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episode date - June 21, 2006
Can it really be 24 years have passed since these songs were released? It doesn’t feel that way, but history (and a glance at the calendar) proves otherwise.
Today’s show features four singles that debuted on the pop charts in October and November 1982, and 50% of the principal artists represented here have since passed away (Marvin Gaye and Joe Strummer of the Clash). That is one rather depressing way to note the passing of time. Another may be to consider how much music has changed since then, but has it really changed very much? I don’t find it hard to imagine that if any of these tracks were released for the first time tomorrow, they would still sound contemporary and would probably chart.
The album tracks featured here are from the same time period, and they also sound quite contemporary, at least to my ears. Is that a good thing? In one sense, it contradicts the generally accepted perspective that ‘80s music was ‘plastic’ and over-produced, but it also makes me wonder if we’ve been moving forward musically, or just running in place.
How about you? Do these songs sound like ‘golden oldies’ or do they sound like familiar, reasonably contemporary hits? For perspective, imagine this; 24 years before this set of songs charted, the year was 1958, and we were listening to The Platters, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Can you draw parallels, or like me, does it seem incredible that so MUCH could change in the first 24 years, but so little has changed in the next 24?
Here’s a list of songs we’ve chosen to represent October and November of 1982;
1) Southern Cross – Crosby, Stills and Nash
2) Sexual Healing – Marvin Gaye
3) Rock the Casbah – The Clash
4) Shock the Monkey – Peter Gabriel
5) The Message – Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
6) Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen
7) Sooner or Later – The English Beat
8) I Wish You Could Have Seen Her Dance – T-Bone Burnett
9) The Bulreushes – The Bongos
10) New Frontier – Donald Fagen
CLICK HERE to listen to the full show!
 
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