Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground is a four-disc alternative rock compilation album released by Rhino Records in 2004. Chris Dahlen of Pitchfork notes that "the mandate of Left of the Dial — to showcase anything that fit on college radio in the 80s — means you'll find everything from punk and post-punk to synth-pop and dream-pop".[7] The term "left of the dial", taken from a Replacements song (that does not appear in this collection), refers to the college and other non-commercial FM radio stations in the U.S., with frequencies typically in the reserved band on the left (i.e., lower) end of the FM broadcast band of the radio spectrum.[11]
Track listing
Disc one| Title | Artist |
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| 1. | "Radio Free Europe" (from Murmur, 1983) | R.E.M. | 4:06 |
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| 2. | "Going Underground" (1980 single) | The Jam | 2:56 |
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| 3. | "A Forest" (from Seventeen Seconds, 1980) | The Cure | 4:55 |
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| 4. | "Holiday in Cambodia" (from Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 1980) | Dead Kennedys | 4:39 |
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| 5. | "I'm in Love with a German Film Star" (from Thirty Thousand Feet Over China, 1981) | The Passions | 4:01 |
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| 6. | "I Will Dare" (from Let It Be, 1984) | The Replacements | 3:19 |
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| 7. | "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (from Signals, Calls, and Marches, 1981) | Mission of Burma | 3:53 |
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| 8. | "Johnny Hit and Run Paulene" (from Los Angeles, 1980) | X | 2:50 |
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| 9. | "Just Like Honey" (from Psychocandy, 1985) | The Jesus and Mary Chain | 3:02 |
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| 10. | "Black Celebration" (from Black Celebration, 1986) | Depeche Mode | 4:53 |
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| 11. | "Tell Me When It's Over" (from The Days of Wine and Roses, 1982) | The Dream Syndicate | 3:33 |
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| 12. | "Hollywood (Africa)" (from Freaky Styley, 1985) | Red Hot Chili Peppers | 5:03 |
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| 13. | "Temptation" (from Substance, 1987) | New Order | 5:44 |
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| 14. | "Ghosts" (from Tin Drum, 1981) | Japan | 4:32 |
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| 15. | "A Song from Under the Floorboards" (from The Correct Use of Soap, 1980) | Magazine | 4:11 |
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| 16. | "Oblivious" (from High Land, Hard Rain, 1983) | Aztec Camera | 3:12 |
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| 17. | "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" (from Candy Apple Grey, 1986) | Hüsker Dü | 3:32 |
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| 18. | "Rise Above" (from Damaged, 1981) | Black Flag | 2:26 |
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| 19. | "Back in Flesh" (from Dark Continent, 1981) | Wall of Voodoo | 3:43 |
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| 20. | "Cattle and Cane" (from Before Hollywood, 1983) | The Go-Betweens | 4:01 |
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Disc two| Title | Artist |
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| 1. | "Message of Love" (from Pretenders II, 1981) | The Pretenders | 3:26 |
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| 2. | "Vienna" (from Vienna, 1981) | Ultravox | 4:40 |
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| 3. | "Freak Scene" (from Bug, 1988) | Dinosaur Jr. | 3:37 |
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| 4. | "This Charming Man" (1983 single) | The Smiths | 2:44 |
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| 5. | "Stigmata" (from The Land of Rape and Honey, 1988) | Ministry | 5:45 |
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| 6. | "Ways to Be Wicked" (from Lone Justice, 1985) | Lone Justice | 3:26 |
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| 7. | "Wardance" (from Killing Joke, 1980) | Killing Joke | 3:47 |
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| 8. | "Enola Gay" (from Organisation, 1980) | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | 3:32 |
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| 9. | "Mirror in the Bathroom" (from I Just Can't Stop It, 1980) | The English Beat | 3:08 |
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| 10. | "Fairytale in the Supermarket" (from The Raincoats, 1979) | The Raincoats | 3:00 |
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| 11. | "Behind the Wall of Sleep" (from Especially for You, 1986) | The Smithereens | 3:24 |
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| 12. | "Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing" (from Double Nickels on the Dime, 1984) | Minutemen | 1:32 |
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| 13. | "Punk Rock Girl" (from Beelzebubba, 1988) | The Dead Milkmen | 2:39 |
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| 14. | "Still in Hollywood" (from Concrete Blonde, 1986) | Concrete Blonde | 3:45 |
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| 15. | "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (1980 single) | Joy Division | 3:27 |
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| 16. | "Blister in the Sun" (from Violent Femmes, 1982) | Violent Femmes | 2:26 |
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| 17. | "Lake of Fire" (from Meat Puppets II, 1984) | Meat Puppets | 2:00 |
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| 18. | "Amplifier" (from Repercussion, 1981) | The dB's | 3:08 |
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| 19. | "When Love Breaks Down" (from Steve McQueen, 1985) | Prefab Sprout | 3:46 |
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| 20. | "Goo Goo Muck" (from Psychedelic Jungle, 1981) | The Cramps | 3:07 |
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| 21. | "This Corrosion" (from Floodland, 1987) | The Sisters of Mercy | 4:29 |
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| 22. | "Senses Working Overtime" (from English Settlement, 1982) | XTC | 4:36 |
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Disc three| Title | Artist |
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| 1. | "The Cutter" (from Porcupine, 1983) | Echo & the Bunnymen | 3:55 |
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| 2. | "Pay to Cum" (1980 single) | Bad Brains | 1:28 |
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| 3. | "Birthday" (from Life's Too Good, 1988) | The Sugarcubes | 3:59 |
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| 4. | "Madonna of the Wasps" (from Queen Elvis, 1989) | Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians | 3:07 |
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| 5. | "We Care a Lot" (from Introduce Yourself, 1987) | Faith No More | 4:05 |
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| 6. | "Teen Age Riot" (from Daydream Nation, 1988) | Sonic Youth | 6:58 |
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| 7. | "To Hell with Poverty" (from Another Day/Another Dollar, 1982) | Gang of Four | 3:28 |
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| 8. | "Fa Cé-La" (from Crazy Rhythms, 1980) | The Feelies | 2:03 |
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| 9. | "Ana Ng" (from Lincoln, 1988) | They Might Be Giants | 3:21 |
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| 10. | "Swamp Thing" (from Strange Times, 1986) | The Chameleons UK | 6:00 |
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| 11. | "The Mercy Seat" (from Tender Prey, 1988) | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | 5:12 |
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| 12. | "I Look Around" (from Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, 1983) | Rain Parade | 3:07 |
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| 13. | "All That Money Wants" (from All of This and Nothing, 1988) | The Psychedelic Furs | 3:52 |
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| 14. | "Under the Milky Way" (from Starfish, 1988) | The Church | 4:59 |
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| 15. | "Rise" (Bob Clearmountain mix, from Album, 1986) | Public Image Ltd. | 6:08 |
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| 16. | "Kundalini Express" (from Express, 1986) | Love and Rockets | 5:51 |
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| 17. | "Gravity Talks" (from Gravity Talks, 1983) | Green on Red | 2:34 |
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| 18. | "Adrenalin" (1980 single) | Throbbing Gristle | 3:58 |
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| 19. | "She Bangs the Drums" (single version, from The Stone Roses, 1989) | The Stone Roses | 3:45 |
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Disc four| Title | Artist |
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| 1. | "Monkey Gone to Heaven" (from Doolittle, 1989) | Pixies | 2:56 |
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| 2. | "Uncertain Smile" (single version, from Soul Mining, 1983) | The The | 4:54 |
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| 3. | "Bela Lugosi's Dead" (1979 single) | Bauhaus | 9:34 |
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| 4. | "Christine" (from Kaleidoscope, 1980) | Siouxsie and the Banshees | 2:59 |
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| 5. | "Straight Edge" (from Minor Threat, 1981) | Minor Threat | 0:46 |
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| 6. | "Help You Ann" (from On Fyre, 1984) | Lyres | 2:30 |
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| 7. | "Our Secret" (from Beat Happening, 1985) | Beat Happening | 2:48 |
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| 8. | "Jane Says" (from Nothing's Shocking, 1988) | Jane's Addiction | 4:53 |
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| 9. | "World Shut Your Mouth" (from Saint Julian, 1987) | Julian Cope | 3:34 |
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| 10. | "Running Up That Hill" (from Hounds of Love, 1985) | Kate Bush | 5:00 |
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| 11. | "Sex Beat" (from Fire of Love, 1981) | The Gun Club | 2:48 |
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| 12. | "Take the Skinheads Bowling" (from Telephone Free Landslide Victory, 1985) | Camper Van Beethoven | 2:30 |
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| 13. | "Institutionalized" (from Suicidal Tendencies, 1983) | Suicidal Tendencies | 3:49 |
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| 14. | "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops" (from The Spangle Maker, 1984) | Cocteau Twins | 4:11 |
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| 15. | "24 Hour Party People" (from Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out), 1987) | Happy Mondays | 4:38 |
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| 16. | "I Want You Back" (from Stoneage Romeos, 1984) | Hoodoo Gurus | 3:11 |
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| 17. | "Suburban Home" (from Milo Goes to College, 1982) | Descendents | 1:42 |
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| 18. | "A Pair of Brown Eyes" (from Rum Sodomy & the Lash, 1985) | The Pogues | 4:53 |
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| 19. | "Jet Fighter" (from Sixteen Tambourines, 1983) | The Three O'Clock | 3:27 |
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| 20. | "Moving to Florida" (from Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis, 1985) | Butthole Surfers | 4:31 |
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| 21. | "A New England" (from Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy, 1983) | Billy Bragg | 2:13 |
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References
- ^ "Reviews for Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The '80s Underground by Various Artists". Metacritic. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground – Various Artists". AllMusic. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
- ^ Gray, Christopher (December 10, 2004). "Left of the Dial: Dispatches From the 80s Underground". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
- ^ Powers, Ann. "Various Artists: Left of the Dial: Dispatches the 80's Underground". Blender. Archived from the original on December 10, 2004. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ^ "Various Artists - Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground". E! Online. October 12, 2004. Archived from the original on March 12, 2005. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- ^ Weingarten, Marc (October 29, 2004). "Left of the Dial: Dispatches From the '80s Underground". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 16, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ^ a b Dahlen, Chris (October 19, 2004). "Various Artists: Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the 80s Underground". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
- ^ Wolk, Douglas (October 28, 2004). "Various Artists: Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground". Rolling Stone: 104.
- ^ Unterberger, Andrew (October 19, 2004). "Various Artists – Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the Underground – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
- ^ "Various Artists: Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground". Uncut (93): 94. February 2005.
- ^ "Left of the Dial". KCRU.org. 2018. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
Left of the Dial takes its name from the Replacements song of the same name, and is a reference to the position of the radio dial on which non-commercial radio stations are typically located.
External links
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