Bookended by Cats: October 2025

Friday, October 17, 2025

Friday 80s Flashback for October 17, 2025

[Jetting Like Thieves in Love with Falco] -- I'm doing something I haven't done since the middle of last month: Four albums in one Flashback. I'm still keeping with this year's overall theme, so all of them are, of course, from 1985, and they are all 40 years old by now. So, sit back, check that your volume it set to an appropriate level, and enjoy this double two-fer.

Listen Like Thieves – On October 14, 1985, INXS released their fifth studio album, Listen Like Thieves. This one was the band's international breakthrough. Driven by singles like "What You Need", "This Time", and the title track, Listen Like Thieves peaked at #11 on the US Billboard 200, #48 in the UK, and #24 on the Canadian Albums chart. In addition to being commercially successful, the album was largely a hit with critics as well, both in 1985 and retroactively. AllMusic, for example, stated that this album helped INXS complete "its transition into an excellent rock & roll singles band."

The Jets – The Jets released their self-titled debut on October 14, 1985. This Tongan-American family band of eight siblings from Minnesota started performing together in 1977, and they have performed together as recently as 2015. Thanks to MTV playing their videos in 1985 and 1986, "Curiosity" reached #8 on the Billboard R&B singles chart while "Crush on You" peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Falco 3 – The Austrian singer and rapper, Falco, had his biggest hit record in the United States with the release of his third album. Falco 3 hit stores worldwide on October 15, 1985. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and at #18 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. The album's success was largely propelled by the singles "Rock Me Amadeus" (with the music video channeling looks from the 1984 movie) and "Vienna Calling". The former was a top ten hit globally, including a stint at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in the UK. The latter was also successful, reaching the top 20 in many countries including peaking at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also covered Bob Dylan by recording the 1965 song, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", and he used the Cars's "Looking For Love" as the basis for "Munich Girls".

Love – The Cult released their second album, Love, on October 18, 1985. No sophomore slump here. This record was the band's breakthrough, fusing psychedelic rock and new wave goth with a shimmer of hard rock guitar. One would be forgiven for regarding two of the singles – "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain" – as the best tracks. And few songs have as great an opening as "She Sells Sanctuary." But I truly fell that "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon" and "Hollow Man" deserve some of your love, too. Love came in at #87 on the Billboard 200, and the singles did so-so in the US. But college radio really embraced The Cult with this release ... and their next two.

That's enough words. Let's get to the music. 🎶

Flashback #1: Listen Like Thieves (October 14, 1985)

Flashback #2: The Jets (October 14, 1985)

Flashback #3: Falco 3 (October 15, 1985)

Flashback #4: Love (October 18, 1985)

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, October 10, 2025

Friday 80s Flashback for October 10, 2025

[7th Dream, 40 Years] -- Forty years ago this week – on October 11, 1985 – the trio called Love And Rockets burst onto the scene with their debut album, Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven. This trio took their name from a popular comic series, and while they were a new entity debuting in 1985, they did have previous experience performing and even recording together. You see, these three musicians had been the guitarist (Daniel Ash), drummer (Kevin Haskins), and bassist (David J) for gloomy gothic rockers, Bauhaus (1978-1983). For simplicity's sake, I'm overlooking both Ash's and Haskins' pre-Love And Rockets involvement in another Bauhaus side project, Tones On Tail. Anyway, as the new trio gelled, Ash took on lead vocals with support from David J. And, while this new band carried on some of the darkness of their former outfit, they did so with more of a pop sensibility.

Now, if you remember Love And Rockets, but not their debut, you are forgiven. Neither this album nor its lone single, "If There's a Heaven Above", charted in any appreciable manner, though college radio did its level best to help. Still, along with a cover of "Ball of Confusion", released earlier in 1985 as a non-album single, the band could boast a pair of singles that served as their strong introduction to the record-buying public. At the very least, Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven piqued interest among the nascent 80s-psychedelic fans. And even without a long resume of hit singles, this record is far from filler. In particular, "The Dog-End of a Day Gone By", "Haunted When the Minutes Drag", and the title track all shine.

Was this record your first experience of Love And Rockets?

Flashback: Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven (October 11, 1985)

See you in seven!

Friday, October 3, 2025

Friday 80s Flashback for October 3, 2025

[Basically Chameleons] -- 40 years ago this week, English post-punk rockers The Chameleons released their sophomore studio album, What Does Anything mean? Basically. With only one single, "Singing Rule Britannia (While the Walls Close In)," this album was well liked by many critics. However, its wall of sound – featuring digital delays, pedals, and other studio wizardry – was a bit too much production for some fans and critics. One such critic, Chris Jenkins, called this album "as half-baked as its title" in the 2003 book, The Rough Guide to Rock (page 182). I find What Does Anything mean? Basically to be a great record. It's perfect to have spinning in the background, but it also reveals additional layers (particularly of existentialism and introspection) upon a close track-by-track listen. Definitely a gem.

Neither the album nor its lone single charted, at least not as far as I can tell. The Chameleons didn't release a music video either. So, even with some positive reviews, What Does Anything mean? Basically never gained much traction with the larger record buying public. And I think that's a shame because there's plenty of "Looking Inwardly" that would have lyrically resonated with music fans in the mid-1980s, particularly those of us who were in college at the time. Other excellent tracks on this album include "Intrigue In Tangiers," "Return Of The Roughnecks" (I love the slight guitar growl of the intro, just before the bass and drums kick in), and "Home Is Where The Heart Is."

I don't know the precise date I found my copy of this record, but I do know it was a few years after the actual release. And while the "when" is hazy, the "where" is more solid: I'm pretty sure I found the record in the discount bin at a record shop that used to be on College Avenue in downtown State College, PA (National Record Mart? Maybe). Yes, I bought it on vinyl! And, yes, I still have the LP record (and it's not scratched).

So, to celebrate this album's 40th anniversary, let's spin the whole thing! Use the embedded video below, or click a track's start time to access it directly on YouTube.

Flashback: What Does Anything mean? Basically (October 2, 1985)

01. 00:00 Silence, Sea and Sky 02. 02:01 Perfume Garden 03. 06:41 Intrigue in Tangiers 04. 11:59 Return of the Roughnecks 05. 15:27 Singing Rule Britannia 06. 19:47 On the Beach 07. 24:01 Looking Inwardly 08. 28:35 One Flesh 09. 33:02 Home Is Where the Heart Is 10. 38:57 P.S. Goodbye Bonus Track 11. 42:02 In Shreds 12. 46:14 Nostalgia

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!