The Best Song Ever (This Week)

Summer of '82 part 5: Depeche Mode's hit songwriter Vince Clarke hit up Alison Moyet, a blues belter he knew from their school days to cut a demo. Then they changed electronic dance music forever.

You can hear "Don't Go," and more by Yaz/Yazoo, here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/58piA9AnrO97hfkTXWLgn7?si=bf414288876848b0

Summer of '82 part 4. How The Gap Band filled dancefloors and took Tulsa's Greenwood, Archer, and Pine streets, and their dark history, around the world

You can hear "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," and more by The Gap band, here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6NWyndfhxsFt5mur8AjMjW?si=ef07a89848b04b2b

Summer of '82 Part 3 The idiosyncratic soul of a contrarian one hit wonder that's more than some rolled-up dungarees.

You Can hear "Come On Eileen" in a playlist of 17 songs from Dexy's Midnight Runners here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZKzPrSTCfHChnB3oygJ5M?si=84b0de1ca2a94fbc

Summer of '82 Part 2: "The Message" was the first hip-hop single to really hit hard, and it has some surprising origins and influences (including a double dose of Talking Heads side projects).

You can hear "The Message," a few songs that influenced it, and a playlist of songs by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0sHrZvnr4pZJvEf0kuuSKv?si=1110d8cfd6144eae

Summer of '82 Part 1: Missing Persons: plexiglass bikinis, Frank Zapa, and the New Wave band that wasn't.

You can hear "Words" and a playlist of Missing Persons songs, plus through from Dale Bozzio's adventurous later career, here https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3c1NOlRBJeL0d6OsJEvoiG?si=d41db1f3ad5b45b0

ink Wray's 1958 song "Rumble" was the first instrumental to be banned by radio.

Paul McCartney had a copy taped to his record player. With three snarling chords, the half-Shawnee son of backwoods preachers redefined the guitar in rock 'n' roll.

You can hear "Rumble" and a 28-song playlist of Link Wray and other rock 'n' roll instrumentals here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7l4difJ7xuYBAeHddISBnM?si=f43b82c33faa49d5

Blossom Dearie taught Saturday morning cartoon watchers about adjectives. She also taught jazz great Bill Evans a thing or two about piano and played with Miles Davis. Her version of the Lorenz and Hart standard often known as "I'll Take Manhattan" stands out because the singer with the girlish voice could swoon but was also always in on the joke.

You can hear "Manhattan" and a playlist of other songs by Blossom Dearie: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/77tuoQOzIufZmKMsHPzc43?si=6f9e60bf97404114

"LIfe's What You Make It" is the inflection point whereTalk Talk went from a Duran Duran also-ran to an innovative band that proved to be a big influence on Radiohead, St. Vincent, and many, many others. It's also a great song and good advice.

You can hear "Life's What You Make It" and a playlist of other songs from Talk Talk, from their first hit "TalkTalk" through their final, atmospheric records that stretched the boundaries of popular music here:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0VB3wVOGVAlTyWtolJxq0p?si=7331fe073ab44061

Massive Attack's "Protection'' was built around a sample of a sample. That James Brown sample is taken from a song about revenge that he released as an act of revenge itself. Tracey Thorn, whose partner in Everything But The Girl nearly died and spent months in the hospital, turned it into more than a love song; she made it a song about love.

You can hear "Protection" and a playlist of other songs from Massive Attack and Tracey Thorn, as well James Brown and other artists touched upon in this episode, here:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7v48O0Svbp2I8CKHteDkxU?si=6f11508ccfc845c1

Stranger Things introduced Kate Bush to a new generation of fans and put a 37 year-old song on the pop charts. It's fitting -- even when "Running Up That Hill" was new, Kate Bush's music always did seem out of time.

You can hear "Running Up That Hill" and a playlist of other songs from Kate Bush's career here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7g78AHKnVNDWOCdwLlaLTp?si=451ee997649044ea