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Funny, isn’t it, how we sharply divide pop culture into decades?

I guess we’ve got to start a new decade at some point, so we choose Jan. 1, 1970, or 1980, or whatever. In truth, however, it’s not that precisely defined. The Sixties didn’t slam shut at the beginning of 1970. The trippy, dense music of the progressive rock bands of 1970-1973 had much more in common with ’60s psychedelia than the rest of the dance/punk/disco/new wave genres that dominated the rest of the ’70s.

The same holds true for the 1980s. The music of 1980 and 1981, for example, was still dominated by disco and new wave rather than the synth pop, Eurodance, metal and hip hop that came to define The Eighties music in general.

Me, I was 25 when 1980 arrived, and by 1985 I was 30, married, contemplating a family and, on the whole, less plugged in to the newer bands and styles. I mostly clung to my favorites from the ’70s (and ’60s) who were still releasing albums and touring. But I still stuck my toe in the waters now and then, thanks to friends’ recommendations and inevitable exposure through radio.

All of this came to mind as I spent last week searching the albums of the 1980s, looking for “lost classics” for this week’s post. In the ’80s, I hadn’t immersed myself in entire albums anymore the way I’d used to, so I came to realize I had a smaller selection of deep album tracks and “diamonds in the rough” for me to bring to the surface for you all to hear again, or for the first time. But I settled on a playlist of a dozen tracks that I think you’ll enjoy. Some are by artists who debuted in the ’80s; others were ’70s bands still making great new music. In any case, I loved these tunes and hope you will too.

Rock on, music lovers!

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“Trust Me to Open My Mouth,” Squeeze, 1987

A case can be made that Squeeze was really just singer/songwriter Glenn Tilbrook and singer/lyricist Chris Difford, with a revolving door of sidemen throughout their career, which has lasted into the 2010s. Their native England fans ate up the catchy, accessible new wave music when they first arrived on the scene in 1978 with the “Cool for Cats” and “Up the Junction” singles, both reaching #2 there. Their first big impact in the US came with the 1981 single “Tempted,” sung by occasional member Paul Carrack, which reached #8 on mainstream rock charts. In 1987, Squeeze had their biggest success here with the delightfully titled LP “Babylon and On,” and two hit singles: “Hourglass” (#15 on Top 40 charts) and “853-5937” (#32). A solid rocker that curiously didn’t click as a single is “Trust Me to Open My Mouth,” featuring Difford on vocals.

“Bedbugs and Ballyhoo,” Echo and the Bunnymen, 1987

Ian McCulloch (guitar, piano, vocals) wrote nearly all of Echo & The Bunnymen’s solid post-punk catalog with guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson, and although they didn’t make much of a dent in the US charts, they were a big success in the UK, where they enjoyed five Top Ten albums and a handful of hit singles during their 1982-1987 heyday. While the 1984 LP “Ocean Rain” is regarded as their high-water mark, the follow-up, entitled simply “Echo & The Bunnymen,” appeals most to me, especially the fabulous “Bedbugs and Ballyhoo” and the minor UK hit “Lips Like Sugar.” Regarding the band’s quirky name, Sergeant explained, “We had a mate who kept suggesting all these crazy, stupid names. We thought Echo & The Bunnymen was stupider than the rest, so we went with that.”

“Captured,” Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, 1984

If you know little or nothing about this energetic R&B throwback band from the Jersey shore, do yourself a favor and track down their first three albums: “I Don’t Want to Go Home” (1976), “This Time It’s For Real” (1977) and “Hearts of Stone” (1978). They operated in the shadow of, and with considerable help from, Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band stalwart Steve Van Zandt, who wrote much of their material and produced their albums. A few personnel changes came as they switched labels in 1980 and continued on throughout the ’80s with less consistent albums but always a few great songs buried in the track lists. On the 1984 LP “In the Heat,” there’s a jewel called “Captured,” carried now by synthesizer and guitar instead of a sweaty horn section as in their early days. Southside Johnny Lyon’s soulful voice is the real trademark, and he’s in fine form here.

“To Be With You,” Simply Red, 1989

Dynamic lead singer Mick Hucknall’s flaming red hair was the reason the band was named Red, but one night a venue promoter was unclear about their name, to which Hucknall responded, “Red…simply Red.” Up on the marquis it went as “Simply Red” — and it stuck. The soul/pop group has sold upwards of 50 million records worldwide between 1986 and 2010, with a dozen Top Ten albums (including four at #1) in the UK, and two #1 singles in the US: “Holding Back the Years” in 1986 and a cover of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” in 1989. From that ’89 album, “A New Flame,” I’ve always been partial to the infectious “To Be With You,” full of vibrant horns, a danceable groove and Hucknall’s magnificent vocals.

