I was listening to Sirius Radio's "80s on 8" this morning in traffic and they had the original MTV vee-jays talking about how this is the 30th anniversary of the launch of the channel that used to be known for playing videos and having music news, which is now just reality TV crap. Back in it's day though it was awesome.
Living in a small town though, although it debuted in 1981, we didn't get it until about 1983 or so. We didn't really know what we were missing at least as there was no Internet, but occasionally I'd go to my cousin's house in the "big city" and watch it for hours on end and dreamed of how great it would be to have it. In 1981 though I was really starting to get heavily into music and had plenty of bands I was following.
That was the year Metallica, Motley Crue and Pantera all were unleashed on the world. I wasn't into any of those bands yet though and it would be a few years before I was, but I'm going to whip up a list using hindsight. I mean in 1981 I didn't listen to Motley Crue's debut album, I'm not even sure if I could have found it, but several years later I was playing the hell out of it. So here's my 30 for 30 of the albums in hindsight from that year that ended up the most important to me... many still to this day. They've gone from vinyl, to cassette, to CD and now to my digital music collection.
My Favorite/Most Played 30 Albums From 1981
30. Queen - Flash Gordon Soundtrack
29. Phil Collins - Face Value
28. Joe Walsh - There Goes The Neighborhood
27. Kiss - Music from "The Elder"
26. Ted Nugent – Intensities in 10 Cities
25. Triumph - Allied Forces
24. Heavy Metal Soundtrack
23. Iron Maiden - Killers
22. Judas Priest - Point of Entry
21. Rick Springfield - Working Class Dog
20. The Who - Face Dances
19. 38 Special - Wild Eyed Southern Boys
18. Electric Light Orchestra - Time
17. The Police - Ghost In The Machine
16. The Cars- Shake It Up
15. J. Geils Band - Freeze Frame
14. April Wine – Nature of the Beast
13. Billy Squier - Don’t Say No
12. Genesis - Abacab
11. Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton
10. Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
9. Def Leppard - High 'n' Dry
8. Rush - Moving Pictures
7. Styx - Paradise Theater
6. Foreigner - 4
5. AC/DC - For Those About to Rock We Salute You
4. Mötley Crüe - Too Fast for Love
3. Journey - Escape
2. Van Halen - Fair Warning
1. Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman
Yeah, that makes me feel pretty damn old that those albums are celebrating their 30th birthdays this year. I was laughing looking over that top 10 though, as I'll assure you that rarely a month goes by to this day that I don't blast some songs off of those albums. C'mon though... Don't Stop Believin', Too Much Time On My Hands, Unchained, Flyin' High Again, For Those About To Rock, Urgent... these are freakin' classics.
I'd started going to concerts by this point as well and I remember the AC/DC tour that year as well as seeing Foreigner, Billy Squier, Ted Nugent and Styx. Looking over that whole list, I've seen about half of the artists in concert by this point. Actually, I've got tickets for Journey and Foreigner right now for an upcoming show.
Like a fine wine.... better with time.
Happy 30th!
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