Tougher Than the Rest

I rediscovered this song through an Angel Olsen cover. Angel Olsen has consistently been able to do no wrong, and as an accomplished songwriter, her decision to do a cover is both unexpected and an idiosyncratic choice. It makes perfect intuitive sense that she would …

Touch of Grey

There’s some irony that the Grateful Dead’s biggest commercial hit was this mid-80’s anthem about being past your prime and making the best of it. It’s understandable, of course, that it touched a chord with the band’s aging fanbase. Of course it became an instant …

Torture

As promised, more Psychedelic Furs material. I’m doing my research. Apparently, the 1987 album Midnight to Midnight was condemned (in some circles, including Richard Butler) for trying to hew to a more commercial pop sound. I guess I can kind hear it in the somewhat …

Too Lonely

Someday I aspire to become a subscriber to Neil Young’s internet archive. Because, even as someone who considers themselves a pretty big fan, I still sense that I have only a passing knowledge of Young’s career. Young has been so prolific in so many different …

Tons of Steel

I may be, maybe, a little bit of a closet Deadhead. Well, maybe not a fullblown one, definitely not the type to listen to all of the live albums and discuss the minute nuances of this take and that. I know that it’s pretty uncool …

Tom’s Diner

It’s a peculiarity of pop culture that it’s impossible to predict what will have deep and lasting impact. So it is that one of the most iconic songs of the 80’s is an a cappella spoken-word poem about drinking coffee in a greasy spoon diner. …

Time Will Crawl

I’m in a very small subgroup within the David Bowie fandom: unwavering supporters of Never Let Me Down. It’s a group that never included David Bowie himself, who agreed with the critical consensus that the album was a lazy failed attempt at recapturing the chart-topping …

Throwing Stones

There have been many cultural shifts throughout my lifetime, and one that I’ve only just noticed is the gradual disappearance of Deadheads. Oh, I’m sure that they still exist, but like the American bison, they no longer blanket the land. Of course, The Grateful Dead …

A Thousand Hours

Every 80’s sadkid’s soundtrack to their life included songs by The Cure, did it not? At least that’s how it seems in hindsight, if the sadkid blogosphere is to be believed. I, personally, did not listen to The Cure when I was a sadkid, because …

This Is Love

George Harrison conquered the 80’s by adopting a quality-over-quantity attitude towards his career. After making one unacclaimed contractual obligation album in 1982, he took an extended hiatus to focus on things like enjoying his second marriage, raising his young son, and becoming an honorary Python. …