Chicago “Chicago 17” 1984. Yes this is my record…but I can explain (we are back from a long weekend in Chicago so it feels like the right time to spin) – I was still 13 years old when this record was released in May of ’84 and my only real access to any new music was the Fox Valley commercial radio market. I do not recall if it was a Green Bay or Appleton station that ran the promotion but I won this copy from a on-air call-in deal. I was unfortunately a runner-up in the contest: the grand prize was a limo drive to Chicago’s concert (in either Milwaukee or Chicago, I don’t remember). Now, was I really a Chicago fan in 1984? I don’t think so (I was nutso for Duran Duran and all things British new wave/synthpop) but as someone who rarely wins anything, it felt like a real coup. I don’t think I played it much but because so many of the songs were played to death that year, most of the songs are embedded in the dark corners of my brain and I can still sing along to most of the LP. Despite the title, Chicago 17 was actually the band’s 14th studio LP (though with the other releases yeah sure it’s number 17). It was a smash hit, going to #4 on the US album charts and won three grammies. The single “Hard Habit to Break” helped set the mold for 80’s power ballads (it hit #3 in both the US and UK). “You’re the Inspiration” (#3 US) is a straight up soft rock ballad and, while I truly despise this one, I can 100% sing along to the whole fucking thing. “Stay the Night” was the first single released from the LP and is a bit harder song than Chicago was known for (and is really not representative of most of the rest of this album). It went to #16 on the US charts. “Along Comes a Woman” (#14 US) was the fourth and final single released from 17, it was also the last single that original Chicago band member Peter Cetera appears on; he quit the band in 1985. It’s is SO 80’s: the guitar, the horn accents, the 80’s rhythm and production, everything. Now that I’ve listened to the album for the first time in its entirety in over 40 years, I think I’m good for another 40.

I don’t think I ever noticed that Peter Cetera is wearing a Bauhaus t-shirt in this video!! Hilarious!

Duran Duran “Burning the Ground” 1989. I don’t remember that many people’s birthdays, but Simon LeBon’s is permanently embedded in my brain — today, October 27th is Simon’s 68th birthday (b. 1958). This is the 12″ single of their stand-alone single released to promote Duran Duran’s comp LP Decade (also released in 1989). “Burning the Ground” is itself a compilation/mashup of their biggest hit singles up to that point; the song was not included on Decade however. It actually charted (well, I’m not surprised as it is a dance floor banger), going to #31 in the UK and making the US Dance/Club chart at #23. It did even better in Italy for some reason, hitting #2 over there. Side A of the 12″ has the aforementioned “Burning the Ground” plus a couple versions of “Decadence” – the regular version and the Extended Mix. That song is also a mashup of their old hits but is even more sampled (heavy on “Save a Prayer,” “The Reflex” and “Notorious”) and instrumental than “Burning the Ground.”

Siouxsie and the Banshees “All Souls” 2022. It’s Siouxsie season! This comp of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ releases was put together by Siouxsie herself as a “seasonal celebration” of some classic Banshees spookiness, remastered, like “Halloween” and “Spellbound” plus other macabre-themed album tracks and b-sides from over the years. The aforementioned tracks are both from the 1981 album Juju, and the album opener “Fireworks” is a single-only release from 1982 in between Juju and 1982’s A Kiss in the Dreamhouse. And one of my favorite Siouxsie songs of all-time, the single “Peek-A-Boo.” There are a couple of non-singles: “We Hunger” comes from 1984’s Hyæna, “The Sweetest Chill” is from 1986’s Tinderbox, and “Rawhead and Bloodybones” from 1988’s Peepshow. A cover of Ben E. King’s 1975 hit “Supernatural Thing” was the b-side to the 1988 single “The Last Beat of My Heart” and “Something Wicked (This Way Comes),” was the b-side to “The Killing Jar,” both also on Peepshow. We have all of the albums mentioned above so most of the tracks but not some of the b-sides so this is a really great Halloween/All Souls Day/Day of the Dead collection.