Sunday, February 25, 2024

The Best Records of 1982!

 


PEAK POST-PUNK!

by BK Munn

It's taken me over 40 years, but I've finally whittled down my list of the Best Albums of 1982!

As I wrote in my notes for 1986, the first one of these I attempted, this list comes with a number of caveats and blindspots, and I think I'm going to stick with the same quirky, personal format. So: this is a largely English-language, rock-oriented list reflecting my continued fetish for post-punk and garage rock sounds. There are a couple German records here, but that's about it. In part, this is a nostalgic list, but as usual most of the records here were totally unknown to me at the time. Some are new to me this week, but most have crossed my path at some point over the last four decades, and many I even own in vinyl format!

In 1982, I was only 12 but obsessed with not only Top 40 radio but also the synth pop and New Wave sounds coming out of Toronto's fm station CFNY.  I distinctly remember hearing the dj for Hamilton's CKOC introduce Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" for the first time. I was a year or two away from real teenage rebellion and the discovery of our local college radio station CFRU, but nevertheless I thought I was cool because I had discovered David Bowie and listened to Scary Monsters and the ChangesOne compilation incessantly (Let's Dance didn't come out until 1983, I think). My tastes have changed since those days, but some of the records I liked back then I still like, meaning I can still stand to listen to them without too many unpleasant associations.

This is not true for most of the big hits of the day. 1982 was the year of Michael Jackson's Thriller and despite it's continuing centrality to our culture and Western Civilization, I feel close to blowing my brains out whenever I hear the opening notes of any of the megahits from that album these days. I was pretty much burned out on that record by 1983, even as a kid. Ditto for most of the 1982 Top 40. 

1982 was a year that funk and hip-hop started to register with white people, post-Disco, but my list has very little of either. I decided to eliminate jazz from the list as well, even though there are excellent records from giants like Ornette Coleman, Nina Simone, and Alice Coltrane that year, as well as jazz-inflected things like Rip Rig and Panic, and Indian and African stuff like Rupa and Manu Dibango that interest me. No soundtracks on this list either, even though Morricone (The Thing) and Vangelis (the amazing Blade Runner soundtrack) were out there (David Lynch released his soundtrack for 1977's Eraserhead in 1982 as well). 

I'm pretty proud of my curation of the first 30 or so records on this list, but to be honest, the rest of the list is more or less a random assemblage, with not much thought given to rankings. I have another 20 or so records that I could easily substitute for any 20 of the records in the bottom 52.  Maybe I'll post those separately. For now I'm sticking to the gimmick of matching the number of slots with the year, so I'm limited here to 82 in total. I'm sure I've missed something! Let me know!

