Wednesday 11pm: Feature LP: Elton John – Sleeping With The Past (1989)

Sleeping with the Past is the 22nd studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elton John, released on April 29, 1989. It is his best-selling album in Denmark (where it was recorded) and is dedicated to his longtime writing partner Bernie Taupin. The album features his first solo number-one single, “Sacrifice”, in his home country of the UK, which helped the album also hit number one there, his first since 1974’s Elton John’s Greatest Hits. John and Taupin meant for the songs to reflect the style of 1960s R&B icons such as Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, whom they admired. It also became his first platinum album in the UK since 1983. In the US it was certified gold in October 1989 and platinum in April 1990 by the RIAA. Guy Babylon made his debut on this album and would continue to play keyboards with John for the next 20 years, while Fred Mandel left the band shortly after. John went into rehabilitation in 1990.

“Durban Deep” – 5:29
“Healing Hands” – 4:31
“Whispers” – 5:28
“Club at the End of the Street” – 4:52
“Sleeping with the Past” – 4:54
“Stones Throw from Hurtin'” – 4:45
“Sacrifice” – 5:06
“I Never Knew Her Name” – 3:29
“Amazes Me” – 4:37
“Blue Avenue” – 4:33
“Dancing in the End Zone” – 3:55
“Love Is a Cannibal” – 3:53

Wednesday 10pm: Feature LP: Elton John – Reg Strikes Back (1988)

Reg Strikes Back, released June 24, 1988, is the twenty-first studio album by Elton John. It was his self-proclaimed comeback album, and his own way of fighting back against bad press. The “Reg” in Reg Strikes Back refers to John’s birth name, Reginald Kenneth Dwight.

In the US the album was certified gold in August 1988 by the RIAA.

This was the last album that bassist Dee Murray (albeit without bass) appeared on prior to his death in 1992. Additionally, Nigel Olsson, the longtime drummer for John’s band, appears (sans drums) on backing vocals. The tracks “I Don’t Wanna Go On with You Like That” and “A Word in Spanish” peaked at No. 2 and No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. John brought back record producer Chris Thomas for the album. This is the first studio album to be recorded and released after John’s throat surgery the previous year. The album cover featured costumes from John’s collection that he decided to put up for auction.

“Town of Plenty” – 3:40
“A Word in Spanish” – 4:39
“Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two” – 4:12
“I Don’t Wanna Go On with You Like That” – 4:35
“Japanese Hands” – 4:40
“Goodbye Marlon Brando” – 3:30
“The Camera Never Lies” – 4:36
“Heavy Traffic” – 3:30
“Poor Cow” – 3:50
“Since God Invented Girls” – 4:54
“Rope Around a Fool” – 3:48
“I Don’t Wanna Go On with You Like That” (Shep Pettibone Mix) – 7:16
“I Don’t Wanna Go On with You Like That” (Just Elton and His Piano Mix) – 4:37
“Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two” (The Renaissance Mix) – 6:19

Wednesday 6pm: Max 20th Century – 1987 (Part 2)

May 9 – Ireland’s Johnny Logan wins the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Brussels, Belgium, with the song “Hold Me Now”, making him the first artist to win the contest twice. The song tops the charts in Ireland, and peaks at No. 2 in the UK.
June 14 – Madonna starts her Who’s That Girl Tour in Osaka, Japan.
June 27 – Whitney Houston’s second album Whitney becomes the first album by a female artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200.
July 4
Kylie Minogue’s recording career begins with the release of her cover version of the Little Eva hit The Loco-Motion; the single spends seven weeks at number one in her native Australia and leads to a contract with UK-based record producers Stock Aitken Waterman.
The first joint rock concert between the United States and the Soviet Union is held in Moscow to promote peace. The Doobie Brothers, James Taylor, Santana and Bonnie Raitt share the bill with Soviet rock group Autograph.
July 21 – American rock group Guns N’ Roses release Appetite for Destruction which, after initial slow sales will become the best selling debut album of all time with more than 18 million copies sold in the US alone to date
August 1
Dave Stewart of Eurythmics and Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama are married in Normandy, France.
MTV Europe is launched. The first video played is “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits.
August 3 – Def Leppard releases Hysteria, the longest rock album ever released as a single LP or cassette.
August 27 – The Jello Biafra criminal trial is dismissed after ending in a hung jury in Los Angeles court. Biafra and his manager had been charged with distributing harmful material to minors due to a poster included in the Dead Kennedys’ Frankenchrist album of a painting depicting rows of sexual organs.
August 31 – Michael Jackson releases Bad, his first studio album since Thriller, the best-selling album of all time. The album would produce five number one singles in the USA, a record which has not been broken.
September 3 – Fugazi plays their first live show (as a three-piece; Guy Picciotto had not joined the band yet) at the Wilson Center in Washington DC.
September 6 – Madonna ends her Who’s That Girl Tour in Florence, Italy.
September 7 – Pink Floyd release A Momentary Lapse of Reason, their first album after the departure of, and legal battle with, bassist Roger Waters. The subsequent tour grossed around $135 million worldwide, a sum that was only equaled by the earnings of Michael Jackson and U2 combined.
September 11 – Reggae musician Peter Tosh is murdered during a robbery in his home.
September 12 – Michael Jackson starts the Bad World Tour, supporting his Bad album.
September 25 – CBS launches an American version of the long-running UK television show Top of the Pops. It lasts one year.
October 4 – Electronic data gathering completely replaces the old sales diary technique in compiling the UK singles and albums chart. The publication day of new charts is moved from Tuesday to Sunday.
October 8 – Chuck Berry receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
October 19 – Mötley Crüe release the song “You’re All I Need” as a single. MTV refuse to play its video because of the level of violence.
October 19 – INXS releases KICK.
October 30 – George Michael releases his first solo studio album, Faith, which would win the Grammy Award for album of the year and sell 11 million copies in the USA alone.
October 31 – The Zorros headline on Halloween for the last-ever show at the Crystal Ballroom, Melbourne’s premier Punk/New Wave venue. The Crystal Ballroom has seen almost ten years of intense musical evolution. The venue has chandeliers, stained glass windows, paisley wallpaper and a tiled foyer.

