Tune Tag #146 with Matt Fish, Pt. 3: Wang Chung, Mike + The Mechanics, Lisa Hartman, Art Garfunkel, Paul Carrack, Mike Batt, Justin Hayward, Johnny Nash
3 native Houstonians in the house (including me)! I used to date one of the other two! More drama awaits, and doubtless a gaggle o' giggles, too! I'm so happy to be reunited with my good friend, Matt!
Welcome back to Tune Tag, Matt Fish of Best Music of All Time!
Matt was also generous enough to collab with me on this nifty Prefab Sprout album dive two years ago:
But, it’s Matt’s Best Music of All Time that has become the most rapidly-improving, impressive, and consistent Substack in the past year (IMO)!
Just spotlighting his “Every Studio Album, Ranked From Worst to Best” articles prove just how gutsy and prodigious Matt’s scope and keen execution has become: The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, and most recently, Billy Joel! I can’t recommend highly enough subscribing to Matt’s ‘Stack!
😱THIS JUST IN!🥳🎉🌟👏
I’m not alone in that assessment, either, as it turns out! Matt just sent this announcement on Substack’s social media Notes, this “telegram” (dated 5/25/26, Monday afternoon): “I’m humbled to share that Best Music of All Time crossed the 2,000-subscriber threshold over the weekend!”
Congratulations, Matt, from all of our FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE subscribers (we share a bunch of ‘em, I’m sure, so you know how fabulous they are)!!
Last week, we met (and thoroughly enjoyed) the delightful Phillippa Taylor of Melody Times, as we all enjoyed her debut appearance!
Next week, we’ll welcome back FR&B good friend, NickS (WA) for his 5th Tune Tag!
Matt’s song #1 sent to Brad: Wang Chung, “To Live and Die in L.A.,” 1985
Matt’s rationale: It’s fitting that one of the most slept-on film soundtracks of the ‘80s comes courtesy of a band that similarly doesn’t get mentioned in enough “Best Of” moments from that decade as they should.
Even their hits, like “Dance Hall Days” and “Everybody Wang Chung Tonight,” should be higher up on lots of people’s radars, but here, they hit their peak. That glittering, stuttering synth refrain that starts “To Live and Die in L.A.,” playing off the bassline effortlessly, is such an incredible vibe that Nick Feldman and Jack Hues could bottle it, sell it online, and I would have a case shipped to my condo! The rest of the album meets the high bar that the opening sets, by the way.
It’s also worth mentioning that the eponymous film is worth your time if you’ve never watched it. The late William Friedkin (August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023) makes a meal out of the industrial Los Angeles setting, including staging an all-time car chase on a freeway without any traffic stops or guardrails for the stunt drivers. I won’t spoil anything, but seriously, watch the movie, and you’ll see just how insane it is, in practice. Also, you get nice turns from a pre-CSI William Petersen as a corrupt cop, and Willem Dafoe as a money launderer. Neo-noir at its finest, my friends.
Brad’s song #1 sent to Matt: Tony Banks and Jack Hues (aka Strictly, Inc), “Only Seventeen,” 1995
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