Haha, yes, I might be a bit of a fan. Skylarking is very close to my all-time favourite album, and I also had them as my top pick for 1999.
The fact that they made two albums as good as English Settlement and Skylarking in completely different styles just a few years apart is an indication of how good this band was, I’d say. Thoughtful, rhythmic and diverse music, to me they are one of the most underrated bands of all time.
I knew there was surely another fan on here. If I was being dropped on a desert island and only allowed one CD for company, it’d be Skylarking. Maybe Colour of Spring…
OK, so there’s fair bit of U2 in here…
1980
3 - U2 - Boy
2 - Bob Dylan - Saved
1 - Dire Straits - Making Movies
1981
3 - U2 - October
2- The Church - Of Skins and Heart
1 - Sirocco - Australian Crawl
1982
3 - Midnight Oil - 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
2 - INXS - Shabohh Shoobah
1 - Circus Animals - Cold Chisel
1983
3 - U2 - War
2 - Mark Knopfler - Local Hero
1 - Tears for Fears - The Hurting
1984
3 - U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
2 - Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA
1 - Cold Chisel - Twentieth Century
1985
3 - INXS - Liisten like Theives
2 - Hoodoo Gurus - Mars Needs Guitars!
1 - Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
1986
3 - John Farnham - Whispering Jack (one of the cassettes on endless rotation in mum’s EA Falcon)
2 - Crowded House - Crowded House
1 - The Bangles - Different Light
1987
3 - Midnight Oil - Diesel and Dust
2 - U2 - The Joshua Tree
1 - Guns N Roses - Appetite for destruction
1988
3 - Crowded House - Temple of Low Men
2 - The Church -Starfish
1 - The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane
1989
3 - Del Amitri - Waking hours
2- Hunters and Collectors - Ghost Nation
1 - Pixies - Doolittle
Definitely. And those last three Talk Talk albums - Colour of Spring, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock - are pretty special. A bit like XTC in that they underwent a massive change in style and pulled it off impeccably.
I assume this album must have sentimental value, like it being the soundtrack to you getting the hot chick?
Because on the open market, it has no value at all.
None.
1980
3 - AC/DC - Back In Black
2 - Cold Chisel - East
1 - Australian Crawl - The Boys Light Up
1981
3 - Midnight Oil - Place Without A Postcard
2 - U2 - October
1 - Sunnyboys - Sunnyboys
1982
3 - Cold Chisel - Circus Animals
2 - Midnight Oil - 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
1 - Motels - All Four One
1983
3 - ZZ Top - Eliminator
2 - Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
1 - U2 - War
1984
3 - Cold Chisel - 20th Century
2 - Midnight Oil - Red Sails In the Sunset
1 - U2 - The Unforgetable - Fire
1985
3 - ZZ top - Afterburner
2 - The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop
1 - Jimmy Barnes - For the Working Class Man
1986
3 - The Smithereens - Especially You
2 - John Farnham - Whispering Jack
1 - Crowded House - Crowded House
1987
3 - Midnight Oil - Diesel and Dust
2 - INXS - Kick
1 - U2 - The Joshua Tree
1988
3 - Roxette - The Look
2 - Travelling Wilburys - Travelling Wilburys Vol 1
1 - U2 - Rattle and Hum
1989
3 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
2- Ian Moss - Matchbook
1 - The Cure - Disintegration
I think the even-numbered years were better in the 80s.
This was released in 1985…please update your votes and let me know when you’ve done it.
Cheers
I don’t think anybody has included Thriller on their list yet.
Which is both a bit surprising, and also not surprising at the same time.
1980
3 Bowie - Scary Monsters
2 Peter Gabriel - Melt
1 Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Honorable Mentions: Cold Chisel - East, AC/DC - Back in Black, Vapors - New Clear Days, Flowers - Icehouse, Australian Crawl - Boys Light Up, Angels - Dark Room, Pink Floyd - The Wall (released Dec 1979), Boomtown Rats - The Fine Art of Surfacing
(released Dec 1979)
1981
3 The Church - Of Skins and Heart
2 Mark Gillespie – Sweet Nothing
1 Sunnyboys - Sunnyboys
HM’s: Phil Collins - Face Value (people forget what a ground breaking album this was, especially putting gates and effects on the drums. It was before Collins went mush) .
1982
3 Goanna - Spirit of Place
2 Men Without Hats - Rhythm of Youth
1 Dire Straits - Love over Gold
HMs: Fun Boy Three - Fun Boy Three, The Clash - Combat Rock, Midnight Oil - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
1983
3 Men at Work - Cargo
2 Divinyls - Desperate
1 The The - Soul Mining
HM: Echo and the Bunnymen - Porcupine
1984
3 Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
2 Sade - Diamond Life
1 Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA
HMs: U2 - Under a Blood Red Sky
1985
3 Sting - Dream of the Blue Turtles
2 Hoodoo Gurus - Mars needs Guitars
1 The Pogues - Rum Sodomy & the Lash
HMs: The Cars - The Cars Greatest Hits (if it wasn’t a compilation it would get 3 votes), Mental as Anything - Fundamental
1986
3 Gossip - Paul Kelly
2 Hunters and Collectors - Human Frailty
1 Peter Gabriel - So
HMs: Paul Simon - Graceland, Crowded House - Crowded House
1987
3 Midnight Oil - Diesel and Dust
2 World Party - Private Revolution
1 Hunters and Collectors - What’s a Few Men
HMs: Suzanne Vega - Solitude Standing, Paul Kelly - Under the Sun
1988
3 Crowded House - Temple of Low Men
2 TISM - Great Truckin’ Songs of the Renaissance
1 The Church - Starfish
HMs: Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman, Big Pig - Bonk, REM - Green
1989
3 Melissa Etheridge - Melissa Etheridge
2 Fine Young Cannibals - The Raw & the Cooked
1 Lou Reed - New York
HMs: Black Sorrows - Hold on to Me
And stuka goes “nah nah nah nah nup, nah nah nah nah nahhh…”
Hahaha. Very good.
Thanks mate…check out the threads for the 70s and 90s as well.
We’d love your input 
Nice, I was trying to fit this in.
Done.
Cheers
You may well be right. That’s cool. Means I can leave it lying around and not worry about it getting knocked off. Unless touchedontheline is around obvs.
But klawds… were you really hard pressed for things to do today or something? Scratching around that badly that you sat down with Marquee Moon and Skylarking for company?
There’s no “featuring” songs, no songs written by committee. You’ve told me on many, many occasions just how much my music taste sucks… what were you expecting? 
Settle down Bakes…Klawdy is actually exploring new music…that should be applauded…it’s always more relevant when someone gives their opinion after listening to the music.
And to be fair, Marquee Moon is crap…
…and XTC are rather boring 
