Great rock and pop albums

[Lateralthinking1]

hackneyvi - Dare I say that I was more for the McLaren side of things? Yes, I know. It goes down a bundle too with fans of the Boyoyo Boys and Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. I did though like "Rise" by PIL. It was number one in the Lat chart!

french frank - You had records in 1961? No, I don't believe that for one moment!

[teamsaint]

just a few thoughts to add to the many above.

Firstly, great to see Laterathinking mentioning The Men THey Couldn't hang, whose body of work is comparable with that of the finest british acts. A number of top class albums, of which " the Domino club" is amongst the best.

The sound . "Jeopardy". Truly englands most criminally ignored band....again with a number of quite amazing albums.

XTC. Their lack of popularity astounds me . skylarking, Drums and wires, Nonsuch and half a dozen others are fit to sit amongst any collection of the very, very best.

Also surprised by by the lack of mentions for the Jam..."all mod cons"," sound affects " up there with the best.

b 52's deseve to be somewhere in there for their invention and difference... Mesopatamia or wild Planet for me.

tHe Undertones. Either of the first two albums. They might have been kids from Derry, but they knew how to write about love and life.

Madness. Either the first album or Mad not mad ...both full of pop classics.

SAHB. Alex harveys outfit were Queen's raucous glaswegian cousins...."The Impossible Dream" maybe the best of their output.

buddy Holly. Prolly have to use a compilation, but he and chuck berry were miles ahead of any other rock and Rollers. what music he would have surely have made, had he lived (raved) on.

Oh and if anybody wants a recommendation for a truly great single, listen to "Man out of Time" by elvis Costello, if you don't know it.....and make your day !!

[barber olly]

just a few thoughts to add to the many above.

buddy Holly. Prolly have to use a compilation, but he and chuck berry were miles ahead of any other rock and Rollers. what music he would have surely have made, had he lived (raved) on.

I would add Eddie Cochran to the above two, would have been Somthing Else again were it not for his early demise in Wiltshire!

[Lateralthinking1]

Thank you teamsaint. Sorry for the slight delay in my reply. I was trying to take in the news about Doris Day's forthcoming release - http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/83155,...-the-age-of-87. I see there is to be a version of "Disney Girls".

Talking of songs the Beach Boys recorded, the Springfields did one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm0NShyWkvM. There were no less than three parts to Kinda Folksy. Did french frank have them all I wonder?

Didn't we mention the Jam? I was a big fan of Mr Weller in my youth - top song : "That's Entertainment"; was one of the few who then liked the Style Council - top song : "My Ever Changing Moods"; and was virtually ecstatic about his early solo career - top song - "Wild Wood". Possibly more than anyone, he described for me very accurately how I would see both London and the countryside from a similar suburban upbringing. And while I then became a little tired of the more muso meanderings, the recent stuff has been very strong. Mostly, I think, I am grateful for the fact that he has found the strength to last the course - top collaboration : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuJscWYA-eI.

XTC? Well, how can you not? I see a liking in your selections for a strong version of Englishness that was never less than welcoming, open-minded and sadly of its era. That was me too. There was something very much more "going towards the west country" about XTC than there ever was in, say, the Troggs. A mysticism perhaps in both the music and the lyrics that, while never thankfully resorting to elves and pixies, always chimed well with the mythology. I have an ongoing fantasy that AP will get over his stage fright so that they play Glastonbury one day. They suit it - no, are it - more than any post-late 1970s outfit. There was also always a modern originality. Anyhow, here's one of the more unusual, organic, ones - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErWSYJYKM-Q - and a rocking out one that is not one of my personal favourites but somehow manages to describe a lot of recent newsworthy denial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C5k4GioJfY. OK - I have to include the hippy Vaughan Williams one too as it is one of my main choices. Pencil it in as the Pyramid opener. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ka9ysOTulo.

"Man Out of Time" - You are not the first to say as much about that song to me. Now, there's a memory...............!

[3rd Viennese School]

Metallica that album with no title, you know the one

Metallica Master of Puppets

Kirsty MaColl Kite

Sussanah hoffs When you;re a boy

[teamsaint]

Magazine..correct use of Soap....hugely influential AND has stood the test of time. still a really good listen.

surprising to see hardly a mention for Siouxsie and The Banshees. The Scream is still a really important album, and has some amazing high spots.

REM also don't seem to score too highly on here. An incredible body of work....and "New adventures in Hi fi" is a class.

"Pornography" by the Cure remains an astonishing piece of work. For sheer intensity it matches anything joy Division did. The cure left themselves nowhere interesting to go after this. If you are ever in the mood for something intense, doom laden, and strangely beautiful, pop this on the turntable.Amazing Stuff.