The sound of old T. Rex (and who's next)

One final one from the Who (shot in black & white for artistic reasons)



Here endeth the lesson from 1981

So you're a guitar player?

My favorite version of this song from Pack Up The Plantation

Urgent

This song is just one word long

Maybe tomorrow, maybe someday

From the followup to the greatest debut album ever.

Rock it inside out

Still a soft spot for this song after 30+ years.



Happy Easter!

Precious To Me

My favorite striped-shirt song of 1981.



Rip Phil & Bill

Alex the Seal

Early 80s high school joke.
Q: Why can the Go-Go's have sex? A: Their lips are sealed

See the lonely man there on the corner

Next from 1981, my favorite post-Gabriel Genesis song..

Beyond the gilded cage

Speaking of Rush, "this movie opened yesterday.
If you choose not to attend, you still have made a choice.

New York To East California

Note to Becky Black: This is what a viral teen pop anthem should sound like!

I've been waiting for this moment for all my life

This is orders of magnitude better than the studio version.



No gated drums for one.

Hang Fire

The Stones, anticipating the youtube "picture of the album" thread by 30 years.

Lipstick cherry all over the lens

Back when MTV played videos, they would play this one frequently.

For Those About To Rock

We Salute You. Stand up and be counted!



"Don't buy the description of the video on the DVD that claims that the video for 'For Those About To Rock...' contained on it is the official, because it isn't. THIS is the original and the official, shown on MTV in late '81-most of '82. The DVD version has Simon Wright on drums; this one has the original and BEST drummer, Phil Rudd!" Phil Rudd Rocks!

Every Little Thing She Does

Next from 1981. We had righteous grass until the Police showed up..

Don't You Want Me Oh

1981's UK Christmas #1, thirty years later.

Paranoia, the Destroyer

Striped floors are even better than striped shirts!

My blood runs cold

My memory has just been sold. Striped shirts were "in" in '81.

They just don't write 'em like that anymore

Next from 1981, the Greg Kihn Band



Here's the complete tracklist of my 1981 mix "New York to East California" if anyone feels like playing along at home this month.

Burn out the days, burn out the nights

Next up on my 1981 mix.. BÖC



BÖC's three biggest hits ("Reaper","Godzilla", "Burnin'") were all sung by Buck Dharma. They should've used more Buck and more cowbell.

I did a report on Patti Smith's "Witt" for my high school English class, and noticed she had a poem called "Fire Of Unknown Origin" that had the lyrics to the BÖC song of the same name. Knowing this put Patti above PJ Proby on my adolescent dreamgirl pedestal.

Almost Saturday Night

For the month of April, I'm doing songs from 1981.

I can't find Dave Edmunds version of "Almost Saturday Night" on Youtube, so here's Rick Nelson's version from the same year..



Karla DeVito and the Searchers also released covers of "Almost Saturday Night" in 1981, so it must've been THE song to cover that year!