Wednesday 11am: Spot Light Artist – Foreigner

Foreigner is an English-American rock band, originally formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran English musician and ex-Spooky Tooth member Mick Jones, and fellow Briton and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm.

Jones came up with the band’s name as he, McDonald and Dennis Elliott were British, while Gramm, Al Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi were American. Their biggest hit single, “I Want to Know What Love Is”, topped the United Kingdom and United States charts among others. They are one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, including 37.5 million records in the US.

On November 9, 2018, all surviving original members of Foreigner came on stage to play alongside the current line-up for a show at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, beginning a series of “Foreigner Then and Now” concerts set to run through the end of the year.

Tuesday 11pm: Feature LP: Elton John – Leather Jackets (1986)

Leather Jackets, released October 15, 1986, is the twentieth studio album by Elton John. Recorded at Sol Studios in England and Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands, it was his first album not to have any top 40 singles in either the US or the UK since 1970’s Tumbleweed Connection, which had no singles released from it. It is also the poorest-charting album of his career.

“Leather Jackets” – 4:10
“Hoop of Fire” – 4:14
“Don’t Trust That Woman” – 4:58
“Go It Alone” – 4:26
“Gypsy Heart” – 4:46
“Slow Rivers” (Duet with Cliff Richard) – 3:06
“Heartache All Over the World” – 4:17
“Angeline” – 3:24
“Memory of Love” – 4:08
“Paris” – 3:58
“I Fall Apart” – 4:00

Tuesday 10pm: Feature LP: Elton John – Ice On Fire (1985)

Ice on Fire, released November 4,1985, is the nineteenth studio album by Elton John. Recorded at Sol Studios, it was his first album since Blue Moves produced by his original long-time producer, Gus Dudgeon. David Paton and Charlie Morgan appear for the first time on bass and drums respectively, replacing original band members Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson. Fred Mandel, who had played with John during the Breaking Hearts tour, also contributed guitar and keyboards. George Michael, then of Wham!, appears on two tracks on the album: “Nikita” and “Wrap Her Up”. Other notable guests include Nik Kershaw, Sister Sledge, Pino Palladino, Mel Gaynor and Millie Jackson, who duetted with John on “Act of war”. Roger Taylor and John Deacon of Queen play drums and bass guitar on “Too Young”.

The album was met with little praise, and only reached #48 on the US charts, although it reached #3 in the UK. “Nikita” and “Wrap Her Up” became top 20 hits, the former reaching #7 in the US and #3 in the UK. In the US it was certified gold in June 1986 by the RIAA.

“This Town” – 3:56
“Cry to Heaven” – 4:16
“Soul Glove” – 3:31
“Nikita” – 5:43
“Too Young” – 5:12
“Wrap Her Up” – 6:21
“Satellite” – 3:57
“Tell Me What the Papers Say” – 3:40
“Candy by the Pound” – 3:56
“Shoot Down the Moon” – 5:09
“Act of War” (Duet with Millie Jackson) – 4:43
“The Man Who Never Died” – 5:12
“Restless” (Live 1984) – 4:25
“Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” (Live 1977) – 3:23
“I’m Still Standing” (Live 1984) – 4:52

Tuesday 11am: Spot Light Artist – Gerry Rafferty

Gerald “Gerry” Rafferty (April 16, 1947 – January 4, 2011) was a Scottish rock singer-songwriter known for his solo hits “Baker Street”, “Right Down the Line” and “Night Owl”, as well as “Stuck in the Middle with You”, recorded with the band Stealers Wheel.

Rafferty was born into a working-class family in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. His mother taught him both Irish and Scottish folk songs as a boy; later, he was influenced by the music of The Beatles and Bob Dylan. He joined the folk-pop group The Humblebums in 1969. After they disbanded in 1971, he recorded his first solo album, Can I Have My Money Back? Rafferty and Joe Egan formed the group Stealers Wheel in 1972 and produced several hits, most notably “Stuck in the Middle with You” and “Star”. In 1978, he recorded his second solo album, City to City, which included “Baker Street”, his most popular song.