In America, meanwhile, Oregon Benatar-on-Baker Street smoothies Quarterflash and Maryland AC/DC-meets-Cars trixters Kix (and Loverboy if Canada counts) joined tuneful veterans like Joan Jett, Blue Öyster Cult, Billy Squier (ex-Sidewinder and Piper now stroking funky), Van Halen and Riot (and Journey I suppose, though “Don’t Stop Believin'” saturation compels me never to put on their not-awful chart-topping Escape again.) Foreigner, now assisted by Thomas Dolby and Junior Walker, had feet in both nations. this development manifested itself as the so-called New Wave of British Heavy Metal, represented in the survey below by Girlschool, Def Leppard and Motörhead, though plenty more earned their leather. Geils Band channeling Captain Beefheart and the B-52s, Rush taking notes from Devo and the Police, Neil Young serving up mashed potatoes if not T-bones as grimy as a CBGB toilet, psychedelic relics Red Crayola collaborating with a conceptual art collective for Rough Trade Records on songs ostensibly about Lenin and Trotsky and Plekhanov, old 13th Floor Elevator Roky Erickson out-zombifying the Cramps, old Jagger (as in not “Start Me Up” but 1970’s “The Rapper” which had nothing to do with rap music) Donnie Iris fronting Pittsburgh’s answer to the Cars, old Hot Tunas Jack Casady and Nick Buck sharing San Francisco stages with the Nuns, Crime and Avengers in their new trio SVT.Īnd in fact 1981 seems to have been a good year in general for album-oriented rockers sharpening their sounds with concise sensibilities inherited from pop or punk. If nothing else, 1981 was an excellent year for old dogs learning new wave tricks - Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason luring Chris Spedding and Robert Wyatt and Carla Bley, ZZ Top and J.