Bookended by Cats

Friday, April 24, 2026

Friday 80s Flashback for April 24, 2026

[Memories Lie in Dust] -- For this week's Flashback, I'm revisiting an album released 40 years ago this week. I last featured this album five years ago, on its 35th anniversary, and I'm re-using much of that post here. Now, five years ago, I featured this album mainly because it was released in the month and year I turned 18. Five years ago, I could not honestly recall the last time I listened to this particular album in its entirety. Sure, I had some of its highlights in my musical rotation, but not a complete, track by track listening session. If the same is true for you – that is, if you have not listened to this album in its entirety in quite a while – you will, perhaps, ask yourself the same question after listening this week: "Why have I left this out of my personal rotation for so long??"

I am talking about Tinderbox by Siouxsie and the Banshees. This album is an absolute time capsule for me, evoking memories and whole moods from my first year of college. Let's dive in.

On 4/21/1986, Siouxsie and the Banshees released their seventh studio album, Tinderbox. This album included two singles: The very excellent "Cities in Dust", which had been previously released in October 1985, and "Candyman", which hit the charts in February 1986. Ah, the days when singles were teasers for upcoming LPs or EPs; does that happen anymore in the age of streaming? Anyway, I didn't hear either single, let alone the rest of the album, until September of 1986, but better late than never, right?

Tinderbox was a critical success, hitting #13 and #88 on the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200 respectively. Also notable on this record is the non single track, 92° because it kicks off with a sample of dialog from the 1953 film It Came from Outer Space: "Did you know, Putnam, that more murders are committed at 92 Fahrenheit than any other temperature? I read an article once. Lower temperatures, people are easygoing. Over 92, it's too hot to move. But just 92, people get irritable!" Check out the clip here.

"Cities in Dust," the lead single, was the band's first significant success in the States, climbing to #17 on the US Hot Dance/Disco chart. There are several delicious remixes of this track, including the Extended Eruption Mix and the rather danceable Herb's Banshee Tribute Remix. No cool remixes for "Candyman", but how about this mesmerizing live performance from 1987?

For your full album enjoyment, we have two playlists. The first embedded YouTube playlist has the eight tracks of the original vinyl and cassette release. The second one includes the bonus tracks from the 1986 CD release. If you remember Tinderbox, it's time to blow the dust off your memories like I did. If you're new to Siouxsie, prepare yourself to experience a post-punk band at their absolute peak.

Flashback 1: Tinderbox (original 8-song vinyl and cassette release)

Flashback 2: Tinderbox (1986 CD with bonus tracks)

That's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Friday, April 17, 2026

Friday 80s Flashback for April 17, 2026

[Turbo Land] -- Forty years ago, in April 1986, two bands that could not be more different from each other released new albums into their respective catalogs. One was a dreamy, ethereal experience. The other was a harsher, yet glammed up, experiment with a then new instrument. I'm talking about Victorialand by Cocteau Twins and Turbo by Judas Priest.

Turbo – Judas Priest released the US version of their 10th studio album 40 years ago this week on April 14, 1986; it had already been released in the UK as of April 7, 1986. Much more glam than their previous releases, this record also found Judas Priest's guitarists experimenting with guitar synthesizers, specifically the Roland G-707 Guitar Synthesizer. That experimentation, which did result in a more pop-friendly sound served with some cheesy lyrics, did not seem to adversely impact commercial viability. Turbo sold well enough for Gold certification, and it reached #33 in the UK while also peaking at #17 on Billboard 200, their highest charting to date (an achievement they would not exceed until 2005). It might be one of the most, if not the most, divisive album in Priest's catalog. Back in 2008, vocalist Rob Halford said:

The only agenda we've ever had in Priest was to really give every album its own life and I think we've achieved that on everything from Rocka Rolla up to the new one, Nostradamus. That said, if ever there was a controversial record in terms of what people might have expected from us, it's Turbo. It was the fact that we moved into a different atmosphere, but that's where we were at that particular time. Some of the technological advances like the pedal boards that Glenn and KK used were giving us options for different sounds and experimentation. Personally I think there are still some great tracks on that album ... It's one of the recordings that divide opinion. [Kerrang!. No. 1211. p. 52.]

The singles – "Turbo Lover", "Locked In", and "Parental Guidance" – all have hints (to my ears) of guitar synth, more as supportive layers than the primary focus. The more, shall we say aggressive, experiment with the Roland instrument is definitely "Out in the Cold", a ballad with not only heavy guitar-synth bordering on keyboards, but also a multi-tracking of Halford's vocals to a point I don't recall in prior songs. And, I have to admit, I quite like it. However, the use of guitar-synth in some of the other songs (such as "Hot for Love" and "Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days") feel like last-minute add-ons; in my opinion, those riffs could be removed from the mix and the song would not miss it.

Victorialand – Released in the UK on April 14, 1986, Victorialand was the fourth studio LP from the Scottish band, Cocteau Twins. The album peaked at #10 in the UK, but didn't chart anywhere else as best I can determine. As I mentioned in this post's intro, Victorialand is dreamy and ethereal. With song titles like "Lazy Calm", "Fluffy Tufts", and "Little Spacey", how could it be otherwise? The lyrics are largely indecipherable. But with these lush, acoustic arrangements, the vocals feel more like an additional instrument rather than poetry or even storytelling. This outing is pretty much the duo of Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) and Robin Guthrie (instruments/production) as bassist Simon Raymonde was no longer in the fold.

Victorialand received mixed reviews, but most critics were at least somewhat kind. Retrospectively, the Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995) judged the album as Cocteau Twins' "simplest" and "most beautiful". And it is, indeed, a beautiful listen. And while it might not demand much of your attention, you will come away with a richly rewarding experience.

Now, on to the music. 🎶

Flashback: Turbo (April 14, 1986)

Flashback #2: Earth Run (April 1986)

And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

See you in seven!

Friday, April 10, 2026

Friday 80s Flashback for April 10, 2026

[The Other Side of Forty] -- In April of 1986, forty years ago this week, the Moody Blues released their 12th studio album, The Other Side of Life. Long time fans of the Moody Blues, those who had followed the band since the 1960s, might have been a bit disappointed, or even confused, by this release. The Other Side of Life found the band embracing synthesizers, sequencers, and drum machines over their usual more symphonic sound. But new fans flocked to the record. The Other Side of Life peaked at #9 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart and it went platinum, selling well over 1,000,000 units in the US alone. Of course, the Moody Blues later proved they still had those symphonic chops with a live performance at Red Rocks, Colorado (1992).

But, back to 1986 and The Other Side of Life.

"Your Wildest Dreams" was a massive hit for the band peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. And the title track, "The Other Side of Life", reached #11 on the Mainstream Rock chart after being released as a single in August 1986. "The Other Side of Life" was decidedly more plodding and introspective than "Your Wildest Dreams", so you might not recall that one. But I bet you can hear the chorus of "Your Wildest Dreams" playing in your head now that you've read the title just a few times. Well, it's the very first track of this 40-year-old album, so if you join me in revisiting The Other Side of Life, you might purge that earworm by the time you finish the other songs. Among the rest of those songs, the non-single tracks I like are "Talkin', Talkin'" and "I Just Don't Care". How about you?

Flashback: The Other Side of Life (April 9, 1986)

See you in seven!

Friday, April 3, 2026

Friday 80s Flashback for April 3, 2026

[Digital Earth] -- Earlier this week, NASA’s Artemis II mission took to the skies for "the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years" [nasa.gov]. And 40 years ago this week, Jean-Michel Jarre and Lee Ritenour each released albums that were filled with synths and digital instrumentation, but one aimed for the cosmos while the other was a bit more rooted (though no less futuristic in aim). Jarre's album, his eighth, was a floaty and spacey entry in his catalog. Ritenour's album, his fifteenth, is a solid but more earthborn piece of smooth jazz-fusion, noted for featuring a SynthAxe, an audio controller, first available in 1985, that had two sets of strings, one of which fretted like a standard guitar.

Rendez-Vous – First up, we have the second of two records that facilitated my introduction to Jean-Michel Jarre's catalog. The first was his 1984 release, Zoolook, which I previously featured on this very blog. Just like with Zoolook, I did not know about Rendez-Vous upon its April 1, 1986, release. I learned of Jarre's music through a resident assistant at PSU. He was a huge Jarre fan, and he was happy to share his record collection with anyone who might likewise take a shining to this pioneer of electronic and ambient music. The compositions are multi-layered, and run the gamut from happy, to sad, and then grief-stricken.

The grief comes from the fact that astronaut Ron McNair was supposed to play his saxophone for the album's final track, "Dernier Rendez-Vous (Ron's Piece)" (or "Last Rendez-Vous"), while he was aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. This would have been the first piece of music recorded in space [connollyco.com]. However, on January 28, 1986, McNair and the entire Challenger crew were lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. Jarre ultimately recorded the track with French jazz reedist Pierre Gossez and dedicated it to McNair and his crewmates.

Rendez-Vous reached #9 in the UK charts and #52 on the US Billboard 200. It also earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Age Album in 1987. Should have won, too.

Earth Run – Lee Ritenour's fifteenth studio album, Earth Run, came out quite possibly on the same day as Jean-Michel Jarre's Rendez-Vous, but most citations for its release date indicate only the month and year: April 1986. According to AllMusic, Ritenour dedicated this album to the First Earth Run, in which runners carried the torch of peace around the globe for 86 days. But the album is best known for Ritenour's use of a SynthAxe, and for featuring it so prominently on the album cover. The SynthAxe looks like a cross between a guitar and a video game console. It makes no sound on its own; it is solely used as a MIDI controller for various synthesizers.

Music critic Richard S. Ginell wrote that Ritenour's use of the SynthAxe lent a "peculiarly fuzzy, futuristic sound" to the album. Of course, Ritenour also played acoustic guitar, electric guitars, and electric classical guitar throughout the recording sessions. Earth Run is an overall smooth and accessible production, a pleasant background listening experience that presents little to no challenge for your attention, but can perhaps reward you with a lightened mood. I suppose that is why this album peaked at #10 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. Earth Run was nominated for, but did not win, a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental. And the album's title track got nominated for Best Instrumental Composition.

Now, on to the music. 🎶

Flashback: Rendez-Vous (April 1, 1986)

Flashback #2: Earth Run (April 1986)

See you in seven!

Friday, March 27, 2026

Friday 80s Flashback for March 27, 2026

[Crazy Pit Stop] -- After a hugely successful tour in support of their 1984 release, Van Halen as a band succumbed to rising tensions from artistic and other differences [thetapesarchive.com]. So, in the wake of that tour, frontman David Lee Roth parted ways with the band, and the Van Halen brothers found themselves without a lead singer for the first time since 1974. But, just as a Formula 1 racer pops into the pit to replace a tire, Van Halen brought Sammy Hagar on board and roared back into the race for hits. The car analogy is overly simplistic, yet still appropriate: Guitarist Eddie Van Halen is said to have met Hagar through Claudio Zampolli, a mutually-known Lamborghini mechanic [Rolling Stone | July 3, 1986 | archived].

At first, Sammy Hagar, the former lead singer of 70s rockers Montrose, must have seemed like an odd replacement for Roth. Not that the music stylings were so disparate, but Hagar was coming off one of his most successful years as a solo performer – "I Can't Drive 55" peaked at #9 on Mainstream Rock and #26 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1984. So, it's not like he really had an impetus to join an established band. But the foursome gelled, gathered together in 5150, Eddie Van Halen's personal recording studio, and cranked out 5150, an album named after that very studio.

Released in March 1986, this record was Van Halen's seventh studio album, so the band already had a defined reputation, and that meant many folks did not initially know what to make of the new direction of "Van Hagar." With Hagar on vocals as well as rhythm guitar, Eddie was able to further delve into layering Van Halen's sound with keyboards and synthesizers. And, because Hagar's vocals were a bit more ballad-friendly than Roth's, Van Halen could dabble a bit more in love songs.

Despite some fan blowback, and mixed reviews, 5150 was enormously successful in sales, becoming the band's first album to hit #1 on the Billboard 200. To this day, Van Halen fans are divided on that album's first single, "Why Can't This Be Love", which spent a total of 16 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100 and eventually peaked at #3. "Dreams", the second single, reached #22 on the US Billboard 100, and so did the ballad, "Love Walks In". The album's fourth single, "Best of Both Worlds", had to settle for #12 on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock. But the music video, which consisted of footage from the Live Without a Net concert movie, was a favorite on MTV.

The embedded YouTube playlist below has all the songs from the album, but it does not feature any of the music videos for the singles. But I've linked those videos above. Just so you know.

Also, I'm a fan of 5150. I remember really looking forward to its release. And when I finally got my copy, dropped the needle onto it, and heard Sammy's "Helloooo, baby," followed by Eddie's guitar whammy, and then finally the Michael/Alex rhythm section kicking in, I felt like I was in for a great time. Now, honestly, is 5150 a great album? No, but it is ... "Good Enough".

Flashback: 5150 (March 24, 1986)

See you in seven!

Friday, March 20, 2026

Friday 80s Flashback for March 20, 2026

[A Grey Celebration] -- Oh, wow. There was just so much good music released in 1986. This week marks the 40th anniversaries of two albums I have loved since I first heard them. Both records were their respective artist's fifth studio release. And, get this, both of them were released on the very same day: March 17, 1986. The artists and their recordings are quite different and distinct from each other, and my love for them both is probably a good indicator of my dichotomous music taste. On one side, we have an electronic music powerhouse not only coming into their own after several instances of reliable pop fodder, but also achieving rather human sounds from their synths and drum machines. On the other side, we find hardcore pioneers in a bit of a transitional period, infusing melodic pop and contemplative lyrics with their punk power approach.

Buckle up. This week's post could be a bit long.

Black Celebration – First up, alphabetically for either their name or their album title, is Depeche Mode. They released their fifth studio album on March 17, 1986. Founding member Martin Gore had been determined to make their new album darker, heavier, and harder than previous outings. And although the studio was initially nervous about the morbid and much slower demos he shared, they eventually relented, though not without a standoff that fueled an already tense working atmosphere. But Depeche Mode came through all of that with a winner. Reviews in 1986 were mixed, but has time wore on, retrospective reviews have been kinder, praising the dark tapestry woven into Black Celebration. The album peaked at #90 on the US Billboard 200, but reached the top 5 in the UK and also reached into the top 40 of several other countries [charts].

The singles "Stripped", "A Question of Lust", and "A Question of Time" all did well in the UK and several other European countries. "But Not Tonight" replaced "Stripped" as a single in the US, the 12" remix of which remains one of my all-time favorite 1980s recordings. I remember late nights spinning the LP in my dorm room, or listening to a cassette recording while studying in an empty classroom (my preferred locale for exam prep back then). If you take the time to listen to the full album, you'll understand why it has been cited as one of the most influential albums of the 1980s and earned a spot on Spin magazine's 25 Greatest Albums of All Time (#15, April 1989).

So, as I wrote on the occasion of the album's 35th anniversary: While we have only "A Question of Time" (but not "A Question of Lust"), let's kick off a "Black Celebration" ... in this "World Full of Nothing." Maybe we can all get "Dressed in Black" and watch a "Fly on the Windscreen." However, "Breathing in Fumes" and getting "Stripped" are both optional.

Candy Apple Grey – Hüsker Dü released their fifth studio album, Candy Apple Grey, on March 17, 1986. Yes, on the same date as Depeche Mode's fifth LP. I stated that earlier, right? Anyway, this was the first major label release from Minnesota's premiere hardcore trio (they moved from SST to Warner Bros.). Most of the material on this record is still a sonic assault, but the band's sound was shifting away from punk/hardcore to something that paved a road to the alternative rock genre. In this way, Hüsker Dü continued the evolution that was evident in recent releases, particularly New Day Rising (new tempos and melody) and Flip Your Wig (glimpses of power pop). Even with the band's usual frenetic bluster and fury on this record, we find them venturing into introspection and even throw in some acoustic guitar. Candy Apple Grey was the first Hüsker Dü album to actually chart in the Billboard 200, albeit only to peak at #140. Perhaps unsurprisingly, neither of the album's two singles charted either.

Now, I often consider guitarist Bob Mould as Hüsker Dü's vocalist and chief songwriter. However, this album's first single, "Don't Want to Know if You are Lonely" [music video link], was penned by drummer and co-lead vocalist Grant Hart (March 18, 1961 – September 13, 2017), who also lent his vocals to it. "Don't Want to Know ..." has an excellent hook and it should have been more popular, at least in my opinion. I just find it to be the perfect blend of rock and post-breakup angst. It logged some decent play on MTV after it was first released, but it probably received its largest audience when it was featured in the 2009 flick, Adventureland. Hart also wrote and sang the second single, "Sorry Somehow".

One of my personal favorite tracks on Candy Apple Grey is Mould's "Too Far Down", which closes out the first side of the LP. "Too Far Down" is, perhaps, the epitome of someone speaking their 3:00am existential catastrophe into the universe. It's a deluge of feelings that, at one time, could only be shared over drinks, or maybe even a payphone. "Too Far Down" features Mould singing such lines as "And you don't want the emotion, Because the taste it leaves is for real" as part of his message that he very well might be unable to come back "...Because I might be too far down." Not something for pop radio, but it is honest and raw and a work of art. And ... my mother might have been a little concerned about how often I played that particular song.

Now, on to the music. 🎶

Flashback: Black Celebration (March 17, 1986)

Flashback #2: Candy Apple Grey (March 17, 1986)

See you in seven!

Friday, March 13, 2026

Friday 80s Flashback for March 13, 2026

[Twitching] -- 40 years ago this week, Ministry released their second studio album, Twitch, which signaled a change from the new wave / synthpop of their debut to a more industrial sound. That means this is the album which finds Ministry becoming the band we know them to be.

It peaked near the bottom of the Billboard 200 (at #194), and critical reviews were rather middling. The album's sole single, "Over the Shoulder", failed to make a dent in the charts, any of them, really. But it's not a bad album. It is equal parts disturbing and danceable in all the right places for this genre. In fact, if you graphed this album on a spectrum, it would come in somewhere between the harder, or edgier, synthpop options of the mid-1980s and the industrial metal Ministry would come to embrace in the 1990s. But it is still closer to the synthpop, by a narrow margin.

Think of Twitch as an aural polaroid, a snapshot of an artist in transition. With that in mind, you can see (er, hear) the artist in the process of searching for the right sound to express the anger and angst in which they simmer. Maybe you'll even cheer for them.

Highlights include: "Isle of Man" (Version II), "Where You at Now? / Crash & Burn / Twitch (Version II)", the aforementioned "Over the Shoulder", and "All Day Remix".

Flashback: Twitch (March 12, 1986)

See you in seven!