#All of the english beat albums full#
Our list still reflects the realities of the ’80s-many great artists worked more successfully in singles than in full albums, for example-but we hope it represents the best of what this innovative decade has to offer, as well as how people consume music now. For this new list, we gathered votes from more than 50 full-time staffers and regularly contributing writers to open up our discussion. That list was shorter, sure, but it also represented a limited editorial stance we have worked hard to move past its lack of diversity, both in album selections and contributing critics, does not represent the voice Pitchfork has become. And that means, in part, looking at Pitchfork’s own history frankly: Longtime readers may remember that, in 2002, we made a list of The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s. Now, with hindsight, we’re attempting to look at the ’80s with new eyes-reassessing old favorites, rediscovering undersung gems. And hip-hop was evolving at a head-spinning clip, expanding its reach and ambition along the way. Singer-songwriters in folk and R&B were plumbing new depths of the human experience, getting frank about social and gender politics. Jazz and ambient were pushing their experimental borders, getting more cinematic and free. Rock was getting more ridiculous, with Aqua-Net to spare, but it was also paring back into the thoughtful nexus that would someday be called “indie rock”-or it was throwing up pentagrams, getting sludgier and meaner, and turning into metal. It was a time when disco and punk were in tatters, its artists rebuilding from the rubble with new innovations to birth hardcore and new wave. And when it comes to its music, well, that’s even more ubiquitous: The decade was one of great upheaval and innovation, and the seeds it planted continue to flourish.
#All of the english beat albums series#
It’s arguably the defining throwback aesthetic of American culture today, from the TV series we reboot to the prints we wear. Because the divisions were a little bit more drawn.Sometimes it feels like the neon thumbprint of the 1980s never went away. Then I think there might've been a problem. "I think musically speaking, they're going to be more open-minded than, say, if we'd done this tour 30 years ago. "I think a lot of the fans are fans of the era," he says. We play stuff from The Nerves on through to the last album."Ĭollins, who spoke to CP on the eve of the tour's first date, is optimistic that, though his Beat is more power-pop, and even alt-country, and The English Beat is a ska band, fans of both will enjoy the whole show. I feel very fortunate that I can play songs from my entire career and they all fit together. "The people that come know all of our songs. But Collins finds that those who follow him now are generally more knowledgeable about music than the average person. And it also makes it more of a family operation."Ĭollins' mainstream exposure has been fairly limited: Paul Collins Beat never had a charting hit per se, and The Nerves' biggest song, "Hanging on the Telephone," is most famous as covered by Blondie. "I think the biggest thing about DIY today is it's the key for bands like myself, who may not have major-label support and managers and the whole big rock look - we take our future into our own hands, we're able to strip down our operations and make them money-making operations, because we're able to cut out a lot of the fat of other types of touring. (Some of Collins' records have been released in part by Pittsburgh-based Get Hip! Records.) After his initial Beat albums on CBS, Collins has released most of his music on smaller indie labels like Not Lame and Alive. Through the years, Collins has proudly maintained a DIY ethic when it comes to his music. And I think everybody who works with me will attest to that: It's a much more relaxing environment." I'm much more of an eat-right, sleep-right kind of guy now. "Other than that, I think the biggest changes in touring are more in me: I'm not up all night chasing girls, consuming all kinds of crazy things, drinking all kinds of crazy things. With more than 35 years in music - first with The Nerves (with future Plimsouls frontman Peter Case), then with The Beat and as a solo artist - Collins has seen plenty of changes in touring. "We both come from the same period, we're both considered pioneers in our respective genres, but we're musically on either end of the scale," says Collins. Thus was born what Wakeling has since deemed the "Two Beats Hearting as One" tour: The English Beat headlines, Paul Collins Beat supports, Beat fans of all stripes show up.