7"s 1266-1270

 I'm covering some 7"s again this week and taking another trip back to the mid 80s. It's a mix of songs I know and songs I don't but I've at least heard of each of these artists, including one that I promised a few entries ago...

1266. Dead Or Alive - Something In My House 🔵
This sleeve is a goth masterpiece. It's got smoke, candles, crosses, and Pete Burns smouldering in an over-the-shoulder pose. The single opens with the roar of thunder before a hi-NRG gay disco banger cuts in. The combination of dance beat with campy goth lyrics about being haunted by an old flame feels like an innovative combination. I really want to go out and dance to this, it's a lot of fun. I hadn't heard it before but I plan to listen to it again. 

b/w Hit That Button 🟢
Another big dance tune, not as catchy as the a-side but if you want big energetic dance-pop, it does the job. It has a sax solo that might or might not be synthetic, I can't tell. Pete Burns' gothic homosexual (threatening) style made Dead Or Alive so unique and it's a shame he was taken from us too soon - RIP Pete. 

1267. The Smiths - Shoplifters Of The World Unite 🔵
Following their tradition of putting 50s and 60s (white) stars on the record sleeves, here we have a portrait of Elvis on the cover of this Smiths single. This must have confused older folks looking for new Elvis reissues. I can't make a connection between him and this song but it is the typical Smiths look. We crash straight into the verse, with Morrissey advocating shoplifting (not a riot, Smiths fans are much too soft for anything revolutionary). As far as Smiths songs go, I think this one is pretty average with no particularly special moments in either the lyrics or the accompanying music. Still, even when they're average, The Smiths are still good, and thankfully this is pretty light on terrible Morrissey opinions.

b/w Half A Person 🔵
Lyrically, I much prefer this song to Shoplifters, but musically it kind of wanders along without producing much excitement. I suppose Marr, Rourke and Joyce aren't doing anything exciting here in order to let the words shine and there are a few in here that I really like: "if you have 5 seconds to spare then I'll tell you the story of my life - sixteen, clumsy and shy, I went to London and I checked myself in at the YWCA" is my favourite but I also like "she said in the days when you were hopelessly poor, I just liked you more" which is paraphrased in the song My Sex by Elastica (along with another Smiths line from Reel Around The Fountain). Death to Morrissey but this is well-written. A more exciting Johnny Marr guitar part would elevate it though.

1268. Spear Of Destiny - Strangers In Our Town 🟢
Until now, Spear Of Destiny have just been a name to me with no sound attached. I associate them with goth but the sleeve looks a bit Red Wedge with its woodblock industrial town landscape across the front. Immediately I was surprised by the cowbell's tropical rhythm but layered over the top we have sweeping goth guitar chords, pounding goth drums and snarled goth lyrics, so I guess my initial assumption was correct. I can't tell whether it's about immigration and race as the title suggests, and if it is, I can't figure out their stance. They don't sound happy but surely you don't get goth-pop hits in lefty sleeves in 1987 with a song that's pro-xenophobia? Do you?! Politics aside though, it makes fine indie disco music.

b/w Somewhere Out There 🟡
The b-side is a clean guitar ballad, maybe an acoustic version, which I think is about God? I'm not sure about Christian goth, just like I'm not sure about Anti-immigrant goth. Like The Smiths' b-side the song is just a vehicle to convey the lyrics; unfortunately in this case the lyrics aren't that good. 

1269. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Fire 🔵
I was promised Springsteen last time I did a 7" review but missed him so here he is now to make up for it. He looks good on the cover but the composite of 2 photos is a bit weird, as if they couldn't pick one so settled for using both and ended up making less impact instead of more. I know Fire but only from the Glee cover which I expect is quite different to the original. This single is a live version and his crowd sounds much livelier than the Dire Straits crowd I wrote about a few weeks ago. The combination of bass, hi-hat and Bruce's hushed vocal is very sexy. In fact, the whole lyric and delivery of this song is very hot, which is a new side to Bruce for me - I'm used to him being big and anthemic whereas this is intimate and seductive. The song stays reasonably calm the whole way through; I wonder whether a big push would have made it better but maybe that would just sound clichéd. He did include a long pause in the middle which was an exciting touch for a live track.

b/w For You (Live) 🟢
I'm not sure why it's specified that this is live and not Fire, when they both come from the same live compilation album, but it is what it is. For You is more upbeat and traditionally Springsteen with the piano playing high notes, the saxophone and his storytelling lyrical style. It suffers a little in that it sounds like some of his biggest hits but it's not quite as good as them, but it's still a decent song.

1270. Ben E King - Stand By Me 💜
A classic record, dressed up in an 80s sleeve. There's a Levi's 501 logo on the front and a man in jeans looking over his shoulder, echoing Pete Burns' pose from the Dead Or Alive sleeve, but this time in a traditionally handsome, classic rock-n-roll style. Confusingly, the sleeve is all about jeans in the front, but promoting the movie 'Stand By Me' on the back - the song was on the film soundtrack, the advert, and celebrating its 25th anniversary all at the same time. All combined, it's full of symbols of rock-n-roll nostalgia, the same kind of looking back that The Smiths are aiming at with Elvis on their sleeve.

As for the song, what can you say about something this iconic? Led by the bass and King's soulful voice, it's so understated and simple. Even when the violins and the choir come in, it still feels intimate, as if it was being played to you on a porch under a starry night sky. The bass line remains steady throughout, the little riff keeping the pace and floating away to a fade-out at the end. Stand By Me is one of the greatest ever love songs.

b/w The Coasters - Yakety Yak 🔵
These two songs couldn't be more different - they're from the same era but this one is a fast doo-wop hit with loud sax and walking bass. The lyrics, about a teenager forced to do chores before they can go out dancing, are a lot of fun and the bass voice performing the "don't talk back" response of the parents is a great gimmick. It's great rebellious teenage good-time music and it's amazing that both this and Stand By Me were written by Leiber and Stoller since they're like night and day. 

Not a bad batch of singles here - 4 out of 5 will make it onto my playlists (in fact, 2 were already on there). Dead Or Alive was the biggest surprise but hearing Bruce's version of Fire was cool too, and you can't go wrong with Stand By Me. 

Music Review: 7"s #817-820

 This week we're complying with the wishes of Marty McFly and going back to 1985.  This week's selections are all from the very middle of the 80s and 3 out of 4 were big hits that I'm already familiar with.  
Sidenote - I usually write about 5 singles at a time but #816 turned out to be a 12" single - I'm On Fire/Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen - which is stored away in a box of 12" records that didn't interest me enough to keep within reach, so today there will only be 4.  The Boss will get his day eventually as the Born In The USA album is on my shelf so I'll cover both songs at some point. 

