Quick, Before It Melts.

Watching Rhino reissue all the landmark albums of my youth (the JAMC, Depeche Mode, the Cure etc. etc. etc.) makes me feel old, and I'm sure this post will only show my age more, but I'm a proud music fan, and glad that I've been able to experience a wide array of musical styles and fads over the years. Whenever I think back to my musical youth (you may be as old as me if you caught that reference), the year 1989 is a standout. Years like '89 seem to come along once in a decade, full of great music and era-defining releases. How fitting it seems that 1989 signaled both the end of the 80's and the start of the 90's all at the same time. Here's my (decidedly biased) look at that magical year:

New Order “Run” (from Technique): The masterwork of their career, at the end of the decade they helped to define. Indie cred with techno beats never sounded so good or so alive. The last album they'd make with the legendary Factory.

Nine Inch Nails “Sin” (from Pretty Hate Machine): The fact that Queen's “Get Down Make Love” was the b-side was enough to make you take notice. I wonder what ever happened to them?

The B-52's “Cosmic Thing” (from Cosmic Thing): The first CD I ever owned, which replaced the cassette I had worn out months earlier. I was a miserablist teenager (go figure) who'd forgotten how to have a good time. Then I discovered the other great band from Athens, Georgia and damn I was smitten. I became the leading authority on the band in my school. They still make me smile today. This was their high watermark, too.

Bob Wiseman “Airplane on the Highway” (from In Her Dream): Who is he? Wiseman was the original keyboardist in Canadian alt-country band Blue Rodeo, but he had dreams of his own. This was the start of a prolific solo career that followed no recognizable trajectory. Wiseman is a unique spirit, and you'd do well to investigate his back catalogue thoroughly if you like this one.

Pixies “Here Comes Your Man" (from Doolittle): 'Nuff said. (Maybe not the popular choice, but it's my personal favourite.)

The Stone Roses: “Elephant Stone” (from The Stone Roses): Peter Hook (New Order) produced it, as the torch passed from one great Mancunian band to another. Pop perfection and the start of a new revolution (“Madchester”) with a horrible aka (who came up with “baggy”?).

The Beautiful South “Song For Whoever” (from Welcome To The Beautiful South): They may be MOR now, but back in 1989 with the demise of The Housemartins, The 'South were whip-smart, sarcastic and flew in the face of everything on the radio. Besides, I was banned from wearing one of their t-shirts at my catholic high school because there was a picture of a woman with a gun in her mouth on it.

The Cure “Disintegration” (from Disintegration): Another career-defining album. Hard to choose a track here, so many are among my favourites: opener “Plainsong” is one of my favourite arrangements ever; “Fascination Street” one of the best Cure songs; “Love Song” is their big U.S. breakthrough. I chose the title track because... because I hadn't heard it in ages, and was just remembering how much I loved it. Ah, what the hell, here's “Plainsong”, too.

Julee Cruise “Falling” (from Floating Into The Night): David Lynch protégé who soundtracked the first TV series I was ever addicted to, Twin Peaks. So tied to the era now, but back then it sounded otherworldly, and epic.

Camper Van Beethoven “Sweethearts” (from Key Lime Pie): Not a lot to recommend off this album, I'll admit, but I loved this song. I said it was going to be a biased list, didn't I?

Also worth mentioning:

Ian McCulloch (Echo & The Bunnymen) released a solo album, Candleland, which I loved. “Faith And Healing” was one of my favourites tracks.

Tears For Fears finally released The Seeds Of Love and I wasn't sure how to handle that. Songs From the Big Chair was (and still is, I guess) one of my favourite albums of all time, and this wasn't the same. I finally decided that I liked “Sowing the Seeds Of Love” but hated the rest of it. I still do today.

The Jesus And Mary Chain's Automatic seems to be the one LP in their recent reissue that everyone trashes, but I liked it a lot: the Pixies would cover “Head On” in a few years time, but “Blues From A Gun”, "Here Comes Alice” and “Drop” were played just as frequently on my cassette walkman.

The Smiths were dead going on two years in '89, and Morrissey followed up his solo album with a string of singles; “The Last Of the Famous International Playboys” was my favourite of the lot, followed quickly by “Interesting Drug”. He was my hero. Too bad he turned out to be such a twat in 2006.

I'm sure I've missed something terribly important here, and I'm sure someone will point that out to me soon enough. I invite any comments, suggestions, and ruminations on the year that was, like... (does the math)... 17 years ago?? Holy shit, I'm old :-(