On The List: 1980s

We are back and proud to announce our newest book.  On The List:1980s.  Out now!!! In this book, we explore that totally awesome decade:  the 1980s.  Neon clothes, big hair, cassettes, fast cars, MTV, and all the great music from pop to rock to metal to rap to every paisley jangle pub punk out there.  It's available now and perfect for under the tree for that audiophile in your life.  Available now on Amazon.

Here are the 11 best quotes from people who have read the book:

1. "Most Excellent!" - Two wild musicians at the Circle K
2. "The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore it." - High School Receptionist
3. "I feel the need...the need for this book!" - Naval Pilot
4. "Inconceivable!" - Some Guy who doesn't know what the word means
5. "It belongs in a museum." - An Archeologist
6. "Bitchin'" - kid hanging out back at the Gas N' Sip
7. "I came. I read. It kicks ass!" - Paranormal Expert
8. "If you read it, you will be happy." - Baseball player
9. "It's great.  Now you know...and knowing is half the battle." - Military Soldier
10. "I'll be back...to read this again and again." Robot from the future
11. "This goes to 11." - Metal guitarist

The 11 Best Stevie Nicks Team-Ups

We all have our favorites.  We all have artists who we follow.  We all have artists who we can listen to no matter the album, whether it's considered their best or their worst.  For me that artist is Tom Petty.  He has been one of my favorites for over 25 years.  He also may be the only artist among my favorites I've never seen live.   That changed this week.  After going through a deeply frustrating personal set-back, one of my best friends came through out of the blue with a free ticket to his show in Anaheim.  It could not have come at a better time, and it was exactly what I needed.  Tom Petty...40 years a rock n roll star...put on one of the best rock shows I have ever seen.   It was big, personal, and filled with every riff I ever wanted to hear out of Petty's mouth or Campbell's guitar.  Today, I have gratitude that when we get knocked down that our friends are there to pick us up. One of Petty's best rock friends is the one and only Stevie Nicks.  Many people don't know that Nicks almost became a member of the Heartbreakers in the 80s.  Nicks may have had a massive career in dysfunctional family of Fleetwood Mac but her solo outings were ripe with huge duets and guests that made her equally respected on her own.  And with Mike Campbell sneaking into every one of her solo albums, it's safe to say that she might as well be a Heartbreaker. Here are the 11 Best Stevie Nicks Team-Ups:

1. Stand Back w/ Prince (The Wild Heart)
2. Stop Draggn' My Heart Around w/ Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Bella Donna)
3. Whenever I Call You Friend w/ Kenny Loggins (Nightwatch)
4. I Will Run To You w/ Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (The Wild Heart)
5. Leather and Lace w/ Don Henley (Bella Donna)
6. Magnet And Steel w/ Walter Egan (Not Shy)
7. You Can't Fix This w/ Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Rami Jaffe (Reel To Reel)
8. Too Far From Texas w/ Natalie Maines (Trouble in Shangri-La)
9. Sorcerer w/ Marilyn Martin (Streets of Fire)
10. Everybody Loves You w/ Dave Stewart (In Your Dreams)
11. Twisted w/ Lindsey Buckingham (Twister Soundtrack)

Buy Stevie Nicks new album, 24 Karat Gold...now!!  

The 11 Best Songs By Prince of the 80s

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate this artist known as Prince.  There are very few artists who have been as prolific as Prince.  This week, he just released his 33rd and 34th albums at the young age of 56.  Surprisingly, the 2000s were the decade with the most Prince album releases, especially if you count two albums for the double release of Lotusflow3r and MPLsound.  Even though the 90s were populated by more albums, it's the 80s that we are here to go crazy about.  Let's go back to a time when people partied like the apocalypse, raspberrry was a color, and dance floors rained in purple. Here are the 11 Best Songs By Prince of the 80s:

1. Let's Go Crazy (Purple Rain)
2. When You Were Mine (Dirty Mind)
3. Little Red Corvette (1999)
4. 1999 (1999)
5. I Would Die For U (Purple Rain)
6. When Doves Cry (Purple Rain)
7. Controversy (Controversy)
8. Raspberry Beret (Around The World in a Day)
9. Darling Nikki (Purple Rain)
10. Uptown (Dirty Mind)
11. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Sign 'O' The Times)

Buy Prince's new albums, Plectrumelectrum and Art Official Age...now!!  

The 11 Best Albums of 1979

I had a friend Anthony who was obsessed with Pink Floyd. One day he spent the entire afternoon a dual cassette deck trying to line up the last song on the Wall so it would transition smoothly back into the first song. He was so proud of the 3-second splice that he made a mixed tape with that intertwined between every song. As strange (and super obsessive) as this was, there were something about his actions that embodied the mojo of his actions. That seemingly meaningless minutia was of the utmost importance. Maybe that's because everyone was smoking so much pot or that after the mayhem of the 60s...it was time to chill out.

Here are the 11 Best Albums of 1979:

1. Pink Floyd - The Wall

2. Michael Jackson - Off the Wall

3. AC/DC - Highway To Hell

4. Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door

5. The Police - Regatta de Blanc

6. Van Halen - Van Halen 2

7. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (Disorder)

8. The Ramones - End of the Century

9. Prince - Prince

10. Split Enz - Frenzy

11. Bob Dylan - Slow Train Coming (Gotta Serve Somebody)

Buy these albums here at my store!!