“The West Side,” Phil Collins, 1983

Starting in 1981 and throughout much of the ’80s, Genesis drummer/vocalist Collins had a hugely successful solo career running parallel to Genesis’s increasingly commercial path. Collins’s presence on the radio was ubiquitous to the point of suffocating for a couple of years — Genesis singles, solo singles (seven #1s between 1984-1989), Disney film soundtracks, one-off collaborations with artists like Philip Bailey, Marilyn Martin and David Crosby… I admit I stopped buying his stuff after a while, but I enjoy going back to his first efforts on his own, 1981’s “Face Value” and 1982’s “Hello I Must Be Going.” The latter includes a bold, instrumental big-production number called “The West Side” that still packs a wallop and is far more interesting than his commercial hits from that period.

“Mandela Day,” Simple Minds, 1989

Scottish band Simple Minds, led by the great vocalist Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill, were cult favorites in 1980 and 1981 before reaching #3 on the UK charts in 1982 with “New Gold Dream” and then #1 in 1984 with “Sparkle in the Rain.” These albums managed no better than the mid-60s on US charts, but in 1985, the band had huge international success with “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” the single from “The Breakfast Club,” and the multi-platinum “Once Upon a Time” LP with the US hits “Alive and Kicking” and “Sanctify Yourself.” Although their success continued in the UK well into the ’90s, it tapered off quickly in the US, which is too bad, because their quality remained high. The 1989 LP “Street Fighting Years” took a decidedly more political tone, especially with the stunning #1 single “Mandela Day,” in honor of the (at the time) still-imprisoned leader. Barely anyone in the US heard it.

“Looking For Eden,” Ian Anderson, 1983

After a hugely popular run as the leader of Jethro Tull throughout the 1970s, Anderson wanted to experiment with electronic music in 1980 as a solo artist, but halfway through the sessions for the album, called simply “A,” the record company insisted it be labeled a Tull album, even though Anderson’s supporting musicians on the project hadn’t had anything to do with the band. Hard feelings with the real Tull members, and a fan base that didn’t like the new direction, hurt the Tull brand, and Anderson eventually tried again with a true solo effort called “Walk Into Light” in 1983. Heavy on synthesizers and drum machines, the album sounds a bit dated today, but several tracks shine through, most notably “Looking For Eden,” with an alluring melody line and superb vocals from Anderson.

“A One-Story Town,” Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, 1982

The late great Petty was a true American success story that ended several chapters too soon when he died in 2017 of a drug-induced heart attack. He and The Heartbreakers played a popular brand of mainstream rock that clicked in the ’80s and kept attracting fans well into the 2010s when they had become almost elder statesmen on the rock concert circuit. Petty was from Florida, but the band was founded in LA in 1976, breaking through in 1979 with “Damn the Torpedos” and the hits “Refugee” and “Don’t Do Me Like That.” In 1982, the band released “Long After Dark,” their fifth LP and third to reach the Top Ten, carried by the Top 20 singles “You Got Lucky” and “Change of Heart.” As often happens for me, I found myself enjoying certain album tracks more than the hits, and in this case it was “A One-Story Town,” a hard rocker that never failed to please when I cranked it up at parties.

“Evil Empire,” Joe Jackson, 1989

I’ve made it clear before on this blog how highly I think of Jackson and his superb catalog of recorded works, from his “angry young man” new wave 1978 debut “Look Sharp!” all the way up through 2019’s “Fool.” His songwriting is among the best in the business, covering a broad range of musical styles, genres, tempos and arrangements. He’s had his share of successes in the US, including the Top 20 singles “Steppin’ Out” (#6 in 1982) and “You Can’t Get What You Want” (#15 in 1984), and his albums performed well here throughout the late ’70s and ’80s. One of my favorites was criminally ignored by the public, the marvelous “Blaze of Glory” in 1989. The entire record is worth your time, but I’m particularly fond of “Evil Empire,” which plays on Ronald Reagan’s nickname for Russia.

