After spending more than a month in 1980, I’m jumping back in time a bit and diving into one of the 70s’ most successful bands.
My default stance for years has been that I hate the Eagles. It’s a stance I’ve adopted in part as a tribute to Jeff ‘The Dude’ Lebowski, who was memorably thrown out of a cab for declaring “I hate the fucking Eagles, man.”
It’s also due to my strong dislike for the song ‘Hotel California’ and its weird Jamaican guitar orgy vibe.
In the first few years of the 90s, Uncle Tupelo launched the alt-country movement, two decades before bands like the Lumineers and Mumford & Sons would do the same for alt-folk.
Band leaders Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy didn’t get along very well but they collaborated on some beautiful music. 1992’s Anodyne was their first and last studio album (following three independent releases). The group disbanded a little while later, with Tweedy going on to form Wilco and Farrar launching Sun Volt.
I like John Legend as a man, a philanthropist and political activist. I like his voice and admire his musical talent.
But damn it if I’m not bored to tears by everything he’s recorded.
I think it’s just not my genre. I can’t think of any “adult contemporary R&B” artists (as AllMusic classifies him) who float my boat.
Rounding out my three-week look at the music of 1980 is a track from Joy Division’s second (and final) album, Closer.
Joy Division emerged in the late 70s as a punk band but crafted a sound and mood that pointed toward the New Wave and alternative music that would dominate the 80s. They’re a fitting choice to close these theme weeks because they epitomize the shift from one decade to the other.
Rush is another band totally off my radar. The most immediate association I have with their music is its inclusion in the hilarious 2009 film I Love You Man, best captured in the immortal “slappin’ da bass” scene. Doesn’t hurt that the scene features my biggest female crush (Rashida Jones) and male crush (Paul Rudd).
Apart from that movie, I can’t say I’ve ever heard a song by the Canadian prog rock band in full. I know ‘Tom Sawyer’ by name but couldn’t hum its chorus if you paid me.
Meet Me In Montauk 