We’ve looked at some of the worst album titles of the 1980s – now it’s time for the best.
But what made a memorable/interesting title? Certainly a few themes emerge from the list below.
Some issue instructions to the listener, some pose questions. Most feature common words uncommonly used. A pun can help. A couple are named after books. And a concept doesn’t hurt, especially if accompanied by good album artwork/design. Release the bats…
Adventures In the Land Of The Good Groove (Nile Rodgers)
What’s Bootsy Doin’? (Bootsy Collins)
No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith (Motorhead)
Climate Of Hunter (Scott Walker)
Rum, Sodomy & The Lash (The Pogues)
Bostin’ Steve Austin (We’ve Got A Fuzzbox And We’re Gonna Use It)
From Langley Park To Memphis (Prefab Sprout)
Are You Glad To Be In America? (James Blood Ulmer)
America – Do You Remember The Love? (James Blood Ulmer)
Metal Fatigue (Allan Holdsworth)
Shockadelica (Jesse Johnson)
Back In The DHSS (Half Man Half Biscuit)
The Slide Area (Ry Cooder)
As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade (Mark Stewart)
Be Yourself Tonight (Eurythmics)
Sulk (Associates)
Love Stinks (J Geils Band)
Jazz From Hell (Frank Zappa)
Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar (Frank Zappa)
Broadway The Hard Way (Frank Zappa)
Aliens Ate My Buick (Thomas Dolby)
The Golden Age Of Wireless (Thomas Dolby)
Exit Stage Left (Rush)
Some Of My Best Jokes Are Friends (George Clinton)
R’n’B Skeletons In The Closet (George Clinton)
There Goes The Neighbourhood (Joe Walsh)
You Bought It – You Name It (Joe Walsh)
Friendly As A Hand Grenade (Tackhead)
Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads)
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (Soft Cell)
Frankenchrist (Dead Kennedys)
This Is What You Want…This Is What You Get (PiL)
Album (PiL)
Twang Bar King (Adrian Belew)
Big Science (Laurie Anderson)
Building The Perfect Beast (Don Henley)
Freaky Styley (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
The Pursuit Of Accidents (Level 42)
The Big Lad In The Windmill (It Bites)
Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (Dexys Midnight Runners)
The Affectionate Punch (Associates)
Empires And Dance (Simple Minds)
For How Much Longer Will We Tolerate Mass Murder (The Pop Group)
Return Of The Giant Slits (Slits)
Your Cassette Pet (Bow Wow Wow)
See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy! (Bow Wow Wow)
Cupid & Psyche ‘85 (Scritti Politti)
My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts (David Byrne/Brian Eno)
During the punk era, musicians often chose stage names so that the dole office wouldn’t identify them from album covers or gigs.
One wonders how much of an issue that was for Gordon Sumner, Paul Hewson and David Evans, AKA Sting, Bono and The Edge, but you never know.
But as the 1980s wore on and the post-punk era became the hip-hop era, a whole new generation of rappers, DJs, producers and musicians felt the need to create pseudonyms.
But what did their mums call them? Here, for your dubious pleasure, are some of the most intriguing real names. It’s fair to assume that most probably don’t like being reminded of these, for various reasons. YOU go taunting Ice-T with his real name (Tracy Marrow). But, on the other hand, kudos to The Cure’s Robert Smith for not using a pseudonym…
Terminator X (Public Enemy DJ): Norman Rogers
Jet Black (Stranglers drummer): Brian Duffy
W. Axl Rose: William Bruce Rose Jr.
Divine: Glenn Milstead
MC Lyte: Lana Moorer
Kate Bush: Catherine Bush
Sun Ra: Herman Blount
Sade: Helen Folasade Adu
Adam Ant: Stuart Goddard
Ozzy Osbourne: John Michael Osbourne
Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV frontperson): Neil Megson
Cosey Fanni Tutti (Throbbing Gristle co-founder): Christine Newby
Howard Devoto (Magazine singer/solo artist): Howard Trafford
Wilko Johnson: John Wilkinson
Jah Wobble: John Wardle (named by a drunken Sid Vicious, whose real name is John Ritchie…)
Prairie Prince (Tubes/XTC drummer): Charles Lempriere Prince
Sydney Youngblood (‘If Only I Could’ singer): Sydney Ford
Yazz (‘The Only Way Is Up’): Yasmin Evans
Belouis Some (‘Imagination’ singer): Neville Keighley
Hollywood Beyond (‘What’s The Colour Of Money’ singer): Mark Rogers
Tommy Vance (legendary DJ): Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston
Melle Mel: Melvin Glover
John Martyn: Iain McGeachy
Tom Verlaine (Television frontman): Thomas Miller
Johnnie Walker (DJ): Peter Dingley
Kim Wilde: Kim Smith
Midge Ure: James Ure
Elvis Costello: Declan MacManus
Adrian Belew: Robert Steven Belew
Princess (London soul singer of ‘Say I’m Your Number One’ fame): Desiree Heslop
Dweezil Zappa: Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa (The LA hospital nurse wouldn’t let Gail and Frank name him ‘Dweezil’ so FZ named him after his early collaborators Ian Underwood, Captain Beefheart, Carl Schenkel and ‘Motorhead’ Sherwood. Dweezil’s name was legally changed when he was five years old.)
