Jim's Gems: These albums marking their 40th anniversary are some of 1982's finest
Jim Comet looks back at the music that defined the year he graduated from the North Mon: 1982. Picture: Lucy Keeffe O'Mahony
The year 1982 was another huge one for popular music, and we have quite a list of albums marking their 40th anniversary. The previous few years had seen dramatic changes on the musical landscape, mostly instigated by the emergence of punk, which paved the way for a new wave of bands that pushed a lot of the old guard aside. It was also a momentous year for me personally as I graduated from the North Mon. It was a great time to be a teenager into alternative music. Even better if you were a teenager with a well-paid job on the MV Innisfallen ferry, which meant I could buy records by the bucketload.
One of the most vibrant aspects of life in Cork in the early 1980s was the music scene. Everything else felt a bit grey and bleak. No jobs, very few prospects and even less money. Many took the boat to England and beyond. Early Cure albums provided the perfect soundtrack to this bleak backdrop. Pornography is the third, darkest and most abrasive of the grey trilogy that began with 17 seconds. From 'One Hundred Years' to the title track, it has an underlying primal rage that’s unmatched by their contemporaries. Their last truly great album before they got happy.
My favourite Irish band of the early 1980s, the Virgin Prunes was the most radical and outrageous band this country ever produced. They challenged sexual, gender and religious stereotypes in an openly aggressive manner, which freaked a lot of people out. Instead of gigs they gave performances that could be outrageous, mesmerising and very intimidating. Within the noise there was melody. Their debut album is basically the early set list but the clean production lets it down. Check out New Form Of Beauty 1-4 for a real glimpse.
The first time I heard The Birthday Party was when Luke Ward played them on his show on pirate station CBC and I thought they were from Cork because they had that same sound as local outfit Nun Attax. It didn’t take long to figure out they were from down under and had a few records on 4AD. Junkyard is the third and final album before Nick Cave and Mick Harvey would go on to much better things. Listening to this now, you can really see the thread that led to those very early Bad Seeds records and continues to this day.
One of the originators of punk, the Banshees never sat on their laurels and had a lot more going for them musically than three chords and the truth. It really started to happen creatively in 1980 when John McGeoch, probably the best guitarist of the whole punk generation, joined from Magazine. What he brought to the table transformed the band’s sound completely. Starting with Kaleidoscope, in 1980 it exploded creatively here with the introduction of strings, pianos and producer Mike Hedges who encouraged them to keep pushing the envelope out. To this day a stunning record.
A little known duo from Warwickshire who I got into when on a record shopping trip to Dublin in 1981. The gang of three of us on the trip decided we would each buy an obscure record that nobody else would have heard of. I struck gold. They didn’t. Released on the Cherry Red label, this is their third album and final one as a duo. While they personify the DIY make music in your bedroom ethos that was such a part of the late 70s and early 80s indie scene more than any other band I know, it’s a travesty that they remain undiscovered to this day.
I came across this film late one night in the early 80s on S4C after a night out. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and, while it's far from his best, for me it's one of his most enjoyable. It’s a nice feel-good, slightly melancholic film where nothing really happens but you zone out get into it and you don’t want it to end. The film is helped greatly by a beautiful late-night soundtrack by Waits and Gayle, straight from central casting. In my top three Tom Waits albums.
The fifth and final album featuring the classic lineup and the one that made them one of the biggest bands in America, obviously no longer bored with the USA. For me, the jury’s out with The Clash and sometimes their musical eclecticism prioritises quantity over quality and is not without showboating. I probably like this record more now than I did when it came out and being honest, I’m thoroughly enjoying the rediscovery. It's got the big tune from Stranger Things and the closing 'Death Is A Star' is bordering on genius. Why they decided to include the awful 'Overpowered By Funk' is beyond me.
What can I say about The Fall. They do what they do, and they do it very well and you either get it or you don’t. They embody the true spirit of punk in that they’ve never compromised or sold out and have always retained their artistic integrity despite many musical winds of change. For that alone, they deserve the utmost respect. Not to mention the umpteen classic albums and the lyrical genius of the late Mark E Smith. This is widely regarded as one of their finest albums. Inspired by a trip to Iceland (the country, not the supermarket) it's also a good entry point for the curious.
ACR were the other band on Factory Records. The main band was of course Joy Division. While both from Manchester and label mates, musically they were a million miles apart. With their heavy disco, funk, jazz and industrial influences ACR stood out like a sore thumb from their new wave compatriots and went over a lot of people’s heads at the time, including mine. A few listens to the record soon put paid to that and once you expanded your mind a bit you were there. The groove on 'Knife Slits Water' and those weird almost disconnected vocals … oh man! A timeless record that’s aged better than most.
I got a free copy of this from Martin in Golden Discs in Cork because somebody robbed the sleeve and they couldn’t sell the record without it. The single 'O Superman' will be familiar to many, and the rest of the album is pretty much in that musical vein. It’s a concept album where Anderson looks at how science and technology are changing the world and she provides a very chilling insight into the future which, 40 years on, is depressingly accurate. It lets itself slightly down on side 2 which is why it's top 10 as opposed to top five.
Debut mini album that provided glimpses of the greatness that was to come.
Where it all began or where it all went pear shaped. If you know you know.
Last of the three classic albums before they went all MTV. Title track is the best thing they’ve ever done.
While the album mightn’t do them justice, the Dublin band was one of the best live bands back in the day.
The jury is out on how history will regard him but his three bestselling albums changed music forever.