#817 - The Coward Brothers - The People's Limousine 🟢
I've never heard of The Coward Brothers so I had no idea what to expect from this single.  The sleeve doesn't give away much either; it's striking but plain (and sticky... it has left-over sticker residue stuck to the front).  Best-case scenario: some old-school dance/hip-hop.  Worst case: novelty.  My best guess, however, was that it was going to be country-leaning and I was right about that.  It's got that snare beat that sounds like a train coming down the tracks, clean guitar and bass sounds, and a classic verse-chorus structure with back-up vocals joining each chorus.  It's very American sounding but rather than the classic Southern twang to the vocals, they're more New Wave influenced which adds a modern twist.  I don't listen to much country but this isn't bad.

b/w They'll Never Take Her Love From Me 🟢
We have a slower-paced ballad on the b-side which again follows a typical country sound and structure with its two-note bassline and harmonising vocals.  I found myself swaying along to this and picturing it being performed on stage in a big barn with tables set up, occupied by people in checked shirts and cowboy hats.  It's a sad song about the 'her' in the title choosing someone else, but it's still a pleasant sound to listen to. 

#818 - Sister Sledge - Frankie 🟡
It's universally accepted that this song is bad so there's two possible reasons why my dad has it in his collection: either it was bought during his 'buy a copy of every number 1' phase (somehow this was top of the charts for 4 weeks) or someone bought it for him because he shares a name with the titular character.  The single is in a very 80s pink and blue sleeve which gives it a tacky girly look.  I think they're aiming for a throwback to the classic girl group sound and look but it has horribly cheesy 80s drum machines.  They even echo the "down, down" backing vocal from Leader Of The Pack, but this is not The Shangri-Las.  Nile Rodgers produced the record which ought to be a good sign but this is not his best work - it's really flat-sounding, the opposite of Spector's Wall Of Sound production.  The chorus repeats the phrase "Frankie, do you remember me?" but I have already forgotten the tune. 

b/w Hold Out Poppy 🟠
More 80s drum machines, accompanied by what I presume is Rodgers playing the bassline.  This sounds like it wants to be gay club dance music but it's all rhythm and no top line so it feels unfinished.  The group vocal gives this big Bananarama energy, which itself is not a compliment, but this is somehow worse because at least Stock Aitken Waterman would have made a convincing hi-NRG single out of this.  It almost gets a pass but it really grinds my gears how the Americans pronounce "hold out Paah-pay" at the end of almost every line. 

#819 - Dire Straits - Money For Nothing 🟡
This is one of those songs that you always hear on TV shows about the 80s because it references MTV and the consumerism of the era. The sleeve features a boxy, square CRT TV which was probably modern in 1985 and to be fair, it looks effective on the cover.  On the back there's dates for a massive 2 month UK/Euro tour listed.  I can't imagine a band touring the UK for a whole month now, can you?  They included 2 dates in Deeside and 2 in Shepton Mallet (I don't even know where those places are), 7 nights in London and 3 in Edinburgh (Edinburgh! Not Glasgow! What a concept!).  I just checked Setlist.fm to see the venue size and they weren't arenas, which is fair, but this was less than 6 months after 11 nights at Wembley, breaking in the middle for Live Aid.  The dates on the back of the sleeve include 3 weeks without a day off which is also mad and I'm calling the 1985 union to have a word.
Anyway, Money For Nothing.  I've always found Dire Straits pretentious with long songs, but this is their attempt to do mainstream rock.  After a mélange of 80s drums, the way that the riff cuts through sounds so good - definitely well-produced.  I get their point about Yuppiedom being distasteful but I think their use of the f-slur throughout the second verse is just as gross.  The song is decently catchy but I don't think it's anything special and it's remembered because of its political commentary rather than for the music itself.

b/w Love Over Gold (Live) 🟡
One thing I know about Dire Straits from my parents owning some of their LPs is that the live album they put out only has 2-3 songs to a side which means their songs are far too long; The Ramones could get through 10 songs in that time.  For that reason, I wasn't looking forward to this but they've kept it to a reasonable single length here.  A live b-side is probably a smart move when they're promoting a tour too but it's very clear what kind of act they are even with a short song.  Knopfler feels like a reluctant vocalist - he's half mumbling and I get the impression that he just wanted to play his guitar and produce but the band needed someone to step up and be the singer.  It leads to a combination between musicianliness and Bob Dylan's tuneless delivery; Prog Dylan, if you will.  Aside from a lot of whistling towards the end, there's no crowd noise on the live recording which makes the motivation for this recording obvious; they're selling competence, not entertainment. I pity the boring fuckers who wanted to see this for 11 nights at Wembley. 

#820 - Billy Idol - White Wedding Part 1 & 2 (Shot Gun Mix) 🟢
As we all know, Billy Idol is sexy, so I'm immediately sold on the sleeve which features him dressed in leather and chains, midway between a pout and a sneer.  I'm also a big fan of his logo which appears prominently on the front and back.  White Wedding, like Money For Nothing, makes for relevant incidental music so it's reasonably common to hear this accompanying any wedding-themed TV moments.  It's made up of hard rock drums and guitars with a subdued vocal, which he keeps reined in until the 2nd chorus.  You can tell he's an old punk with rock-n-roll influences by the way he sings with a curled lip.  Even after he lets rip on the "it's a nice day to... START AGAIN" chorus, there's still a feeling that we're building up to something which remains unresolved at the point where he's yelling his way through the closing fade-out.  I was looking forward to this song but this mix is too restrained to make for an effective 7" pop single. 

b/w Mega Idol Mix - Flesh For Fantasy/Hot In The City 🟡
The metal guitar with electronic drums which opens this sounds ahead of its time but then they add a staccato funk guitar part which is horrid.  It's a megamix so I expected it to be full of excitement but instead the intro part repeated for far too long before Idol's voice comes in singing the chorus. "We want Flesh! For Fantasy!" is such an evocative lyric that it's criminal of them to wait so long to drop it in and then use it so little.  The 'mix' that the title eludes to isn't much of a mix at all; rather than fade naturally it switches abruptly to an entirely different-sounding song which again sticks with an instrumental for so long that it loses any excitement it might have held.  The trademark feature of a Billy Idol record is his trash-glam voice which is underused on both halves of this mix.  My impression here is that he's trying to break new ground in the heavy rock/punk genre by finding a way to adapt it to the 12" club mix style that electronic music was doing so well, but unfortunately he's not got it right here.

I'm a bit disappointed not to have uncovered any gems this week - who knew that Billy Idol could be so boring?! - but at least this was an eclectic group of singles.  On to the next one.

Music Review: 7" #421-425

 This looks like an interesting mix of the different directions taken by bands in the post-punk early 80s.  I know all of these artists but none of these songs, so lets explore.

