Best Albums of 1985, Ranked

Hey y'all, welcome to another episode of Past Times at 80s High. Got a fan favorite today. We are gonna do another decades series. And this cast we're gonna choose our favorite 10 albums from 1985. I of course have the boys here as always. Cabin, how are you? Doing great, AJ. How are you doing today? Excellent. Dungo. Yo, what's happening? Hello, Isaole. And Brother Mark, of course.

I'm not so bad. Doing pretty good.

Good, good, good. Awesome. Well, as always, we we always get underway with this. However, first, Kevin, your shout-outs, perhaps.

Absolutely. We are in St. Catherine, Ontario. We are in Galway, which I believe is Ireland, correct? Rancho Cucamonga. Nice. Nice. And Piskov Oblast. Pissed off what? It's P S K-O-V Oblast, which I believe is Poland. Oh.

Well, around the world, baby. Russia. Russia. Just a little bit. Awesome. Thank you everyone out there for listening, man. We appreciate it. And it's great to see all the new listeners and so many downloads happening. Really makes our day. Well, what we do here in the Decade series, of course, is we always start with a news story. And I believe I have the honors today. Your Honor, Your Honor. Yes, indeed, I am. So what I'm going to do, I'll make this quick because we've kind of talked about this a lot through the series here, but I couldn't help it because, in my opinion, it was the greatest rock and roll record sales promotion of all time. And that would be the PMRC hearings. Okay. Thank you, Tipper Gore. Yes. Good old Tipper Gore led these four Washington wives and just shit on so many rock and roll albums and their lyrics, you know, being explicit. We all know we've talked about it. Dee Snyder, Frank Zappa, John Denver came in and it was awesome. But just that sticker, that explicit lyric sticker, the parental advisory, just it sold so many albums because what kid did not want it. I mean, boy, they shot themselves in the foot.

Yeah.

Should I get this album or this album? Well, this one has the explicit lyrics on it, so I guess I'll right.

Moss Iceland. All right. Well, I'll just keep it at that then and go to you, Dongo.

All right. So when I was looking at all the events of 1985, um, I came to two conclusions. One, it was probably the time when we destroyed as a planet and the simulation was set into effect. Just because it seems like there was a lot of shit that happened that year that probably we ended as a species, and then they just created some simulation to keep us going. But I'll take the tinfoil hat off from that. But the the second thing was I noticed there was a hell of a lot of plane crashes that year. And I like up on Chat GPT, and sure as shit, 1985 was the worst year in plane crashes with over 2,000 people dying in various plane crashes. Which the most devastating plane crash in history was August 12th, the Japanese Airlines flight 123 was a 747, and 520 souls were killed on that plane crash. But there was various other ones. Some were due to terror. Uh 520 people. Yeah. That's the 747's the big ones. So but there were like, you know, terrorism attacks, and then there was like collisions, and there was just bad, bad shit was going on that year in the aviation industry.

So uh Dongo, um, when we were mentioning news stories, because the one thing we do share, we try not to share pics on the show, but we do let each other know about our news stories. And of course, you sent that out this morning. As my daughter is flying to Florida in flight. I'm like, oh, that's just sorry, didn't mean that, but it's still the safest form mode of travel. They're in Sarasota, they landed safely.

Nice, it's not 1985, AJ, so it's just always that's a good point.

Yeah, good point.

Awesome. All right, Kev, to you. All right, so this one just stuck in my mind because it was kind of a big deal. There was a lot of debate about not just whether it worked or not, but could a person live without a heart? And that was William Schroeder. Um he was a second recipient. He lived for a period after getting the Jarvik 7 artificial heart installed. Yeah, that's what I remember about it. It was pretty amazing that we replaced an organ that's that important to being alive. And uh and the fact that there was that debate. It's like, can a human being exist without a heart in more of the philosophical spiritual sense of it. And I just remember a lot of debate about that. So that was the story from that year that stuck in my head.

What's interesting is they haven't been able to create they have what's called L VADS now, which are external devices, but the device connects to the heart itself and it assists the heart. But if the impeller on the external LVAD goes down, the patient basically dies. So it's like a portable heart. But they haven't been able, with all the technology and everything we got, they haven't been able to make an internal standalone artificial heart, which is pretty amazing that they haven't been able to. But they shows how important.

Well, that's of course, that's the whole point. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Uh that's a real one though, brother. Incredible. I want my brain transplanted. Yeah, I I I kind of want your brain pointed. When are they gonna figure that one out?

That's the part of your body you've decided to salvage.

Actually, that's funny because you saying that, Kevin, made me think of something, and this is a fact. Our buddy Bub, who God rest his beautiful soul, passed away quite some time ago. But on the back of his license, when you could do like a specific organ, he wrote penis. On his license. Anyway, off to you, brother.

All right, well, mine is uh WrestleMania 1. This is the the beginning of uh McMahon's striving to overtake the wrestling world and make it a monopoly, if you will. But yeah, it it it it all started off when Cindy Lopper was on Viper's Pit, this broad from New York. She's just sitting there talking about how she made it. Well, the the thing is, he she would be nobody without Captain Lou Albano. He took the broad off the streets of New York, turned her into somebody, and what kind of gratitude did she have? You know, she turned against him, and uh yeah, so WrestleMania won. It was just a a big, big to-do, even though some of the matches were really no different than a regular Monday night wrestling card from on USA Network back in the day.

But the big one.

It was a big one. You had Liberacci there, Muhammad Ali was there, Billy Martin, the manager. Well, um, the two biggest matches is you had Wendy Richter going against a girl named Worlani Kai, and the uh participants in the background in her Richter's corner was that broad from New York, Cindy Lopper. And then uh Richter had the beautiful and absolutely gorgeous, fabulous Moolah in her corner, and unfortunately, Wendy Richter ended up winning, and she ended up with a woman's title. And then the main event was Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, that bozo from the 18. I guess he was he wasn't in real life, he wasn't really stiff in the ring, I guess. And they fought against Roddy Piper, Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff, and uh Ace was in their corner, uh Cowboy Bob Orton. And unfortunately, Hogan and Mr. T won. What a travesty.

It was rigged.

It was, but today they still have WrestleMania, and uh it's huge, and McMahon did pretty much take over. He got he bought out WCW, ECW, and all that. I mean, there have been some uh federations that have come upon you know, like H E or whatever. I don't even know. I haven't watched wrestling since they broke K-Fade. But uh of course McMahon no longer owns WWE as they call it now. Yeah, it was a it was a huge huge deal. My favorite WrestleMania was three with uh Hogan against Andre the Giant with the beautiful Bobby the brain Heenan and his so that was the only one, AJ?

That's the only wrestling match that was fixed, was WrestleMania one. Yes, of course.

Well, you know they're all real, so anyway, uh the injured. That's funny. His daughter, Vince McMahon's daughter and uh her husband, of course, Triple H. Paul Levant. They live here in town where I am, and you know, it's really disgusting to see their house. They really need to clean the yard up, and it's just filthy and what do they have?

Like a one-room house with 22 kids.

There's like a million-dollar rock wall around it, first of all. They own like their own friggin' peninsula. It's incredible, but great family. I will say that they are awesome people, very polite, uh, you know, so it's nice to see when somebody gets that way and they still remember where they came from and you know, treat the public normal like some of these fucks don't. Oh anyway.

Yeah. So when you say front yard, I just assumed you meant Lake Winnipesaukee. Yeah, exactly. Is there is their front yard?

Yes, there's pretty much in a couple months it will need to be. And their side yard, I think. I think left and right, I think.

Oh, get a little peninsula happening.

