The Greatest 200 singles of the 1980s (120 to 111)

I did a list of 200 songs in this countdown because I couldn't squeeze all the songs I love into such a small number as 100 - this part of the countdown shows you exactly why I needed more than 100 slots in the chart.  Being, as we are, nearly 30 years on from the end of that decade, I feel like the bits that would cloud my judgement of the quality of the songs from then (such as, the power to bring back memories of lying in grass in the summer sun) have all but gone so this list really is about how good a 3 minutes each of these songs is.  So, here's the part of the countdown which contains the real heart of the top 200 - better than those which just made it in but not quite good enough to knock anything out of the top half.

The video for this part of the countdown is right here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfDAfa7lSL4&list=PL8C2p97n8SmX5qmS8asB7YWWuu2GCDq_o&index=10&t=0s

120 - I can't wait - Nu Shooz

This is such a simple song.  With its DX-7 bass opening and the chirpy synths, you'd think this was the first number 1 hit after humanity was overrun with robot overlords.  This epitomises the 'single' as an entity because I can't for the life of me tell you what the song is about - the whole overshadows the meaning (if there is one). It's probably about the run-up to Christmas? Whatever, it's utterly joyful.

This might or might not be Nu Shooz in what might or might not be new shoes.

119 - Everything Counts - Depeche Mode

There's a theme here I think - the synths on this song are like none I'd ever heard before.  They were dark, industrial and took up most of the sonic space leaving just a tiny bit for Dave to fit his vocal in.  The lyrics are a bit dodgy mind - 'The turning point of a career, in Korea, feeling insincere'.  You can't have everything I suppose.  The 'it's a competitive world' bit almost ruins the song but for some reason, it doesn't and I can't work out why it doesn't - because it should. But it doesn't.  Comments on why it should but doesn't, welcome below.

Very upset at the length of the queue at the post office

118 - What have I don't to deserve this? - Pet Shop Boys feat. Dusty Springfield

Read any published top 40 chart (whichever one you want to listen to these days) and you'll see that most of the songs in it are 'someone featuring someone' or two or more people who are not in a group together, collaborating.  For example, in today's top 20 you have the following :

#2 - Meduza Feat. Goodboys
#6 - Avicii Feat. Aloe Blacc
#8 - Russ Feat. Tion Wayne
#9 - Marshmello Feat. CHVRCHES
#11 - Dave Feat. Burna Boy
#12 - Wiley Feat. Idris Elba
#14 - Jax Jones & Martin Solveig & Madison Beer
#16 - Calvin Harris & Rag'n'Bone man
#17 - Steel Banglez Feat. AJ Tracey
#20 - Lauv & Troye Sivan

That's 50% of the top 20!!  Point being, back in the 80s it also happened but like, once in a blue moon and when it did, it was someone featuring a living legend like Aretha Franklin, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, Kylie and Jason - and this one, Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield.  More synths, yes, but with a wonderful story, a great vocal performance from one of my least favourite 'singers', Neil Tennant and a superb vocal performance from the queen of vocal performances.  The correct spelling of the lyrics in the bridge is: 'How'm'I gonna get through?'.  Two apostrophes in the same word, like the word couldn't've. I think.

Take two bottles into the shower? No? Well, you should.

117 - Heart and Soul - T'pau

I saw Carol Decker supporting Nik Kershaw and Go West a few years ago and she nearly broke the sound system with her voice.  China in your hand, Secret Garden and Valentine are all songs built on her powerful pipes but this song really allows her to shine (the chorus at least) and make you feel a little bit scared.  If this is how she sings, you definitely don't want to get on the wrong side of her.  The 'rap' again, shouldn't work but it does but it shouldn't etc.

She's giving you 'the look'. What did you do??

116 - Land of Confusion - Genesis

I'm sure there's a clever musical construct which explains why the intro to this song grabs you by the bits you don't want to get grabbed by, but it's probably in some kind of mordant harmonic diminished seventh key that doesn't exist or something.  The energy that this song has just drags you along and you can't escape. Not that you'd want to - only the slightly chilled out middle 32 gives you a moment to breathe and you can hear Phil getting rather upset about society by the last chorus and he almost makes you want to go out and vote for something or someone. The video is weirdly wonderful too.

Genesis before giving Spitting Image the go ahead to make puppets of them

115 - Wherever I lay my hat - Paul Young

I didn't fall in love with this song until a good few years down the line.  I always thought it lacked the key elements that a single should have - but it still went in at number one and stayed there for a good while.  It was the album 'No Parlez' that I loved. I saw Paul Young do the whole album live last year and it was unbelievable.  'Behind your smile', 'Oh Women', 'Ku Ku Kurama' and 'Come back and Stay' were a main part of my soundtrack to the summer of '83. I discovered the delicacies of this song later, and yes, it has more soul than Marvin Gaye's version.  That high note in the outro - chilling.