Mick Mars (Motley Crue guitarist): Robert Alan Deal
37. Bireli Lagrene: ‘Rue De Pierre Part 3’
A triumph of solo guitar, and the only acoustic solo in this list, Bireli stunned the cognoscenti with this track from his 1988 Steve Khan-produced album Foreign Affairs.
36. Bros: ‘Chocolate Box’ (Guitarist: Paul Gendler)
Yes, Bros… Gendler had been a fully-paid-up member of New Romantic nearly-men Modern Romance before becoming an in-demand player on the UK scene, and he enlivened this hit with a raunchy, nimble classic.
35. REO Speedwagon: ‘Keep On Loving You’ (Guitarist: Garry Richrath)
Unreconstructed, huge-toned, double-tracked solo which revels in being almost out-of-tune throughout. Its sheer, brilliant in-your-faceness always comes as somewhat of a shock.
34. George Benson: ‘Off Broadway’
Slick, tasty solo from a truly great player. The tune is a Rod Temperton-penned, post-disco beauty from Give Me The Night.
33. Killing Joke: ‘Love Like Blood’ (Guitarist: Geordie)
This is ‘just’ a melody, but it’s a great melody, escalating in volume and intensity.
32. Phil Upchurch: ‘Song For Lenny’ (Guitarists: Phil Upchurch/Lenny Breau)
A couple of superb solos from a great, totally forgotten 1984 Upchurch solo album Companions. Breau stuns with his array of false harmonics and jazzy runs, while Upchurch brings the blues feeling.
31. Frank Zappa: ‘Alien Orifice’
It’s nice to hear Frank blowing over a few changes rather than his usual one or two-chord vamps. And he really gets a nice ‘flowing’ thing going here, right in the middle of one of his densest compositions. Starts at around 1:32:
30. Cameo: ‘A Goodbye’ (Guitarist: Fred Wells)
From the classic album Single Life, this solo goes way over and beyond the call of duty for an ’80s soul ballad. But it’s mainly included for its brilliant final flourish, spitting notes out like John McLaughlin. Who is Fred Wells and where is he now?
29. Rush: ‘YYZ’ (Guitarist: Alex Lifeson)
Hard to do without this flowing, creamy, Strat-toned classic on one of the great rock instrumentals of all time (though inexplicably it lost out to The Police’s ‘Behind My Camel’ at the Grammies…).
28. Kevin Eubanks: ‘That’s What Friends Are For’
A real hidden gem from the almost impossible-to-find Face To Face album, Eubanks lays down a short but beautifully-structured solo on a cool cover version.
27. Steve Miller Band: ‘Abracadabra’
Good fun and totally unpredictable. Also notable for its lovely Spanish-style flurry of triplets in its last two bars.
26. Starship: ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ (Guitarist: Corrado Rustici)
Cheesy? Maybe a bit, but who cares when it’s this well-structured and performed. Add a great tone, nice string-bending and a lovely phrase at the end and you’ve got a classic.
25. Queen: The Invisible Man (Brian May)
May played a lot of great solos in the late 1980s, mostly on other people’s records (Holly Johnson, Fuzzbox, Living In A Box etc) but this one was just a kind of ‘play as many notes as possible in eight bars’ solo, and it’s a killer.
24. Lee Ritenour: ‘Mr Briefcase’
Rit found the sweet spot on his Ibanez many times in the early ’80s, no more so than on this single that kicked off the classic Rit album. The solo also sounds double-tracked too, no mean feat considering the crazy bunch of 32nd notes at the end of bar 10.
23. Michael Jackson: ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Something’ (Guitarist: David Williams)
Not so much a solo as a suddenly-foregrounded riff, Williams became one of the most in-demand US session players after laying down this classic.
22. Pat Metheny: ‘Yolanda You Learn’
A marvellous, ‘singing’ guitar-synth solo from the First Circle album, rhythmically interesting and reflecting a strong Sonny Rollins influence, also closing with a cool quote from the standard ‘My One And Only Love’.
21. Frank Zappa: ‘Sharleena’ (Guitarist: Dweezil Zappa)
Frank’s son was apparently just 14 years old when he laid down this absurdly fluid cameo.
20. Eric Clapton: ‘Bad Love’
Nice to hear Eric pushing himself for once, delivering a striking solo played right at the top of the neck, demonstrating a mastery of string-bending and precise fingering.
