Chris Reed
- Website
- http://www.animeraiders.com
- Linktree
- https://linktr.ee/animeraider
Chris Reed. Indie rocker. Gin drinker. Animeraider
Chris Reed & The Anime Raiders, the best band to refuse 2 record deals & record a #1 single.
Joined Oct 2022
1989 - the year of Milli Vanilli. What everyone forgets was that while the band was fake the music was pretty damned good. Career defining albums from XTC, The Cult, 10,000 Maniacs, RHCP, Nenah Cherry, Kate Bush, B-52's, Peter Murphy, Concrete Blonde, Stone Roses, Dramarama, and Michael Penn releases an album that would have a direct impact on my own career the following year.
Here's some music you should know.
For a single I re-released in late 2021 called "Kauro-chan" I commissioned an anime music video (AMV), something I had avoided up to this point despite (or because of) the band name. I have to tell you, the result is damned impressive. It got nominated for a music video award, but alas didn't win.
Still, it's pretty good.
For me, 1988 is a great year for music. My favorite all-time band, The Wonder Stuff, released their first album. So did The Posies, NWA, Tracy Chapman, Jane's Addiction and Melissa Etheridge, while Talking Heads bowed out with what is IMHO their best song.
So much good music I want to name them all, but perhaps it would be better for you to just check it out yourself.
My Radio Free California playlists didn't start out as only new music - at first it was just music I wanted to listen to like we used to do with mixtapes. I used to do this as a podcast but I kept running into issues with songs getting blocked, so it evolved into Spotify Playlists.
This is the first one I did on Spotify, and I think it holds up pretty well, even though a couple of artists on it have run into issues since.
1987 - funny how the years change how you perceive things. This is the year Sinead O'connor became a star, Love and Rockets became their own band, The Replacements and 10,000 Maniacs hit their peaks, The Grateful Dead finally have hits, Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd release their first albums in years, Rush releases their only duet, and so much more - when all we wanted to do was dance (Los Lobos). Songs from 1987 you should know.
In April of 2021 I release "He Takes A Knee" as a single - weeks earlier than I had planned after a radio station in London started playing it because of a protest by a member of Manchester United.
To my surprise, it becomes a hit on multiple platforms and eventually gets played in over 100 countries. It would win me a songwriting award and my band best alternative group at the Indie Music Awards.
Not too shabby. #CoSoMusic
Here we go, Radio Free California Episode 2250! Mainstream artists tend to not release new music in the second half of December, so it's time for indie artists to shine! New music from The Winery Dogs, Dezit, For Tracy Hyde, Ainsley Costello, the moss, Barry Spring, Annahastasia and so much more. Enjoy!
February of 2021 began a string of singles and cheap videos that breathed new life into my music career. Although I had released a song in 2020 as part of a fundraiser for COVID ward nurses, it's this song that got everything started up again. I had originally released this song in 2004, but much shorter. This was the full version I had recorded with a lengthy outro.
And yes, the song is about a stalker. I write songs about damaged people.
So you want sexy playing from Jimmy Page do you? Try this:
1986. Toto, Van Halen, Kansas, and the Little River Band all have new lead singers. Peter Gabriel, XTC, Talk Talk and Bon Jovi all release landmark albums. Boston and Eric Clapton make comebacks. Prince, Springsteen and Paul Simon evolve their sounds. One hell of a year for music. Here some of the music you should know.
1985. The year of the one-hit wonder, but also the year The Smiths changed pop music in England. Rush records one of the first fully digital albums, Simply Red releases perhaps the greatest ballad of all time, Sting becomes a solo artist (as does Tommy Shaw and Roger Daltry) and the world is introduced to Whitney Houston. And oh yes, a guy I worked with in a record store gets signed with his band, Lone Justice.
In 1983 I started collecting records with intent. I moved to college with 50 albums. At the end of 1983 I owned about 400. (I own about 16,000 now.) For my 1983 playlist I break the 100 song barrier of "songs you should know". This is a great list to put on random play.
Enjoy!
1982. I start college and half of the bands on this list I had never heard of or heard. Yes, it was MJ's big year, but there's also Culture Club, Grandmaster Flash, Men at Work, Oingo Boingo, Roxy Music, The English Beat, Toto (who would win 7 Grammys that year), Marshall Crenshaw, Dexy's Midnight Runners, and so much more.
1981 - my last full year not living on my own. Many of the songs from this year I would not learn for a couple more years, or at least until I had my own apartment in college, but this is the year they came out. I was exposed to MTv for the first time, and The Police put out a nearly perfect album - at least the last three songs. My favorite Rush song is from this year. The Go-Go's hit this year. My favorite Pretenders song. So much good.
And here it is, Radio Free California Episode 2249! Pretty good week for new music, from the funk of Vulfpeck to the hard rock of The Winery Dogs to the sounds of Lana Del Rey to modern punk of Blondshell to one of the most unlikely remakes ever, plus so much more. Enjoy!
As per usual, by NSFW blog version will be up later today.
1979 - when Michael became Michael and so much other music from that year you should know.
Although it never got a lot of views, this is one of my favorite videos I had made for my music in 2022.
The album did all right. This is "Jack", from the album "Thousand Year Event" - an album of completely improvised piano music recorded secretly.
It still kind of amazes me that this was a hit. Not a big hit mind you, but played on radio all over the world and won a couple of awards.
Chris Reed
- Website
- http://www.animeraiders.com
- Linktree
- https://linktr.ee/animeraider
Chris Reed. Indie rocker. Gin drinker. Animeraider
Chris Reed & The Anime Raiders, the best band to refuse 2 record deals & record a #1 single.
Joined Oct 2022