Yeah, it's unbelievable. But anyway. Good picks. Okay. Well, I guess here we go. I'm gonna try to run pretty quick. I know we have ten picks here. I feel like uh mine are gonna be a little surprising to some people, but I'll just start right out of the gate with my number 10, and that is October 28th. And that would be Oingo Boingo's Dead Man's Party.

Wow, oingo boingo!

Yes, that's right, baby. The soundtrack boys, um, they just did so many different soundtracks that were awesome. But I mean, of course, you got weird science, right? Yeah, and dead man's party. There was just something about that.

It's Dead Man's Party, who could not form.

Everybody's coming to Body at the Dog, be the body at the dog.

I still love it when I hear it today. I mean, talk about movies with that playing in it. Right. But just even if I hear it on the radio or you know, Sirius XM today, I'm like, wow, it's just fun, it's funky and fun, and I love it, and I will leave it to that and go to you, Don.

Cool, man. That was good. So for my number 10, I'm gonna go with uh YNT down for the count, November 4th, because I love the song Summertime Girls. Oh yeah. I like Summertime Girls, it's just a fun song. Awesome.

What was the date you said, Don?

Uh November 4th, 1985.

Awesome. And I don't want to ruin anyone's upcoming picks, but they did two, they released two albums that year and had a cut of that on it earlier, but I don't think it was a full release. But I'm so glad you took it because that was one of my scratches, and I think YNT and Dave Manichetti are just such an incredible underrated band yesterday and today, if you will. Exactly. Right? Coop. Awesome pick done.

That's to you, Kev. All right. Now I just want to because you blew me away with the ongo-bongo pick. Right, Mark? I mean, I'm I'm totally stunned and amazed. So I'm a little if if I'm a little off my game right now, it's because AJ. And the guy is incredible. He was on he played drums with ASAP Rocky, but he played drums with him, I think, on the album, and I saw him on playing with him on Saturday Night Live, and I was like, that creepy white-haired, I mean, red-head, pasty dude looks like Danny Elfman, and it turned out it was. So anyway. Um, so on to my pick is one that, and I just gotta say this to to begin 1985, is it was my second year or maybe third year, second year of working a full-time job after school and in the summers. So I had some expendable cash. I think I owned all of the albums that I'm gonna talk about. I think I actually owned them at that time. I think I bought them when they came out, which is something previous years that, you know, I wasn't buying my own albums in 1979. So um, so my pick is under lock and key by Dawkin. Um, just they got panned for being or commercial with it, but I just loved it. Unchained the Night, The Hunter in my Dreams, slipping away, lightning strikes. And then side two, it's not Love Jaded Heart. I mean, the till the live and end. This is that B-side is better than most A-sides that came out in that era. So I just loved it. It was part of the soundtrack of my 1985 for sure.

Absolutely. Incredible. All right, brother Mark.

Okay, well, all right, my number 10 for 1985 is it's a band that I really feel bad for because I I do believe they lost a lot of self-esteem at this point. Um, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford had come back and uh to rejoin Aerosmith, and apparently they felt really ugly at the time because the album is called Done with Mirrors. So yeah, so I mean, obviously that's what they're singing about. They're I don't know, they I don't know if they if they were overweight, I don't know what happened. But I mean it's important to me because I mean that was Aerosmith was just circling the drain, and I it's well documented that I am not an Aerosmith fan into the 80s, but this one was kind of a before they went really commercial or really sold out. Yes, before they sold out, and it's I mean they let the music do the talking was a great song that Joe Perry had on one of his solo albums, and My Fist Your Face was a great song. Love that. Yes, yeah. And uh the gypsy song there, you know, it was it was a decent album, and uh again, it's it was transition time, so you know I usually an Aerosmith album will be way much way higher on my list, and it'll be a miracle as we go forward that they'll ever have one on my top ten, but uh if we do years prior, they'll be right there. So yeah, that's my take.

I don't know how I miss that, Mark. I love that album. I mean I missed it too, Kev, for the record.

It wasn't listed.

Yeah, the reason a dog, the reason a dog has so many friends, because he wags his tail instead of his tongue. I mean I just love that. Uh Sheila, uh She's on Fire, Darkness, all great songs. And that was to me, that's like I joke about um Metallica's last album, uh Injustice. To me, that is Done with Mirrors is the last Aerosmith album.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. And you've stated that definitely. Um I love it, Mark. I don't know if they had a weight problem, but they were done with mirrors. And they weren't, they were not done with mirrors. Yeah, right. And not at least for a year, you know, not very long, that's for sure.

Yeah, well, I mean, they they did get better looking, I think. So anyway.

All right. That's number nine to me, correct?

Yeah.

All right. June 13th, the bathroom album. And Kevin, you know what I'm talking about, and that would be Rat Invasion of Your Privacy. Oh, what's her name, Kev? I I didn't write it down. Uh, you don't remember the Playboy model on the front. Yes, but that's why it was the bathroom album. Right. You're in love, lay it down, one of the greatest rap songs of all time. It's incredible, incredible guitar work on the album. I mean, Warren Di Martini is just amazing. But the dual guitar work with Robin Crosby always went unnoticed, and he was the the what do you call it, the glue that held the band together. Yeah. So without him, of course, everyone always looked to to Warren, but what a fucking great band that didn't get as big as they should have. I think they they headlined like one tour, and I don't even know if it was a full tour, but I just feel like Rat with all their MTV hits should have been a way bigger band. I think they should have been up there with Motley Crue and you know some other bands that got really huge and they didn't. So that's unfortunate.

Well, it was it was Marianne Gravat was the the girl on the cover. And I think it was Sonny that said when we were on Growing Up Rock that they just they didn't show up to their shows, and that might have been the reason that they he like had tickets to like twelve of their shows and they didn't show up. They blew everyone off. That could have hindered their fame.

Yeah, they could have changed their name to Squirrel or something, you know, uh something a little more uh less offensive than rat. Who likes the rat?

Vole, maybe?

Vole or mole, yeah. That could have worked, yeah.

The inviting, though, definitely didn't help them, of course. You know, it was quite brutile. So do you, Donald?

So this was I have it at nine because it wasn't. As good as his second album, but this was David Lee Roth's first solo album, and it was crazy from the heat, David Lee Roth on January 28th, 1985. So he split from VH and one on his own. And I remember uh adoringly loving the videos that came out of this, you know, like him him getting into his his groove of doing funny videos with California girls. Crazy from the Heat, just the Gigolo was funny. He had awesome session players on this album. Yeah. But the next album is when he, you know, he got Stevie Vi and Greg Bissinet and all those guys. But Billy Sheen, obviously. But the the guys he had on this album was uh Eddie Martinez, Sid McGuinness, Willie Weeks, John Robinson, Sammy Figura. They were all session guys. So, you know, not not your common names, but certainly very talented musicians. Indeed. Yeah. That's what I got.

Awesome bit, gone. All right, Kevin.

That's off to you. All right. So this one was panned and I loved it. I don't care. ACDC, Fly on the Wall. I absolutely love that album. I think it was probably one of the best, aside from Back in Black, one of the best uh Brian Johnson albums. It kind of recaptured a little bit of what the band was and what it was supposed to be. But there's somebody somebody reviewed it and it was just a guy shredded it. And I'm like, are you are you listening to ACDC because you're expecting deep musical value and and and poetic? I mean, that's not what it's that's not what it's about. Uh shake your foundation is just it's a it's a perfect ACDC song as well as Sink the Pink. A lot of the problems that they had on that tour was because uh Ramirez, the the uh night strangler, Richard Ramirez was blaming their song Night Prowler at that time for for why he became a serial killer, which is I listened to that album too and did not become a serial killer, so I I sh I shit on Ramirez's claim. Hey. I don't think so.

