OK Computer by Radiohead 1997

By the time OK Computer came out in 1997, it seemed the world was ready for Radiohead after the slow bleed of The Bends into people's mindsets. Without lots of publicity, it seemed everyone I knew had a copy of The Bends playing whenever we got together. So there was a great deal of anticipation for the new album which was preceded by their own "Bohemian Rhapsody" in Paranoid Android. The album that came after was exactly what it promised to be.., one of the best albums of the 90s. It was just a listening pleasure that was constantly in the CD player for probably the next 2 years. Paranoid was played at Lizard Lounge. No Surprises and Karma Police were played through headphones. It reminded me a lot of the way people used to listen to Dark Side of The Moon 20 years earlier.
Radiohead came to Festival Hall in February 1998 in Melbourne on the back of OK Computer. It was incredibly hot. Devastatingly hot. 5 guys in front of us took off their shirts and the body odour was horrendous. But it couldn't detract from the power on stage. (though it came close) After OK Computer (and the Bends) it was hard to give their newer albums the attention they probably deserve. (Although Kid A and Amnesiac which at the time were derided now seem to receive a lot more attention. Back then we fed those CDs into our computers removing the rubbish tracks to burn a single album. This would be done for a few of those big sets including Sandinista by The Clash)

Rum, Sodomy and The Lash by The Pogues 1985

I can't remember where I first heard this album but once I had it I couldn't stop playing it, swiftly transferring it to a cassette to play in my car. I remember being stuck in traffic under the railway line that runs parallel to Flinders street blasting this out. I had just dropped off a girlfriend in the city and was itching to turn the volume up.
I became a feverish promoter for the band telling everyone I knew how great this album was. Even teachers where I worked in Footscray west. Especially those with modest Celtic ties. The whole album is great from start to finish. No fillers. And produced by Elvis Costello! After producing The Specials debut he comes up with another classic album. From The Sick Bed of Cúchulainn to "and the band played Waltzing Matilda" just great songs.
I managed to pick up the T-shirt while I was in the UK. Mick Barclay who was playing the drums with Paul Kelly begged me to let him wear it onstage at the  Club in Smith Street Collingwood one night. He promised to give it back the next day. I never saw it again. It did travel the world with the Coloured Girls but he lost it somewhere in the USA.
He replaced it with a green Pogues T-shirt (not nearly as good) tickets to Festival Hall to see the band then invited me along to drinks afterwards at the Razor Club where I got to meet Shane MacGowan. Shane, however, was completely wasted so unlike my meeting with Joe Strummer this was over after 5 seconds. 
I don't think The Pogues ever came close to making an album this good ever again. Plenty of great songs but no truly great albums. Well not like this one.

Singles Going Steady by The Buzzcocks 1979

Another compilation album but what a fantastic bunch of tracks. And the Buzzcocks had a brilliant run of singles beginning with Boredom (not included) right until the Harmony in My Head and beyond that. I remember seeing the album on import at Missing link Records and getting so excited at seeing all these tracks together even knowing I had most of them already. It just seemed the ultimate in modern pop. Pete Shelley sure could write a great pop single. B sides were terrific too.
Little Murders were lucky enough to support them at the Prince of Wales back in 2003. I got to chat to Pete about Blackpool of all things cos his Aunt lived close to there. And he signed album cover sleeves that Joey from Dollsquad gave me to get signed. On stage they were ferocious and loud.
I first got into the Buzzcocks when I was in The Fiction. They were a great influence on the way I wrote songs. I've tried to cover their songs on a number of occasions but I never get anywhere close to getting the sound right.

Now I'm back playing with The Fiction again when I'm creating songs for the band I keep referring back to the sound of the Buzzcocks. They truly are the gold standard in punk-pop songwriting. We even cover one of the songs from this album. "Ever Fallen in Love"