  1. The Fall, Hex Education Hour
  2. Lilliput, Lillput
  3. Kate Bush, The Dreaming
  4. English Beat, Special Beat Service
  5. Gang of Four, Songs of the Free and Another Day/Another Dollar
  6. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, The Message 
  7. Trio, Trio aka The Album/Da Da Da
  8. REM, Chronic Town
  9. Daniel Johnston, Don’t Be Scared
  10. Prince, 1999
  11. Cocteau Twins, Garland
  12. Sonic Youth, Sonic Youth
  13. The Clean, Great Sounds Great, Good Sounds Good, So-so Sounds So-so, Bad Sounds Bad, Rotten Sounds Rotten
  14. Gun Club, Miami
  15. The Clash, Combat Rock
  16. The Cure, Pornography
  17. Blue Orchids, The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain) 
  18. Siouxsie And The Banshees, A Kiss In The Dreamhouse
  19. Dead Kennedys, Plastic Surgery Disasters
  20. Waitresses, Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful
  21. Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
  22. X, Under the Big Black Sun
  23. Talking Heads, The Name of This Band is Talking Heads
  24. Chic, Tongue in Chic
  25. TV Personalities, Mummy Your Not Watching Me/They Could Have Been Bigger than the Beatles
  26. The Birthday Party, Junkyard
  27. Wall of Voodoo, Call of the West
  28. Fleshtones, Roman Gods
  29. Judy Nylon and Crucial, Pal Judy
  30. Laurie Anderson, Big Science
  31. XTC, English Settlement
  32. Familie Hesselbach, Familie Hesselbach
  33. Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Majestics, Mystic Miracle Star
  34. Tom Verlaine, Words from the Front
  35. Nightingales, Pigs on Purpose
  36. Misfits, Walk Among Us
  37. Nurse With Wound, Homotopy to Marie 
  38. John Cooper Clarke, Zip Style Method
  39. Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, D.T.K. (Live At The Speakeasy)
  40. The Jam, The Gift
  41. Marine Girls, Beach Party
  42. The Sound, All Fall Down
  43. Pere Ubu, Song of the Bailing Man
  44. Romeo Void, Benefactor
  45. D.O.A., War on 45
  46. Iron Maiden, The Number of the Beast
  47. Eddy Grant, Killer on the Rampage
  48. Tall Dwarfs, Louis Likes His Daily Dip
  49. Bauhaus, The Sky's Gone Out/Press The Eject and Give Me the Tape
  50. Cleaners from Venus, Midnight Cleaners/On Any Normal Monday
  51. George Clinton, Computer Games
  52. The Psychedelic Furs, Forever Now
  53. African Head Charge, Environmental Studies
  54. Material, One Down
  55. Duran Duran, Rio
  56. Culture Club, Kissing to Be Clever
  57. Bad Brains, Bad Brains
  58. The Descendents, Milo Goes to College
  59. Mission of Burma, Vs.
  60. Brian Eno, Ambient 4: On Land
  61. Neil Young, Trans
  62. Thomas Dolby, The Golden Age Of Wireless/She Blinded Me With Science
  63. Lou Reed, The Blue Mask
  64. Flipper, Album Generic Flipper
  65. King Sunny Adé and His African Beats, Juju Music
  66. Yazoo, Upstairs at Eric’s
  67. Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska
  68. Grace Jones, Living My Life
  69. Madness, The Rise and Fall
  70. Rick James, Throwin Down
  71. Go-Go’s, Vacation
  72. Devo, Oh No! It’s Devo
  73. Nina Hagen, NunSexMonkRock
  74. Motorhead, Iron Fist
  75. Fear, The Record
  76. Men Without Hats, Rhythm of Youth
  77. Peter Gabriel, Security
  78. Bow Wow Wow, I Want Candy
  79. Hunters and Collectors, s/t
  80. Strange Advance, World’s Away
  81. Dream Syndicate, The Days Of Wine And Roses
  82. A Flock of Seagulls, s/t

Sunday, November 26, 2023

SETH'S POSTCARDS

 

Kara and I had fun seeing the new show of Seth art at the RICA Gallery here in Guelph last night. We also hung out with some other Seth fans and art buyers after the preview/launch and I was really amazed at the diverse group of people who are into his work. Many have come to him through his "non-comics" paintings and sculptures and his gallery agent Renann Isaacs should take a lot of the credit for turning these folks on to the work and hustling to develop a strong local market (although there were collectors from New York and Toronto on hand and I suspect some long-distance/overseas sales as well). I talked to people who are not comics nerds and who couldn't tell an issue of The Comics Journal from Wizard Magazine from Bubbles (in one discussion about contemporary Canadian figurative painters working in a realist style like Kent Monkman and Atilla Lukacs, the idea of studio assistants came up which led to a discussion of comic book assembly-line production techniques, ghost artists, and manga studios, and I had to bite my tongue a bit when the fellow I was talking to said something like, "Is that how Stan Lee drew his comics?"). Wisely, Renann and Seth created a show of small pictures, priced to sell. They are fun little things, very Seth-y, but as the artist admitted, not much thought went into the titles or artist statement (I'm attaching the local news article for some choice Seth quotes). Which is all to say, a good time was had by all. I think the entire show is going to sell out: most of the paintings were sold by the second night, and the show runs until December 23. I didn't take any pictures, so I'm stealing the photos from Renann's Facebook feed for those who aren't friends with her.