Another one we could do, another band we could do inappropriate songs for, which that made me think of something, it made me think of two different things, and one is we did a a kiss cast um with inappropriate songs, and people should check that out under the preachers of the night umbrella. But something I meant to say at the beginning of the show is the fact that on Spotify now, folks, when you listen on Spotify, please notice that you can comment right there under each episode, and we've been starting to see some of those. So keep that in mind. Anyway, off to you, brother.

Okay, this album came out uh May 13th. It's dire straits, brothers in arms. One of the most famous songs ever, and a great song, a great workout song would be Money for Nothing. Listen, yeah.

That ain't working. That's the way you do it. You play the guitar on the MTV. That ain't working, that's the way you do it. Money for nothing, and your chicks for free. Money for nothing.

And uh So Far Away. And this band, they were they were an English band, and you know, it's it's undeniable. Just, you know, I I remember working out with Norm Godbaut at his house, and he throws this on, and he's going nuts and everything. And uh it's kind of a weird guitar. You're actually plucking two strings to two octaves. I I went to learn it, it's like, oh, that's really weird, but uh yeah, that's my number nine.

Awesome pick, Mark. Okay. Uh eight to me. And this is February 25th of 1985. And it's Tears for Fears Songs from the Big Chair. This was an undeniable album, and I gotta throw a shout out to Chris who listens to us. But his brother Tony loved this band back then, and I fucking despised them because at that point I could only like one band who I won't name, but I love this album, man. It's just unbelievable. I mean, for the love of God, you got shout, shout, shout, let it all.

These are the things I can do with a come on. I'm talking to you. Come on.

Everybody wants to rule the world, uh, head over heels, and so many more on it, but those were the big ones that were just all over MTV. You know, they hold up today when you hear them. So that's that. Dungo.

For my number eight, I'm gonna go with on June 21st, Heart self-titled name, Heart. What about love? These dreams, nothing at all. I just I love Anne and Nancy Wilson, they're amazing. You've been hiding.

Never let it show. Always try. Keep it under control. And you're gonna do the way to that.

I love the songs, I love her voice, so I went with that. I like Dan Wilson's singing.

Great album.

Incredible, incredible album. And Kevin to you?

Alright, so um, just funny because I normally don't care about repeats, but you just chastise Donnie for Crazy from the Heat, which was uh was my next pick. Um and I I wasn't even thinking about covers because it is. I was thinking about because it's an EP, but I loved it because I love Louis Prima, was just a giggelo and ain't got nobody and whatever else. Forget about it, Kate, forget about it. Forget about it. So I was pivoting to songs from the big chair. That's why you can see my face. I'm like, ah, so I pivoted. So now my pick is because I think I've told this story before, I'll tell it real quick. I loved loudness. Easily the best Japanese metal band ever.

I love loudness. Is the name of the band? No, the name of the band is loudness.

Um loud. Unless you want to bring in some, what is it, the Korean throat singing or something like that? Mongolian throat singing. Um, Thunder in the East was a great album. Rock and roll crazy naye. They were a great band. They weren't just, it wasn't just because they were Japanese that it was a novelty. They were a great band. And I saw them in Portland open for I believe it was ACDC at the time, and it was absolutely hilarious because he comes out on stage. Like when we went to shows in Portland, you guys will remember this. You would so people would bands would forget, and they'd be like, It's great to be back in Oregon.

Yeah.

And we'd be like, Yeah, fuck you. You don't even know you're in Maine, but whatever or what Maine is. But um, when the lead singer loudness came out, he came out and he looked, he grabbed the microphone, he went, Oh, yes, I owe you, what Dario are you? Portland. And we all looked at each other and went, we couldn't understand a word that he said. He was speaking in Japanese. The only American word that he knew were the songs and the word Portland. So we all looked around at each other, and when he said Portland, we went, yeah. Then he went, Dollar, Portland. Yeah. So we had a little bit of a language barrier there. Yeah, never coming back again. Stupid American smells like a hockey rink in here. Portland.

Yeah.

Anyway, so that was just one of the most memorable shows that I ever went to, and those guys were for real. They were for real and great.

Oh, yeah. Forget his name, but he's amazing. And something to cover on that, Kevin, is they've been trying to play like the Monsters of Rock Cruise and come to the States for years and years, and every time something happens with their visas and they can't get over here. Yeah.

So but I did hear that they're still putting out albums that have been for quite some time. Yeah. Akira Takasaki.

Yep.

Was the guitarist Akira Takasaki?

He's all gray hair back in the day, too.

Yeah, which was kind of weird. As a as a 15-year-old. It's like, what is that? Why is the dude in the rock band got what?

Donnie's showing up.

Donnie's got the picture. Sweet. Was that you with them, or did you win that at a circle? Did you win that at the fair?

You would have fit right into grave here.

Ace really would have fit in.

Yeah, right. Great pick, Kev. And that was an audible, yes. That was, yeah, that was that was my second alright, Mark, to you.

Okay, my number eight is Striper Soldiers Under Command. It was released on the 15th of May. Now, a lot of these band there were two categories for me. There were albums that I actually came to love very recently, and other albums that I loved back in the day. This would be that. And uh it reminds me, okay, well, let me give you a couple songs. Makes me want to sing. You have the title track, Soldiers Under Command, obviously, great tune. And Brother David, and we would be driving in a citation down to to Hinsdale, and uh he would have his his uh overhead light, and he would give us light shows to the music, and this this is what that album reminds me of is you know, the official pisteon on Route 63, and then we had uh you know, the store we always stopped at Hillsborough to get beer and whatnot. But uh but it's a you know it's a Christian band and uh they really rocked, and according to AJ, they're even heavier today.

Oh, wicked. Total metal. But something I wanted to say about your story there, Mark, is Donnie knows this as well, and there will never be a better sounding car stereo than David's citation. Yeah. Oh man. It was crystal clear.

But man, I must have lost years of hearing because of that. Maybe that's why my hearing sounded awesome. And yes, he was cranking it. It was awesome.

Did that have the TSX eighties in the back on the package shelf? Oh, yeah. The Pioneer TSX 80s, those were like standard issue. If you had the money, those were the shit.

Most incredible car I've ever heard a stereo. Yeah. Yeah. It was the biggest piece of shit.

Exactly.

The stereo was worth way more than the vehicle.

$3,000 worth of stereo equipment in a $500 car.

Exactly. Yeah. Blue hatchback.

But if you could figure out what it was, just the the insulation of the car or how it was shaped, or who knows. But man, it the acoustics and that thing were. I've never had like that's what I gauge my stereo systems to was that how his sounded in that kind of and I've never heard one sound like it ever again. I tried and tried.

Awesome.

Too funny.

All right. That's to me then. Number seven. And I'm going with Phil Collins, No Jacket Required, February 18th. I mean, what more can I say about this? Uh just when he went solo, he was just all over the place. You couldn't not hear him on the radio. I mean, this is this is the one with Susudio, uh, one more night, uh, don't lose my number.

Show not anywhere that I can't find you.

Take me home, just it it's uh greatest hits album, really. And he was just unstoppable back then, and I always go back, and I'm sorry out there to be, you know, stereotypical or non-PC, but he was just a fucking bald dork. And it just goes to show you how incredible music, you know, can carry through that, and it doesn't matter. And I just I loved the album. That's that dungo.