“Love Like We Do,” Edie Brickell, 1988

When she and her band The New Bohemians made their debut with the endearing “Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars” album in 1988, Brickell struck a memorable pose at the microphone, with one leg crossed well in front of the other as her seductive voice wrapped around her charming tunes. The album yielded the quirky hit “What I Am,” which wasn’t really representative of her music, in my view. I would’ve selected the catchy “Love Like We Do,” which bounces along relentlessly. She met Paul Simon during her performance on “Saturday Night Live” that year, and they were married four years later. She has continued making records with and without the Bohemians, making some great music along the way, especially on “Picture Perfect Morning” (1993) and “Volcano” (2004).

“Kiss and Tell,” Bryan Ferry, 1987

As vocalist and de facto leader of the avant grade Roxy Music from 1972-1982, Ferry led them through a fascinating evolution from edgy dissonance (“Virginia Plain,” “The Thrill Of It All,” “Out of the Blue”) to ultra cool atmospherics (“Avalon,” “More Than This”). He has continued that direction on his subsequent solo projects, including the excellent “Boys and Girls” LP in 1985 and the jazz-influenced “Bete Noire” (1987), which strikes a fine balance between mysterious moodiness and dance-floor energy, and includes one of his best tracks, “Kiss and Tell.” He has spent a lot of time since then doing entire albums of cover versions, and even though some tracks are incredible (“I Put a Spell on You” comes immediately to mind), I have preferred his more recent offerings of new material — “Olympia” (2010) and “Avonmore” (2014).

“Horizontal Departure,” Robert Plant, 1983

When you were the lead singer of the finest hard rock blues group in history, it had to be mighty intimidating to attempt any kind of solo career, but Plant forged ahead pretty quickly, releasing his first effort, “Pictures at Eleven,” only 20 months after Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham died and put an end to the band. Frankly, most fans expected it would be guitarist/leader Jimmy Page who would emerge first, but Plant evidently had more fortitude to withstand the inevitable comparisons to the Zep tunes. With guitarist Robbie Blunt helping out, Plant cranked out some fine hard rock and subtle ballads on the debut and its even better follow-up, “The Principle of Moments” (1983), which include the hit singles “I’m in the Mood” and “Big Log.” A noteworthy deep track I’ve liked is the closer, “Horizontal Departure.”

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Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll.  The notorious hat trick of vices.

It’s been a familiar phrase since at least 1977, when British punk rocker Ian Dury had a mildly popular single by that name.  There was even a cable TV comedy series a few years back called “Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll.”

So let’s explore the connection between sex and rock & roll.  You’ll note that sex is the first thing mentioned, and that’s no coincidence.  From the very beginning, even before there was a genre called rock and roll, the black communities in this country were grooving to rhythm and blues, boogie-woogie and gospel, and they certainly weren’t sitting down.  They were, as they liked to call it, “rockin’ and rollin'”  — swaying, dancing, bumping and grinding, and yes, having sex to the relentlessly contagious rhythms.

So the very term “rock and roll” is actually a euphemism for sexual intercourse.  Disc jockey Alan Freed was well aware of that when he started using the term “rock and roll” on his Cleveland radio show in 1951 to describe the new musical hybrid that combined elements of rhythm and blues, country, gospel and swing.  He often chuckled to himself when he thought about how mainstream America would soon adopt the term and use it liberally to describe this new music, without knowing that it really meant SEX.

The country’s relatively Puritan culture in the 1940s and ’50s forbade mention or depiction of sex in films and popular music, but if you spoke in code and kept it mild, you could sneak in a song now and then.  Dozens of blues tunes featured lyrics about sex (“I Want a Bow-Legged Woman,” “My King-Sized Papa,” “It Ain’t the Meat, It’s the Motion”), but these were certainly not songs you found on the Hit Parade.

Perhaps that era’s most overt example of a mainstream hit about sex was “Makin’ Whoopee,” written way back in 1928 but popularized by Ella Fitzgerald in 1954 and Frank Sinatra in 1956.  It really wasn’t all that racy; its lyrics began with the pleasures of married sex but soon devolved into the tedious routine and responsibility of spouse and kids, all resulting from the aforementioned whoopee:  “Another bride, another June, another sunny honeymoon, another season, another reason for makin’ whoopee…He’s washin dishes and baby clothes, he’s so ambitious, he even sews, so don’t forget, folks, that’s what you get, folks, for makin’ whoopee…”

In 1959, a country singer named Floyd Robinson took it a step further with a rock and roll song entitled “Makin’ Love,” whose lyrics leave no doubt:  “What would people think?  What if people knew?  Instead of being off to school, all day I was with you, makin’ love, makin’ love…”  It was yanked from the airwaves in many markets but still managed to reach #20 on Billboard’s Top 40 chart.

