by Darren Clarke, September 6, 2021

Was 1984 the best year of music making in the 80s? Probably. At the very least it’s the first year of the decade that required three instalments of music as opposed to two. Here in Part I we focus on the parallels in place and time, if not form, of the two best albums of the year. Additionally we discuss how, while Sammy Hagar might not have been able to create greatness, he had the capacity to annoy someone else into creating some, we talk the virtues of jamming econo, why using a middle initial is just so much more German Guitar God-y than not using one, and once again we take a moment to admire the insane amount of great music New Zealand’s Flying Nun Records supplied the world with in the 80s.

Music featured here includes- The Smiths, R.E.M., Prince and the Revolution, The Replacements, Minutemen, Red Kross, Everything But the Girl, This Kind of Punishment and The Fall.

Just press play…