"Do you have a copy of Fly Fishing by Paul Young?"

114 - Give me the Reason - Luther Vandross

I loved all the synth bass heavy songs around in 1985-1988. It underpinned most of Madonna's hits at the time and hooked me in to this ditty.  From the video, I guess it's from a movie of the time that I've never seen or heard of.  I completely forgot about this song until about ten years after it was released when I saw the album in my local library. I loaned it and fell in love with all the other stuff on there too. Luther's voice is like no other.  He can tell you exactly how he's feeling through the way he sings, never mind what he's singing about.  One of music's true legends.

Luther's brand of silk jammies never took off.  He's not very happy about it either.

113 - How will I know - Whitney Houston

As a song, it probably wouldn't be in a top 200 but as a single, it's terrific.  This is what singles should sound like - almost like a 'how to' guide.  It was meant to be recorded by Janet Jackson, and that would have been a mistake - even when she was singing 'Nasty' and 'Black Cat' and being fabulous, she never got near Whitney.  Only Mariah got near Whitney.  It was written by the duo behind 'Waiting for a star to fall', a song which features a lot higher up in this count down. Good that they kept that one for themselves!

You'd think she'd look more scared after being sucked into a kaleidoscope

112 - Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson

Yeah - this is a good song. We should probably move on though...

111 - Hot Water - Level 42

Due to lack of funds as a 9 year old, there were certain songs I had to try and 'catch' on the radio and press play/record as they came on.  (There's a song in my 1990s count down (to come later) that I was so desperate to have on tape, I left my C120 recording then set off for school and hoped that when I got home, I'd caught it).  On the Sunday chart show, they would often skip songs to get to the top 20. I must have missed the week this song got to #18 as I never managed to get it on tape at the time and didn't buy anything other than Duran Duran albums in 1984.  Then 1999 rolls around, Level 42 release a greatest hits album, I've got a cheeky £9.99 in the bank and I rediscover this song all over again.  Mark King's twangy percussive bass lines propped up most of their songs but this is so energetic and attention grabbing, I can't believe it didn't go top 10.

All the other blokes in your dad's darts team.

That's it for this installment but if you fancy a 'laugh' then you could always buy my book 

'The Worst Pop Lyrics in the World Ever' 

off of Amazon here :  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Worst-Pop-Lyrics-World-Ever/dp/1530279186/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1545671900&sr=1-12

The Greatest 200 singles of the 1980s (130 to 121)

Welcome to a Not-at-all-christmassy edition of the greatest singles of the 80s list just in time for Christmas (only Fairy tale of New York makes the top 200 at 174) so if you're sick of Christmas songs, I can assure you that you're safe here.  In case you missed the video for this blog entry, here it is (Youtube blocked the video because it contained 13 seconds of a Duran Duran song and that's against the law or something)...

130 - Rio - Duran Duran

Nick Rhodes dropped a load of metal bars onto the strings of a grand piano and recorded it. He then reversed the tape and stuck it on the start of this song which gave it that weird metallic 'sshhllooooop' sound before John Taylor gives the performance of his life on the bass.  To my knowledge, this was the song that catapulted Duran into the stratosphere, more because of the video than anything else I think.  It epitomised the movement at the time. Gone were the ruffles of the New Romantics and in came the suits - not sure if Duran were first but Spandau were also very suity around this time. Robert Palmer of course was the king of the suit; not sure if it was this that made him collaborate with Andy and John in the Power Station after Duran's mid-80s demise?  Rio was an energetic cacophony of saxophones, guitar riffs, bass mayhem and odd synthesizer noises.  Rio was also one of the greatest albums of all time and this was the perfect kickstart.

You sure this is the only seat left on the boat?

129 - Straight up - Paula Abdul

Paula wanted you to tell her whether you wanted to love her forever or whether she'd been caught in a hit and run.  It's a sad state when you can't distinguish events in your love life from a road traffic accident but that's another story.  There were rumours at the time that Paula didn't sing her own stuff but have you heard her voice? Of course she did. She was a choreographer before releasing this song but the planets aligned and this landed her a singing career.  Thankfully, she suited this song perfectly which had everything that was great about the charts in 1989.  To think, her mother laughed until she cried when she heard the demo of this song, so bad was it; she then threw it in the bin.  Paula retrieved it and convinced her record company to let her record it. The rest, as they say, is geography.