So at number seven, I also had No Jacket Required by Phil Collins. Um it's pretty much gonna be repeats from here on out, but I remember what cast was it where we talked about Susudio. Um, I think it was it was either the pop or something, but we were talking about how he just made up the lyric, you know.

Made up the words an awesome song. What what is a susudio?

Right. It's a studio and something else. Yeah.

No, that's one of the most common female names out there. What are you talking about?

All right. Um so we are at what seven. Number seven for me is going to be I just I love this album, forward to backwards, the firm. The firm.

Cool.

Absolutely fantastic album. It was I mean, eighty-five was what are we talking? Like at least five years after Zeppelin broke up, right? After Bonzo had passed. And I can't remember if if he had done too much since then, but man, you put Jimmy Page with Paul Rogers, and then you throw in Tony Franklin and Chris Slade.

Oh, the field goal kicker? The barefooted field goal kicker. Dear Lord.

No, I think this one might be the bass player, actually, but okay.

I didn't know if he did both. I mean, you don't have to do bunch of it.

Well, it could be. It could be, but like I said, every and it's I don't know, it it it had the Zeppelin feel without being a complete Zeppelin like rehash. You know, even some of like Midnight Moonlight was allegedly part of um something they had written around physical graffiti time and and then redid it. But when you put Paul Rogers out in front instead of Robert Plant, it changes it. But again, everything satisfaction guaranteed, money can't buy, closer, make or break, radioactive was the one that got a lot of play on the radio.

Well, not untight, not unattractive, turn me on tonight.

But just an amazing, solid album from start to finish, and I just I love it, and I'll listen to it anytime, anywhere. Okay.

That is a they were a really good band.

I gotta say something and good field goal kickers, too, apparently.

Yeah, well, I don't know. He missed a friggin' chip shot in overtime in 1987 against the Philadelphia Eagles. They had the game one, they they got a turnover, they were down 31 to 10. This would have won the game, and he missed it.

So no. He was probably thinking about the next album, which wasn't as good. Which wasn't as good. Double dipping here.

Awesome pick, and I gotta say something before I go to you, Mark. Because I was so non-diverse back then, I'm ashamed that I didn't know that band included those members. However, Jimmy Page card to you, brother Mark.

Alright, well, my number seven is a band called NXS. They're from Australia. The uh name of the album is Listen Like Thieves. And um this song this song, this album is very important to me because it was out when I was actually coming of age. I know I'm the oldest one in in this group, but you know, I was discovering nice clothes and making my hair really cool, as in 80s cool and everything. And uh, you know, well my favorite I probably my favorite in excess song, period, is what you need. That's the opening track.

We've got a wap on The title track is a great song.

They also did Kiss the Dirk, Fallen Down the Mountain. And uh, I mean that's in parentheses, but just a a very unique band, if you ask me. I can't put it I can't put a label on the type of music they play, but I just I I remember the one big memory I have we were living in Ann'dale. It was going into springtime. And uh me and mom were and I think David or you. I don't remember who was in the whatever, but this came on the uh radio and we were going to Bradley's to buy clothes and it's just a memory, you know? That it really was special to me and I'll never forget it. So but yeah, just a great band, very unique, and we know what happened with Hutchinson and everything.

But we were with mummy, so of course it was a great memory.

Yes. So I mean this is probably not their top selling album. I think their next one was.

But still, that's a great this time, is a is a great song off that as well. Um but yeah, you're right. That I really feel like they they something about them you couldn't describe. They didn't fit neatly into any category because it was pop, but it was rock, but it was something that wave.

You had a great quality. Yeah, exactly.

Sad that we lost him.

Yeah. All right. Well, that's number six to me. And yes, it's been talked about. November 22nd, and that's Dawkins under Lockinkey. I mean, just so incredibly, incredibly riffy. I mean, George Lynch is just a friggin' madman. And I uh I gotta, you know, talk about uh you have In My Dreams the Hunter, It's Not Love, and of course Unchain the Night, but some uh I don't know what it is. I think the band mark was called Teaser. Yes, uh uh band our brother David, our dear late beautiful brother David played in, and they did this song, and it was incredible every time.

What can I say off?

And it just has a special place to me. And I'll go to you, Donnie.

So I'm gonna go with I'll keep I'll keep it under lock and key as well, because I had that in my list and just gonna keep rolling with it. Um love the video of George Lynch wailing that guitar, his rhythms were just unique for the time. Um, I think in Monfett's band we used to play it's not love back in the jam hole days. Where I lost more decibels of hearing being in a like an eight by twelve room with you know Oh, in the warehouse down? Yeah, there was like six four-inch twelve cabinets in in this little tiny room, and we stood like two feet in front of them just jamming. Um God bless his parents, man. I mean, they never said a word. And we played hours at full volume, like ridiculous.

Oh, I thought you meant that warehouse down in Manchester.

No, no, we had a jam hole. We called it the jam hole, but it was in Gary's house. Gary's house, his parents' basement, you know. And uh they were upstairs trying to watch TV or whatever. They never poked their head down, they never s yelled at us, you know, never said, like, hey, can you hold on a second? We were just playing full set list of songs and never never complained uh just like at our house, AJ, when David and I's band was down there playing.

Dad never cared.

Yeah. When the you heard the stomp on the floor, it was time to shut up.

I mean, they never said a thing. I mean, it was amazing. God bless their souls. I mean, they were good people, you know.

And Donnie, that was so much fun. And I gotta talk about memories when they pop up to me. And hanging out at Gary's house in the jam hole, I just remember so often, leaving like an hour or two early to go to Case and Keg to do what we called ratting. Yeah. And that was just sitting there and waiting long enough to see some dude that, yeah, he looks like he'd do it to buy us beer. And this is back when you got the 24-can suitcase of Budweiser.

Keep the country growing up, come work and spots for you.

Here's to you, Beachwood Age, for that clean, crisp taste that says Budweiser.

So we'd always get a suitcase, and I would bring it with me and put it down between my legs, open it up, and just sit there and guzzle beer watching you jam. We wonder why we're fucking deaf. Oh, I know. What? Yeah, it's ridiculous. What? Huh? Yeah. Yeah. Great one. Yeah.

All right, Kevin. So my my number six was another album that I definitely owned at the time. It was uh on the heels of the the popularity of Bad to the Bone, and that was George Thurgood and the Delaware Destroyers uh uh album called Maverick. Uh the big hit off that was I Drink Alone. Uh my personal favorites were Gear Jammer and uh Willie and the Hand Jive.

Run of a ring or up mind if I'm over drive. Yeah, my heart fit like a jack and bird. It's a bit I ride above in the jammer.

It was really more of a well, Dixie Fried was another great one off that too. It was it was blues, but it was more of a uh southern western kind of kind of blues. He actually does a cover of the Maverick theme, the TV show's theme on that. Um a great fun album, and I really enjoyed it. It was actually oddly, it was recorded in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, which is a strange place to do a Western themed themed album. But no, it didn't have the successes as as big as Bad to the Bone, but you know that was huge enough. So how do you repeat that? But uh and then again, given my druthers, honestly, if you're talking about George Thurgood, one bourbon, oh my god, one scotch and one beer, the live version is just fantastic.

But anyway, innocent since almost a week. When I get drunk, I'm gonna make it real clear.

So I just I just love that album, Maverick, and that's my number five.

And it's awesome. And me and my good buddy Weiser. What an incredible song.

He got miles out of those because he would he'd do do basically the same riff and just change the lyrics, and it's another song. Similar to Chuck Berry.

Yeah, yeah. Awesome. Incredible pick though, Kevin. Awesome, Mark, wrap up number six.

