The music of the ages

This morning I took the boys down to the Seine, which loops around a mile or two west of our apartment. We ate our lunch in a deserted park full of overly-safe climbing equipment. Crudites on a delicious chewy roll for me, choquettes, croissants and bread rolls for the little men. Joe wasn't sure if he wanted to go for a walk, but when I mentioned a boulangerie, he was excited and dressed in a flash. How cool is that?

I passed the time listening to podcasts of news bulletins from round the world while the boys wrestled and ran. Then apropos of the post below, I played songs on shuffle and got to thinking about the music of the eighties that still stacks up.

Those that, somewhat surprisingly, aren't holding up as well as I thought they would:
Bruce Springsteen
Madonna
Talking Heads
U2.
This may be through being thrashed. They're not gone yet, but they don't thrill me when they come on any more.

Also
The Cure. (Ick!)
The Specials
UB40

Maybe The Clash
Don't think I liked any of this that much.

Eighties music that stands up better than I thought it would, twenty years down the line:
Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
Grace Jones.

Interesting these both had a techno feel, see.
George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers.
The Sex Pistols (but only in very small doses).
Bowie.
Van Morrison.
The Rolling Stones.
REM.


New songs everyone should have on their ipods:
James Blunt. Fantastic. Best album in ages. Beautiful. Sad. You would love it.
Maroon 5.
Moby.
(Can't get enough, even when I'm sick of it).
The Magnetic Fields. Beautiful.

I can take small pleasant doses of kiwi bands the Black Seeds, Fat Freddy's Drop and Trinity Roots, though they all sound a bit the same.

Also Celia Bartoli, except there are a few too many of those jangley waltzes and they get on my wick.

I know I should be dwelling on meaningful stuff like geo-political equilibriums, writing a book and developing business ideas, but it doesn't go with childcare. The news counts as my homework. The beat is back baby. It's got a backbeat you can't lose it...


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