1980 - "A Forest" - The Cure

The kids in our neighbourhood used to build forts in the woods behind the trailer park. We also played Big Foot along a partially cut path that we coined the Bogeyman Trail. This song captures that feeling of being chased into the trees. The bass dangles and the guitar jangles, creating over-the-shoulder glancing and a feeling of unease.

After having bought the "Standing On A Beach" singles collection in the mid-80s, "A Forest" was the song that hooked me on The Cure, making me double-down to explore the rest of their deep catalogue. 

A former all-time favourite, I no longer binge listen to it. Brooding guitar, ominous bass and haunting keys all build a relentless atmospheric tension. Years later, it would have fit right on the soundtrack for The Blair Witch Project. 

This is a song best enjoyed in solitude, cranked up high on headphones or on a stereo with a good set of speakers.

By the time the second verse is over I'm totally gripped, lost inside a dream inside my head. The throbbing bass, the pounding drums and the synths are all working overtime. 

Fave lyrics: "The girl was never there, it's always the same, I'm running towards nothing again and again and again..."

Below is a video of an almost 14 minute long live version from The Cure's Wish tour in 1992. It's far and away my all-time favourite live version of any song. I love how it builds then quiets down only to build back up again (and again and again....). Robert Smith even gives us a bonus, an extra verse as a sort of second bridge before the tune explodes for the grand finale. 

I can listen to it again and again and again...

Other favourites from 1980: 

"Echo Beach" – Martha & the Muffins 

"Don’t Stand So Close To Me" – The Police 

"Sailing" – Christopher Cross 

1979 - "Take the Long Way Home" - Supertramp

Goosebumps. I get them every time the keyboards give way to the harmonica in the iconic intro of "Take the Long Way Home" by Supertramp. 

The harmonica continues to weave in and out as the pondering lyrics causes your mind to wander. As the melody meanders, it sweeps you along for a unplanned ride through your own life. The sax and harmonica solos in the middle are a highlight. 

I was at Bruce Jordan's 10th birthday party when I first remember hearing the Breakfast in America album. Still love all of the singles and the "Goodbye Toby" parody on The Office was cute. 

"Take the Long Way Home" will forever be one of my favourite driving songs, best experienced when you have a little extra time to take the scenic route.

Other favourites from 1979: 

"Message in a Bottle" – The Police

"Walking on the Moon" – The Police

"What a Fool Believes" – Doobie Brothers

"Transmission" – Joy Division

1978 - "Rock Lobster" - The B-52s

For many of us, this song was a kooky introduction to the fascinating world of marine biology and cowbell percussion. For some of us, this early new wave anthem was also an initiation to a social activity called slam dancing that used to fill the floor with tomfoolery at the Banook Canoe Club in Dartmouth. 

From the opening guitar and synth riffs, "Rock Lobster" by The B-52s is both catchy and menacing. 

The lyrics are silly and fun, sometimes hysterical, always ridiculous: "There they saw a rock. It wasn't a rock. It was a Rock Lobster." 

While the frenetic guitar riff is a throwback to surfer rock, the track turns on its head halfway in to pure chaos, becoming almost punk.

The interplay that follows between Fred Schneider's lead vocals and Kate Pierson's sound effects are mind blowing.

When the dust settles, "Rock Lobster" may have been that magic point in time where the rawness of punk collided with the innovation of new wave. Regardless, this is a polarizing track, one you either adore or despise.

Other favourites from 1978: 

"Baker Street" – Gerry Rafferty

"September" – Earth, Wind and Fire

"Sultans of Swing" – Dire Straits

1977 - "Peg" - Steely Dan

"Heeeeeyyyyyy, it will come back to you".

That was the lyric I grew up singing to myself.

Years later, I found out I'd been wrong. Despite this gaffe, the jazz and funk fusion of "Peg" by Steely Dan remains one of the catchiest tunes ever conceived. 

The track sounds like an ode to 70s music. There's a funky bass. Guitar solos weave in and out. And the ubiquitous Michael McDonald sings backup vocals, always a treat.

The cynical lyrics aside, this one's been always about the music. That infectious groove.

Other favourites from 1977: 

"Barracuda" – Heart

"Dreams" – Fleetwood Mac

"Mainstreet" – Bob Seger

1976 - "Year of the Cat" - Al Stewart

1976 was probably the first year I really started paying attention to music on the radio. Ever since I first heard this as a 7-year-old in the back of my parents' station wagon, I've adored this song with the cryptic title. 

It's a poem. It's a movie. It's the sound of nostalgia. The vocals are almost narrated and delivered with elegance. And the music, the magical music flows.  "Year of the Cat" by Al Stewart is one of the most moving singles ever released. It gives me all the feels.

I've never been a big fan of love songs. At least not the sappy, cliché-riddled ones, those which inevitably included the word 'love' in the title.

The lyrics paint a few literal images, notably the epic "She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain", but mostly the story being told has an elusive feel to it... 

Musically beautiful, lyrically poetic and masterfully produced. There's the iconic solo trinity: the intro piano solo. Later, a guitar solo. And a sax solo as a wrap. 

Clocking in at over six minutes it may seem long, but I've always found it's over far too soon. That's the sign of a great tune, so much that this classic easily falls in my top 10 of all time.

Al Stewart compares songwriting to cinema: "I want to show you a movie when I’m playing a song." Here's to us all to finding that hidden door in the blue-tiled walls of a market stall.

Other favourites from 1976:

"You Should Be Dancing" - Bee Gees 
Frantic dance floor filler with great bass and guitar.

"Blitzkrieg Bop" – Ramones 
Raw and raucous and ground zero for punk. 

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" – Gordon Lightfoot
An eloquent delivery of a tragic story.