This is a classic terrible ’80s fantasy film, made in Italy but starring America’s Tarzan because, why not?
Category: 1982
Deathtrap (1982, Sidney Lumet)
This is film version of a play, and it’s one of those plays with lots of twists. But, given the its nature, it still feels a lot like a play. And. moreover, I’m not sure it’s as funny as it thinks it is.
Special Beat Service (1982) by The [English] Beat
I know virtually nothing about 2 Tone as a genre – I’ve heard maybe one Specials album in my life – and the only thing I knew about this band going in was “Mirror in the Bathroom.” But I must say I’m impressed.
Milo Goes to College (1982) by Descendents
This is the point where hardcore starts to lose me: where the virtues of the genre are starting to give way to things more common to earlier punk or the later skate punk. It is very clearly the bridge between early hardcore and skate punk/pop punk but I don’t know that this is a thing …
Back from Samoa (1982) by Angray Samoans
I feel like I’ve listened to a fair amount of offensive music in my time but this record is right up there. If you’ve ever wondered where the “piss off at all costs” aesthetic of some bands comes from, it might be from Angry Samoans. Though Gwar and Anal Cunt sound nothing like this band, …
Plastic Surgery Disasters (1982) by Dead Kennedys
This is, if anything, fiercer than Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. It’s also slightly more ambitious, with that horn part, and the spoken word introduction and outro.
Thriller (1982) by Michael Jackson
Much like Bad, so many of the songs from Thriller were hits when I was a little kid that I know more of this record than I could have ever imagined. That knowledge once again puts me in a weird position, having the memory of what some of these songs sounded like to me as …
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse (1982) by Siouxsie and the Banshees
I am really big fan of JuJu for many of the same reasons I like this record: there’s this balance between the dark. “gothic” lyrics and Siouxsie Sioux’s vocals, and the often shimmering neo-psychedelic guitar and sound effects. But I definitely get a sense of deja vu. And I get that sense even though this …
Computer Games (1982) by George Clinton
Though credited to George Clinton, this is a Parliament album in all but name: it is performed by the same people and the general vibe of Parliament permeates everything. The only difference really is the context: it’s the ’80s, and technology has changed and “Planet Rock” is a thing.
Space (1982) by James Michener
The older I get the more I seem to be winning the battle – or at least not losing the battle – with my completist streak. I am writing a review of this flawed novel after having read only 470 pages as a celebration of defeating my completist impulse yet again. I do not need …
1999 (1982) by Prince
Listening to this record immediately after Marvin Gaye’s Midnight Love is instructive: Prince shows how cutting edge musical technology can be used without permanently dating a record. Hint: it helps if you write good songs and it helps if you’re idiosyncratic. Prince has written a bunch of really catchy songs – even the songs he …
Midnight Love (1982) by Marvin Gaye
I don’t know Marvin Gaye at all, beyond his most famous singles. I guess his Motown stuff is just too slick for me, so I never bothered. I still mean to listen to What’s Going On at some point but I just haven’t gotten there. I don’t know much about his personal life, either, beyond …
Friend or Foe (1982) by Adam Ant
I don’t know the Ants, which seems to put me at a disadvantage with this record because everything I’ve read about it suggests that the sound is very much in line with that band (or, at least, the second incarnation of that band).
Lionel Richie (1982)
I do not like Lionel Richie’s aesthetic: he is slick and sappy at the same time. That is a recipe for disaster, in my eyes (ears). But Richie has a rather incredible knack for melody. These songs are catchy, but it’s not just that. Some of his melodies for the ballads are super compelling, they …
Kissing to be Clever (1982) by Culture Club
I am a real completist. Even though I have been working hard against the impulse as an adult, more often than not the impulse wins out. So, for my podcast, I find myself listening to music I never would have bothered with, because it’s the anniversary of a particular record. Most of the time, my …
Restless and Wild (1982) by Accept
I didn’t know what to think of this band with a hilariously un-metal band name, which was a good thing, as this record surprised me.
Ice Cream for Crow (1982) by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
If you have come at the Captain through his earliest works, this record might feel like not much or a man settling into his mid life. It’s far less radical than his most radical work of the early ’70s, wherein he basically pioneered the intersection of blues and free jazz and other things.
Forever Now (1982) by The Psychedelic Furs
This is my first Furs record so I cannot comment on whether or not it’s some kind of sell out (doesn’t sound like it!) or some kind of compromise of their earlier sound, which I have never heard. I can comment on the music and try to comment on the context, as I am an …
Under the Blade (1982) by Twisted Sister
If you grew up in the 80s as I did, you were inundated by certain music videos and two of them were “I Wanna Rock” and “We’re Not Gonna Take it.” And through my entire life this is all I’ve known of this band, aside from Dee Snyder testifying before congress, which definitely upped my …
The Dreaming (1982) by Kate Bush
Where has this been all my life?
Music for a New Society (1982) by John Cale
I have read a lot (perhaps too much) about the way this album was made, and the rather drastic change in Cale’s method that was part of the process. Maybe reading about that created an image in my mind that this album does not live up to. If that’s so, it makes me sad.
Upstairs at Eric’s (1982) by Yazoo aka Yaz
As someone is absolutely not a fan of synthpop, this works better, as expected.
Mauricio Kagel (2003) by Alexandre Tharaud
This collection is a little confusing in part because of the confusing nature of Rrrrrrr…, which can apparently be performed independently. The disc appears to be a compilation of his piano-based music. Calling “piano music” would be a misnomer, as there are lots of other instruments on a number of the pieces.
Vox Humana? / Finale / Fürst Igor Strawinsky (1991) by Mauricio Kagel, performed by Ensemble 2e2m, Lyon National Opera Chorus conducted by Paul Méfano
This record collects three of Kagel’s longish “choral” pieces. Kagel was a weirdo is the best ways.