Seth and Renann Isaacs (photo credit: Margaret Langton)


















Wednesday, August 02, 2023

DAVE SIM ON KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD



Dave Sim writing in CANAR #1, 1972:

"KIRBY VIEW --This is to serve as a kind of response to Rick Seiler's Kirby 'opinionations' in this same issue.

I maintain that Kirby has little or no talent. His writing disgusts me even more than the work of early Gerry Conway. His creations seem to be of less than human quality. He is at his best designing a fight sequence, and he knows it. Thus, most of his books become little more than twenty odd pages of villains getting their heads caved in while the hero rants and raves over his cause with no emotion at all. Kirby's characters never seem to come alive. One cannot picture ever seeing an human qualities in Orion. And don't mistake human qualities for qualities found in other Kirby creations (Black Bolt, Silver Surfer, etc.) for they are equally monotonous in their steadfast gazes and intent close-mouthed convictions.

The Fourth World 'epics' failed for one reason. None of the books had anything that could rationally be called a uniting force. What they amounted to was a mish-mash of characters who exist for battle, use the Earth as a battleground and seldom say more tha two words without a) punching b) killing c) disintegrating an opponent who is equally mute. 

Now for some conclusions on this topic. Why do these characters exist? They are Kirby creations and it is a well-known fact that the only way to maintain Jack Kirby as a staff artist is to cater to his wants. One of these wants is total freedom to change, distort, or completely destroy anything in the panel art at DC. He changed Superman into something less than he should be, totally demolished anything it took DC thirty years to build Jimmy Olsen into ... and left both characters when he was through with them. This is somewhat reminiscent of ushering a spoiled child into a room of antique toys, permitting him to smash them at will and guiding him to another room. 

Now, the almighty King demands that he be granted a team of artists at his California headquarters that he might continue his Fourth World Farce. Whom would he take? Neal Adams? Jim Aparo? Joe Kubert? Certainly sacrificing these gentlemen to the pseudo science fiction slop of the Fourth World means nothing ... if the King is satiated by it. "

___

*Dave Sim writing as a 16-year-old fanboy for his friend John Balge's fanzine Comic Art News and Reviews. This early column proves that Sim has always had bad taste and his head up his ass. 










Saturday, July 15, 2023

Phyllis Wright, 1930-2023

 



by BK Munn

Sad news today as we learn that Phyllis Wright died July 9 after a stroke and a short stay in palliative care at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington, Ontario. Phyllis was the model for the mother in "Doug Wright's Family," the long-running Canadian comic strip drawn by her first husband Doug Wright, and was instrumental in the founding of the Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning. She was a continual and joyful presence at the annual awards ceremonies held in Toronto since 2004.

Phyllis and Doug had three boys, Bill, Jim, and Ken, who all became the models for the boys in the comic strip, which ran from 1948 to 1980. As depicted by Doug, Phyllis was a loving but exasperated suburban housewife, with a stylish pixie haircut and often clad in slacks or mod skirt ensembles. Through her association with the Wright Awards, Phyllis was a living link to the world depicted in the comic strip, generous with her support and time, and generous in sharing her family's memories and archive of artwork and photos, some of which became source material for the massive two-volume Collected Doug Wright compiled by the cartoonist Seth and writer Brad Mackay.

After Doug Wright's death in 1983, Phyllis remarried, to Derek Thomas (d. 1998), greatly expanding the size of her family.

Cremation and a private interment at Greenwood Cemetery happened earlier this month. There will be a memorial service July 31 at 11am at Port Nelson United Church.

_____




Friday, April 28, 2023

Close Shaves in the Comics, Part 2: Storm Gets a Mohawk!

 by BK Munn


Now it can be told: the terrifying tale of talcum, tufts, and trimming that is shaving in the comics!

Let's talk about some of the most famous and important shaves in the history of comics.

2. Uncanny X-Men #173. Storm gets a mohawk!

This was the shave that shook all mutantkind! 

