Rock Hard Times: Shoe's Top 10 Alt Songs of the 80's

Today In Rock History

April 25th . . . 1918 - Legendary jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald is born in Newport News, VA . . . 1923 - Blues guitarist Albert King is born . . . 1933 - Jerry Leiber is born in Baltimore. With Mike Stoller, he’s written witty rock hits like “Yakety Yak” and “Jailhouse Rock” . . . 1945 - Bjorn Ulvaeus of Abba is born in Gothenburg, Sweden . . . 1945 - Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is born this day . . . 1950 - Steve Ferrone, drummer with the Average White Band and Eric Clapton, is born in Brighton, England . . . 1956 - Elvis Presley reaches top of US chart with Heartbreak Hotel, his first No. 1 . . . 1961 - Elvis Presley makes his last stage appearance for nearly eight years at Bloch Arena in Hawaii . . . 1964 - The Beatles have an amazing 14 singles on the American chart . . . 1967 - The Beatles perform “All You Need Is Love” during a global satellite broadcast . . . 1974 - Jim Morrison’s widow, Pam, dies in Hollywood at the age of 27. Police suspect heroin use may have played a part in her death . . . 1977 - Elvis Presley makes his last-known recordings during a live concert at the Saginaw (Mich.) Civic Center . . . 1981 - Wings break up after Denny Laine leaves the band. Paul McCartney says he will carry on as a solo artist . . . 1987 - Crowded House had their biggest U.S. hit when “Don’t Dream It’s Over” peaked at #2; U2 replace Beastie Boys at top of US LP chart with The Joshua Tree . . . 1990 - The Fender Stratocaster on which Jimi Hendrix played “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Woodstock sells at a London auction for $295,000 . . . 1994 - The Eagles played the first of two shows where they recorded their ‘Hell Freezes Over’ album . . . 1994 - A judge sentences Beastie Boy Adam Horowitz to 200 hours’ community service after he beats up a TV cameraman during River Phoenix’s funeral . . . 1994 - A judge determines that Michael Bolton’s “Love Is a Wonderful Thing” sounds a little too similar to the Isley Brothers’ “Love Is a Wonderful Thing.” Ya think? . . . 1997 - Warren Haynes and Allen Woody quit the Allman Brothers Band to tend to their careers as Gov’t Mule . . . 1999 - Funk star Roger Troutman, 47, dies in a hospital in Dayton, Ohio, after being shot several times . . . 2000 - Eric Clapton is reunited on a TV stage in London with his former Derek & the Dominos keyboard player Bobby Whitlock, for their first performance together in 29 years . . . 2002 - Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, the effervescent, sometimes volatile rapping member of the Grammy-winning R&B trio TLC, is killed in a car crash in Honduras . . . 2003 - The late jazz great Nina Simone is laid to rest in Carry-Le-Rouet, France . . . 2004 - Piano man Billy Joel drives his car into a house in Long Island. Nobody is seriously injured. It’s his third car crash in two years . . . 2007 - American singer Bobby “Boris” Pickett died of leukemia at the age of 69. He scored the Halloween anthem ‘The Monster Mash’ in 1962 . . .

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Shoe's Top 10 Alt Songs of the 80's

Here's my first playlist and it was a tough one. I had to leave off some great songs. Here's your chance to post a playlist of your own. Any kind, any genre, any decade, does not matter. It could be your Top 10 Songs to Take a Crap To for all I care. No rules, brothers. Have at it.

Like Wow - Wipeout - Hoodoo Gurus

Can’t Get There From Here - R.E.M.

68 Guns - the Alarm

These Important Years - Husker Du

Color Me Impressed - The Replacements

Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head - They Might Be Giants

Take the Skinheads Bowling - Camper Van Beethoven

Goo Goo Muck - The Cramps

Dance, Motherfucker, Dance! - Violent Femmes

Anything, Anything - Dramarama

Honorable Mention:

Sitting Still, Gardening at Night, Pretty Persuasion - R.E.M.

Dear God - XTC

Always Saturday - Guadalcanal Diary

Jane Says - Jane's Addiction

3 comments:

UnknownApril 10, 2008 at 9:48 PM
Just in case there is a large cash prize for the first person to leave a comment I though I would be the first. I am impressed with the site and Shoes design ability. He also helped me rediscover REM.

Joe
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superveseyApril 11, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Guadalcanal Saturday, huh? Never seen that one on the front of the aisle at Wal-mart.
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ShoeApril 11, 2008 at 9:48 PM
It's Guadalcanal Diary dude. Can't ya read? Sorry, not Wal-Mart material either way.
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