40 Records In 40 Years (15/40 - 1988)

As indicated in the last post it was really the last holidays Susanne and I spent together. More and more it has turned out that she had to go to life her own life. Not that we have argued much or cheated each other. The main thing was, that I was tired to keep any problems away from her and I expected her to be more independently as a own person. That's why I set her free. So the year's gone with dividing our goods, planing and fixing our both relocations. Therefore I had more time to play football with my mates. If I surely remember it was the year with our biggest results in various tournaments. We played a big football tournament in Dachau, close to Munich where we were stopped in in the final game. We were destroyed by local players 9:1. Never had a disaster like this before. And after the game the winners has comforted us with the words: 'Don't be too sad guys - you can't beat us because we are professionals, playing in the youth team of the Bundesliga association TSV 1860 Munich'. And therefor we took it as a honor have been played against them.

This year was a good year for records. Here's a small choice of the most important ones:

• The Pogues - If I should fall grace with god: Their second masterpiece
• Morrissey - Viva Hate: He also works very well without The Smiths
• The Sugarcubes - Life's been too good: Unbelievable voice from Iceland 
• Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back: A monument of Rap
• Living Colour - Vivid: A record the Rolling Stones always wanted to make
• Patti Smith - Dream Of Life: Great songs once again from her
• The House Of Love - same: Fantastic songs an sounds from a forgotten band
• Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden: Chamber rock at it's best
• Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation: Another monument released this year
• My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything: Not knowing that it takes ages for their second one

Some of this song were in the charts, the others not -but all mark the year 1988:

When we went to the movie we watched films like this:

• Rain Man: Dustin Hoffmann and Tom Cruise and their story of brotherhood
• Die Hard: Bruce Willis first time against a bunch of criminals
• The Naked Gun: Perfect comedy about the TV-series Police Squad
• Beetlejuice: Tim Burtons's fantasy - beautiful
• A Fish Called Wanda: The Return of Monty Python
• Bird: Clint Eastwood and his tribute to Charlie Parker
• The Accused: Jodi Foster gang-raped moves to the court
• Dangerous Liaisons: With Stephen Frear back into the 1700s
• Gorillas in the Mist: About life and work of Diane Fossey
• Mississippi Burning: The best movie about rednecks and KKK

A little look into what happened in the world:

Halabja poison gas attack by Iraqi government forces kills more than 5.000 people // George H. Bush was elected to the president of the United States // The Netherlands win the European Football Cup by beating the Soviet Union 2:0 // Riots in Algeria against the leading NLF; Army killed and tortured more than 500 // The Soviet Union starts to retreat from Afghanistan //Steffi Graf wins every Grand Slam tournament

It was once more very hard to make a decision which record meant much to me this year. A monument is of course Sonic Youth and their epic album Daydream Nation that I regular listen to since then. All in all I favor Surfer Rosa from The Pixies as my personal favorite of this year (maybe I make a short series about records that missed the number one these days). I remember when I walked into my local record shop looking the novelty and I held the record in my hand looking at the cover of a topless flamenco dancer. Never heard anything before from The Pixies, only knowing the producer Steve Albini from a few records he produced. The music itself was overpowering.It unites trashy guitars, harmonies and unique lyric in a still fresh and innovative sound. Joey Santiagos's unique contact with the guitar, Black Francis psychotic loud voice, Kim Deals steady bass and lighting up song and Dave Loerings formidable contact with the percussion join to sharp punk and unique pop. "Bone Machine", "Broken Face" and "Vamos" dash and glide in a frightening tempo there without arresting, besides, the listener in much too crude kind & manner. But also the gentle, feeling-stressed side of the Pixies becomes evident on Surfer Rosa. Pieces like Kim Deals "Gigantic" and Francis "Where is My Mind" show a refreshing contrast to the ansonst glowing energy on the rest of the album. A few years later Nirvana released Nevermind - with huge references to Surfer Rosa.

The Pixies - Bone Machine
The Pixies - Gigantic
The Pixies - Vamos
The Pixies - Caribou
The Pixies - Where Is My Mind