For the most part, any reference to sex in rock song lyrics during its first decade (1955-1965) was buried deep in vague language.  Witness “Wake Up, Little Susie” by The Everly Brothers:  “The movie’s over, it’s four o’clock and we’re in trouble deep…We fell asleep, our goose is cooked, our reputation is shot, wake up, little Susie…”  Nothing ever happened, but they’re still afraid of the public perception.

Starting around 1967 (about the same time veiled references to drugs started appearing, too), taboo topics and more blatant references began showing up in popular music lyrics.  Van Morrison’s classic “Brown-Eyed Girl” spoke of “making love in the green grass behind the stadium with you.”  The Who’s hit “Pictures of Lily” is all about how dirty magazines help a young man learn about self-pleasuring:  “Pictures of Lily made my life so wonderful, pictures of Lily helped me sleep at night, pictures of Lily solved my childhood problem, pictures of Lily made me feel all right…”

Leave it to The Beatles to be among the first to come right out and say it with these lyrics from the 1968 “White Album”:  “Why don’t we do it in the road, no one will be watching us, why don’t we do it in the road?”

In 1969, master songwriter Bob Dylan offered a #8 song which made no bones about the narrator’s wishes:  “Lay lady lay, lay across my big brass bed, stay lady stay, stay with your man a while, until the break of day, let me see you make him smile…”

Even the introspective Paul Simon was capable of a boldly whimsical song like “Cecilia,” which seemed to hint at a threesome:  “Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia up in my bedroom, I got up to wash my face, when I come back to bed, someone’s taken my place…”

The culture started changing considerably in the Seventies, as the sexual revolution gathered steam and the music and film industries pushed the boundaries of acceptability. I’ll never forget the first time I heard an instrumental track called “Jungle Fever” by a Belgian group called The Chakachas in 1972.  It offered no lyrics about sex, in fact no lyrics at all, but with the intermittent heavy breathing and orgasmic moaning, it was easily the most blatantly sexual song ever at that point.

And then there was Barry White.  His lyrics weren’t overtly sexual, graphic or profane in any way, but his songs and their delivery were so steamy hot and sensual, I’d wager to say there were more babies conceived to his music than any other artist of his time.

Under the mainstream radar, plenty of deep album tracks pushed the envelope on sexual lyrics (see “Dinah-Moe Humm” by Frank Zappa).  But even on the Top 40 charts, lyrics about sex were suddenly everywhere, coming from hard rock bands, disco divas, power pop groups, soul music artists, singer-songwriters…even MOR acts like The Captain and Tennille and Olivia Newton-John.  Some were suggestive, some were romantic, some were naughty, even nasty.  A sampling:

“Whole Lotta Love,” Led Zeppelin:  “Way, way down inside, I’m gonna give you my love, I’m gonna give you every inch of my love, want a whole lotta love…”

“Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine,” James Brown:  “Get on up like a sex machine…get on up, then shake your money maker…”  

“Brown Sugar,” The Rolling Stones:  “I’m no schoolboy but I know what I like, you shoulda heard me just around midnight, brown sugar, how come you taste so good?  Brown sugar, just like a young girl should…”

“Brand New Key,” Melanie:  ” I’m okay alone, but you got something I need, I got a brand new pair of roller skates, you’ve got a brand new key, I think that we should get together and try them out to see…”  

“Go All the Way,” The Raspberries:  “She kissed me and said, ‘Baby, please go all the way, it feels so nice being with you here tonight’…”

“Walk on the Wild Side,” Lou Reed:  “In the back room, she was everybody’s darling, but she never lost her head, even when she was giving head, I said hey babe, take a walk on the wild side…”

“Let’s Get It On,” Marvin Gaye:  “I’m asking you, baby, to get it on with me, I ain’t gonna worry, I ain’t gonna push, come on, come on, stop beating around the bush, let’s get it on…”  

“Love to Love You Baby,” Donna Summer:  “I love to love you baby, do it to me again and again, you put me in such an awful spin, in a spin, I love to love you, baby…”

“Feel Like Makin’ Love,” Bad Company:  “You know I would give you both night and day, love satisfyin’, I feel like makin’, feel like makin’ love…”

“Midnight at the Oasis,” Maria Muldaur:  “You won’t need no harem, honey, when I’m by your side, and you won’t need no camel, no no, when I take you for a ride…”