Alright, well, before I get to my pick, I I don't know how I missed that album, but I I used to listen to that when we lived on Winna Street, and I'd go and pass out in Big Al's room, put on a stereo, and listen to this, listen to I drink alone as I was doing the same damn thing. And uh Yeah. I love that. The gear jammer that goes right into you, it just you know what I'm saying? It's just powerfully I can't even describe it. But uh yeah, I went with repeat, Phil Collins, no jacket required, AJ. I'll already listed the songs that I was gonna list. And uh, I mean, just one memory I have out of it is working at the summit. And this year, Donnie, it wasn't hell. The first year I worked here, I was coming off a terrible job working at uh the Eden and Citizen with a bunch of old ags, just really unpleasant people. And um there's just too many errors, you're making too many errors, and um you know, it was for I was counting changing everything for all the the people that would go around delivering papers. But then I got a job at the summit as a groundskeeper. My boss was awesome, and uh we it was just a very low-key, pleasant place to work, and I just remember all these songs, it they just it was like the soundtrack of that summer.

Give me just one more night, give me just one more night, one more night.

So it's a little special to me, and again, this is Phil Collins in his prime. Absolutely his highest selling solo album of all time for him. So, yeah, so that was my number six.

Awesome. Nice, and now a short commercial break.

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Pobrocks, Jack, stretch Armstrong, Jack, the Bionic Man.

Jack. You've gone back in time. This is past times at 80 high.

And I'm gonna throw an audible in here because my number five, I shouldn't say this, but it was Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms, incredible album. But just to get something different in the mix, and hopefully no one else there is gonna have this, and it wouldn't be this high on my list, it probably would have been back at ten or nine, but I'm gonna go with Wasp The Last Command. I love this album. They were very groundbreaking in some ways. They make me think of Kiss in a roundabout way, where they just were extreme and different. I mean, you got uh Wild Child on it, of course, but Blind in Texas just has a special meaning to me for some reason. Jeez, I wonder what I lived in Hinsdale, I would crank this song, and I thought it was the coolest song on the planet for some reason at that point. So but anyway, you never know, so off to you, Dongo.

You know I'm a dreamer with my heart gold had run away high.

So I would come home just when things went right.

Rob Cordry, like goes back in time and basically steals it from Molly Crew, Theater of Pain, and he he goes back in time and he basically takes a song away.

I did for a while. My real passion's music though. So pissed the band broke up.

And he he nails it, you know. He looks so cool out there, and uh I love that movie. That movie was stupid fun.

Stupid fun.

Yeah, so Theater of Pain, Motley Crue, June 21st. Uh Keep Your Eye on the Money. Good tune. Uh Home Sweet Home, obviously, is uh smoking in the boys room, which we've talked about a lot, but uh just a great album. Awesome, dog. Yeah.

All right, Kev. All right now. I'm sure you guys all have this one. I'm going with uh Around the World in a Day, Prince. Um Raspberry Beret was the big hit off that one. Um there was a young lady at that time who wore a Raspberry Beret, and well, that's a different story for a different time. Maybe when the kids had gone to bed, but it was fun. Not not one of his well-received albums. He started going in a different direction from where he had been with, you know, uh uh Purple Rain and all that. It just kind of brought a different bit of funk into it and really kind of moved on from the pop thing and started doing something different. Uh Pop Life is is great. America, uh Paisley Park, Condition of the Heart, Around the World in the Day, all just kind of came out of nowhere. You know what I mean? It was a different sound than what was happening at that time, and that's what I really loved about that album.

Nice. Nice. I did see it and actually thought that might come up more than once, yeah. So anyway, who knows? All right, Brother Mark.

Okay, this is a band uh I am talking about Wasp. And um I'm going, you know, it's the last command as AJ Just Pick. And it's funny you said that that nobody would have it, but the funny thing is, is uh three or four months ago, whenever I started listening to my own music at the gym, I have a kiss station. And Wasp is always coming up, and I'm like, Oh look, I'm like, I love this song. Who is it? It's Wasp. Oh my god, I love this song, who is it? Who is it? Wasp. It's like wow! My I was clouded in my judgment of their music, but they are rocking, they have some great riffs. My one of my favorite riffs of all time now is The Torture Never Stops.

Yeah.

Bang, bang, bang it in your head! Don't bang it off the wall! Don't bang off the wall.

Um, I Wanna Be Somebody, I believe, is the opening track. I mean, it has twenty songs on it. Twenty-five.

Wild Child, but but incredible song, uh, incredible album. And Mark, do you uh know Chris Holmes, well, the guitarist, but um, have you ever seen what is it, the decline of western civilization?

Yes, I have.

Was he the one in the Part 2 with his mom?

Mom, have a drink. Chris, do you drink very much? Pardon? Do you drink very much? Uh yes, I do. I'm a full-blown alcoholic. Just when he's awake. I I drink too much. Okay, why do you drink that much? Uh, because I enjoy it. Do you think uh rock and roll lifestyle turns you into an alcoholic? Yes, it does. How much of that do you drink a day? About five pints.

A vodka?

Yeah. Five quarts, pints, who cares? Yeah, I'm a I'm a happy camper.

Yeah, and she was so proud of him. Yeah, that was that was really sad watching that. He's just chugging bottles of vodka and flipping back and forth from being suicidal to being, you know, I mean, it was classic, like manic depressive.

He is. He uh as a matter of fact, he played uh Monsters of Rock Cruise on the last one or the previous.

Really?

Yes. So he's doing good. I heard he didn't sound great, but still, at least he's alive and living in the world. Big time withdrawals.

Still. One of my favorite stories about Wasp, though, is when they were touring and they just they were not a popular band at that time. I mean, they did they had some, but they weren't breaking into the mainstream like they wanted to. But they were doing all kinds of fun stuff on stage, and there's a story about Blackie had a cod piece that had like fireworks that shot off while he's standing on the stage. So he's got he's got like pyrotechniques coming out of his crotch and it like backfired and hurt him, and he's off to the side of the stage and he looks at one of the other band members like, you know, if we wrote better fucking songs, I wouldn't have to do this shit. Which I think anybody would say if your balls just went on fire for the fucking pyrotechnique. Oh my god.

It's funny.

I always loved the the meat stories, just throwing raw meat into the crowd and hitting people in the face with it.

Can you imagine being the guy that had to go to the supermarket before the show?

Exactly. And you know, he had a pretty heartfelt post when Ace died. I didn't know that Blackie and Ace Really grew up together in the Bronx. Like they knew each other when they were like 12 years old and hung out. So I thought that was really cool. You know, funny how so many of those people like knew each other as little kids and still pulled the shit off. Alright. Where are we here? Number four? August 12th. Ronnie James Dio. Under the name of Dio. Uh, this is Sacred Heart. I will say that the two previous, Holy Diver and Last in Line, I think are better albums, but this is still undeniable. King of Rock and Roll. Rock and Roll Children. Like the beat of a heart. I mean, it's just it's an awesome album, and he still, I won't argue today, Kevin, still one of my favorite metal vocalists of all. You know what? I thought about it and I listened, and you're right. Those high notes, I don't think he could hit like Alfred. But it definitely doesn't mean it in itself. Yeah, exactly. Incredible.

Right. Right. That operatic thing is what I was talking about. The range was different. Yeah.

They're just different. Yeah. Fuck, man. But amazing. I miss him. I wish just the music he put out just even, I mean, go back through his career, back to like elf.

You're feeling strong, my friend. Call me elf one more time. He's an angry elf.

You know what I mean? And rainbow, fucking stargazer. So fun.

