Even Miles Davis was harmed by the 80s... who's next?!

I recently started purchasing vinyl records with a view to getting a record player some day soon (that day was today in fact). I'm not quite sure why I want to buy records as almost all logic points to the fact I shouldn't, but for whatever reason it is, I do.

One thing that appeals (although I think this is thinking a few years ahead, as I strangely sometimes do with my purchases) is the idea of going into the spare room that has my music, sticking on a relaxing jazz/blues record and chilling out to it. Of course, I could easily stick on a CD or MP3, but it just wouldn't be the same.

With this in mind I thought it would be a good idea to own a Miles Davis record. So, when I spotted one for a tenner whilst browsing a record fair at the Glastonbury Festival, I figured why not. I was already buying a Pixies record so one way or another I was going to have to get a record home. So I picked up an album of his called Decoy. Usually when I purchase an album by someone I'm unsure of, I check out the year it was recorded and try to buy one from a time the artist was at their peak. Now I don't know much about Miles Davis, but if I were thinking straight I'd probably aim for the 50s/60s. What I would have made sure I did was NOT buy something from the 80s, because very few things that come from that decade (be it a Bob Dylan, Neil Young or Johnny Cash album) are any good (with the exception of that Pixies album I mentioned earlier). And that's exactly what I did.. 1984 in fact.

And as if I needed any more convicing that the 80s were shite, this record confirms it. I'm not one to dismiss music out of hand - and I'm open to the idea that this may well become an enjoyable record for me in time - but when all the good things about jazz (such as the sax) are replacing with all things that are evil about the 80s (such as the synthesiser), I'm left with little choice but to dismiss it. It's still playing as I type (in fact I just made the effort to stand up and flip the disc), so I suppose I can take some confort in the fact it's not been stopped yet, and I do aim to hear it again, but it's going to be some tricky listening.