#421.  XTC - Senses Working Overtime 🟡

There's something about this sleeve that gives me an indication that this is a nerd-rock single but I can't put my finger on what it is.  The photo of the band on the reverse side is funny - there's one member at the front (who I presume is the singer) holding a cat, and one at the back in a shirt and suit jacket looking like their dad. 
Having played this record I realise I know the chorus.  My assumption from the sleeve was correct, they do sound like a bunch of nerds - it's a flavour of post-punk that I'm not really into.  The song is very bass/drum heavy although that could just be my busted speakers.  The song is okay but I don't think it's a classic.  The chorus is catchy - obvious, given it has a counting bit - but that's all it really has going for it.

b/w Blame The Weather 🟠

This is another song that has a catchy chorus and not much else.  That's not much of a review but it's all I had to say for it.

Tissue Tigers (The Arguers) 🟡

This is more interesting musically.  It's reminiscent of Adam Ant but not as good as what he put out.  XTC have managed to fit 2 full length b-sides on this 7" which would be great if they were good songs, but one of these would have been plenty.

#422. U2 - Gloria 🟠

The sleeve makes it clear that U2 are from the Joy Division school of post-punk bands.  I don't like U2 but my dad was into them so unfortunately they're going to crop up often.  The guitar part reminds me of The Cure crossed with the big indie bands of the 2000s.  The song could be good if they had a powerful singer but Bono is not it.  They're trying to sound like a big arena rock band but they aren't ready to fill that position yet (and I'm not sure that sort of music existed yet anyway). 

b/w I Will Follow (Live Version) 🟠

Bono speaks at the beginning of this - the last song in their set as he's saying his thanks to the audience - and he doesn't have an Irish accent, which is weird.  I'm not particularly impressed by this song either.  It doesn't say anywhere on the sleeve where this live version was recorded - Wikipedia says it's the 900-seater Paradise Rock Club in Boston - which again struck me as odd.  U2 aren't that different to other band of this era/genre who I love, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to like them.  

#423. Bill Wyman - (Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star 🟠

New Wave colour blocks and squiggles on the sleeve to make this look modern, but Bill Wyman put this out at age 45.  I know there's something sketchy about this guy and possibly this song but I'm not sure what it is.  It's got a Heart Of Glass produced by Malcolm McLaren timbre but dear god, he cannot sing at all.  He's talk-singing in a Cockney accent and it is horrid - it makes sense that Wikipedia says he wrote this for Ian Dury who turned it down.  It's a shame because if you took the vocal off this song and put something else on top of the accompaniment it could be quite good.  Alarm bells started ringing at the lyric "they'll think I'm your dad and you're my daughter"... how old is the girl he's chatting up in this song?!  And with that, I've uncovered the sketchy thing: a couple of years after this, Bill Wyman started dating a girl who was 14.  That is fucking unacceptable.  She was 11 when this came out.  Disgusting.  It misses out on a red rating for the accompaniment and nothing else.

b/w Rio de Janeiro 🟠

He's not doing the Ian Dury thing on this song as much as on the a-side but unfortunately the music isn't as good on this one.  The lyrics are also terrible - it's about the city of Rio but very much at surface level, referencing coffee, beaches, women and football.  It reads like a primary school project about the city.  Maybe his girlfriend wrote it.

#424. A Flock Of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song 🟢

The airbrushed, heavily made-up eye and glossy red lips alongside retro-futurist space imagery and lurid colours mean one thing - it's New Romantic time, baby!  The big drums and soaring guitars sound so John Hughes, and it has laserbeam synths.  The vocals aren't quite right though; I can't decide whether it's the way they've been mixed or the singer's ability or a bit of both.  The song could do with a massive chorus but that's not A Flock Of Seagulls' style so they've not written one.  It's still pretty good though. 

b/w Windows 🟡

This sounds like the way that the future was supposed to sound from the point of view of the 80s - the sonic palette is rad.  Neither of the songs on this picture disc are particularly good as songs but they have interesting sounds and sometimes that's good enough. 

#425.  The Boomtown Rats - House On Fire 🟠

Bob Geldof is another 80s figure who I do not like so it's great to have to cover him and U2 in the same week.  This has a boring sleeve, it looks more like the 1987 batch I covered previously but with some Bauhaus imagery thrown in to keep it current.  The song has a reggae groove and I'm not sure I want to hear Bob Geldof's interpretation of reggae.  It sounds like they're trying to go 2-Tone, as if they saw the gap left by The Specials and decided they could be the ones to fill it.  It sounds embarrassing though - I'd maybe accept it as a cover version but it's a Geldof original.  Super cringey and ill-advised. 

b/w Europe Looked Ugly 🟠

Before I played this, I had to find out immediately what Geldof's stance was on Brexit.  It turns out he's pro-EU and has done battle with N*gel F*rage so at least he's got one good thing going for him.  Anyway, this song is a bit Human League.  It appears that The Boomtown Rats were having a serious identity crisis in 1981 and I can't tell whether they were trying to parody or emulate the popular movements of the day.  I love listening to a man realising he's become irrelevant in real time. 

Not a good batch here, which is disappointing.  Journalist Simon Price always says that 1981 was one of the best years for pop music of all time but not if these 5 singles are anything to go by. 

Music Review: 7"s 1856-1860

 It's 1989 and this mix is much more eclectic than what the all-punk '79 set had to offer in my last entry.

#1856 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Knock Me Down 🟡

I'm not really familiar with the Chili Peppers' output prior to Blood Sugar Sex Magik (which came out a couple of years after this single) and even then I only know the hits.  However, what I do know about them is that they always seemed to be in their underwear, or less, so this sleeve is in tune with what I expected. Two of the band members are staring straight out, expressionless, even pinching their own nipple. A bit weird, but ok. Their sound at this time is very similar to Faith No More, but not as exciting - Anthony Kiedis lacks the vocal skill of Mike Patton.  They try to make up for this with 'funky' bass which I am not a fan of.  Due to the flatness of the vocal I can't make out many of the words in this song and it doesn't grab me, although I suspect this might have sounded good live.  There's an unnecessary key change and a lazy fade-out at the end; overall, nothing special.

b/w Punk Rock Classic 🟡

They're playing so fast here that I checked to make sure I wasn't supposed to play this side at 33rpm.  It is almost a good hardcore punk song but Kiedis' vocal is so weird that it puts me right off.  After a minute and a half of trying to make a hardcore record the guitarist closes with a snippet of the Sweet Child O' Mine riff, which is the best part of this 7" so far.

b/w Pretty Little Ditty 🟢

This one is an instrumental jam and I don't usually care for those but this is actually quite pretty, as the title suggests, and it's less than 2 minutes long so unlike most jams, it doesn't outstay its welcome.  The most important thing about this piece is that it contains the riff which was sampled to form the basis of Butterfly by Crazy Town, a song that I love in a guilty pleasure sort of way.  That stopped me in my tracks and I've rated the song higher than I expected because of its iconic contribution to nu-metal.  I have Butterfly on a mix CD so I'll talk about it properly then but I immediately went and listened to it after hearing Pretty Little Ditty. 