Never had a shave had such shocking ramifications for a character in a superhero comic, let alone a woman character! 

Storm was a groundbreaking character: one of the first prominent characters of African descent in U.S. comics, and one of the most powerful woman characters in the Marvel Universe. Storm was born Ororo Munroe, the daughter of a Kenyan princess and an African-American photographer, and raised on the streets of Harlem and Cairo, Egypt before assuming the mantle of an African weather goddess when her mutant powers manifested. When she is first introduced in comic books, in Giant Size X-Men #1, created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, she is depicted as serene royalty. Her superhero costume includes a cape, and her trademark regal hairstyle is a mane of shockingly white, long, flowing hair, accessorized with a crown-like tiara. Storm quickly established herself as one of the most powerful X-Men as well as a gentle voice of reason, a leader, a teacher, and a mentor to student mutants at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, the secret headquarters of The X-Men. Her beauty, highlighted by the contrast between her black skin and white hair, set her apart from the other, decidedly less-glamorous mutants. 

But all this changed in 1983's X-Men #173, "To Have and Have Not!"

After spending a week in Japan in the company of Wolverine's crazy mutant ninja girlfriend Yukio, Ororo finds herself revelling in the down-and-dirty violence that is Yukio's specialty. After using a lightning bolt to knock out a Yakuza thug, Storm notes, "I have never used my powers to deliberately inflict pain." She concludes, "This madness of yours has infected me ---I welcome it!"

Cut to a week later, and the arrival of the rest of the X-Men for Wolverine's wedding. Storm makes one of the most dramatic reveals in X-Men history, debuting her all-leather street punk uniform, topped off by a spectacular feathery mohawk hairstyle. Her "new look" is as shocking as a lightning bolt, electrifying her colleagues, and provoking an emotional response.

“Your clothes! Your…hair! What have you done?!” gasps young Kitty Pryde, while Professor Xavier speculates privately whether the change is “indicative of a deeper, more serious metamorphosis.”

The new look does indeed prove to be indicative of big changes in Storm's character. In the issues that follow, she becomes more calculating, aggressive and self-assured, winning a knife-fight against the Morlock leader Callisto and becoming leader of the X-Men even after losing her powers. Originally intended as a joke by the series artist Paul Smith, writer Chris Claremont quickly seized on the implications of the punk look for the character's development.

The change had an effect on the readership as well, galvanizing interest and making Storm a fan favourite. Through the act of shaving most of her head, Storm became a comic book style icon, her punk look shaking up the staid world of superhero comics and making radical change one of the hallmarks of Reagan 80s Marvel, heralding the new wave of team shake-ups, costume and character redesigns, and universe-rattling crises and secret wars. Her leather uniform also created a template for more "realistic" superhero costuming, especially in film design.






Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Unknown Canadian Cartoonist: Joe Cushner

by BK Munn 

Unknown Canadian Cartoonists: Joe Cushner

My brother, who lives in B.C., sent me these images from an exhibit at the VISAC Gallery in Trail. The artist Joe Cushner worked for the Cominco Smelter doing safety posters and cartoons.
The Art of Health and Safety:
Joe Cushner, Cominco Staff Artist (1950s – 70s)













Saturday, February 11, 2023

SPLIT-FACE vs. TWO-FACE: A TALE OF TWO VILLAINS FROM BATMAN AND DICK TRACY

Just saw the first Dick Tracy movie (1945) on TCM. The villain is Split-Face, played by the great Mike Mazurki. He's a new creation for the movie, not from the comic strip, created by the screenwriter Eric Taylor, author of many B-movie crime pictures. The Batman villain Two-Face debuted in 1942. In a shocking twist, it looks like Dick Tracy is taking a page from Batman. In another shocking twist, Bob Kane is actually credited with his creation (although Bill Finger of course wrote the first appearance in Detective Comics #66). In a twist that will surprise nobody, Kane stole the idea for Two-Face from this poster for the 1941 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring Spencer Tracy