In case you missed the live stream of last night's big 12-12-12 Sandy Relief Benefit concert from Madison Square Garden in New York City that benefited the Robin Hood Relief Fund to continue their aid to the victims of Sandy, above care of Fuse TV is the non US encore / replay stream of the concert highlights.  Included are Billy Joel (yes his set included the classic "New York State of Mind") Alicia Keys, (the only woman performer of the night), Michael Stipe (last minute surprise performer), Chris Martin (who joked about been one fourth of Coldplay since it was well past boy band One Direction's bedtime)  Bruce Springsteen (whose set suffered sound issues), The Who,  Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney (whose late set, with the surviving members of Nirvana, included rousing renditions of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" and "I've Got A Feeling"), Bon Jovi, Roger Waters, and The Rolling Stones. Unfortunately, in addition to some sound issues during the show, about halfway through the event the 12-12-12 website crashed and the phone lines got so overworked that they could not connect. Consequently many folks could not get through to donate. However anyone can now via the info in above video or directly via the Robin Hood Relief Fund website.

On this day (1 October) in 1982, the first album released on CD came out -- Billy Joel's 52nd street. 

On the day of that occasion, I still hadn't really discovered music for myself yet. My dad played '50s, '60 and '70s jazz records on the rare occasions that he mustered the paternal energy required to make his children grilled cheese sandwiches. My mother was more likely to play Carmen Rivero, Johann Sebastian Bach, Bill Monroe, Aretha Franklin or Otis Redding records that she'd purchased back in the ancient, vinyl 1960s. We also had a Victrola which was fun because you had to crank it if you wanted to rock out to some Earl Rogers or other shellac 78.

One day at Amoeba Hollywood I proclaimed that Aztec Camera's 1983 release High Land, Hard Rain was one of the best records of the '80s. This single statement eventually led to over 200 Amoebites ranking their top 10 favorite albums from the ‘80s.

From the beginning we realized that it was impossible for most of us to condense our favorites from all genres into a tiny top ten list. So, we limited our lists to Rock/Pop and its sub-genres like punk, metal, goth, and new wave. Even so, it was a difficult selection process because not only are there hundreds of amazing records to consider, there is also the added dynamic of time.

The '80s were a long time ago and the music has had many years to gestate. We have a deep sense of nostalgia and sentiment with these albums as our fondest memories are associated with them. These are albums we LOVE.

- Henry Polk

P.S. We'll be posting new additions to the '80s list project from Amoeba staff members on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. See all entries in our ‘80s list series.

P.P.S. The '80s List Book is available for sale at Amoeba Hollywood.


Tim Latham
The Smiths – Strangeways Here We Come (1987)
The Jam – Sound Affects (1980)
Specials – More (1980)
The Cure – Disintegration (1989)
Erasure – The Innocents (1988)
English Beat – I Just Can't Stop It (1980)
Minor Threat – Out of Step (1983)
Dexy's Midnight Runners – Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (1980)
Joy Division – Closer (1980)
Morrissey – Viva Hate (1988)