“Miracles,” Jefferson Starship:  “I had a taste of the real world, didn’t waste a drop of it, when I went down on you, girl…”

“Sexy Mama,” The Moments:  “I wanna open up them love gates…I think in just a moment there’s gonna be a love explosion, go ahead and let your jones get good and funky…”

“Get Down Tonight,” KC and the Sunshine Band:  “Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight…”

“Afternoon Delight,” Starland Vocal Band:  “Rubbin’ sticks and stones together, make the sparks ignite, and the thought of loving you is getting so exciting, sky rockets in flight, afternoon delight…”

“Tonight’s the Night,” Rod Stewart:  “Come on, angel, my heart’s on fire, don’t deny your man’s desire, you’d be a fool to stop this tide, spread your wings and let me come inside, tonight’s the night, gonna be all right…”

“Paradise By the Dashboard Light,” Meat Loaf:   “Ain’t no doubt about it, we were double blessed, we were barely 17 and we were barely dressed, we’re gonna go all the way tonight, we’re gonna go all the way, and tonight’s the night…”

“Do That to Me One More Time,” The Captain and Tennille:  “Once is never enough with a man like you, do that to me one more time, I can never get enough of a man like you, whoa, kiss me like you just did, oh baby, do that to me once again…”

“Physical,” Olivia Newton-John:  “There’s nothing left to talk about unless it’s horizontally, let’s get physical, physical, let me hear your body talk…It’s getting hard, this holding back, if you know what I mean…”

By the time the Eighties rolled around, the old barriers seemed to have been completely obliterated.  Heavy metal groups (Quiet Riot, Def Leppard), R&B artists (Teddy Pendergrass), mainstream divas (Sheena Easton, Madonna) and early hip-hop bands (Salt-N-Pepa, 2 Live Crew) were utterly brazen in the way they used sex as a lyrical topic.

“Sugar Walls,” Sheena Easton:  “Blood races to your private spots, lets me know there’s a fire, you can’t fight passion when passion is hot, temperatures rise inside my sugar walls…”

“Turn Off All the Lights,” Teddy Pendergrass:  “Let’s take a shower, shower together baby, I’ll wash your body and you’ll wash mine, yeah, rub me down in some hot oils, baby, and I’ll do the same thing to you…”

“Like a Virgin,” Madonna:  “Touched for the very first time…Feels so good inside, when you hold me and your heart beats…”

“Push It,” Salt-n-Pepa:  “Can’t you hear the music’s pumpin’ hard like I wish you would, now push it, push it good…”

“I Want Your Sex,” George Michael:  “Sex is something we should do, sex is something for me and you, sex is natural, sex is good, not everybody does it, but everybody should…”

“Pour a Little Sugar on Me,” Def Leppard:  “You gotta squeeze a little, tease a little more, easy operator, come a-knockin’ on my door, sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet, I’m hot sticky sweet, from my head to my feet…

“Love in an Elevator,” Aerosmith:  “In the air, in the air, honey, one more time, now it ain’t fair, love in an elevator, livin’ it up when I’m goin’ down…”

The late great Prince may have been the boldest practitioner of the dirty sex lyric, starting with his “Dirty Mind” album right up through tracks like “Head,” “Jack U Off” and the infamous “Darling Nikki,” which is generally regarded as the match that ignited the fuse for Congress to slap parental warning stickers on albums with offensive lyrics.  Here’s why:  “I met her in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine, she said, ‘how’d you like to waste some time?’, and I couldn’t resist when I saw little Nikki grind…” 

As the Nineties arrived, well, many older music fans started longing for the days when there was at least a modicum of discretion about sex in song lyrics.  I’m no prude, that’s for damn sure, but holy crap, I can’t even quote from songs like 2 Live Crew’s “Me So Horny,” Ginuwine’s “Pony” or Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer,” or hundreds and hundreds of others released in the past 20 years.  You’ll have to look ’em up yourself.  

I’ll just say this:  Is there no filter anymore?  Is there no boundary that won’t be crossed?  Is it really necessary to be so damn graphic and ugly in our lyrical expressions of sex?  It’s kind of like the difference between scantily clad and naked — leaving something to the imagination can be much sexier…

Needless to say, we’ve come a long way from ’60s songs like The Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” or Tommy James and The Shondells’ “I Think We’re Alone Now”:  “Trying to get away into the night, and then you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say, ‘I think we’re alone now, the beating of our hearts is the only sound’…”

You can hear the progression of sex lyrics over the decades on the Spotify list below: