(Rhino)
These three CD's, available separately but mentioned here as a collection, form a 54 song look back at the end of the synth-pop era and the beginning of what many consider the breakthrough of "alternative" music to Top 40 stations.
With the title of the series culled from the recurring "chorus" of The Smiths "Panic" (where Morrissey and schoolboys scream to "Hang The DJ"), the collection is weighted is split nearly equally between American and non-American bands. Most of the groups should be immediately recognizable to fans; it's interesting to realize that many of the songs are still known today and helped create a new chart on Billboard ("Modern Rock"), break a new video program (MTV's "120 Minutes"), and, for better or worse, display to major labels how lucrative the "alternative" market could be.
1986 is definitely the most consistently accessible of the three discs; nearly every song on the collection is still played today at radio stations "Flashback" shows, and would be the best present for the modern-rock fan. However, for tracks which are harder to find (or, also, not played as often on "Flashbacks"), check out 1987 which includes the previously challenging- to-find in the U.S., Icicle Works' addictive "Understanding Jane", and the since-withdrawn 10,000 Maniacs cover of Cat Stevens' "Peace Train". Meanwhile, 1988 falls somewhere between these two fronts; plenty of well-known songs to U.S. alterna-philes, but some tracks which never received as much attention (Transvision Vamp, "Tell That Girl To Shut Up", Everything But The Girl's "Apron Strings"). A necessary purchase for anyone who doesn't get to hear the late 1980's music quite enough. TRACK LISTING: 1986 - Smiths "Panic"; New Order "Bizarre Love Triangle"; Siouxie & The Banshees "Cities In Dust"; Psychedelic Furs "Pretty In Pink"; Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark "If You Leave", Pretenders "Don't Get Me Wrong"; Art of Noise "Peter Gunn"; Alarm "Strength"; Bangles "Walk Like An Egyptian"; Depeche Mode "A Question of Time"; Oingo Boingo "Weird Science"; Eurythmics "Missionary Man"; Gene Loves Jezebel "Desire"; Blow Monkeys "Digging Your Scene"; Bananarama "Venus"; INXS "What You Need"; Divinyls "Pleasure And Pain"; Guadalcanal Diary "Cattle Prod" 1987 - R.E.M. "It's The End Of The World As We Know It"; Julian Cope "World Shut Your Mouth"; Bangles "Hazy Shade of Winter"; Jesus and Mary Chain "April Skies"; Smiths "Ask"; 10000 Maniacs "Peace Train"; Love and Rockets "No New Tale To Tell"; New Order "True Faith"; Sugarcubes "Birthday"; Psychedelic Furs "Heartbreak Beat"; Red Hot Chili Peppers "Fight Like A Brave"; X "4th of July"; Concrete Blonde "Still In Hollywood"; Guadalcanal Diary "Litany"; Hoodoo Gurus "What's My Scene"; P.I.L. "Seattle"; Bananarama "I Heard A Rumour"; Icicle Works "Understanding Jane" 1988 - Church "Under The Milky Way"; Primitives "Crash"; Billy Bragg "Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards"; Jane's Addiction "Mountain Song"; R.E.M. "Orange Crush"; Transvision Vamps "Tell That Girl To Shut Up"; Smithereens "Only A Memory"; Erasure "Chains of Love"; INXS "Need You Tonight"; Siouxie & Banshees "Peek A Boo"; Robyn Hitchcock & Egyptians "Balloon Man"; Psychedelic Furs "All That Money Wants"; Ministry "Stigmata"; Cowboy Junkies "Sweet Jane"; Peter Murphy "All Night Long"; Mission UK "Tower of Strength"; The Fall "Victoria"; Everything But The Girl "Apron Strings"
