80s songs. The Good, the Bad and the Cheesy.

I've been checking this dude's blog out and he's got some good stuff to say from time to time. He reviews a singer and his albums. This week it's Robert Palmer who I don't really have an opinion on, favorable or unfavorable. Enhhh. He's also done Tom Waits recently who I do love.

A few of these crossed my radar. Eep, it's not possible that Paul Simon's Graceland is 20 years old.

"Believe it or not, people of my generation, but this marks the 20th anniversary of Paul Simon’s Graceland album — and thus also the two-decade marker for America’s introduction to Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In the years since, Ladysmith has become internationally accepted as the world’s premier Zulu vocal group, toured the globe, won Grammys, and generally just kicked much ass."

The below is about Paul Carrack who was a guest on Squeeze there for a while and had the hit "Don't Shed a Tear." I'm pretty sure I had a mix tape out there with this, Icehouse's "Electric Blue" OMD"s "Dreaming," and so forth. I still remember the lyric, "Ever since I've met you, you made my life such hell."

"And yet, for a brief time in the ’80s, it seemed like Carrack was indeed poised to become a big-time solo star. If anything, it seemed like his sporadic attention to his solo career was what held it back. His first solo release was followed by a turn as a member of Squeeze (that’s Carrack singing “Tempted”); his second, Suburban Voodoo, was critically well-received and even spun off a couple of hits, but he wasn’t able to follow it up for four years due to his commitments as a member of Mike & the Mechanics (that’s Carrack singing “Silent Running” and “The Living Years”).

With 1987’s One Good Reason, Carrack finally hit major Top 40 paydirt. The album spun off four singles, one of which, “Don’t Shed A Tear,” is one of the great forgotten hits of the decade. After Reason, Carrack recorded and toured behind The Living Years with Mike & the Mechanics, then turned around and assembled his next solo album, Groove Approved, the very next year."

About T'Pau, the group who created "Heart and Soul."
"They’re barely remembered today, at least outside the British club circuit, but T’Pau, in its brief existence as a major-label act, actually managed to leave the world with two things that will always stand the test of time. The first is a rock & roll maxim; specifically, that if you name your band after a Star Trek character, you are automatically setting the timer on your fame at 15:00. T’Pau’s second enduring gift to the world is the terrifying, all-powerful earworm that is “Heart and Soul,” a song that was so pervasive on Top 40 radio in 1987 that you were literally left with no choice but to like it, even if only for a few minutes."

And this is his thoughts regarding the Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1:

"If it’s Friday, it must be Bootleg City…and today, our visit takes us right down Wilbury Way.

You must remember The Traveling Wilburys — George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Roy Orbison — and the way their accidental first album, Volume One, set hearts aflutter upon its release in 1988. Four rock legends and the guy from ELO, having fun and making music! You could hardly go wrong!

Then Orbison had to go and fuck it all up by dying, of course, and 1990’s Volume Three, though still a decent record, couldn’t help but fall short. Sure was nice while it lasted, though, wasn’t it?

Both Volume One and Volume Three have been out of print for years, which is totally inexcusable; I’ve read different explanations for this, and lots of reissue promises, but the fact remains: Copies of these albums should not be going for $40+. And, to that end, here’s Volume One for free. Rock on, friends, and I’ve got Volume Three, too, so if enough of you want it, we can stick around Wilbury Way next week."

I have (or had) this on tape. I'm a bit fuzzy where things are. I am stunned that copies of this album is going for 40 bucks. It seems that it's odd that it's not being reissued. I remember really liking it.