#1857 Tina Turner - The Best 🟢

The sleeve for this record isn't particularly exciting, Tina looks good on the cover but the minimalism doesn't really match the music.  This is an iconic song that I definitely thought was from longer ago, but when I listen to the 80s rock drums and synths properly it's pretty clear that it's from this era.  The Best is uplifting and joyous. I was worried that I wouldn't have a good experience of this song from hearing the chorus dropped in to so many adverts and montages, I thought it would just wash over me, but when the chorus is in its original context it works so well.  And there's a sax solo!  Yes, this is a good song and I enjoyed hearing it in full for a change. 

b/w Undercover Agent For The Blues 🟡

This is very bluesy, as the name would suggest.  I don't have much to say about it, it's the kind of song you could imagine hearing sung in a smoky basement club in a movie.  There's nothing wrong with it but it's not a classic like the a-side.

#1858 Dion - King Of The New York Streets 🟡

There's a timeless quality to this which I suppose is the result of an old-school rock'n'roll singer putting out a single in 1989.  It has all the hallmarks of a song from 30 years earlier but updated, so the drums reminded me of glam rock rather than the Spector sound that it was influenced by, and the production sounds very late-80s.  It's a fine record but not memorable - it's only of those bluesy rock songs that keeps going verse after verse without getting anywhere.  Dion comes across as a cool guy but it doesn't rival his original hit about the same subject.

b/w The Wanderer 🔵

This is the real deal, the OG that he's trying to have a second stab at, Dion's 1961 classic about being a slutty man on the road.  The sounds in this record, from the backing singers to the snare and the sax to Dion's snarl are all perfect.  The Wanderer is the real reason that this single is worth purchasing - what a great tune. 

#1859 Goodbye Mr Mackenzie - Goodwill City 🟡

This isn't bad - it's a bit 'big' sounding, like they really want to be a stadium rock band in the vein of Simple Minds.  They're from Edinburgh and feature Shirley Manson on keyboards and vocals, so I should like them more than I actually do.  I didn't catch all of the words but there was talk about viruses which is something I really don't want in my escapist pop music in this decade.  Goodwill City is also much too long for a song that they failed to write a big chorus for.

AA side - I'm Sick Of You 🟡

There's a lot going on here.  It sounds a bit trad with Golden Brown keyboard chords and something I couldn't put my finger on which felt a step too close to a ceilidh band.  The vocals have a 60s folk vibe - a bit Dylan, a bit Donovan perhaps.  It's a mess with six people in the band all trying to do things at the same time.  I think this song would have worked if it had been recorded by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood about 20 years before this, but Goodbye Mr Mackenzie don't do a good job of it.

#1860 - Erasure - Drama! 🟢

This has the sort of sleeve I associate with the Erasure sound - it's bright and colourful with Pop Art leanings. As the title suggests it's quite dramatic, getting more so as the verse builds up to the chorus.  It doesn't have a big hook like some of their other hits but the melody in the last line of the chorus is gorgeous.  The sounds in this are fun, it's an effective dance record that I bet went down a storm in the gay disco of 1989. 

b/w Sweet, Sweet Baby 🟢

I did not expect to get a genuine rave record on the b-side of this single!  There's vocal samples, Italohouse keyboards, a pounding beat... It's a bit of a kitchen-sink record with a lot of motifs coming in and out which make it less cohesive than it could be, but it's good fun and I enjoyed the surprise of Vince Clarke coming up with this. 

Music Review: 1416-1420

 This week we're in 1987 which is meant to be a Bad Time for pop music, but on first glance I'm optimistic about this set. 

1416 - Madonna - Who's That Girl 💚
Sleeve notes: I think it's supposed to be like a screwball romcom poster with the fun font and graphics? It does remind me of something specific from a couple of decades before this single but I can't put my finger on it. Madonna looks cool on the front; I'm not sure whether this look is a Reinvention™ for a new year. 
The song finds Madonna in her Spanish phase - a continuation of La Isla Bonita - with both lyrics and rhythm. There's also a bit of a Caribbean vibe with keyboards imitating a steel dream sound. It's a fun, catchy record - not one of her greatest ever but certainly not bad at all, just a little repetitive. I haven't seen the movie that this is the theme for, but I'm betting it's not as good as the song. 

b/w White Heat 💙
I love the gangster movie vocal samples on this - I've never known where they originate from but Google tells me they're from the James Cagney film that gives the song its name. I think this is a better song than Who's That Girl although it's cheesier. It's a cut from True Blue so not a new song that's been recorded for the single or the film Who's That Girl but I can understand why they chose it for the b-side since it ties in with the themes of that movie. Madonna is in control of the relationship here, as she usually is, using the metaphor of robbery/arrest to make her lover submit to her. It's a good song that I have a soft spot for and will definitely talk about again when we get to True Blue. I'd be happy if I bought the single and got this thrown in, as I think it outshines the a-side. 

1417 - Genesis - Throwing It All Away 🟠
I like the minimal sleeve but it doesn't make me think Genesis - if you showed me it but blurred out the artist name, I'd have guessed Pet Shop Boys. The song reminds me a bit of a Boyzone ballad but aimed at dads instead of young girls. It's got that Police staccato to it as well that I don't like; the vibe is middle-aged white men trying to weave in 'world' music. As for the lyrics, Phil Collins is telling a lady that she'll regret leaving him. It's a real downer, and if this is the best he could do to convince me to stay, I'd divorce him too.

b/w I'd Rather Be You 🟡
This is much jauntier! It's got the funky bassline and handclap drums that are typical of a lot of late 80s bands. The lyrical subject matter is a continuation of the a-side though. I spent a lot of this song looking up the state of Phil Collins' marriage and found that he was 3 years into a 12 year marriage when this record was released, which seemed ludicrous until I found out that it was actually Mike Rutherford who was the lyricist of Throwing It All Away. However he was a decade into a marriage that's still going, which is even more shocking! If I was Mrs Rutherford I'd have some serious questions about this record. Like Madonna, the b-side is better than the a-side, but just being better doesn't make this good.

1418 - Terence Trent D'Arby - Wishing Well 🟡
Terence Trent D'Arby is hot. Imagine having a son this gorgeous and giving him the name 'Terence', it doesn't bear thinking about.
I know that he was compared to Prince and Michael Jackson a lot at the time and while he is sexy like Prince and has a good voice, he has the range of neither of those American greats. I was looking forward to this song but sadly it's very average and I don't have much to say for or against it. I just wish it lived up to the sleeve.

b/w Elevators & Hearts 🟡
This one has those gospel choir style backing vocals on it but he still sounds like Primark Jackson. It's a really slow song with one sudden fast bit in the middle, which was such a shock to me that I got a little fright and checked the record player in case it had malfunctions. Aside from that frisson of excitement this is a very dull song. Very disappointed with Terence. 

1419 - Echo & The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar 💙
Not to turn this into 'hot singer review' but Ian McCulloch looks very good on this sleeve in a fey indie softboi kind of way - it's a well composed cover. 
This is indie disco music but in spite of knowing how cliché it is for me to like it, I can't help but dance anyway. The song has one of those big empty indie/goth choruses - "lips like sugar, sugar kisses" which is the kind of meaningless romantic imagery that I'm all about. It has a guitar solo but it's interesting enough for me not to be mad about it. Lips Like Sugar is dreamy and I would like to listen to it again. 

b/w Rollercoaster 🟡
Tonight, Echo & The Bunnymen are... The Doors! The song is fine but seriously, it is very Doorsy, like, I checked the credits in case this was a cover of a Doors song. There's nothing wrong with it but it's not nearly as good as the a-side and it drags on a bit too long.

1420 - Black - Wonderful Life 🟢
The sleeve is stark, industrial, monochrome, Joy Division-esque. It's wrapped in a poster of Black, who looks like he's stepped out of 1955. Despite all of that, the song sounds very 1987. I think it's one of those songs that sounds very morose but is supposed to be uplifting when you listen to the lyrics. Something about it screams 'gay rights' to me - I thought it was maybe from the Smalltown Boy stable of hits to give hope to disenfranchised gay men - but Wikipedia tells me that Black had a wife and when he wrote the song he was being sarcastic so maybe not. Again, the song is alright but nothing special.

b/w Life Calls 🟢
Before I address the song, I need to mention the back of the sleeve, which has a colour photo of him smiling while going down a chute at a funfair. Total opposite vibe to the front cover. 
The guitar part has a touch of Johnny Marr - in fact it sounds a bit like What Difference Does It Make? - but then there's horns. The song is quite fun and the backing singer girls are good in this, much better than Terence Trent D'Arby's ladies. It has a great abrupt ending as well. However, once I'd started daydreaming about what The Smiths would be like with a horn section, I kind of lost interest in Black. Sorry. 

Overall I feel that perhaps my optimism about 1987 was misplaced. A couple of good songs in here - White Heat is fun and I've added Lips Like Sugar to my Spotify playlist - but nothing that's truly great. These are from my dad's collection so I can't get rid of them, but when it comes to Genesis I'd be Throwing It All Away. 

Music Review: disc #69

 This one comes from Winter 2012/2013 and I think it's a disc I made to back-up some of the 80s rock songs I'd gathered on my iTunes.  We're definitely going to be looking back to my glam metal phase today.

1. The Bangles - Hazy Shade Of Winter 💜
The fade-in, slow intro that fools you into thinking you're about to listen to something calm, before hitting you with the guitars and drums that properly start this song, is genius.  I first heard this when I saw Less Than Zero (terrible movie, decent book, amazing soundtrack) and this song is a stand-out.  Straight away I found myself comparing them to Bananarama who I wrote about in my last entry and I can confirm that The Bangles have much better harmonies.  I love the feeling of urgency in this song, like everything is slipping out of control.  I'm not sure whether it's the speed, the key or a combination of all of the elements that make it feel that way but it really feels like an adventure. 

2. Suzi Quatro - Can The Can 🟢

I didn't immediately recognise this song although I knew it was going to be some glam rock because it has those drums that every glam song has.  This isn't as good as The Wild One but I think if I'd been young in the 70s I would have loved this.  I can't name another woman from the glam rock era who is as well-known as Suzi Quatro, she really is the queen of the scene and she says fuck boys, turn this song up loud instead.  Can The Can sounds so much like 1973 and I can't help but wonder how it would sound if it was re-recorded with more modern production.

3. Skid Row - 18 & Life 🟢

This song is B-tier Skid Row - not as good as Youth Gone Wild or I Remember You, but still pretty good.  18 & Life is a classic 80s hair metal ballad - not particularly special but not a bad example.  Sebastian Bach has a great voice for the genre and he sounds good but I can't make out what he's saying half the time.

4. Bon Jovi - Wanted (Dead Or Alive) 🔵

I'm a little bit embarrassed to be rating a Bon Jovi song so highly.  It starts with windchimes and then a big 80s synth bottom line for some ambience.  I don't particularly get Jon Bon Jovi's Western fantasy but this is another great 80s hair metal ballad.  Like 18 & Life, it's not a love song - it's about being a man and a badass and a delinquent or something.  This song includes the line "I've seen a million faces - and I've rocked them all" which is possibly the cheesiest line in all of 80s hair metal but it's a fun song to sing along to for sure.  The outro is pretty class too.  Probably my favourite Bon Jovi song.

5. The Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian 💜

This is a certified classic - faultless and so much fun.  Walk Like An Egyptian is one of those 80s songs that's still known and loved by everyone today and there is good reason for that.  I love the lines about "the school kids so sick of books, they like the punk and the metal bands" and "if you wanna find all the cops, they're hanging out in the donut shop".  If this song doesn't make you dance, or at least crack a smile, there's something wrong with you.  

6. Rainbow - Since You've Been Gone 🟢

This is one of those songs that used to get played on my local radio station's Saturday night rock show a lot.  It's got too much of a middle-aged, long hair and unwashed biker jacket rocker vibe for me to be truly into it; it's a good song but there's no danger in it.  I'm glad the guitar solo in the middle of the song doesn't go on too long.  The one at the end takes the piss a little bit but the main riff is a classic.

7. Steel Panther - Death To All But Metal 🟡

Did I ever truly find Steel Panther funny?  Not especially.  They were just breaking into the mainstream rock press when I was getting into glam metal so their first album became part of my diet but this is the only song I kept from it, which doesn't say much for the others.  It's a fair pastiche of the genre and they've managed to build a career out of the parody - when I saw them they were supporting Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe on tour so that one line in this song asking where those bands were was particularly interesting.  I know this song is supposed to be satirical but I don't really like the sexism and homophobia in the lyrics - calling Britney Spears a slut, suggesting we kill and then rape Madonna, and calling all of the rappers mentioned 'gay' or 'f*g'... that doesn't sit well with me even when rappers get away with it. 

8. Pat Benatar - Heartbreaker 🟢

Pat Benatar has a great voice for 80s rock but this doesn't have the same punch as some of her other hits.  She's kind of got the attitude of Suzi Quatro mixed with that of Bonnie Tyler here.  There's some falsetto which I'm not sure about, and the production doesn't sound good although I think that could be the quality of the mp3 I downloaded.  

9. Metallica - Fuel 🔵

I wasn't into metal growing up so this is the only Metallica song that I both know and like.  It landed on my radar when I was about 10 and heard Avril Lavigne's cover of it, which I think I prefer to the original.  It's a thrilling song filled with adrenaline but there's too much guitar solo in it and it would have been perfect as a 2-3 minute hardcore song. 