I think watching his videos, I think he would have been a much better. You know, you see that like when they have like a politician talking, the mayor's talking at something, and they've got they've got the person doing the sign language, and they just they keep going like this. They should have Dio missed his calling because every video, he's like literally acting out every line of the song. He's just like a rainbow. He's making literally.

Imagine seeing him in the little circle down to the left of Jerry Falwell. That's funny. Too funny.

Awesome. Okay, Dongo. So I also had Dio in that spot, and I love the song Hungry for Heaven. Yeah. Love that song. And the reason why I love it, and this is a little cheating because I love the Vision Quest soundtrack, which also came out this year. And I know we can't use soundtracks, but I'm gonna use it. I'm gonna use, I'm gonna squeeze it in because Hungry for Heaven was on this soundtrack, and it's just kick ass. I love it. Oh, it's so awesome. So yeah, I was jamming that today, just driving outside I'm hungry for heaven. Looking at people in the red light next to me. Giving a look.

What are you doing?

Did you ask if they had any gray poupons? And do you have it? I still have yet to do that. Oh yeah. But of course. Do you have it in your car, Don? I don't. I gotta get some. Yes. We need to all keep a jar of it because the day someone does it and you hand it to them is gonna be the most specular day on earth. Pardon me.

Would you have any Grey Poupon? But of course. I'm gonna have to find out.

Are we angling for a sponsorship here? Should we call up the Great Poupon people and see if they but you know it's funny? Again, I looked at that album too, uh, Donnie, knowing that we couldn't do the soundtracks. But I said it before and I'll say it again. You know a soundtrack is great when 30 years later you hear a song on it, and when that song ends, your mind immediately thinks of the next song on that soundtrack.

Damn right.

Yeah. 85 was a great year for soundtracks. Saying Elmost Fire, Vision Quest, Breakfast Club, Back to the Future, like a lot of the WWF album.

Yeah, that's that's probably the top.

Which for some reason they considered a soundtrack, so I couldn't pick it. No, I don't know what it was a soundtrack to, but I squeezed it in there. All right, Kev, I believe that's four to you.

All right, four to me is going to be the talking heads, little creatures. And she was, I think, was the biggest hit off that. Um, creatures of love is one of my favorites.

We are creatures, creatures of a love from the sleep of reason. A life is born. We are creatures of love. We are creatures of love.

Stay up late. Yeah. Um, exactly. Road to Nowhere. We got some nice, nice uh choral singing going on in that, and just you know, they just continued with their fun and inventive style of of rock and roll, and I will always give props to Chris Franz being just a beast of a drummer. So that was my pick there.

Yeah, they kept uh they kept that kid up all night. Yes. Okay, Mark, wrap it up. Okay, well, I'm going with Tears for Fears, Songs from the Big Chair, Big to Me at the time. A couple um stories. Well, one isn't a story, one is that video for head over heels with uh the champion Z with the Red Sox, um, jersey on, and he's clapping like he's the manager when somebody catches something. Just really funny, but that's a fantastic song. And of course, shout. And uh, a little story, I was driving with Big Al, and I'm sitting going, Shout, Shout, let it all out. You know, at the top of my lungs. And Al says, hey, uh, who who sings this song? I said, Tears for fears. Yeah, so you don't have to. Why don't you let him?

Yeah.

So I'll never forget that. I think I was really pissing him off. And uh I stopped singing.

Oh boy, do I miss him. Oh, I know. He was a good soul. Oh, awesome soul. Do you remember the Jade Island eat-offs we would have? Oh my goodness. Yes, the buffet every Sunday. Cab I don't know if you were here at that point before they closed.

Jade Island was in existence for a short period after I moved into the area. So I did I did uh eat and drink there a couple of times.

At the begoda lounge.

The Bagoda Lounge.

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, um David, for one, I don't know who else did it, but he would bring little sandwich baggies to load up on, you know, ribs and on the buffet, a little chicken teriyaki or whatever the hell he wanted.

I just put them right in my jacket pocket. Can you imagine all the sand in the stuff? We fell asleep in there one time, didn't we? Oh man, we did something. I'll never forget Donnie ordered a suffering bastard and thought it was the funniest thing ever. So we had hammered.

Where I grew up, we had the dynasty or the dynasty as we used to call it. And my my best friend and I went in one night and just, you know, we were just old enough to drink in bars. So we we got it started as fog cutter. If you remember the fog cutter used to be, and they came in like a ceramic bamboo-looking thing. Um then it became, I think by the end of it, we were calling them frog blenders or something. I don't know. It was so fucking angry. Give us three more of those frog blenders. We'll take a couple more of those those bamboo things. Give us the bamboo things.

We got polluted. But Donnie, didn't you say when he said you want a suffin bastard? And you said, same to you.

I misinterpreted what he was saying to me. Are you a suffering? No, no, I'm not. Damn you.

All right, so that's number three to me, June 21st. I can't leave this repeat off, but it's hard self-titled album. The reason, I mean, I hate it when bands do that sometimes, but the reason they did it this way is it was their first album that when after they switched to Capitol Records. You know, so they switched companies. You've already said the names of the songs, Donnie. They're all incredible. But the point I wanted to bring up about this is that it's Ron Nevison produced, and he was the guy making all that sound back then, getting hits for people with his production. It was amazing what he did with it, and then he did the next album too, so uh, which was what animals I think are bad animals, what he did for them and uh so many other bands. I just wish he did that with Kiss Crazy Nights because nothing really took off from that, you know. But anyway, I'll leave it at that and go back to you, Don, for number three.

Yes, and I'm gonna pull an audible and I'm pulling one out of a bucket that I've never listened to before. But I'm gonna I'm gonna do it just for fun, just for funsies, because we've had some repeats, and I'm pulling out a debut album, Night Rocker, from David Hasselhoff. Oh yeah. I've never heard a single cut on this album, but looking at the album cover, I'm going to have to listen to it because he's standing on top of a car with a leather vest and like a Z guitar, like looking sexy like a motherfucker. So I'm gonna give it a listen and see if he's got some good cuts on there.

I am a night rocker.

I wanna rock you on that home. I am the night rocker. I wanna live you in my song in the street of a fire. And I know you want to fly, so come let's fly away. I am the night rocker.

He socked here, but he was popular overseas, man.

Germany loves David Hassel. I would just get hog, right? Nor McDonald used to say that all the time. Germany. Germany loves David Hassle.

They love. I remember that. Look at that guy. Sexy man.

I think the only album that came close to this is the young kit.

Yeah.

I think the only album that came close to that was Don Johnson's heartbeat. Looking for a heartbeat. Was Kit on that album?

That's what I said when he was standing on the album cover, maybe, you know.

Oh, I know, but did he sing back up?

David. Despite what you may think, I'm perfectly capable of handling my responsibilities.

I don't think that's correct, David. Your harmonies are off point two degrees.

Awesome.

Okay, Kevin. All right. I am going with uh Stevie Ray Vaughn's Soul to Soul. What a fantastic album. I mean, look at Little Sister always like really shook me. Change it uh was another one. He was a guy that just, I mean, he reinvented that sound. I mean, there was a lot of I think because he did the cover of Little Wing, there was a lot of um Jimi Hendrix comparisons, but he had so much more than that with the you know, the Texas Southern rock and just a sound of his own, and he was a guy that, you know, you just you didn't have to question. You know, when you heard him play a riff, you knew it was Stevie Ray Bond. I just I love the guy taken from us way too soon. An amazing, amazing guitarist.

Awesome.

All right, brother.

All right, well, I'm going with Dawkins, uh, under lock and key. Unchained the night is one of my favorite songs of all time.

