60 Albums 1982

My favorite 60 albums from 1982. In general I have not agreed with the common perception expressed by some people that the 80's was a bad decade for music. Like every other decade there was plenty of great music and lots of trash. This list of 60 albums released in 1982 was a little more difficult putting together. There a plenty of great albums to make a short list but 60 was a challenge within my criteria for inclusion.

I was very much involved in the music in 1982. I worked as a DJ, booked local bands in a club, hung out in record stores and bought lots of albums. This is also the year that MTV and music videos in general started making a big impact on the music scene. It would be a few more years before we started getting cable and the only place we saw the new videos was in some bars. It's hard now to imagine that there were some bars that had TVs showing MTV over the bar.

I picked Marshall Crenshaw for the top spot because this first album of his has stood the test of time in my world. I saw him touring with this album and I have seen him touring recently. This album led me to be a lifelong fan and I have over a dozen of his albums. This particular album is timeless with a great collection of pop songs. I still listen to it.

I also often still listen to my number 2 which is another timeless album full of great songs as is the number 3.

1. Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw
2. Roxy Music - Avalon
3. Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights
4. XTC - English Settlement
5. Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
6. The Clash - Combat Rock
7. X - Under the Big Black Sun
8. The English Beat - Special Beat Service
9. Talking Heads - The Name of This Band is Talking Heads
10. Prince - 1999
11. Dexys Midnight Runners - Too-Rye-Ay
12. The Cure - Pornography
13. The Dream Syndicate - The Days of Wine and Roses
14. Midnight Oil - 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
15. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
16. Lou Reed - The Blue Mask
17. Marvin Gaye - Midnight Love
18. The Church - The Blurred Crusade
19. The Jam - The Gift
20. ABC - The Lexicon of Love
21. Rank & File - Sundown
22. Wall of Voodoo - Call of the West
23. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel
24. Laurie Anderson - Big Science
25. Squeeze - Singles: 45's and Under
26. The Gun Club - Miami
27. The Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now
28. Gang of Four - Songs of the Free
29. Tom Verlaine - Words From the Front
30. Squeeze - Sweets From a Stranger
31. Robyn Hitchcock - Groovy Decay
32. Grace Jones - Living My Life
33. Defunkt - Thermonuclear Sweat
34. Siouxsie & The Banshees - A Kiss in the Dreamhouse
35. Material - One Down
36. Yaz - Upstairs at Eric's
37. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Long After Dark
38. James Blood Ulmer - Black Rock
39. Pigbag - Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive
40. Split Enz - Time and Tide
41. Kate Bush - The Dreaming
42. King Crimson - Beat
43. Roseanne Cash - Somewhere in the Stars
44. Mission of Burma - Vs.
45. Robert Wyatt - Nothing Can Stop Us
46. King Sunny Ade - Juju Music
47. Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless
48. Van Morrison - Beautiful Vision
49. Donald Fagen - The Nightfly
50. The Bongos - Drums Along the Hudson
51. Ronald Shannon Jackson - Mandance
52. Hunters & Collectors - Hunters & Collectors
53. James White & The Blacks - Sax Maniac
54. Various Artists - Eraserhead
55. Hall & Oates - H2O
56. Gregory Isaacs - Night Nurse
57. Warren Zevon - The Envoy
58. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message
59. David Lindley - Win This Record
60. A Flock of Seagulls - A Flock of Seagulls
61. The Time - What Time Is It?
62. Michael Jackson - Thriller
63. The dB's - Repercussion
64. The Stray Cats - Built For Speed
65. Fun Boy Three - Fun Boy Three
66. Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame
67. INXS - Shabooh Shoobah
68. Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
69. The Associates - Sulk
70. Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out
71. Haircut 100 - Pelican West
72. Kim Wilde - Select