1985 - A quiet year. For x-daysofmusic

Another year of this #x-daysofmusic challenge set up by @backinblackdevil.

According to my spreadsheet, I only went to one gig in 1985 - Accept's Metal Heart tour. I recall the t-shirt didn't fit.

Suzanne Vega - Marlene On The Wall

From Suzanne Vega
For some reason the UK adopted Suzanne Vega before the US did, and this was a very minor hit for her. A brilliant songwriter, still turning out excellent albums and touring with a fabulous bassist named Mike Visceglia. Sometimes it's a full band tour, but the duo tours are worth seeing for how bass, guitar and voice are all you need to carry a pop concert.

Billy Joel - You're Only Human (Second Wind)

From Greatest Hits. Wherein Billy plays Clarence (not the cross-eyed lion) from A Wonderful Life
I'm a big Billy Joel fan. In amongst all the metal, I still watched Top of The Pops, and my friends all didn't like heavy metal, so I heard and enjoyed a whole lot of things. Joel's Innocent Man album had made him an international star and the inevitable Greatest Hits package turned out to be an essential purchase. This was one of the two new tracks and had a good message but an excruciating video.

Gary Moore ft. Philip Lynott - Out In The Fields

From Run For Cover
You Probably remember the beautiful Parisienne Walkways which was another Gary Moore solo single which everyone thinks is by Thin Lizzy or Phil Lynott. This song, about the troubles in Northern Ireland had similar confusion. It's Lynott's last great recording - he died in 1986 of drugs and self-destruction. This is a classic Gary Moore guitar piece - an element of celtic harmony creeps in that makes it recognisably him, and means it's the Lizzy albums with Moore on guitar that are considered the classics.

Talking Heads - And She Was

From Little Creatures
My favourite song from another career busting album - at least in the UK. They were one of those bands you knew about at school, but only the reggae fans seemed to like them, and I hate 90% of all reggae. This, though, I love.

The Danny Joe Brown Band - Edge of Sundown

From The Danny Joe Brown Band
Okay, so this is from 1981, but...
1985 was the release date for Molly Hatchet's Double Trouble Live which is one of the great live albums and my introduction to the band. It includes this song that never made it to a Hatchet studio album and was one of the highlights of the live LP. Plus, this band features John Galvin, who was drafted into Hatchet when Danny Joe re-joined, and also Bobby Ingram who now owns the Hatchet name. Both of them are still in the band, so this counts as Nearly Hatchet in my book. So there.

My days of music: 1967 - 1968 - 1969 - 1970 - 1971 - 1972 - 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - 1976 - 1977 - 1978 - 1979 - 1980 - 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984