For a show set in the 80s, it’s hard to go wrong with the pop-leaning hard rock and heavy metal bands of the era. Something about a guitar-driven power ballad just feels right.
Stranger Things got a lot of mileage out of songs by Metallica and Journey in the most recent season, and I think it’s time for them to throw a little love to Def Leppard in the next one.
Of all the songs I’m featuring this week and last, Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Mandinka’ is the one I most hope shows up in the next season of Stranger Things.
Like Kate Bush, O’Connor is a unique talent who broke ground for women in rock and recorded music unlike anything else being released at the time. She has had a troubled life and career since her success in the late 80s/early 90s and deserves another moment in the spotlight.
Of all the artists I’m featuring over these two weeks, the one I’d most like to see revived is Terence Trent D’Arby (who now records under his given name, Sananda Maitreya).
D’Arby’s debut album, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby, is a soul/pop classic that seemed poised to usher in a new superstar. But the singer-songwriter’s follow-up efforts failed to reach a wide audience, and he’s been recording in relative obscurity in the three decades since.
Continuing my list of suggested songs for the next season of Stranger Things…
1987 saw the release of Tango in the Night, Fleetwood Mac’s 14th studio album and their second best-selling record (after 1977’s Rumours).
Given the continued relevance and success of Fleetwood Mac, I think the Stranger Things team could do a lot worse than to feature one of their songs.
Here’s a track from Rufus Wainwright’s 2004 album Want Two that, like so many of his best songs, overflows with romantic longing. ‘Peach Trees’ finds Wainwright on a lonely stroll through New York City, wishing to see a lover who is either absent or non-existent.
Looking back, I’m tempted to say the Want project — which consisted of two albums released a year apart — was the last great work Wainwright released. I need to revisit the three pop albums he put out over the next 16 years to remind myself how they stack up.
Meet Me In Montauk 