TripleX

25 Jul 2016

24 July 2016

Show 293

Cruel to be kind by Nick Lowe. This was his best known track in the US, where it was a top 40 hit in 1979. Though in his native UK “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass” charted better, in the top 10. And he also wrote “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” which was famously covered by Elvis Costello in 1978.

+Your Power Means Nothing by Go! 1990 EP title track from this Queercore band from New York City. Lead singer Mike BS was one of a handful of openly gay musicians involved in the hardcore scene and he made a point to speak about gay rights at every show.

+100,000 Fireflies by The Magnetic Fields. Debut single from 1991 this American Indie band made up of one gay male artist (Stephin Merritt), one lesbian (Claudia Gonson), one straight female (Susan Amway, who is no longer with the group), and two straight males (Sam Davol and John Woo).

*Born to be Wild by Rose Tattoo. Request.

Dream Baby Dream by Suicide. 1979 track from this Alan Vega project. He died last weekend.

Jukebox Baby by Alan Vega. Solo track from 1981.

The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game by Massive Attack. Request.

Glittering Prize by Simple Minds. Request.

Strangelove by Depeche Mode. Request.

Aussies from 1981

*Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield. Sydney’s Richard Lewis Springthorpe’s #1 hit from 1981. Best known in the US for playing Doctor Noah Drake on the daytime soap General Hospital, 1981-3 and 2005-8.

*What a Bitch is Love by Marcia Hines. 1981 single from the album Take it From the Boys, her sixth.

*Counting the Beat by The Swingers. The 1981 1-hit-wonder from Kiwi band, The Swingers. The band featured Split Enz member, Phil Judd, and actually had a number of hits in New Zealand. Sadly they never broke through again here, despite being signed by Mushroom Records and, as with so many Kiwis, having moved here permanently.

*Igloos by XL Capris. From their second album, Weeds, from 1981. The band was made up of Julie Anderson, Tim Gooding, Johanna Pigott and Kimble Rendall.

*Second Language by Tactics. Tactics formed in Canberra and moved to Sydney in late 1978. Tactics became known for running against the grain musically, lyrically, and stylistically. The lineup changed year by year, with songwriter and vocalist David Studdert the only constant member throughout the band’s history. 1981 release from their 1980 debut album, My Houdini.

*For those about to rock by Ac/Dc. Title song of the band’s eighth album, released in 1981. The album was a follow-up to their highly successful album Back in Black and thus features Brian Johnson. It was AC/DC’s first and only No. 1 album in the USA until the release of Black Ice in October 2008.

+Through the eyes of Julie by Van Gogh’s Daughter. San Francisco lesbian band Van Gogh’s Daughter with their left-of-the-dial hit Through the Eyes of Julie, from 1995. From their debut and I think only album, Shove.

+Crucified by Army of Lovers. Swedish band, which takes its name from a German documentary about gay rights, has had rotating members over its long on-and-off career. Alexander Bard and Jean-Pierre Barda, the act’s male members in 1991, are both out and proud.

I ran So Far Away by Flock of Seagulls. 1982 release from their self-titled debut album.

Song to the Siren by This Mortal Coil. Rather than being considered a band they are usually known as ‘a musical project’, led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD, and John Fryer. Released in 1983 as a single and on their 1984 album, It’ll End in Tears, it features Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins.

He’s So Shy by The Pointer Sisters. 1980 release from Special Things, their seventh studio album.

Something To Remember You By by Albert Collins, Robert Cray & Johnny Copeland. A bonus track on the CD version of their 1985 Grammy award winning album, Showdown!

Miss you Much by Janet Jackson. The lead single from Jackson’s fourth studio album, Rhythm Nation 1814, from 1989. The song spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the longest-running American number one of 1989.

The Things that Dreams are Made of by Human League. From 1981’s Dare!, their third album.