 Various Artists If I could get any theoretical bootleg I wanted, it wouldn't be some legendary and historic "lost" live performance by a favorite artist, complete session reels of a favorite album, or even a recording of my first guitar lesson. No, if I could, I would pay top dollar for recordings of B96 (perennial Chicago Top 40 station) from the summer of 1982. I was ten, between fourth and fifth grades, and radio was endlessly appealing. Of course, I've talked with many people of various ages who say the same thing about "their" Top 40 period (my boss swears by summer 1965, for example), but at least for lots of people my age, summer '82 will always retain a particular magic no matter how many "cheesy 80s" radio shows crop up to tarnish the halo. Several Loud Bassoon staffers seem especially marked for life by the music that defined radio from 1982 to about mid 1986, but I will chalk '84 to '86 up to pure nostalgia. '82 and '83, beyond the nostalgic glow, were characterized by excellent songs, one after another, with a real mixed bag in terms of styles represented. Not until the great Top 40 resurgence on '98-'99 would we see another such golden age. Which brings up the dilemma of the 80s compilation CD. So many exist on the market, each one featuring about the same balance of priceless, eternal treasures and also-rans, and each with the "They should have included _____________" factor. Some are better than others (the Billboard Top Hits 1983 CD is fantastic), but most fall into the same licensing traps – having some great tunes, and missing others. The Entertainment Weekly compilation CD for 1982 is great mainly because I love nearly every song that came out that year, but this is a sort of pandering presentation. There's no real flow to the disc, and I guess I'm disappointed that it doesn't recapture the magic of sitting in my room sorting my baseball cards and listening to B96 for hours on end. I mean, I STILL do that, but it just seemed more special back then. That was before my parents died and the house started to smell. I probably should clean that up, it's going on six years! Prizes: "Rosanna" by Toto, "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League, "Eye in the Sky" by the Alan Parsons Project," "Gloria" by Laura Branigan, "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band. These songs take me back every time, and I never tire of them at all. Second-tier pleasures: "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls, "Heart Attack" by Olivia Newton-John, "Maneater" by Hall & Oates. Filler cut: "Don't Talk to Strangers" by Rick Springfield. Songs I kind of don't want to hear: "Rock This Town" (Stray Cats), "Shake It Up" (The Cars)," "867-5309" (Tommy Tutone) – and those three songs start the CD. Still, any disc with the four songs I mentioned first is well worth having just for the ability to play and replay the songs until everyone starts to get irritated at me. Now for the "They should have included ____________" section: "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (Chicago), "Abracadabra" (Steve Miller), "Eye of the Tiger" (Survivor), "Up Where We Belong" (Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes), "Who Can it Be Now?" (Men at Work), "Heat of the Moment" (Asia), "Jack & Diane" (John Cougar), "Take It Away" (Paul McCartney), "Gypsy" (Fleetwood Mac) – I could go on and on. Points granted, at least, for excluding "Mickey" by Toni Basil.
Review by Samantha Shaver |