The Ledge #471: 1981 US Punk Faves

1981 was a very special year for your favorite podcast host. I graduated from high school, and immediately started at the local radio station when I entered college. While the 2 - 6 am shift may seem like a nightmare to most people, it was the perfect opportunity for me to investigate the floor to ceiling record racks in the cramped studio.

This week's show represents the US-originated records from that era that mean the most to me today. Most of them I discovered during these late night shifts, but a few of them I must admit they weren't faves until years later. Of course, I have to highlight the first releases from my two favorite Minneapolis bands of all time, and longtime faves the Ramones put out their sixth album that year. There's also a couple of new indie labels, IRS and SST, that would greatly influence me throughout the rest of the decade. 

After listening, please go purchase those tracks you enjoy! These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly from the artist or label, please let them know you heard these tunes on The Ledge! Let them know who is giving them promotion! You can find this show at almost any podcast site, including iTunes and Stitcher...or

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW!

1. The Replacements, If Only You Were Lonely

2. The Replacements, I'm in Trouble

3. The Replacements, I Hate Music

4. The Replacements, Shiftless When Idle

5. The Replacements, Takin' a Ride

6. Hüsker Dü, Statues

7. Hüsker Dü, Amusement

8. Hüsker Dü, Writer's Cramp

9. Hüsker Dü, Let's Go Die

10. X, We're Desperate

11. X, The Once Over Twice

12. X, In This House That I Call Home

13. X, White Girl

14. Ramones, We Want The Airwaves

15. Ramones, The KKK Took My Baby Away 

16. Ramones, Don't Go 

17. Ramones, She's A Sensation

18. The Cramps, Goo Goo Muck

19. The Cramps, Green Fuz

20. The Cramps, Primitive

21. The Cramps, The Crusher

22. The Gun Club, For The Love Of Ivy

23. The Gun Club, Sex Beat

24. The Gun Club, She's Like Heroin To Me

25. The Gun Club, Fire Spirit

26. Red Rockers, Guns Of Revolution

27. Red Rockers, Teenage Underground

28. Red Rockers, Can You Hear

29. Red Rockers, Folsom Prison Blues

30. Black Flag, Six Pack

31. Black Flag, TV Party

32. Black Flag, Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie

33. Black Flag, Room 13

34. Minutemen, Search

35. Minutemen, Disguises

36. Minutemen, Song For El Salvador

37. Minutemen, History Lesson

38. Mission Of Burma, That's When I Reach For My Revolver