Paula is a shadow of her former self

128 - The sun always shines on TV - A-ha

After 'that' video, A-ha had to come up with a way to follow it and not pale into the one hit wonder wilderness.  Take on me was such an amazing single, it was either, 'here's a group who can bang out hit after hit, Abba-style', or 'here's a band who happened on a great single and then ran out of ideas'.  'The sun always shines' cemented the image of the band and guaranteed a second album.  Morten out front, smouldering with his sonically pleasing chirps, Magne twiddling his synths and Pal driving the rhythm with guitar, all blended to take you on a pop journey which feels a lot like being on one of those rubber rings, being propelled down a water slide being smashed in the face by bags of grated cheese as you go.  By the time Morten sings the final 'to meeeeeeee' and you hear that last bass note on the piano, you're so exhausted, you need to go for a sit down and some therapy.

Ahh, Mr. Bond. I have been waiting for you.

127 - Baby Jane - Rod Stewart

I might be wrong but this wasn't a Rod style song at all. Not since 'Do ya think I'm sexy' (for the record, no - no I don't), had Rod had such a big hit - it went all the way to number 1 in fact.  I'm not a big fan of the Tina Turner look-a-like, although I did like Maggie May, so it was a surprise to me that I liked this song so much.  I think it has a lot to do with the synthesizer at the beginning and the flange on the vocals in the chorus.  I just loved the technology in music at the time and it was another mid-80s song to have a saxophone solo.  I'm guessing there wasn't a single Sax player in the 80s who was out of work.

I said where have you hidden my hairspray? Ey? Where?

126 - Push it - Salt 'n Pepa

This was actually a b-side to the group's 1987 song Tramp - released in its own right in 1988. The bass line at the start is the hook, two different synth bass sounds from different keyboards played together for the depth and a third and fourth lead saw from different keyboards over the top managing to mask the largely average rapping made the song a catchy little number. There was a nod to the Kinks in there too with 'you really got me going so I don't know what I'm doing', which was nice.  Timbaland sampled this song for one of my other favourite songs of all time 'The way I are' which came out in 2007-ish.

Salt 'n Pepa about to enter the intra-rap-group gymnastics contest 1988

125 - Train of Thought - A-ha

Another entry from A-ha's first album here (the 4th to be released from that album in fact).  They went back to the pencil sketch video for this even though the concept was now a bit done as Take on Me had been played to death everywhere.  The lyrics were based on guitarist Pal's favourite existentialist poets - the song being all about going to work and coming home again, seeing strangers everywhere and seeing nothing but the black and white emptiness of carrying out methodical tasks for eight hours a day to make someone else's dreams come true.  Quite bleak but the driving bass and 'train like' rhythm managed to lift the mood to the level of a pop song that was rather enjoyable.

Morton wasn't well in this video.  Here he is looking rather drawn.

124 - Seven Seas - Echo and the Bunnymen

Ian McCulloch singing like no other here.  It's a mystery how this masterpiece only reached number 16. The lyrics are masterful, the guitars delightfully clangy and the chime bars are very christmassy and so out of place they come back round the circle and just nudge back into place.  Kissing tortoises (pronounced incorrectly of course) and burning witches, it all you could ever want in a 3 minute pop song and more.  Wonderful.

We are smiling. This is us in a brilliant mood.

123 - One better day - Madness

I loved Madness.  I loved their attitude and their bravery, or was that just a lack of will to conform? Their songs stood out from the crowd so much, you didn't even have to ask 'Is this Madness?'.  However, they began to mature as they neared their first break up. Their songs took on more serious matters in a more moribund tone but I loved that.  There's a B-side called 'Maybe in another life' and it's glorious but so full of regret and sadness, it saps your soul right out of your body.  One better day is based on that phrase, 'he's seen better days' and when I hear it I always picture an elderly woman sitting on a bench at the bus stop outside Kwik Save with a few bags of shopping. It's quite sad really but the chorus is very Abba with the same motif as Dancing Queen and Suggs actually sounds like a serious pop singer for once.  Not in-keeping with their previous work at all, which is probably why it didn't make a large dent in the chart. I got the feeling they weren't on the best of terms with their record company at the time either as they were forced to release 'The Sweetest Girl', a cover of a Scritti Politti song which included the line 'the maddest group in all the world, how could they do this to to me?' - that sounded like a veiled dig to me.

Some of Madness looking a bit stressed by a canal, as usual

122 - I don't wanna talk about it - Everything but the girl

There was a moment in the summer of 1988 when I was so in love with music, I would just listen to the radio from the moment I came home from school until about 2 in the morning when I fell asleep (with the radio still on).  There were so many brilliant songs in the charts that I couldn't believe it could get any better.  I remember four songs in particular which were all in the top 20 at the time, three of which will be in the top 20 of this list (when we eventually get there) and this one makes up the quartet.  I don't wanna talk about it was a cover of a song written back in 1971 and I'd never heard the Rod Stewart cover version before Everything but the girl brought their version out.  I wasn't used to an acoustic guitar driven song at that time; I'm struggling to think of one that doesn't use chords in fact in an 80s song.  I'd started writing songs in 1989 having just acquired a keyboard with an 8 track memory and I longed to have someone like Tracey Thorn to sing my tunes.  I still do in fact.

