Infinite MonkeysOK, I'll take up Brad's challenge.
Sticking to the premise of music that would open the kids' eyes to what 80's music offers--oh, crap, I was about to say "in the same way my eyes were opened to 70's music," but then I realized since I graduated from high school in 1985, the comparable period would actually be 60's music. But that's OK; I'll never forget the summer after high school (the summer of Live Aid, for context) when I had a 60's summer; I took a class on Vietnam at summer school in Boston, saw "The Graduate," listened to Simon and Garfunkel...
So to be comparable, I'd recommend that the kids see "Breakfast Club," "The Sure Thing," "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," "Valley Girl," and, of course, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Ferris was OUR Benjamin Braddock. He was a lot more fun, and you knew that if he did go into plastics, he'd do something really cool. Like design iMacs.
OK, so on to music (I started the movie list mainly as a way to make Robb step up). Here's a list of twenty albums that would be a good introduction. In no particular order:
The Replacements, Pleased to Meet Me (I almost picked Tim.)
Thomas Dolby, The Golden Age of Wireless
Oingo Boingo, Alive
Peter Gabriel, So
Kate Bush, The Hounds of Love
Pete Townshend, White City
U2, Joshua Tree
Smiths, Hatful of Hollow
Dream Academy, Dream Academy
REM, Murmur
Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense
Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman
10,000 Maniacs, In My Tribe
Suzanne Vega, Solitude Standing
Sinead O'Connor, The Lion and the Cobra
Paul Simon, Graceland
Prince, Purple Rain
Crowded House, Crowded House
Depeche Mode, Music for the Masses
And, in memory of that summer of 1985, the first CD I ever bought:
Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms
If you want to comment on this, go down to Brad's post. Or start your own blog. All the cool kids are doing it. Aren't you cool?
Posted by David at January 26, 2004 05:54 PM | TrackBack