40th Anniversary

Pop Rock 

The Bangles’ Different Light Turns 40

January 13, 2026January 14, 2026 Lee Zimmerman 0 Comments 1986, 40th Anniversary, Apollonia, Christopher, Columbia Records, Debbi Peterson, Different Light, Jules Shear, Manic Monday, Michael Steele, Prince, Susanna Hoffs, The Bangles, Vicki Peterson, Walk Like An Egyptian

Basking in the glow of their smash 2nd LP

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Art Pop Rock 

Such a Crumbling Beauty: Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs Turns 40

September 30, 2025October 1, 2025 Dan Weiss 0 Comments 1985, 40th Anniversary, Clap Hands, Downtown Train, Hal Willner, Island Records, Kathleen Brennan, Kurt Weill, Rain Dogs, Rod Stewart, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits, Trevor Horn

Looking back on a vagabond masterpiece

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Alternative Rock Folk Irish Pub Rock Punk Rock 

One More Drop of Poison: The Pogues’ Rum Sodomy & the Lash at 40

August 5, 2025August 5, 2025 Dan Weiss 0 Comments 1985, 40th Anniversary, Cait O'Riordan, Ireland, MCA Records, Rhino, Rum Sodomy and The Lash, Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy, Stiff Records, The Pogues

Celebrating one of rock’s most realized albums

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Pop Soul Synth 

How Scritti Politti Went From Communism to Commercialism

July 1, 2025July 1, 2025 Melody Esme 2 Comments 40th Anniversary, A.G. Cook, Cupid & Psyche 85, David Gamson, Green Gartside, Marcus Miller, Scritti Politti

Looking back on 40 years of the pop group’s studio masterpiece Cupid & Psyche 85

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Rock 

Your Latest Trick: Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms at 40

May 15, 2025May 15, 2025 Dave Steinfeld 0 Comments 1985, 40th Anniversary, Brothers in Arms, Dire Straits, Guy Fletcher, Mark Knopfler, Money for Nothing, So Far Away, Walk of Life

Reflections on the band’s blockbuster fifth LP

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New Wave Pop 

Face Up: New Order’s Low-Life Turns 40

May 13, 2025May 13, 2025 Dan Weiss 1 Comment 1985, 40th Anniversary, Bernard Sumner, Gillian Gilbert, Low-Life, New Order, Peter Hook, Sub-Culture, The Perfect Kiss

Looking back at the group’s transitional third LP

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Rock 

Ain’t It Peculiar?: 40 Years of The Velvet Underground’s VU

February 28, 2025February 28, 2025 Melody Esme 1 Comment 1985, 40th Anniversary, Doug Yule, John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker, Squeeze, Sterling Morrison, The Velvet Underground, Verve Records, VU

Looking back on the New York City icons’ ‘lost’ LP

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Films New Wave Rock 

Found a Job: Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense at 40

September 11, 2024September 12, 2024 Lee Zimmerman 0 Comments 1984, 40th Anniversary, Bernie Worrell, Chris Frantz, David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Stop Making Sense, Talking Heads, Tina Weymouth

Looking back on the band’s groundbreaking concert film and soundtrack

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Hard Rock Heavy Metal Metal! Rock 

Fight Fire With Fire: Metallica’s Ride the Lightning Turns 40

July 26, 2024July 26, 2024 Todd Manning 0 Comments 1984, 40th Anniversary, Cliff Burton, Creeping Death, Fade to Black, Fight Fire With Fire, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, Metallica, Ride The Lightning, The Call of Ktulu, Trapped Under Ice

Looking back on the band’s revolutionary second album

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Alternative Rock Folk Indie Rock Pop Post-Hardcore Post-Punk Punk Rock 

Punk’s First Epics Pt. 2: Hüsker Dü’s Zen Arcade Turns 40

July 8, 2024July 8, 2024 Dan Weiss 0 Comments 1984, 40th Anniversary, Bob Mould, Grant Hart, Greg Norton, Husker Du, minutemen, SST Records, Zen Arcade

Looking back at the White Album of Minnesota

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jazz Punk 

Punk’s First Epics Pt. 1: Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime Turns 40

July 7, 2024July 7, 2024 Dan Weiss 2 Comments 1984, 40th Anniversary, D Boon, Double Nickels On The Dime, George Hurley, Husker Du, Mike Watt, minutemen, Zen Arcade

Why this SST masterpiece remains a crucial listen four decades later

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New Wave Prince Rock Soul 

How Purple Rain Cemented Prince’s Path to Immortality

June 26, 2024June 26, 2024 Kara Tucker 0 Comments 1984, 40th Anniversary, Apollonia, Bobby Z, Brown Mark, Darling Nikki, Dr. Fink, Dreams, James Foley, Let's Go Crazy, Lisa Coleman, Prince, Prince and the Revolution, Purple Rain, The Time, Vanity, Wendy Melvoin, When Doves Cry, William Blinn

Looking back on 40 years of the soundtrack to the Purple One’s cinematic breakthrough

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New Wave Pop 

Sour Milk Cow Blues: Goodbye Cruel World at 40

June 18, 2024June 20, 2024 Ryan Maffei 3 Comments 1984, 40th Anniversary, Bruce Thomas, Elvis Costello, Elvis Costello and The Attractions, F-Beat, Goodbye Cruel World, Pete Thomas, Steve Nieve

Elvis Costello and the Attractions’ unhappiest (but not worst) album reaches its bitter middle age

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Bruce Rock 

No Surrender: Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. Turns 40

June 4, 2024June 4, 2024 Craig Peters 0 Comments 1984, 40th Anniversary, Born in the U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Clarence Clemons, Columbia Records, Dancing in the Dark, Glory Days, I'm On Fire, Little Steven, My Hometown, No Surrender, Steven Van Zandt

Looking back on The Boss’s most successful album

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Experimental jazz Pop Post-Punk Progressive Rock Records Rock 

Steve Feigenbaum on 40 Years of Cuneiform Records

May 23, 2024May 23, 2024 Jim Allen 3 Comments 40th Anniversary, Cuneiform Records, Fred Frith, Henry Cow, Present, R. Stevie Moore, Random Radar Records, Soft Machine, Steve Feigenbaum, Wadada Leo Smith

An American institution of unconventional music has a big birthday

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