Friday random ten: The eighties strike back

I’ve said that 70s music goes with everything, and I think that’s true. But I also think it’s true of 80s music, and really, if you have enough of each of these, what more do you need? To demonstrate that, today’s Genius-inspired Friday randon ten comes from the Fishbone song “Party At Ground Zero”, from that well-known 80s-heavy sub-genre of “End of the World songs”, such as “99 Red Balloons”, “1999”, and of course “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It”. I have my college buddy Steve Smith, now a writer and classical music critic in New York, to thank for turning me on to these guys. Knowing that his taste in, and knowledge of, music was both very different and vastly superior to mine, I asked him to make me a mix tape. The result of his effort included this number, and for that I’m grateful. So here’s what Genius had to say about it, first in the order given:

1. Party At Ground Zero – Fishbone
2. We Care A Lot – Faith No More
3. Dance This Mess Around – The B-52s
4. Pulling Mussels From A Shell – Squeeze
5. Rock and Roll – The Velvet Underground
6. Girlfriend Is Better – Talking Heads
7. See You Later, Alligator – Bill Haley and the Comets
8. I Want Candy – Bow Wow Wow
9. Long Distance Runaround – Yes
10. Bodhisattva – Steely Dan

And as played:

1. Party At Ground Zero – Fishbone
2. Rudie Can’t Fail – The Clash
3. Cherry Bomb – The Runaways
4. Shock the Monkey – Peter Gabriel
5. Help Save The Youth of America – Billy Bragg
6. I’m Not The Man I Used To Be – Fine Young Cannibals
7. Zoot Suit Riot – Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
8. Your Racist Friend – They Might Be Giants
9. Roadrunner – The Modern Lovers
10. Who Needs Sleep? – Barenaked Ladies

Mostly 80s music, some 70s music that’s right at home with 80s music, and a few outliers just to prove the thesis that it goes with anything. See what I mean? What are you listening to this week?

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