Annual Music Awards

16/11/2023

I was listening to a tape today that I recorded in 1982, where I counted down my top 10 favorite pop hits of 1982, American Top 40 style, starting with #10. I was surprised by the first two songs on the countdown being at the bottom spots, while some songs after them were songs I now play much less often. There were more surprises on the list, which I'll mention after the list. I couldn't predict exactly what songs were on this list, except that I KNEW what the #1 song was, without a doubt -- I was *crazy* about that song in 1982!

Here's the sequence of what I heard in my Top 10 countdown:

10. Forget-me-nots - Patrice Rushen
9. I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow
8. I Ran - A Flock Of Seagulls
7. Kids In America - Kim Wilde
6. It's Raining Again - Supertramp
5. Gloria - Laura Branigan
4. Vacation - The Go-Go's
3. The Look Of Love - ABC
2. Don't You Want Me - The Human League
1. Let It Whip - Dazz Band

Usually if I play a 7" single by A Flock Of Seagulls, I play "Space Age Love Song" (and its B-side-only "Windows"), so I was surprised that "I Ran" was on the list. But as I thought about it, I might not have gotten "Space Age Love Song" until early 1983. Not sure. But certainly, I play that song much more than "I Ran" and like it (and "Windows") significantly more.

I was *shocked" by #6. I introduced it as "My #6 song is by Supertramp" and I couldn't even imagine a song by Supertramp in 1982; I could only think of their Breakfast In America album that came out in 1979. I didn't even remember "It's Raining Again" until it started playing. Talk about dropping into obscurity (as far as my listening habits).

I am a BIG Kim Wilde fan, and her albums make regular appearances on my turntable or CD player, but her debut album, where "Kids In America" is from, is one I listen to less than her next three albums -- Select, Catch As Catch Can, and Teases And Dares. However, I do like her first album very much and still totally love the song "Kids In America."

Similarly, I listen to The Go-Go's quite a bit, but the album of theirs I listen to most often is 2001's God Bless The Go-Go's, the best album they ever did. I still enjoy their first three albums, though.

Now I'm going to make a list from the above songs: here is the frequency (roughly) of how often I listen to these songs these days:

1. Forget-me-nots - Patrice Rushen
2. I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow
3. Kids In America - Kim Wilde
4. Vacation - The Go-Go's
5. The Look Of Love - ABC
6. Gloria - Laura Branigan
7. Let It Whip - Dazz Band
8. Don't You Want Me - The Human League
9. I Ran - A Flock Of Seagulls
10. (NEVER) It's Raining Again - Supertramp

"Forget-me-nots" is a song that has never completely disappeared from my music listening. I mean it's not like I play it frequently, but it never became dormant. Such a lovely smooth groove.

People who regularly read my posts know that in 2020 much of my record collection got damaged by flood/mold, and the amount I had insured only covered a fraction of what it would have cost to replace all my records, so I had to choose carefully what I would replace. Well, "I Want Candy" made the cut, and in a big way -- it cost me $14.77 to replace that 7" single, but I like the song well enough to pay that much to replace it. And it was only #9 on my list in 1982! I mentioned on the tape that it only made it to #66 on the Billboard singles chart. Yet despite it not even reaching the top 40 in 1982, I bet you know the song.

For "The Look Of Love," I have a 12" single with Parts 1-4. Part 1 is the radio version, part 2 instrumental. Part 3 is my favorite and the one I play far more than the radio version: It's a stripped down version where the drums are out front and very little of the strings and horns. The #5 frequency position on the list is actually Part 3, not the radio hit version, so if I forced my list to be the radio versions only, it would rank lower on the list.

The Human League album Dare, which "Don't You Want Me" came from, was a big album for me in 1982, but my favorite song on the album was "The Sound Of The Crowd." If I only play one Human League song, it's usually that one.

Though I don't get out "Let It Whip" as often as the ones above it on the list, when I do play it, I still greatly enjoy the song.

Can you think of any songs that you were crazy about when they were popular but now you almost never play them (compared to other songs of the time)? And can you think of any songs that you were not crazy about when they were popular but that you have continued to enjoy over the years, making them more important to you now than they were when they were popular?

15/05/2022

Back in the mid-1980s, I was a member of mail order record clubs, including the Christian music club run by the largest Christian music distributor at the time, Word. It operated like the others, where you get a card for an automatic shipment, and if you didn’t return the card to say you didn’t want it, you were responsible for keeping and paying for the automatic shipment.

Then they came out with an absolutely cool “side club” called The Music Connection. With this club, you were automatically sent two records every month (no choice) BUT you were to open the records and listen to them to see if you liked them, and if you did, you kept and paid for them, and if not, you could send them back for no charge.

It was through this club that I discovered Kim Boyce. I had never heard of her when I received her debut album in 1987. I opened the record, put it on the turntable and was totally blown away by the first song. WOW!!!!! INCREDIBLE!!! But it didn’t stop there…the whole album was amazing. While I purchased a lot of unknown records through that club, I remember this one quite clearly.

What a voice! So much power! Such exuberance! In the opening track, “Love Resurrection,” at one point in the song she belts out a powerful long note, “a DIVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE intervention!” Most pop singers with such a long note would put at least a little vibrato in it — not the extreme vibrato of opera singers, but a bit. However, she puts zero vibrato in it, which is fine with me since I’m not a fan of it. Her voice is so powerful that she can belt out that long note with no vibrato, giving a clean, clear, exhilarating sound.

Every song on the album is good. I even like the lone ballad. I dislike pop ballads, but I actually like this one! (“Here”) Even though I like all the songs on the album, three stand out for me more than the others because of their exuberant energy: the aforementioned “Love Resurrection,” “That’s How You Touched My Heart,” and “Sing And Dance.”

“That’s How You Touched My Heart” is full of joy!

Back in the 1980s, within many Christian circles, dancing was still frowned upon, and in the midst of this, Kim Boyce put out a song that pushed back on that — “‘Don’t do this!’ ‘Can’t do that! Too much fun just can’t be good.’ Knowing deep down in our heart that Jesus said we could SING AND DANCE NOW! Once you are free, you’ll be dancing all night!” Her singing is so energizing in this jubilant song!

This is an album that got destroyed in the flood/mold disaster of 2020, and I just got a replacement for it — tonight was my first listen of my replacement record. It’s even better than I remembered. So much joy! Elation! Exuberance! I had a big smile on my face!

I ended up buying her subsequent albums as they came out — I bought her first six albums. Albums #1, #3, and #5 are the best. #5, Facts Of Love, is the only one that approaches energy as her debut. I saw her on tour for that album, first in a big crowd at Six Flags Magic Mountain, but the far superior concert experience was when she came to Azusa Pacific University (I was a graduate student there at that time) and performed in the cafeteria. I got to see her performing up close — way close! The most amazing thing was how she could belt out big, long notes like “DIVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE.” I always pictured her with some expression on her face and body language of lots of effort to deliver such power; it blew me away to see her belt out such intensity like it was nothing at all! Incredible!

13/11/2021

Among the genres that got destroyed in the storage building flood while I was stranded in another state was my collection of disco. In beginning my buyback, the album Midnight Rhythm had to be among the first on the list. Midnight Rhythm's sound is 100% 1979, so it does sound dated, but it is the quintessential disco album if you're looking for something to DANCE to! The slowest song is 128 bpm, and side 2, which is a 15-minute song, is 140 bpm. This artist knows how to do dance music, making incredible building crescendos with exhilarating releases, along with lots of energy! If I could only have one disco album, this would be it!

When this ended, I put on another disco album, which I picked up at a local record show in September, the Lipps, Inc. album with "Funkytown" on it. I love the song, but it's SO SLOW compared to what I'm used to dancing to these days, and compared to Midnight Rhythm's album. I played the song after "Funkytown" also, another good song ("All Night Long"), but then I couldn't stand the slow pace anymore. I had to put on something faster...

I wanted some 1990s happy hardcore because the frenetic piano on Midnight Rhythm's album made me want some more active piano, which is found in a lot of 1990s happy hardcore, so I got out Happy 2b Hardcore, Volume Two, mixed by Anabolic Frolic. Now we're talkin' -- 170 to 180 bpm! That's more my speed! Energy! Piano!

I had a good time with my dance music tonight.

27/10/2021

11/08/2021

Hard to believe it's been 10 years! In 2011, this was my #1 album of the year. I just listened to it again today...always a good experience.

She recently released a new EP, Desert Flags. Every song on it is really good. Miss Angie continues to release top-notch music.

After being absent more than a decade, Christian artist Miss Angie returns with more heartfelt songs.

26/03/2021

I've been listening to some of my 1980s albums and 12" singles lately, and decided to pull out ABC tonight.

I listened to the album first, although I always liked the 12" singles better, then listened to the 12" singles. The album has "The Look Of Love" parts 1 & 4. The 12" single (center in the picture) has all 4 parts. Part 1 is the same as the album version, but this UK 12" mix has so much more presence and life to it than the album version. Part 2 is an instrumental version, with strings carrying on the melody done by vocals in part 1. Part 2 also has an exhilarating trumpet at the end, and I don't even normally like brass. Part 3 was always my favorite -- it's a stripped-down version of mostly just drums and bass, giving the song much more beat -- the drums are way up close and present. Part 4, as on the album, is a brief instrumental version with no bass or drums.

The other 12" single from the album, a US mix of "Poison Arrow," is also way better than the album version. It begins with a jazzy flute not found at all on the album version. There are two added interludes in this version, the first consisting of lounge-jazz kind of piano playing, and the second having more jazzy flute. Really good.

Just a bit from tonight's "digging out records I haven't heard in a long time" musical enjoyment.

15/05/2020

Aleixa's debut "Honey Lake" was my #1 album of 1997. The album has a considerable range of sounds, but its foundation is in the industrial camp. (Their follow-up, "Disfigured," was solidly industrial. That was my #2 album in 2005.)

"Honey Lake" is bold lyrically -- the only Christian album I have where one of the songs is about wanting to commit su***de because "there's too much pain," and that one is followed by "I Could Murder," which starts out with people yelling "M-U-R-D-E-R K-I-L-L!"

I wrote a full-length review of the album on the Annual Music Awards website:

http://annualmusicawards.com/annual-music-awards/1990s/1997-music-awards-section/aleixa-honeylake.html

Stunning, creative industrial and dance music with dark lyrics make up this masterful debut from Aleixa.

01/12/2019

After 5 years of working on this website in my spare time, at last it has been published! Currently, there are awards lists for every year from 1997-2017, with a total of 460 short album reviews, plus 39 full page reviews. It is my hope that you will find new music you like through this site.

P.S. This site has NO ADS, so it's a place you can go to on the web without obnoxious ads harassing you!