Bookended by Cats: September 2026

Friday, September 11, 2026

Friday 80s Flashback for September 11, 2026

[A Sporting Choice] -- The Summer of 1986 closed out with several big ticket albums, none of which I'm highlighting this week. No, instead I've selected The Sport of Kings, the eighth studio album from Canadian hard rock trio, Triumph. Most sources indicate The Sport of Kings was released on September 11, 1986, though Triumph's own FB page indicated a release date of September 9 just a few years ago. The bottom line is that, as of this week, The Sport of Kings is 40 years old, so it is fair game for an 80s Flashback.

This album differs from others I've featured in that it was a critical failure but a commercial success (several of this year's Flashbacks had the opposite condition). And because both critics and hardcore Triumph fans panned the album, there is a general sense, or a misremembering, that The Sport of Kings failed on all fronts. But it peaked at #51 on the Canada Top Albums/CDs and #33 on the US Billboard 200 charts, had Platinum sales in Canada, and boasted the band's biggest hit to date, with "Somebody's Out There" (a song I love) hitting #27 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Tears in the Rain", reached #23 on the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

The Sport of Kings is often ranked as one of Triumph's worst albums, but it is one that I come back to regularly. True, it does not have the crunch or progressive aspects of the band's earlier releases. And it is also true that The Sport of Kings very much reflects the trends of commercial radio and evolving AOR in the middle of the 1980s. But the singles are well crafted, the album is well produced, and some of the non-single tracks, like "In the Middle of the Night" and "If Only", are the complete package of instrumentation, vocals, emotion, and storytelling. At least in my opinion.

"If only I could change your heart

With just a simple song

If only I could stop the world

From turning out all wrong...

...There would be hope for me and you

If only wishes would come true."

Flashback: The Sport of Kings (September 11, 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, September 4, 2026

Friday 80s Flashback for September 4, 2026

[Labor Day Weekend Tunes (Redux)] -- I'm re-using my Flashback post from September 4, 2020, for September 4, 2026.

Now, I haven't had a full time job since I was laid off in February 2019*. And, thanks to a global pandemic, I know many others are likewise unemployed, at least for the foreseeable future. Still, many others are in the difficult position of having work but not necessarily a safe working environment. And we should be mindful of the issues that were already impacting Working America prior to the pandemic. So, as we enter our latest Labor Day holiday weekend, how about a few songs from our 1980s catalog that highlight work, labor, and unions? Read and hear more after the break!

Flashback #1: "We bring more than a paycheck to our loved ones and family."

Written by Y.M. Barnwell circa 1981, and beautifully recorded by Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1988, "More Than A Paycheck" resounds with meaning. On one hand, you can hear the message that a job is more than a paycheck. Much more importantly, the words vividly describe what else laborers often bring home to their families: "We bring asbestosis, silicosis, brown lung, black lung disease. And radiation hits the children before they've even been conceived." And, in still far too many cases, when workers speak up about the dangers and ill effects of their jobs, they are ignored or simply replaced.

Flashback #2: "Now the lessons of the past | Were all learned with workers' blood."

Billy Bragg is no stranger to political activism in music. And his 1986 album, Talking with the Taxman About Poetry, was no exception. Among the gems on this record is the non single track, "There Is Power in a Union," which shares, perhaps, a kindred spirit with Joe Hill's 1913 protest song of the same title.

Flashback #3: "Someday, mister, I'm gonna lead a better life than this."

Bruce Springsteen has made a career of crafting anthems for the working stiff. Some are much more popular than others. But "Working on the Highway" -- the fourth track on Side A of his seventh studio album, Born in the U.S.A. (1984) -- is an under-appreciated gem. It's a direct examination of how a dead-end job can adversely impact a person and their desperate choices.

Bonus Flashback: "It's a sacrifice working day to day | For little money, just tips for pay | But it's worth it all | To hear them say that they care."

Is there truly a better choice for a playlist about work and working than Donna Summer's chart-topping 1983 hit, "She Works Hard for the Money"? Peaking at #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart, and #3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Dance Club Play charts, "She Works Hard for the Money" was one of the most popular songs of 1983. But beyond the dance beats and Summer's excellent voice, this tune highlights the hard work and exhaustion that many a blue-collar woman still experiences to this day.

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!

Notes:

Image at the top of this post is Power house mechanic working on steam pump by Lewis Hine, 1920. (Wikipedia)
* I have completed graduate school since this material was posted in 2019, but I am still working only a collection of side jobs while I seek full-time employment in my new area, that of college chaplaincy.