Never hunting in the night.

And it has In My Dreams on it, and that's a cool song. And um, it's not love is a really cool riff where that I mean I can't do it. So yeah, it was just uh it's very riffy, like you said, and it's just a great album, and it's been talked about, and I don't really have a ton of stories about it, although I used to always play it on guitar even back then before I actually got good at it. Now, you know, in the last ten years. So yeah. I love the album.

You talk about um Rat not getting along at that time. They couldn't even uh Dawn and and George couldn't even be in the same room when they were recording that album. It was like the cops.

I believe that brings us to number two, correct?

Yes.

Alright. Well, I'm gonna shock the people here. Okay? You take an ongo bongo again? Nope. But it's not my number one, so I'll say it that way. And this is September 16th, 1985, and I'm going with KISS Asylum. Gotta tie it to KISS. Alright. This album to me is one of the most underrated KISS albums of all time, in my opinion. All right. Gene gets shit on through the 80s, Gene Simmons that is, for you non-KISS fans out there. I think he has a great album here with Secretly Cruel, Trial by Fire. With um, you know, an incredible MTV video that really took off, and you cannot forget about all my lonely, another one. Just there's a lot of great songs on this album that it's so incredibly, incredibly underrated because they just got crapped on, because they were the old guys at that point, if anyone remembers. It was you know, they were the guys in the 70s that came through here, you know, they were the older ones, but I love this album and I'll leave it at that.

Donald. I've been holding off because I wanted to use this album because I actually love this album. It was awesome. Like I loved it. So I want to use Kiss in this spot. Gotta tie it to KISS. I was just waiting, and I know Mark, I'm sandwiching in between Mark and you, but I loved it. I loved, like, you know, Tears are falling is just an awesome like the production of it was crystal clear, like amazing production. And I love Who Wants to Be Lonely. That's an awesome song, man. You know? Awesome.

And Bruce is solo in Tears of Falling is like one of his best and most talked about. But yeah.

It was good music, you know. It was good music. The the outfits they wore on the videos were like smack that guy who said, put this suit on, or whatever. The fluffy furry thing that Paul was wearing. Like a pinata kind of thing, you know? Somebody should have punched him in the face, but he's talking about the almost great, you know.

Dean Timmons should have been dragged out by his agent, which was probably himself. Right. You know, punched. Yeah. Yeah. He should have been punched and said, What the fuck are you doing? You look like the biggest imbecile I've ever seen. Because this, you know, when Gene took the makeup off, he just couldn't find his look. He finally did later, kind of in Heart in the Shade, and then when Revenge came out, but that was what, like six years later, he just looked like he looked like he was on the Golden Girls.

Yeah. Was was that the one where they they raided D. Snyder's closet?

Yeah.

Yes, it is.

But they thought I I well when I obviously you know I'm gonna pick it. I will uh I'll talk about this. All right.

All right, Kevin, you. All right. Brothers in arms, man. I mean, I think it's pretty well known that I'm a huge, huge Mark Knoppler fan. This album was absolutely incredible. Nine times platinum in the U.S. Um, one of the first recordings to be direct digital to digital, and the first album to for the C D to outsell the actual vinyl album, which is like a notable mark in history that we all we had all gone from albums to cassettes because we could take them in the car, and then you had to go out and buy it the third time on on a compact disc. And so that was that that point where it changed, and the how we how we got our music changed. Um the other thing on that album was obviously um you know, Money for Nothing was a huge hit. The story goes that um it was kind of an accident. He was trying to sound like Z Z Tops guitar sound, and the microphones were kind of there was like one laying on top of the Laney amp, and one was sitting on the floor or something, and he started playing it, and the guy in the in the in the sound room was like, Whoa, whoa, what is what is that? And they like tried to like draw pictures of where things were so and they could never get that sound again, not exactly the same. And then the other amazing thing is the intro that's um Sting sings on. This could only happen to somebody like Mark Knoffler. He was like, Wow, it'd be great if Sting could sing this intro. And they were like, Well, you know, he's they were they were in Montserrat, and they're like, Well, you know, he's here on vacation. And so, like an hour later, Sting is in there singing, I want my MTV. And it just happened, you know, that doesn't happen to us, but uh just uh an amazing album, so many great tracks on it, and the recording is just it sounds so good. You don't even have to have David's citation to hear that CD sound fucking awesome.

Well, I mean, that I think Weird Al did a better version. I mean, he changed the lyrics are different though.

Beverly, beverly. Look at that, look at that.

You'll come back now, here's on uh the movie UHF.

He passes out and then he forgets his girlfriend's birthday, and it just dug. But anyway.

Anybody wants to hear about that? Go back to our first Hodge Podge and you'll hear all about UHF. Awesome, and their videos were incredible as well. Just amazing.

Yeah, all that computer uh digital stuff. Do you look at it now and you're like, what the it's so bad, but it was so advanced at the time.

Indeed. All right, wrapping up number two, Mark.

Okay, well, I'm uh this is gonna be three out of four. I'm going with Kiss Asylum.

Gotta tie it to Kiss.

Uh, a couple other songs that weren't mentioned. King of the Mountain loves a deadly weapon. In which Paul Stanley actually did a demo previously. But uh anyway, I I kind of a love-hate relationship with this album. I'm like, I kind of associate things, you know, with I mean, my life was fine at the time, but we had these three people. Their names were coined by Al Shaw. Um the three names were Super Jim, Super Gabe, and Super Pete. They're going around dressing like kiss from asylum. They're going around with their black armbands, it's just so cool. You know, you couldn't penetrate this group. They were just they I mean, I could never reach for that coolness and that great looking style. And uh it just kind of drove me nuts. I don't know. Even to this day. I I never wore a black armband.

I can see it, brother. I can still see Dave, and I used to borrow them and he'd kill me when I did. But I can still see his gray suede boot cowboy boots where the top was black leather, and I'd crank him over my tacked jeans.

It's just yeah, and then I started dressing different too, but not just I don't know. No something about it because they're at the point. Yeah, you know, the girls all thought they were so adorable or whatever, and I was just this boring guy wearing boring clothes with a boring haircut.

Go watch Crazy Stupid Love. Great movie with Steve Carell. Check it out. I mean, yeah. Because boy, that's like one of the best makeovers I've ever seen with a man.

Okay.

Anyway, check it out. All right, where are we? Number one. Alright. Well, Mark, I was really surprised that you and I both did not have a silent one.

I'm nervous on the one now. I thought it was gonna shock the world. Now I'm not so sure.

Let me try to think what you have and see if I can pick it. No, you already picked it. Alright? And I could not leave this off because I think it's so fucking incredible. Alright. May 15th, 1985, and this is Striper's Soldiers Under Command. Alright? This album to me is so incredible. This band is so underrated. You want to talk about a dual guitar friggin' attack? They are awesome with Michael Sweet and Oz Fox. And then you have Tim Gaines on bass back then, and his brother uh Michael Sweet's brother on drums, Robert Sweet. They are pure rock, hard rock, metal, and nowadays they're pure metal. But this they're a Christian band, too people, and I feel like they took a hit for that because you know, them preaching the gospel when they were doing it. I feel like but still, when you think about it, the next album, I'm oh god, I hope I'm not messing up. Don't hang me out, people. But the next album, To Hell with the Devil, was just incredible. They had at one point three number one hits on MTV's top ten countdown, and two of them were there forever, like for a very long time. I think they're the only band to do it in history, but on this album, like Mark said, you got Soldiers, Make Me Wanna Sing, but Together Forever, First Love, The Rock That Makes Me Roll, Together Is One. It's just an almost perfect album. However, I must talk about our beloved sister, hello Robin. Getting emotional, sorry. We don't mention you enough on this podcast, and you probably don't remember this the way I do. But back in the 80s, she called me because this is when our parents were very much Bible bullet Christians, at least my father was, and she told me there was a Christian band playing on TV. I watched it and they played Soldiers Under Command and um makes me want to sing. I mean, I don't know if I was into the yellow and black that they wore. They look like bumblebees, but it was just intensely incredible music, melodic and fucking kick ass. And that's my number one. Go ahead, Donald.