10. Lita Ford - Falling In And Out Of Love 🟡

Another power ballad and one that I couldn't place immediately.  I was really into Lita Ford in my glam phase because I was a big fan of The Runaways and I thought it was cool that she went from their guitarist to the number one woman in the 80s glam metal scene.  Unfortunately, I don't think that many of her songs are that good.  I had this one because Nikki Sixx wrote it and mentioned it in his Heroin Diaries book (they dated a couple of years before he gave her this song).  Lita's not a great singer and while I admire her guitar ability, it doesn't really do anything for my musical enjoyment and I got a bit bored listening to this one.  I still think she is the coolest though, she can step on me.  

11. Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me) 💜

This song is anthemic and if you're not throwing your fist in the air like Judd Nelson when you hear the intro then you and I are very different people.  I love The Breakfast Club so this song has an emotional weight for me.  Its flaws are that the hushed vocal is quite difficult to sing along to and it drags on a little bit towards the end, but it'll allow it.

12. Mötley Crüe - Come On And Dance 🟢

The early Mötley Crüe sound is so cheap and heavy and glam and poorly recorded but that is part of the charm of their first album. Vince Neil can't sing but Mick Mars has a great guitar part in this.  You can tell that they're having a good time making this record even if there is far too much cowbell in it, and it's a good indication of a young band who are going to become big stars in a couple of records' time.  

13. Aerosmith - Walk This Way 🟢

The OG.  This song is good but the Run-D.M.C. cover is definitely an upgrade - the original Aerosmith chorus is just not as good.  This is the second song in a row that abuses the cowbell but the song has a groove and Steven Tyler's fast-paced delivery of the verses is impressive, it's easy to see why it was plucked out to become a huge rap-rock crossover hit.  The guitar part at the end is a pisstake solo though, goes on for too long.

14. Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot 🔵

Another song that's great to sing along to.  It reminds me of a couple of things - the scene in Rock Of Ages where Catherine Zeta-Jones sings it with her PMRC group, and Guitar Hero; one of the games has this song in its first level.  I recently had a go at playing it on guitar for real and it's a really fun song to play.  It's better than Heartbreaker and maybe my favourite of her songs. 

15. Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name 🟢

This is one of the cheesiest and most cliché 80s hair metal songs.  The woman in the lyrics sounds like an absolute legend and I want to be her friend.  Bon Jovi sound so shiny, professional and corporate compared to some of the earlier songs in this mix. 

16. Quiet Riot - Cum On Feel The Noize 🟢

A time is going to come where I have to write about Slade in this series and I am dreading that day because I hate them and their stupid misspelled song titles.  However, Quiet Riot make this song acceptable to me and makes sense in an 80s glam metal context as a bridge between 70s UK glam rock and 80s US hair metal.  I don't know my glam metal history as well as I did when I was 18 but I think this was one of the first songs to bring the Sunset Strip sound to the mainstream.  They sound like they're having a good time, but the song is just a bit too long. 

17. Nick Gilder - Roxy Roller 🔵

I've always been a bit unsure of this song and Nick Gilder in general.  Roxy Roller sounds like a glam rock song written for a fictional glam rock band from a 90s/00s movie about the scene.  The sound effects on it are really cool and I love Nick Gilder's androgynous vocals, but he's always been a bit of a mystery to me,  A bit of Googling has told me that this song should actually be credited to his band, Sweeney Todd, and that this was a big hit in his native Canada.  I feel like it should be one of those songs that's revered by kids on the internet now who are into the glam aesthetic, sitting alongside Bowie and Bolan and Roxy Music, but I don't hear much about it.  Anyway it sits firmly in the 'good glam' category - it's fun, doesn't last too long and has a sexy ending. 

18. Aerosmith - Dude (Looks Like A Lady) 🟢

Onto a song that does last too long.  It's another of the most cliché 80s rock songs, it's Aerosmith adapting to the hair metal scene.  The song is is chunky and busy and it's a good time, but it doesn't really go anywhere so it gets a little dull.  Steven Tyler does some good yelping towards the end which is almost enough to keep it interesting.  Minus points because I bet there are transphobes out there who think this is an acceptable thing to sing at people whose gender doesn't conform to their standards.

19. The B-52s - Rock Lobster 🔵

This mix ends with some new wave.  Rock Lobster is featured in some edgelord TV show, probably Family Guy, which ruins its appeal for me, but it is such a bop and I think fondly on it from the Muppets Tonight cover that I watched a lot as a kid.  It has a great bass line and a surf rock parody vibe (but in a loving way).  I love the sounds of the B-52s' voices and how Fred Schneider kind of speaks his vocals.  I think this is a 12" edit because it's almost 7 minutes long, which is a bit too much for me.  At around 2:30 the music gives off the impression of sinking into the ocean, which happens a couple more times - every time you think you've sunk to the bottom and drowned that bass line creeps back up on you and drags you back into the madness.  It has peril and plot and go-go dancing potential, like a cool version of Under The Sea from The Little Mermaid where everyone has completely lost their minds.  The section near the end where they start naming sea creatures and doing impressions is insane.  I love it.  

Music Review: The Best Of Bananarama

 

Before I say anything about Bananarama I want to make it very clear that I did not acquire this CD from buying a copy of The Mail On Sunday.  Fuck the Daily Mail.  Anyway, I used to work in a charity shop and from time to time customers would donate the CDs and DVDs that came free with their newspapers.  We didn't sell them in the shop so they'd sit in the back room for the volunteers to sift through and take if there was anything they fancied, and then they'd be tossed in the skip.  That's how I ended up with The Best Of Bananarama. 

I know a handful of Bananarama hits but this is the first time I've ever sat down and listened to them at length.  First off I want to say that I think Bananarama is a terrible name for a band.  I also don't rate this cardboard sleeve very highly - what are those outfits meant to be?  Lets talk about the music though.

1. Venus 🟢

As soon as this starts it sounds so 80s and so obviously produced by Stock Aitken Waterman.  I'm going to complain about SAW a lot over the next 15 songs.  One thing I've always wondered about Bananarama is why they always seem to sing in unison - it sounds like there's always three voices but they all sound the same with no harmony, which is kind of unusual.  This cover isn't as good as Shocking Blue's original but it's out there doing it for the gay club.  Every time they say "and Venus was her name" I think of "B-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-o" which is pretty annoying, thanks to my brain for that one.  Since it's a cover of a Shocking Blue 60s hit, there's not much to move the song along so at 2:40 I was looking at the clock on the CD player thinking the song was starting to drag on a bit and there was another full minute after that of them repeating the chorus.  And Venus was her name-o.  

2. Love In The First Degree 🟢

Again, the SAW production hits you in the face.  It sounds a lot like Kylie - you could imagine I Should Be So Lucky to follow the intro instead of hearing Bananarama.  They don't sound like they're good singers - they're like a group of girls out on a karaoke night, but they sound like they're having a really good time doing it and I'm happy for them.  Again, it has big gay club vibes.

