Song of the Day #5,611: ‘Cloudbusting’ – Kate Bush

Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1985…

#8 – Hounds of Love – Kate Bush

English singer-songwriter Kate Bush’s fifth studio release, Hounds of Love, was her biggest success and is widely considered her best album. It sits squarely in her avant-garde, art pop comfort zone while remaining accessible to mainstream audiences.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #5,610: ‘Lonely Ol’ Night’ – John Cougar Mellencamp

Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1985…

#9 – Scarecrow – John Cougar Mellencamp

Here’s another album I don’t know by heart, but know well enough to give it a spot on this list.

John Mellencamp (still using the Cougar for this release) is one of those artists I enjoy and admire but not enough to consider myself a dedicated fan.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #5,609: ‘Head Over Heels’ – Tears for Fears

I’m a little more than halfway through my Decades series, in which I’m covering albums released in each of the 40 years between 1970 and 2009. I’ve covered the first four years of every decade from the 70s through the 00s, plus — most recently — 1975.

That brings me to 1985, the year I turned 13. That’s a formative year in anybody’s life, musically and otherwise, so I’m excited to dive in once again to one of my favorite musical decades.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #5,608: ‘Demons’ – Imagine Dragons

The 2013 installment of Throwback Weekends continues to annoy, as once again the majority of the top ten has been featured on the blog before. This is due to a combination of my having written about some of these songs at the time and the fact that the Billboard Top Ten was remarkably static that year.

I won’t list the songs in the top seven spots as I have in previous weeks. It’s the same roundup of Lorde, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Drake, Jay-Z and friends. All decent enough songs, but apparently the only songs worth hearing during the back half of that year.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #5,607: ‘Stand Up’ – Ludacris feat. Shawnna

Throwing back to the week of November 8, 2003, we find Beyoncé and Sean Paul holding on to the top spot with ‘Baby Boy,’ in the middle of a nine-week run for the song at #1.

Sitting just behind it, a month away from its own #1 berth, is Ludacris’ ‘Stand Up.’ This is the second single from the rapper’s fourth album Chicken-n-Beer, and would become his first to top the Hot 100.

Continue reading