just http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=julian+cope+saint+julian&x=0&y=049.00. Hope they release it properly. I've been hunting for the flac files for a year with no luck so far.

http://www.amazon.com/Saint-Julian-Cope/dp/B0001ZX22C/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1276543840&sr=8-649?

I liked that David & David album too, though I haven't heard it since about '87.

I have both those Sisters of Mercy albums in my iPod right now.

Never heard any of the others. I remember a lot of Christian kids being really into The Alarm when I was in junior high/high school, though. Were they a stealth Christian band?

I find that I pretty much still like all the music I ever liked. I'm still the same person.

World Party - Private Revolution (1987)
This seemed dorky at the time, but "Ship Of Fools" is still a jam. Some of it reminds me of Prince's Beatles influenced stuff. Not I'll keep listening to this much though.

totally! whenever i hear ship of fools beginning on a radio station, i say "oh yeah, cool!," and about :20 later, i change the station.

Well, that's a whole other topic. Personally, there's been plenty of music that has not grown with me and music that I hated when younger and now love.

For example, Modern English's 1986 "Stop Start" just got released on CD for the first time. I *loved* this album when it came out but today it sounds really bad. I still kinda like it but that's just nostalgia.

Sisters Of Mercy - First And Last And Always (1984)/Floodland (1987)

Ohhh, I dig these with their big helping of cheese! HUGE sound at the time, it's kinda good he stopped as I'm not sure I would've liked his next step.

sadly he didn't stop and the next step was a disastrous "hard rock" album

XTC - The Big Express (1985)
The only song I really remembered was "All You Pretty Girls." The relatively scarce melodies and hooks don't detract it from being an interesting album, but it also didn't stick over the years. Ironically it makes it sound more fresh now. But I couldn't possibly rate it over Skylarking.

The Smithereens - Especially For You (1986)
I remember "Blood And Roses" kind of blew up, rightly so. A pretty solid album that's borderline 60s revivalist that was a gateway to similar bands like the Lime Spiders, Godfathers, Lyres and Original Sins.

xxp - Can anyone be the same person after 20 years? Maybe if you go from like 70 to 90. Most of us are both more and less. Doesn't mean tastes always radically change. Most of us here our tastes mainly expand. Your average non-music obsessive usually experiences arrested development where most of their favorite music is a snapshot of the era when they were aged 14 to 22. And no matter how diverse our tastes become, the music we listen to while growing up permanently inhabit a particular place in our consciousness. Adolescent brains are on overdrive, feeling every emotion and new experience much more intensely than we do as adults.

Most of the music that slayed me at that age I've kept on vinyl, cd and deluxe editions most of my life. So it's interesting to go back to the handful of albums that I lost track of and experience the flashbacks. Feel free to add your own here!

The Cure - The Head On The Door (1985)
Something about this album used to bug me. I think it might have been that the tape was warped. It was a crappy copy that probably melted a little in the car or something. I picked up a used copy of the double deluxe set and it sounds so much better than I remember. Always liked the three hits, but the other cuts sound much better than the wobbly filler I remember. I'm definitely learning to appreciate their mid period albums more second time around.

The Call - Secret Christians produced by a Talking Head, given a radio and video push, and father to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Julian Cope - "World Shut Your Mouth" has a lot in common with the music of The Kinks from the same time period. "Back Where We Started"

David and David - "took a year off from college and he never went back"

I've got that deluxe 2CD version of Saint Julian. Only "Screaming Secrets" is on my iPod, though.

i was right ! there was a trouble funk remix.
seem to recall it aint all that, bar a little more oomph in the beats.
but its certaqinly no 10 minute chant-response monster a la trouble funks best.

One of those things which sounds mouthwatering/intriguing on paper but totally fails to deliver. The curious can check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XGpU7HdPjI

This is timely. It was announced that That Petrol Emotion - Babble (1987) is being reissued on July 13. It was reissued once before, but that was nearly a decade ago.

Funny that The Call and Alarm were "secret Christians," as I was particularly annoyed by anything Christian as a teenager, and really liked songs like "Dear God" and especially That Petrol Emotion's "Creeping To The Cross."

. It was reissued once before, but that was nearly a decade ago.

fuck. i genuinely thought it was only 2 or 3.