peterr (02/14/83)
About six weeks ago, I posted a list of the top 15 albums of 1982 as compiled by CFNY-FM Toronto by tallying listener votes (each sent in their top 10, in return for a chance to win the top 10 or the top 82 albums). CFNY tries quite hard to be an interesting alternative to conventional AOR; they take requests, they never play the same song twice in 24 hrs, they play a fair number of imports, and they try to be sensitive to the local music scene. Because of all this, I hope that this list (posted now in its entirety) has some credibility as a Best (New Wave) Music of 82 list. As for my personal opinion, these aren't my favorite albums of '82, but I agreed with 6 of the top 10 (1-3, 6-8) and would heartily recommend 14, 15, 19, 23, and 65. 1. Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) 2. Duran Duran, Rio 3. Roxy Music, Avalon 4. Spoons, Arias and Symphonies 5. ABC, Lexicon of Love 6. Joe Jackson, Night and Day 7. Peter Gabriel, IV (Security) 8. Kate Bush, The Dreaming 9. Flock of Seagulls, Flock of Seagulls 10. Culture Club, Kissing To Be Clever 11. Clash, Combat Rock 12. The Beat, Special Beat Service 13. Men at Work, Business as Usual 14. Psychedlic Furs, Forever Now 15. Yazoo, Upstairs at Eric's 16. UB40, UB44 17. Haircut 100, Pelican West 18. China Crisis, Difficult Shapes and Passive Rhythms 19. Mike Oldfield, Five Miles Out 20. Dexy's Midnite Runners, Too-Rye-Aye 21. The Jam, The Gift 22. Tears for Fears, Pale Shelter 23. Dire Straits, Love Over Gold 24. Rough Trade, Shakin' the Foundations 25. Thomas Dolby, The Golden Age Of Wireless 26. XTC, English Settlement 27. New Order, Temptation 28. Soft Cell, Non-stop Ecstatic Dancing 29. Blue Peter, Up To You 30. Human League, Dare (#2 on the 81 list, released domestically in 82) 31. Gang of Four, Songs of the Free 32. Stray Cats, Built for Speed 33. Joe Cocker, Sheffield Steel 34. Fashion, Fabrique 35. Depeche Mode, A Broken Frame 36. Musical Youth, Youth of Today 37. Thompson Twins, Name of Love 38. Leisure Process, Love Cascade 39. Elvis Costello, Imperial Bedroom 40. Talking Heads, The Name of This Band is The Talking Heads 41. Pete Shelley, Homosapien 42. Billy Idol, Billy Idol 43. Payolas, No Stranger to Danger 44. B Movie, Nowhere Girl 45. Spandau Ballet, Diamond 46. Associates, Sulk 47. Captain Sensible, Women and Captains First 48. Fun Boy Three, Fun Boy Three 49. Romeo Void, Benefactor 50. Pat Metheny, Off Ramp 51. Black Uhuru, Chill Out 52. Altered Images, Pinky Blue (I Could Be Happy) 53. Heaven 17, Let Me Go 54. Grandmaster Flash, The Message 55. Level 42, Level 42 56. Phil Collins, Hello I Must Be Going 57. Rush, Signals 58. Ultravox, Quartet 59. The Fixx, Shuttered Room 60. New Musik, Warp 61. Nina Hagen, Nunsexmonkrock 62. Gil-Scott Heron, Moving Target 63. Bill Nelson, The Love That Whirls 64. Icehouse, Primitive Man 65. Phil Manzanera, Primitive Guitars 66. Visage, The Anvil 67. Flash and The Pan, Headlines 68. Naked Eyes, Always Something There To Remind Me 69. Van Morrison, Beautiful Vision 70. The Buggles, Adventures in Modern Recording 71. Soft Machine, Land of Cocayne 72. Men Without Hats, Rhythm of Youth 73. Steel Pulse, True Democracy 74. King Crimson, Beat 75. Nash the Slash, And You Thought You Were Normal 76. Adrian Belew, Lone Rhinocerous 77. Lene Lovich, No Man's Land 78. Secret Service, Cutting Corners 79. Way of the West, Don't Say That's Just For White Boys 80. Falco, Einzelhaft 81. Bauhaus, Sky's Falling Out 82. Rational Youth, Cold War Nite Life A bit of news for CFNY listeners, past and present. The station is in the process of being sold. There are many potential buyers, including some who would radically change the format (e.g. one bible-thumping group), but the DJ's are hinting that negotiations are close to complete and that the format probably won't change. Once the station is sold, they will move their transmitter to the top of the CN Tower, which should help signal quality immensely. Sorry for the length of this, but I got a few requests for the entire list, so it seems justified. Hear hear for alternate radio!