19. Sadao Watanabe: ‘Road Song’ (Guitarist: Carlos Rios)
A classic rock/fusion solo, all the more impressive because it’s apparently double-tracked, from the album Maisha. Rios is still one of the most in-demand session players in Los Angeles (and one of the few leftie fusion players…), probably best known for his work with Gino Vannelli, Chick Corea and Lionel Richie.
18. Prince: ‘Batdance’
It’s the unapologetic volume and raucous tone, almost distorting it’s so hot in the mix.
17. David Sanborn: ‘Let’s Just Say Goodbye’ (Guitarist: Buzz Feiten)
Feiten seems a weirdly unrecognised figure in the guitar fraternity, but he contributed some great stuff to Sanborn’s seminal Voyeur album including this tasty break over a killer Marcus Miller/Steve Gadd groove. There are some lovely moments when Sanborn’s sax cuts in to augment his solo.
16. Paul Simon: ‘Allergies’ (Guitarist: Al Di Meola)
I love hearing ‘jazz’ musicians turning up on ‘pop’ records, and this is a classic of its kind featuring all of Al’s trademark licks in one short, tasty burst. It’s a lot more fun than listening to his solo albums, anyway…
15. Manhattan Transfer: ‘Twilight Zone’ (Guitarist: Jay Graydon)
At a time when he was getting much more into the production game, Graydon still found time to toss off a double-tracked showstopper on this hit single. All in a day’s work for the session genius who of course unleashed the famous solo on Steely Dan’s ‘Peg’. Speaking of which…
14. Steely Dan: ‘Glamour Profession’ (Guitarist: Steve Khan)
A mini masterpiece of precision and invention. Khan is given his head and takes the classic tune OUT in the last three minutes. When the chord changes, he changes.
13. King Crimson: ‘Elephant Talk’ (Guitarists: Adrian Belew/Robert Fripp)
Two great solos for the price of one on this Discipline opener. Fripp supplies the opening horn-like curio, then Belew adds some fire and a bit of famous elephantosity for good measure.
12. Living Colour: ‘Funny Vibe’ (Guitarist: Vernon Reid)
A classic modern blues solo from a modern master, adding excitement and elan to an already burning piece, helped along by Will Calhoun’s cajoling kit work.
11. Steely Dan: ‘Third World Man’ (Guitarist: Larry Carlton)
Another day, another classic Steely guitar solo, this one recorded in 1977 during the Aja sessions but not unleashed for another three years. Again, double-tracked for lasting power, featuring a superb mastery of tone and melody.
10. Wendy & Lisa: ‘Waterfall’ (Guitarist: Wendy Melvoin)
Sadly this is my only female entry in the list (more suggestions please), but it’s a fuzz-toned, anthemic treat, with shades of Santana and McLaughlin.
9. The Police: ‘Driven To Tears’ (Guitarist: Andy Summers)
It’s the random, off-the-cuffness that appeals on this one. Summers sounds a lot more p*ssed off than usual, possibly reeling from yet another Sting jibe.
8. Steve Vai: ‘Call It Sleep’
Just a superb guitar composition from top to tail, but the moment at 1:22 when he stomps on the distortion pedal and rips it up is a great moment of ’80s music.
7. Propaganda: ‘Dream Within A Dream’ (Guitarist: Stephen Lipson)
Lipson modestly provided three or four extremely memorable guitar features during his golden ZTT period (not least Frankie’s ‘Two Tribes’), but this one gets extra points for its infinite reverb and a dynamite fuzztone.
6. Orange Juice: ‘Rip It Up’ (Guitarist: Edwyn Collins)
Just a funny two-fingers-up to the well-made solo, and also a fond homage to Pete Shelley’s famous break on Buzzcock’s ‘Boredom’.
5. Frank Gambale: ‘Credit Reference Blues’
Just wind him and watch him go. It starts slowly, almost wistfully, but then becomes a fire-breathing classic. Still scary after all these years.
4. Dire Straits: ‘Romeo And Juliet’ (Guitarist: Mark Knopfler)
The closing solo is just an oasis of choice phrases and unique tones.
3. Van Halen: ‘One Foot Out The Door’ (Guitarist: Eddie Van Halen)
Of course ‘Beat It’ is the industry standard, and possibly the greatest guitar solo of all time, but I’m going for this curio which closes out the oft-forgotten Fair Warning album. He just blows brilliantly over the changes with a gorgeous tone.
2. Jeff Beck: People Get Ready
The second and last solo is the one, a feast of Jeff-isms. A rare good bit from the rather poor Flash album.
1. Stanley Clarke: ‘Stories To Tell’ (Guitarist: Allan Holdsworth)
No chucking out any old solo for our Allan – this is a brief but fully-formed, perfectly structured, wide-interval classic that is easily the best thing about the tune. He seems to get a bit ‘lost’ in the middle, but then regroups for a stunning closing section over the rapid chord changes.
We’ve looked at some of the worst album titles of the 1980s – now it’s time for the best.
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