We’re nearing the home stretch of our Best of the ’80s Redux series of year-by-year song polls as we move on to the year 1987, giving Slicing Up Eyeballs readers the chance to vote for their 25 favorites as we rank the 100 best songs released that year. Vote right here for your 25 favorite songs from ’87.
“Dark Wave,” hosted by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Matt Sebastian, airs 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. EDT every Sunday on Sirius XM satellite radio’s 1st Wave (Channel 33). The most recent two episodes also are available via Sirius XM’s On Demand service for online subscribers. Check out tonight’s full playlist.
In a move meant “to help lift spirits during lockdown,” XTC’s Andy Partridge has released a free digital track called “Cavegirl” — a demo for a song intended for an “aborted bubblegum sampler album” that was to have been a best-of compiling tracks from “the mythical American bubblegum label Hercules.”
Slicing Up Eyeballs is thrilled to co-present, alongside Transmission Music, the debut of DJ Jake Rudh’s “180 Minutes” — a three-hour virtual celebration of college rock and classic alternative — streaming live on Twitch tonight. Get the full details right here, and watch at twitch.tv/djjakerudh.
Matthew Seligman, the highly inventive bassist for The Soft Boys who went on to record with Thomas Dolby, Thompson Twins, The Waterboys, Peter Murphy, Morrissey and more, and who played with David Bowie at Live Aid, died Friday after being in a coma for two weeks with COVID-19, his longtime friend Dolby announced,
Our good friends at Strangeways Radio are putting together a week-in-review video series — newly rechristened Alt. Rewind — that will recap the news posted at Slicing Up Eyeballs and on the Strangeways site throughout the preceding week, hosted by Velvet Rebel. Watch it right here.
Here’s a free guitar lesson from Johnny Marr in the form of an advertisement for Fender guitars and amps. The former Smiths guitarist uses this 8-minute video to first perform then teach viewers how to play “The Headmaster Ritual,” the iconic opening track to 1985’s Meat is Murder. Watch it right here.
Q&A: Daniel Ash on Love and Rockets’ reunion, his new band — and figuring out how to play “So Alive” 
Q&A: Chris Frantz talks Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and new book ‘Remain in Love’ 
Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years 
Q&A: Bauhaus’ David J on his ‘accidental’ concept album ‘Not Long For This World’ 
Q&A: Peter Murphy on ‘Ninth,’ Bauhaus’ break-up, reuniting Dalis Car 
Q&A: Joey Santiago on Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ tour, possible ‘Surfer Rosa’ shows, new album talk 
Q&A: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon on new album, changing the world with music 
Q&A: Peter Hook talks ‘Unknown Pleasures’ tour, re-recording Joy Division 