[Heavenly Crawl] -- This week, we have two debut albums that were released 40 years ago, both on October 17, 1986. They also kind of represent bookends for the whole 1980s aesthetic: dance-pop on one side and dark drone on the other.
Desert – I don't have much information about the band called I Can Crawl. Their Bandcamp page indicates they were "Formed from school friends circa 1981" in the UK. And they maintain a Facebook presence, notably touting the anniversary re-release of this debut record. But beyond that, there's precious little actual information. The album did not chart, and it had no singles released, at least not as far as I can tell. And that's all a shame, because this is an excellent example of mid-80s post-punk with its shimmering guitars, driving baselines, and a lead singer who is very much in the Peter Murphy school of frontmen. Marvelously mopey. Solidly nocturnal. Check out "And It Rains" and "Instead of Walls".
Better Than Heaven – This was the debut studio album from American singer Stacey Q. It peaked at #59 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and #46 on the U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. There were three singles from this album, the first of which – "Two of Hearts" – became a top ten single. That tune soared up to #3 on US Billboard Hot 100, #1 on US 12-inch Singles Sales (Billboard), #4 on US Dance/Disco Club Play (Billboard)[32], and #7 on the US Top 100 Singles (Cash Box) charts, to name only a few places where the song did well.
Now, on to the music. 🎶
Flashback #1: Desert (October 17, 1986)
Flashback #2: Better Than Heaven (October 17, 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!

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