3. I Want You Back 🟡

Sadly not a Jackson 5 cover like I was hoping, even though I could see the songwriting credit on the back of the CD case.  The SAW production sounds so dated and so much like early Kylie, it's starting to get me down.  No wonder Siobhan quit and formed Shakespear's Sister, I'd go goth from the misery of having to be in this sausage machine band-producer relationship.  And once again, it sounds so g a y.

[Pride (2014) gifs found here]

4. Robert de Niro's Waiting 🟢

This is the first song on the CD that comes from before the link-up with SAW and there's a clear difference.  The girls sing this song in a lower key which sounds easier for them and even though it lacks the hi-NRG beats, it sounds more fun.  I'm not sure whether Robert de Niro would be seen as a weird crush in 1984 - a Google search suggests he was a decent-looking guy but I don't think hearing him "talking Italian" quite matches up to the dream of "kissing Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream".  Maybe this song is where genuine 1984 heartthrob Prince got the idea for that Manic Monday lyric, which might be the reason why I link Bananarama and The Bangles in my head.  Would it be unfair of me to call Bananarama a Primark Bangles?

5. Cruel Summer 🔵

That marimba intro is instantly recognisable.  Cruel Summer has such a good vibe - it's a summery dance song but it has this melancholy to it - it's up there in the tradition of Summertime Blues and Summertime Sadness as a reminder that sun doesn't always mean fun.  The girls sing together again but there are some good harmonies and a cool guitar part in this song.  Everything about this just sounds better than the SAW songs.

6. Really Saying Something 🔵

This is one of the Bananarama/Fun Boy Three collaboration songs.  It's not as good as It Ain't What You Do, which unfortunately isn't on this CD, but it's still funky since it has the same sort of sound.  Covering and updating a retro girl-group song really works well for the group here, there are great vocal harmonies that have been picked up from that tradition and they sound really cool.  It's a real shame that SAW ironed all of that out of them. 

7. Shy Boy 🟢

This opens with some 'shoop shoop' singing from the group.  It's not a cover of a 60s girl group song, but it's got that vibe to it and it suits them.  The song is average, but it's a good average. 

8. Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) 🟡

Bingo adverts have ruined this song forever.  They do a good job of this cover - the crescendo of the refrain is really smart and has a football chant feel to it, although I can't picture straight men listening to Bananarama.  I'd probably rate it higher if I could separate the song from the connotation but I can't listen to it without hearing a jingle for a bingo website interrupting whatever show I'm streaming. 

9. Love, Truth and Honesty 🟠

After that respite, we're plunged back into SAW-land.  Compared with what has gone before, this just sounds really shit and badly-produced and like every other SAW song of the time.  The group aren't the strongest singers and this production highlights their limits rather than making the most of their abilities.  I don't like to be one of those people who say they liked a band's old stuff better - but Bananarama were so much better before they linked up with these garbage men!

10. I Heard a Rumour 🟡

This is a bit better and sounds like the production team has put a little more effort in.  The vocals sound stronger in the verses, but the chorus lets everything down by sounding half-arsed.  There's a bit in the chorus melody that reminds me of Teardrops by Womack & Womack and I wish I was listening to that instead. 

11. Movin' On 🟠

This is the most modern song on the CD, having been released in 1992, and they're trying to sound a little bit Eurodance.  It's not as good as what was coming out of Europe though - they kind of sound like Steps.  There's a piano part, which sounds like ABBA; a guitar solo, which sounds a bit like ABBA; and lyrics which aren't too far away from ABBA either.  However, it's got this relentless sub-Eurodance beat under it all which sounds horrible.  Bananarabba?  Abbananarama?  

12. More Than Physical 🟢

This is... funky? Even... sexy?  The vocals are sung almost in a whisper along with a funky bass that sounds like the sort of thing you might hear in a cool 80s club.  I was really impressed with this until I placed why the 'oooh yeah' part sounds familiar - it sounds exactly like the one in the chorus of What Have You Done For Me Lately by Janet Jackson, which came out the same year.  In fact, all of this has a Janet vibe - would it be rude of me to call Bananarama a Primark Janet Jackson?  The back of the CD case doesn't credit SAW with this one so I looked it up online to see if maybe it was produced by Janet's people, but Wikipedia reckons this is a SAW production after all.

13. I Can't Help It 🟠

Now, this is unmistakably a SAW production and I cringe at how predictable they are.  Without the cheesy drum beat and brass sounds that they throw into every song, this could also have been a sexy and cool pop song, but that's not the track that the producers from hell wanted to make.  I wonder whether Bananarama were impressed by the sound of More Than Physical, and the success of Venus, and signed their souls away to this team expecting more good results, but then immediately had this utter dogshit production shoved onto everything they wrote forever.

14. Only Your Love 🟢

Something edgy?!  It's 1990, and Bananarama have been to a rave! And they've ditched SAW and made something that sounds good!! Wikipedia says this samples both Loaded by Primal Scream and Fools Gold by The Stone Roses, which I think makes them the coolest indie band around?  I think if they'd given this to Rowetta or Denise Johnson it would have sounded better but it's a good effort.  Bananaramadchester.

15. Rough Justice 🟡

We end with something from earlier in their back catalogue and what appears to be socially-conscious Bananarama.  I couldn't make out enough of the lyrics to truly work out whether there was a narrative but the chorus goes on about children starving in the streets and you know Bob Geldof was taking notes (there are only four women on Do They Know It's Christmas?, and 3 of them are in Bananarama).  It's fine and makes sense as a final song, but it's not a banger. 

Overall I was kind of disappointed by this set of songs.  I was hoping to find more gems as good as Cruel Summer and It Ain't What You Do but instead I was assaulted by the insistent drum machine and fake brass and stripping out of harmony that is Stock Aitken Waterman.  The most interesting Bananarama songs are the ones they didn't get to touch and I hope I don't have to spend a lot more time with their production house as part of this project.  I won't be throwing this CD out because I have rated about half of them as above-average, but there's nothing here that would come close to being my favourite song.  

Music Monday: my 80s mixtape

Making mixtapes is one of the first skills that I remember being taught by my dad, as a child of about 5 or 6 who borrowed compilation CDs from the library and recorded my favourite songs onto cassette to keep. We had a hi-fi in the corner of the living room with a turntable, CD player and tape-deck - which now sits in the corner of my bedroom - where I recall sitting and performing the ritual of hitting the 'play' and 'record' buttons simultaneously just in time for my chosen song to start, watching the tape wind its way from one spool to the other, then slamming the 'pause' button on the tape before the CD moved on to the next song.

I'd make tapes to play in my room and in the car: first pop songs, then the punk and alternative that I grew to love as a teenager. As a 90s baby who was inherently distrustful of the record player, I hired my dad to record the Grease soundtrack from my mum's vinyl for me when I went through my Grease phase (every girl has a Grease phase, right?). 

