Week of 9/12/2010 - Would You Like To Play A Game?

Reagan. Gorbachev. Mutual Assured Destruction. Cold War. Холо́дная война́, Wolverines - all phrases that were a large part of living in the 80's. The cold war was very prevalent in the thoughts and minds of most of us, and artists used their medium to let their thoughts about nuclear war be heard. In this week's podcast, I put together a group of songs that show exactly how people were feeling at the time. Some dark and thought provoking, others kind of have fun with a dark subject. If you don't already have it, get this week's podcast here.

I thought I'd share the reasoning for a couple of my picks, in the off chance you weren't aware certain songs were indeed war related.

Bullet The Blue Sky by U2 The song was originally written about the United States' military intervention during the 1980s in the El Salvador Civil War. Bono was thinking of Ronald Reagan as he sang "This guy comes up to me / His face red like a rose on a thorn bush / Like all the colors of a royal flush / And he's peeling off those dollar bills / Slapping them down."

One Of Our Submarines by Thomas Dolby Great job expressing the paranoid feelings of the time.

Russians by Sting Not so much about war, as it was about the rhetoric that was tossed around by the East and West.

M.A.D. by Sigue Sigue Sputnik Actually, I really don't need to explain this one, do I?

Of course, the entire podcast isn't about The Cold War, oh no no no! There's other goodness in there - you have to check it out! One band I stumbled across recently, is Sideway Look. With Brian Smith on vocals, this band out of Scotland delivers a big guitar sound that reminds me of Simple Minds or Big Country. They have a great sound, and I'll be playing more of them in the future. Sadly their stuff is out of print, but well worth the effort to try and find.

This week's Track listing:

1. Sideway Look - Knowing You From Today

2. My Bloody Valentine - Slow

3. The Flirts - Jukebox (Don't Put Another)

4. Sigue Sigue Sputnik - M.A.D.

5. Sting - Russians

6. U2 - Bullet The Blue Sky

7. Ultravox - Dancing With Tears In My Eyes

8. Adam Ant - P.O.E.

9. Sisters of Mercy - Dominion / Mother Russia

10. The Police - Bombs Away

11. Thomas Dolby - One Of Our Submarines

12. Modern English - Pillow Lips

13. Roxy Music - True To Life

14. Oingo Boingo - Pain

Hope everyone enjoys this weeks' podcast. Be sure to check out the Facebook fan page here. From there you can check out videos, as well as post your request. You can also call the request line at:(508) 809-4192 and get your request in as well, or just drop us an e-mail to surfingtrucker@gmail.com

Week of 9/12/2010 - The Devolution Revolution has begun!

Its time for yet another Alternative 80's podcast - and this week I tried to put in a little Something For Everyone. Hope y'all enjoy it - you can find it right here.

Well - they're back. After a 20-year drought, Devo has returned with their first new release since "Smooth Noodle Maps" back in 1990."Something For Everyone" is not one of those thrown-together attempts at recapturing the glory of an aging bands' heyday; but rather a great-sounding CD that stands on it's own merits and is every bit as good and fresh-sounding as their earlier releases. Mixing fun with practicality (and faith in their fan base), the band came up with the Devo Song Study, a revolutionary decision that left the final tracklist in the hands of the fans.

The one song that didn't make it was a power ballad called "No Place Like Home," which fans felt didn't seem at home on the album.

That disappointed Jerry Casale, who told Billboard he had hoped that after 30 years of detached irony, they might be allowed one chance to be serious.

"It was kind of sad," he said. "I thought if anything, DEVO, being 'mature' now, would be allowed to take off the tongue-in-cheek pose and do a really sad power ballad."

Excepting the one song, the members of DEVO are happy with the fan choices and found it interesting that they preferred blue be the color of the group's trademark Jello mold hats and suggested a picture of the woman eating a piece of candy in the shape of a DEVO hat be the cover art.

This week's podcast features music from Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Humans Sexual Response,  Devo, Art of Noise - plus many more.


This week's track listing:

1.Sugarcubes - Birthday

2. Yazoo - Situation

3. Devo - Freedom of Choice

4. Devo - Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)

5. Human Sexual Response - Public Alley 909

6. Love & Rockets - No New Tale To Tell

7. Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Killing Jar

8. Yello - Domingo

9. Depeche Mode - Master and Servant (Black & Blue mix)

10. Art of Noise - Backbeat

11. Kraftwerk - It's More Fun To Compute

12. Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls

13. EBN - OZN - AEIOU Sometimes Y

14. The Glove - Punish Me With Kisses

15. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Staring Back / Return (unavailable)

Hope everyone enjoys this weeks' podcast. Be sure to check out the Facebook fan page here. From there you can check out videos, as well as post your request. You can also call the request line at: (508) 809-4192 and get your request in as well, or just drop us an e-mail to surfingtrucker@gmail.com