Conscious Alt-Rocker Andrew Thomases Shares His Favorite Songs from Adolescence

Having lived as a teen during the great years of the ‘80s, Andrew Thomases is a reliable source for knowing which true classic rock anthems everyone should be jamming out to.

The inquisitive singer-songwriter recently released his own retro rock single “Suburban Void,” which reflects the catchy guitar lines and driving drums of artists such as Cheap Trick and The Replacements. Thomases favors and creates music whose lyrics spark rumination and channel a head bopping energy. With his recent single, the musician reflects on the boredom driven antics that filled his teenage years during the musically influential ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Perfect for all the rock and roll lovers out there, Andrew’s new playlist, curated exclusively for Musical Notes Global, contains some of the most iconic and pivotal American rock songs from his own teenage years that will transport his fans back to the good old days. Check out his thoughts below.

1. Joan Jett – “I Love Rock ‘n Roll”

As a teenager in the 1980s, I had a bit of a crush on Joan Jett. I think it was the bad girl rocker image, but it may have also been the catchy tunes she released. I would watch early MTV for hours each day, and “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” was in heavy rotation. Joan Jett’s gruff vocals and the crisp distorted guitars on top of the clapping-along beat were addictive. The black and white music video with everyone in the diner singing along to the chorus just made you want to stand up and sing along. (I also loved Joan Jett’s version of “Crimson and Clover.” That video, also in heavy rotation, was certainly part of that teenage crush.)

2. Billy Idol – “Rebel Yell”

If Joan Jett was the girl with the “bad reputation,” Billy Idol was the bad boy rocker of the 1980s, with his trademark sneer, spikey blonde hair, and one-arm punching dance moves. His songs had cool guitar work, some synths, and a danceable beat. “Rebel Yell” was the cream of the crop. I was in a high school cover band and the time, and “Rebel Yell” always drove people to stand up, dance, and sing along. The audience would always mumble along to the verses, but then shout out the choruses – “In the midnight hour, she cried more, more, more!” Other Billy Idol songs in our repertoire included “White Wedding,” “Dancing with Myself,” and his cover of “Mony, Mony.” People would sing along to the latter but would definitely add their own words (which cannot be quoted here, as they are no longer PC).

3. John Cougar Mellencamp – “Jack & Diane”

“A little ditty ‘bout Jack and Diane, two American kids doin’ the best they can.” This song still brings me back to my 1982 self. A song about high school kids hanging out and messing around. The visuals of the lyrics can’t be beat. It made you want to be them or be with them in the heartland, along with their dreams. But then the chorus comes in – “oh yeah, life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone” – and you wonder if John Cougar is reflecting back on his teen years with longing and nostalgia. The bridge then hammers that home. “Holdin’ on to sixteen as long as you can, change is coming round real soon, make us women and men.” Those lines plus the drums slamming into you hammer home that the song is about enjoying youth as much as possible because adulthood is coming.

4. The Cure – “In Between Days”

When I was in high school, The Cure was edgy and definitely considered alternative rock. But, “In Between Days” was super poppy, so this song started my crossover from rock to alternative rock (sometimes called college rock at that time). Fast paced guitars, well-placed synths, an ever-catchy melody. The album “Head On The Door” was my gateway to expanding my horizons toward college music. Eventually, in the late 1980s, I became a DJ on my college radio station, and The Cure was often on the turntable. I also DJ’ed parties, and this track and “Just Like Heaven” from “Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me” would always get everyone on the dance floor.

5. Violent Femmes – “Blister In The Sun”

Speaking of college music and the dance floor, I can’t hear “Blister In The Sun” without having flashbacks to parties, cheap beer, and slamming around while screaming out the lyrics at top volume. Driving bass line, simple drums, well-timed pauses, a quiet vocal drop, followed by a high octane chorus. I think the Violent Femmes wrote this song specifically for college parties. My college band would play this one to close a set and everyone would be exhausted afterwards (and a bit hoarse).

6. The J. Geils Band – “Centerfold”

Now we have to step back in time a bit to 1981. Teenage hormones were raging, and The J. Geils Band releases a song about the singer’s high school flame becoming the centerpiece of a dirty magazine. Plus, the video had women in lingerie dancing around a high school classroom. Another reason I watched MTV eight hours a day. And who could resist “Na, na, na, na, na, na.” My dad took me to see The J. Geils Band on the Freeze Frame tour at Madison Square Garden, and they rocked. I didn’t know they had such a rock catalog from the 1970s, as well as the tracks from Love Stinks and Freeze Frame. They wouldn’t quit and came back to the stage for three sets of encores, even after the house lights came on and people had started to leave. It was my first real concert, and I thought every act in every concert I saw after that would have that much energy. Oh well.

7. Tommy Tutone – “867-5309/Jenny”

Can you say, “one hit wonder”? Yes, Tommy Tutone only had one real hit, but because of that song every single person I knew had a particular phone number memorized by heart. A simple guitar line and chord progression, along with lyrics about a crush. The recipe for many a rock song that could land in the obscure vinyl rack at Sam Goody. However, when Tommy Tutone reads that particular phone number off the bathroom wall – well, we all got hooked. Eight six seven five, three oh niiiiiiine! For a good time call. I remember news stories at the time about all of these poor folks in area codes across the country who happened to have that phone number. They were inundated with calls from teenage boys trying to get lucky.

8. Billy Squier – “My Kinda Lover”

You want straight up rock from the early 1980s, you got Billy Squier. I am talking the “Don’t Say No” album; not the later “Rock Me Tonite” track and video. Billy Squier had hooky tunes, straight-up guitars, and perhaps some subtle synths. The entire album was a masterpiece and was in my cassette deck constantly. Any track from that album could be on this list (including the pseudo-controversial “The Stroke,” which, if I recall, was banned by radio stations in certain parts of the country), but “My Kinda Lover” tops the list. Staccato guitar riffs, cymbal swells, building synth pads, and a bass line that travels all over the place. Plus, the drums pounding away. Then, in some points in the verses, there is a smash on some sort of warbly metal sheet. It was exactly what we needed in a post-Led Zeppelin time.

9. Talking Heads – “Once In A Lifetime”

What I loved about my youth is that, at the same time acts like Billy Squier was hitting the charts and grabbing my attention, you have acts like the Talking Heads working with Brian Eno on totally different but equally addictive music. Call them New Wave, call them college music, call them strange or whatever, but Talking Heads were deeply influential and certainly expanded my musical palate. In “Once In A Lifetime,” you have Afrobeats, a simple but earworm-y bass line, and a rapid, trippy keyboard line. Add David Byrne’s spoken-word verses, with almost a preachy delivery. Then, the melodic chorus, followed by “Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was.” If you have ever seen the video (also on MTV all the time), you can’t hear that line without doing the strange hand-on-arm motion that Byrne does in the video (along with many other weird moves). The entire experience was trippy and addictive, ending with distorted guitars and the slow fade out.

10. Rocky Horror Picture Show – “The Time Warp”

OK. This one is my vice. I saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show probably a dozen times in high school in the 1980s. It was the must-do midnight movie experience, and I have to admit that for many of my viewings I was not in a sober state. My friends and I knew all of the lines to the movie, especially the ones that the audience made up to accompany the strange screenplay. We came with our props of toast, rice, toilet paper, and the like. And, we would all rush the stage when the first notes of “The Time Warp” began so we could dance along to the song and take our “jump to the left,” our “step to the right,” and our “pelvic thrust.” It is actually an awesome rock song, and you can even hear Meatloaf singing in the background. Then, in my senior year of high school, my band covered the song for the annual high school Battle of the Bands. Despite the teachers trying to hold them back, the students in the audience rushed the stage to dance and sing along, all while pounding the stage. Needless to say, we came in first place.