Once I had a computer I graduated to burning CDs of the songs I'd downloaded and meticulously creating playlists on iTunes, Spotify, 8tracks and so on, but they lack the skill of knowing when to press the buttons and the panic of not knowing whether the tape was going to run out midway through a song. Despite the availability of every song ever recorded on the internet, I still like to put together a mixtape every now and again. 

I put this mix together about nine months ago, after a viewing of the two Trainspotting movies ignited my passion for the two 'Temptations' below and tied together lots of my 80s pop favourites. (Side note: I didn't blog for most of 2017 and if you're wondering what I was doing during that time, I was mostly watching Trainspotting.) Since I've now conquered the turntable, I put the whole thing together from the boxes of 7" singles that my parents have passed down to me (and a couple that I've picked up myself) for that authentic crackling vinyl sound, which is unfortunately missing from the Spotify re-creation at the bottom of this entry. Still, I recommend this playlist - it's lasted nine months in my tape-deck without me getting tired of it which I think proves how great the music of this era is - and how strong my mixtape game is!

Side 1

1. Temptation - Heaven 17

AKA the song that's playing in Trainspotting when the gang are in the nightclub. Tommy and Spud are chatting about their girl troubles, Begbie and Sick Boy are pairing off with that night's partners, and Renton is scouring the room for someone to satisfy his "post-junk libido". It's one of my most-played songs of the year because it goes so hard.

2. Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood

'Welcome To The Pleasuredome' is probably my favourite 80s album - I blogged about how much I loved it when I first discovered it way back at the start of 2016 and my adoration has not waned. 'Relax' is one of the biggest British songs of all time and pops up in all sorts of places; I often say that my favourite movie is every movie that has a scene set to this song so hearing it fade in when Begbie and Renton face off in T2 was very exciting for me. 

3. Temptation - New Order
Not to be confused with Heaven 17, the New Order song of the same name is the one that Diane sings in the morning when Renton wakes up to her family, and again when he's having come-down hallucinations. I'd actually discovered it just before seeing the movie and it's become one of my favourite New Order songs, seconded only by 'Age Of Consent'. There are a load of different versions, like every New Order song, but the single version is my favourite. 

4. Too Shy - Kajagoogoo
Not linked to Trainspotting, just a fun 80s pop song. I can't remember whether or not my parents had a copy of this but I picked one up at the charity shop where I used to work. 

5. Tainted Love - Soft Cell

There's not much that I need to say about 'Tainted Love'. It's a synthpop classic and no playlist of 80s synthy tunes should be without it. 

6. Sheila Take A Bow - The Smiths
Being The Smiths, this obviously isn't a synth tune, but they're one of the best things to come out of the 80s regardless. I chose 'Sheila Take A Bow' since it's an uncharacteristically cheerful Smiths song, so it can keep up with the Hi-NRG of the Frankies and the synth hits that appear elsewhere on the mix.

7. Gold - Spandau Ballet
This song is so uplifting. It reminds me of my friends from work who have picked it out as their go-to karaoke song, and the way that a little snippet was played on the BBC every time someone British won a gold medal at the London Olympics. 

8. Geno - Dexys Midnight Runners
The popular choice from Dexys is obviously 'Come On Eileen' but my best friend referenced this song so often that I listened to it and realised it was an underrated classic. They use brass instead of synths but the feeling is there.

9. It's A Sin - Pet Shop Boys
Synthpop? More like sinthpop. This song is so loud and desperate, I love it.

10. Only You - Yazoo
This song is a masterpiece and I didn't realise until recently that Yazoo's is the original and The Flying Pickets' version is a cover. It's on an advert this Christmas and I'm eternally grateful that they used Yazoo and not some twee acoustic folk cover. 

11. Mad World - Tears For Fears
Another song that has a famous cover and a supreme original synthy 80s version. 

12. Come Back And Stay - Paul Young
This song doesn't really relate so closely to the others but there's something about it that I'm obsessed with. I think it's the melody of the chorus. It's been kind of forgotten in the 21st century and deserves to be known.

13. True Faith - New Order

A second New Order song, since they're so good. This also has a rad chorus and a good 90s version. 

Side 2

1. Two Tribes - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
It's impossible for me to choose between 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes'. Both were huge hits and both are absolute classics of the genre. Definitely one that makes me want to dance.

2. A Little Respect - Erasure
This is one of my favourite songs of all time - everything about it is perfect. I don't love Erasure enough to go and see them play live, but I'd love to get down to A Little Respect in a crowded concert hall.

3. 21st Century Boy - Sigue Sigue Sputnik
My dad played this for my brother and I when we were first allowed to go through his records as kids and I immediately loved it. Sigue Sigue Sputnik's whole aesthetic was that they were from the future, which is hilarious now considering how dated they sound and look. Still, I think they're so cool and I'd have been a total fangirl for them if I was a teen in the 80s.

4. New Life - Depeche Mode
I picked this record up in a charity shop because my dad unfortunately did not collect many Depeche Mode singles in his time. I think this was their first hit and it's an adorable amateur synthpop song - it's incredible how far they've come since. 

5. You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - Dead Or Alive
This is another of those songs that needs no introduction, since it was and still is such a massive hit record. When I listen to it now there's always a tinge of sadness since Pete Burns is no longer with us but that doesn't stop me from dancing.

6. Love & Pride - King
I think I heard this song in the movie 'Pride' and immediately needed to know what it was. I love yelling along with the chorus. 

7. Are "Friends" Electric? - Tubeway Army 
Technically this isn't an 80s song but it's such an important piece of electronica and also a mainstay of my playlist for the last 18 months or so. The repetitive synth riff and the sad vocals are an irresistible combination.

8. Goody Two Shoes - Adam Ant 
Adam Ant hopped onto my playlist at the same time as the last song and it was hard to choose just one of his songs for my mix. I went with 'Goody Two Shoes' because it makes me want to move more than any of his other songs and is ridiculously catchy.

9. Atomic - Blondie 
I guess this is another song that I carried over from Trainspotting, although it's a cover that plays in the movie. However, 'Atomic' was one of the songs on a mixtape of punk and new wave that my dad put together for me when I started listening to Green Day back in my pre-teen days, so it's been with me for a long time. I definitely have the Trainspotting movies to thank for the amount of Blondie I've listened to in 2017. 

10. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes - Ultravox
Not 'Vienna', which I also love, but a different song which I took a chance on. I actually wasn't overly familiar with 'Dancing With Tears In My Eyes' before I committed it to tape, but it was a good choice to make. 

11. True - Spandau Ballet

Every mixtape needs a ballad, right? And this New Romantic classic is really the 80s ballad, definitely appearing in a Molly Ringwald prom scene at some point.

12. Never Let Me Down Again - Depeche Mode
A second song by one of my favourite bands to round the playlist off. I actually went to see them last weekend and am now in that honeymoon phase of obsession where I'm consuming all things Depeche Mode, so I applaud my past self for having the foresight to choose one of my favourite songs of theirs for me to blog about now. 

Hear the whole playlist here: