The A Lists: 1981 (64)

• X: Wild Gift (Slash)
• Ian Dury: Jukebox Dury (Stiff)
• King Sunny Adé and His African Beats: The Message (Sunny Alade import)
• Greatest Rap Hits Vol. 2 (Sugarhill)
• Gang of Four: Solid Gold (Warner Bros.)
• English Beat: Wha'ppen? (Sire)
• Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Trust (Columbia)
• Gang of Four: Another Day/Another Dollar (Warner Bros.)
• Phases of the Moon: Traditional Chinese Music (Columbia)
• Human Switchboard: Who's Landing in My Hangar? (Faulty Products)
• Al Green: Higher Plane (Myrrh)
• Psychedelic Furs: Talk Talk Talk (Columbia)
• The Specials: Ghost Town/Why?/Friday Night Saturday Morning (Chrysalis)
• Black Uhuru: Red (Mango)
• Black Flag: Damaged (SST)
• Gary Stewart: Greatest Hits (RCA Victor)
• Tom Verlaine: Dreamtime (Warner Bros.)
• Chic: Take It Off (Atlantic)
• Red Crayola with Art & Language: Kangaroo? (Rough Trade)
• Funkadelic: The Electric Spanking of War Babies (Warner Bros.)
• Penguin Cafe Orchestra: Penguin Cafe Orchestra (Editions EG)
• Prince: Controversy (Warner Bros.)
• Yoko Ono: Season of Glass (Geffen)
• The Clash: Sandanista! (Epic)
• Tom Tom Club: Tom Tom Club (Sire)
• The Blasters: The Blasters (Slash)
• Sly and Robbie Present Taxi (Mango)
• The dB's: Stands for Decibels (Albion import)
• Blondie: The Best of Blondie (Chrysalis)
• James Booker: New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live! (Rounder)
• Gregory Isaacs: Best of Gregory Isaacs Volume 2 (GG)
• Kid Creole and the Coconuts: Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places (ZE/Sire)
• DNA: A Taste of DNA (American Clavé)
• Joan Jett: Bad Reputation (Boardwalk)
• The B-52's: Party Mix (Warner Bros.)
• Shoes: Tongue Twister (Elektra)
• Elvis Presley: This Is Elvis (RCA Victor)
• Shalamar: Go for It (Solar)
• Marvin Gaye: In Our Lifetime (Tamla)
• Bunny Wailer: Tribute (Solomonic import)
• UB40: Present Arms (DEP International import)
• Rolling Stones: Tattoo You (Rolling Stones)
• Teena Marie: It Must Be Magic (Gordy)
• Z.Z. Hill: Down Home (Malaco)
• Slave: Show Time (Cotillion)
• Ramones: Pleasant Dreams (Sire)
• Rick James: Street Songs (Gordy)
• The DeBarges: The DeBarges (Gordy)
• Johnny Copeland: Copeland Special (Rounder)
• Joy Division: Closer (Factory)
• Dave Edmunds: The Best of Dave Edmunds (Swan Song)
• Phoebe Snow: The Best of Phoebe Snow (Columbia)
• Sound d'Afrique (Mango)
• Let Them Eat Jellybeans! (Virus import)
• Shannon Jackson & the Decoding Society: Nasty (Moers Music import)
• John Anderson: 2 (Warner Bros.)
• The "King" Kong Compilation (Mango)
• Aretha Franklin: Love All the Hurt Away (Arista)
• Stampfel & Weber: Going Nowhere Fast (Rounder)
• David Byrne: Songs from the Broadway Production of "The Catherine Wheel" (Sire)
• Linx: Intuition (Chrysalis)
• Sir Douglas Quintet: Border Wave (Takoma)
• Muddy Waters: King Bee (Blue Sky)
• David Johansen: Here Comes the Night (Blue Sky)

Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s, 1990

The A Lists: 1980

The A Lists: 1982