#0098 IRON DJ: 1984

An impenetrable, majestic fortress of some of the best songs, samples, and sounds from 1984.

As I started looking at songs, I realized that there was a ton of great music released in 1984, when I graduated high school. So much of it, though, falls into that category of “80s music.”  We hear it in elevators, barber shops, or shopping malls on any given day….all those songs that are compiled on hundreds of “Best of the 80s” CD compilations. So, I eliminated any of those right off the bat, with perhaps one or two exceptions, but exceptions that are so good, they justify their own existence on this mix. Many of the songs I listened to back then, but I heard a lot of them later in the 80s too. All songs were released in 1984. Besides too many big hits, I also kept away from some heavy favorites like Iron Maiden, Accept, and Priest and tried to include some different things (so that eliminated Aces High, Losing More Than You’ve Ever Had, and Jawbreaker).

At first I was trying to cram the songs I wanted into an hour long package. But then I thought about old cassette mix tapes. The ones that really sucked were the tapes that were 30 minutes on each side, or one hour mixes. 90 minute mix tapes were okay, but I really  liked 100 minute cassette mix tapes, which is the length that I ended up settling into over time. And so that’s what I made here. The longer format works for some mixes, and I think it works for this one too.

Hope you like it.

1. *Repo Man Theme (Instrumental) – Iggy Pop
2.  Death Ship – Hoodoo Gurus
3.   Wonderin’ – Neil Young**
4.  Wait – Wang Chung
5.  A Friend I Call Desire – Ultravox
6.  Got Me Under Pressure – ZZ Top ***
7.  Priestess – Wendy O. Williams
8.  Master and Servant – Depeche Mode
9.  Handsome Devil – The Smiths
10. Somebody’s Watching Me – Rockwell
11. Pink Turns to Blue – Husker Du
12. Jam On It – Newcleus
13. Ivo – Cocteau Twins ****
14. Mama’s Boy – Ramones
15. It’s My Life – Talk Talk
16. Realization – The Art of Noise
17. Nobody’s Home – Deep Purple
18. I Would Die 4 U – Prince
19.  Stay the Night – Chicago
20. Snaggletooth – Motorhead
21. 88 Lines About 44 Women – The Nails*****
22. Maybe Partying Will Help – Minutemen
23. 99 Red Balloons – Nena
24.  Show Me – The Pretenders
25. Slippery People – Talking Heads******
26. Fight Fire With Fire – Metallica

*          Repo Man
**        Ghostbusters
***      Spinal Tap
****    Making the Grade
*****  The Man with Two Brains
****** Red Dawn

#0077 – More Songs from the Closet

For all of you who still listen to the “Dream A Little Dream” soundtrack or can’t stop singing Billy Ocean tunes to yourself — this is that kind of mix.

Aaron

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First off, it’s my birthday and I just want to say that I feel very humbled that I have so many friends (not just “friends”) who genuinely like me both because of and in spite of my quirks.  One such quirk is illuminating the seedy underbelly of your musical tastes.  Yes, for all of you guys who still listen to the “Dream A Little Dream” soundtrack or can’t stop singing Billy Ocean tunes to yourself — this is that kind of mix.

Behold… and weep:

  • Bob Dylan – The Man in Me
  • Climax Blues Band – Couldn’t Get It Right
  • Hall & Oates – Private Eyes
  • Styx – Too Much Time On My Hands
  • Steve Winwood – Take It as It Comes
  • Tom Petty – Zombie Zoo
  • Stevie Nicks – Stand Back
  • Thomas Dolby – Europa and the Pilot Twins
  • XTC – Making Plans for Nigel
  • Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark – Enola Gay
  • Wang Chung – Praying to a New God
  • Yes – It Can Happen
  • Bonnie Tyler – It’s a Heartache
  • Boston – Can’tcha Say (You Believe in Me?)
  • Survivor – The Moment of Truth
  • Frank Stallone – Far From Over
  • Billy Joel – Big Man on Mulberry Street
  • Toto – Rosanna
  • Phil Collins – I Cannot Believe It’s True
  • Barbara Streisand (with Barry Gibb) – Guilty

#0053 – File under: This is the Way the World Ends

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Aaron “Not with a whisper, but with a bang.” Heavily inspired by the post-punk sounds included in the oeuvre of director Richard Kelley in movies such as Donnie Darko and Southland Tales, this mix goes wonderfully dark without being frightening. This is a playlist I like to bike long-distances to, imagining I ride towards destiny.

  1. Echo and the Bunnymen – The Killing Moon
  2. Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls
  3. INXS – Never Tear Us Apart
  4. The Pixies – Wave of Mutilation
  5. Tears for Fears – Head Over Heels
  6. Depeche Mode – Walking in My Shoes
  7. Curve – Horror Head
  8. Siouxsie & The Banshees – Cities in Dust
  9. Moby – Chord Sounds
  10. The Cure – Fascination Street
  11. Thom Yorke – Black Swan
  12. Roxy Music – More Than This
  13. The Church – Under the Milky Way
  14. Peter Murphy – Cuts You Up
  15. Wang Chung – To Live And Die In L.A.
  16. Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart
  17. The Killers – All These Things That I’ve Done

    Also folks — only two weeks left to get your mixes in for our first Iron Deejay competition. All contestants receive a free copy of Audacity software for your Mac or PC.

    #0025 – File under: Songs I Keep in the Closet

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    These are the songs I’ve been locking away so society won’t judge me, but I can’t deny my love for them any longer.  The shame is eating away at me like a cancer, and it has to breathe free.  I give you Hall and Oates, Wang Chung, Tom Jones, Falco, ABC, Erasure, Nu Shooz, Jermaine Jackson, Gerardo, Snap!, Janet Jackson, Olivia Newton-John, New Edition, Queen, Kansas, ELO, A-Ha, Rod Steward, Chicago, Night Ranger and Michael McDonald.

    #0023 – Instrumental Magic

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    Kevin writes:

    Instrumental Magic is named after one of those 1970s LP TV offers. I don’t own it but remember the commercials. This installment is a glorious trek through a series of instrumentals from Neil Norman & His Cosmic Orchestra, the Walter Murphy Band, The Upsetters, Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force, The Dregs, Eric Weisberg, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Rush, Black Sabbath, Miguel, Miles Davis & John Coltrane, The Beatnigs, Wang Chung, The Pixies, Dick Dale, Primus, At the Gates, Iron Maiden, and Benny Goodman! Wow! ( kevindreed[at]gmail[dot]com)Note to users: Volume levels may go up and down a little on this one…I didn’t have time to troubleshoot.

    Per Aaron — Kevin had my head explode with joy with Deliverance and Wang Chung.

    #0004 – File under: New Wave, Movies

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    We’re moving and jamming out to songs that even the kid can listen to, so put on your time travel helmets as we revisit John Hughes movies and a few other 80’s New Wave/Pop hits. Artists this week include The March Violetes, Oingo Boingo, Split Enz, The Knack, The Smiths, Gary Numan, The Cars, Joy Division, The Fixx, Naked Eyes, Wang Chung, Echo and the Bunnymen, Peter Murphy, Duran Duran, Yaz, Depeche Mode and The English Beat. Totally, dudes.

    Continue reading “#0004 – File under: New Wave, Movies”