All right. So I will do a couple things here. Um my number one pick is Brothers in Arms, Dire Straits. Awesome album. But I'm gonna use my time to do some funnies. So um looking through all the list of bands, I just saw a lot like awesome names of bands. Like there was there must have been like this is when punk was kind of like still hanging on, but like meat puppets, great name for a band. Um, I don't know anything of the meat puppets, so maybe we'll throw in a little clip of meat puppets. Butthole surfers, again, another great name for a band. Don't know a lot of the but I wanted to also bring up uh in 1985 on May 21st, Rick James. Um, and I wanted to put that in there just because I want to throw a Chappelle clip. I'm fucking Rick James, motherfucker.

Yeah, I'm one of the baddest motherfuckers of all time, one of the best singers, one of the best-looking motherfuckers you've ever seen. Hold my drink, bitch. You go over to any chick and look at the whole side of his face, man. I'm Rick James, bitch. Enjoy yourself.

That's it. I just wanted to throw that in there. Um, but Dire Straits, that album was awesome. That was you know, that to me that like kind of defined the 80s a little bit. Like just that sound, and man, they were the production on the you were spot on, like amazing. Incredible. Yeah. Of course, that's the audible I took. I took them off my list. Yeah, I couldn't, I could not leave them off. They were they're that's such a good album. Yeah. Incredible.

All right, Kevin.

All right, so my number one is I I honestly would not be surprised if none of you are familiar with this at all. Um, Rain Dogs by Tom Waits, one of my favorite albums, not John Waits, Tom Waits. He is just an amazing songwriter, an amazing performer. You would probably you would probably recognize downtown train. Um uh Rod Stewart had a big hit with it. This album sounds like it comes from another planet. It just comes out of nowhere. Um jockey full of bourbon is just one of the coolest songs you'll ever hear. It's so great. It's actually used in one of my favorite movies, um, The Things to Do in Denver when you're dead.

Oh, Jose, you want a piece of quid, you let it go. You left your wife at home, you hit the spots. You run with a big noise guy, you know, a cakey. Before you can say big bainets, you got a bang tail on your arm, sweet as Dutch cheese.

Uh but but Tom is is definitely an acquired taste, not accessible to everyone, but my God, it's just so amazing. If you can get into it, it's amazing. It's in the it's on the top hundred ru albums of all time, according to somebody. I don't know if it was Tiger Beat or Running Rolling Stone or or whatever else. They, whoever they is, yeah, whoever whoever they are them. Who the fuck is they? But amazing. And there's a great song called uh Walking Spanish Down the Hall, which I mean that's his imagery is great because when you say that walking Spanish down the hall, you immediately have a vision of somebody kind of drunk and stumbling down a hallway. Yeah and that's kind of what it's about. So a lot of his stuff is is like I say, his imagery is is just amazing. So that is one of my all-time favorites Rain D Rain Dogs by Tom Waits. Keith Richards plays a little guitar on that as well.

Awesome. Well Keith is damn well renowned, that's for sure. Oh, yes. Tom Waits. Yes. Awesome. Um one thing I wanted to say about that is when you guys said they, I can I'll never live it down. My father, every time my mom would say, you know, they say that's not good for you, my dad would always be like, Who's they?

Right. There's some panel somewhere of people. People in the past. Yeah.

I always I always appreciated the king of the hill, Peggy Hill was kind of the the antithesis of that because she'd always say, Well, in my opinion, the Friday after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of of the year. She would always like try to make it like she was they. In my opinion, it's like a such a common film. A lot of people like that, but yeah, yeah. Yep. That always cracked me up.

Awesome. All right, Mark. You're wrapping the show up with your number one.

Okay. This is July 31st. John Cougar Mellencamp Scarecrow. Yes. This album, I mean, this is one of those albums that was massive to me at the time. And it was more of a 1986 thing when I listened to it. But listen to these songs. Rain on the Scarecrow, Small Town, Minutes to Memories is an underrated song. Lonely All Night. Fantastic. Rumble seat, rocking in the USA. And uh, well, I mean, I I was on Winter Street, living on Winter Street at the time, and I would listen to this thing backwards and forwards, and it just for some reason, I don't remember why, but uh when I was listening to it, I kind of had a crush on a girl that was like the activities director at the summit. Beautiful blonde girl, you know. And one of the few girls that I had a crush on that I actually asked out. I don't know how I did it, but I just I would like to go on sometime. Oh, I'd love to, but I'm I'm seeing somebody. And then like of course, you know what I'm saying? And then I just I I had you know, this is back when the only thing that was getting any bigger on me would have been around my waistline because I was drinking like a fish. And I hadn't w uh yet lifted a weight of not any exercises. But um when I started I saw her down there and she was um I worked out at uh Laconia Racquet Ball Club, you guys remember that? I do.

They they played floor hockey in there in like a four foot room. Oh yeah.

But I I'll tell you what, when I I went in there the first time working out, and you want to talk about steroids. I mean, I've never seen more steroids in my life, and she's down there, she's friends with all of them. It's like, okay, I get it. And you know, she was into the muscle heads, and that was the furthest thing from that. But just a great album. Um up and down. I'd listened to it backwards and forwards. Awesome.

But didn't you turn into a muscle head? You're kind of Did I turn into one?

Yeah, you got to be.

Yeah, you're a hypocrite, man.

I didn't say I had anything against him, but I it wasn't it wasn't on time with this girl, believe me.

You can't beat him take steroids.

Yeah, well, I never got on the road.

You didn't do the roids, you did it El Natural.

El natural, the net Federan's very natural, so I gotta butt in to say one thing before we wrap this up. Is God what a terrible, horrible, god-awful apartment that was on Winter Street. I would pay money right now to use that shower again.

Oh, that was the best pressure.

Like a power washer? Yeah. Oh my god, it would rip your skin off. It was it was literally painful.

But did you know that there was also a murder in that apartment?

That's what I was telling you, Mark. I know. Are you talking about Winter Street?

Yes, somebody got thrown out the window. Is that what you said?

Yeah, but that was the neighbor, right?

I thought it was the apartment.

That was- No, no, you lived there at the time, and the people next door had a murder. Oh dear.

It wasn't while I was there, AJ. People said, you know, there was a murder in your apartment.

Okay, well, we're talking about two different murders.

Well, maybe there were two murders. It was the bottom of Winter Street. What do you expect?

Right.

Were there any of the high-rent districts in Laconia that you didn't rent an apartment? You got Blueberry Lane, you got Winter Street? Yeah. I think in Winter Street, you can't.

We grew up on Blueberry Lane. Don't be knocking on the street.

We definitely would evict people on a win on a whim there, you know.

Awesome boys. Well, that was a lot of fun. A fan favorite, and kind of one of my favorites as well. Thank you all, Dongo. Thank you. Good time. Indeed, Kevin. Thank you. And Brother Mark. Well, thank you very much. And thank you all out there for listening. We could not appreciate it more. We're loving seeing all these downloads. And we are out.

So far away from me. It's so far away. So far away from me.