99... 100... coming ready or not

121 -Word up - Cameo

Some people have no sense of sentiment or sanctity.  Especially Scottish band 'Gun', Mel B or Little Mix!? A song like this needs to be in a museum, protected by armed guards and the only person allowed to touch it is Larry Blackmon, but only if he's wearing those special gloves that snooker referees wear.  Nobody should be allowed to go near this song.  That synth snare, that bass line, those weird backing vocals and yelps at the end, Larry's voice, the saw solo in the middle, the spaghetti western whistle - everything.  Admittedly, most Cameo songs which followed this number 3 hit sounded more or less the same without reaching the majesty of this absolute classic.


That's it for this installment but if you fancy a 'laugh' then you could always buy my book 'The Worst Pop Lyrics in the World Ever' off of Amazon here :  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Worst-Pop-Lyrics-World-Ever/dp/1530279186/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1545671900&sr=1-12

 

The Greatest 200 singles of the 1980s (140 to 131)

We're at a point in the list where you're going to think - hang on, if that's at number 137, then what's at number one???  The 80's was such an amazing decade for music; more for the range of genres than anything else.  You could look at any top 40 in the 80s (more towards the beginning of the 80s than the end) and find a good 15-20 different genres.  This part of the countdown contains a lot of pop music, a bit of rock, a smidge of soul, a sprinkling of funk and Cliff Richard.  Yes.  Sir Clifford of St. Richardton. I have no apology.

140 - It's a Sin - Pet Shop Boys

Neil Tennant mastered the talk-sing genre.  His 'rapping' on West End Girls is something to behold and on this song, he makes sounding bored an art form.  When I first heard this song I didn't think music could get any better.  The lightning, the synth brass hits, the religious nods and admission of depravity all tied up in a glistening pop parcel fronted by the two most sour faced pop stars of all time.  On the cover of the album, Neil is yawning his head off whilst Chris just sits there, staring into the lens thinking about all the bad choices he made in life.  The endless ennui they no doubt experienced in the recording studio bleeding from song lyrics such as 'I love you; you pay my rent' and 'What have I done to deserve this'.  This song however is a timeless classic that could well have been recorded yesterday.  Simply brilliant.

As the excitement in Neil's flat built, the doorbell finally rang and they both dined on pizza with anchovies and quinoa

139 - When I think of you - Janet Jackson

"This is a song about control... and I have lots of it!", croons Ms Jackson in the opening track to her 1986 album, 'Control'.  A lot was made of the video for this song, supposedly shot in one take - if you take out all the pans to dark flooring and back up again to a completely different location.  You can recognise Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' influence a mile away and that clicking synth bass is present all over this song with the glossy piano tines that hung over into Alexander O'Neal's 'Hearsay' the following year.  'When I think of you' doesn't actually go anywhere; it just repeats the same two chords all the way through and apart from the weird noises in the middle eight which sound like they've left the tape running whilst some people have a fight in the car park, Janet just flits through with her angelic pixie-like voice, pulling you along like you're on rollerblades - or, those roller skates you had to tie to your shoes and could make longer or shorter with an unscrewable bolt in the middle.  My point being, if you can make two chords repeating over and over sound this good, you're probably Jam and Lewis.

'Would you like to buy a massive violin?'

138 - Alive and Kicking - Simple Minds

I've said it once and I'll say it again, Jim Kerr is what Bono could have been if he'd stayed in college.  However, he left and became a massive global superstar and Jim remained famous only in the UK.  I love Simple Minds.  I really wanted to put 'Sanctify Yourself' in the top 200 but it just fell short - however, that's one way of getting more than 200 songs in this list... I love the power of Simple Minds' songs - She's a River, Waterfront, Let the Day begin, Stars will lead the way and Glittering Prize.  They all get a listen at least once a month with the volume RIGHT up.  Alive and Kicking is an absolute gem of a song. An undeniable classic that never fails to get the blood coursing around your eyeballs.  The video with them standing dangerously close to the edge of a cliff is also particularly scary and only adds to the gravitas of the song.

We're raising awareness of cliff erosion through the power of song

137 - Our Lips are Sealed - Fun Boy Three

I didn't really get Terry Hall when I was growing up.  I first saw him when I was probably six years old, standing on stage with a really thin microphone, his fluffy hair at huge odds with the facial expression of a person who lost all their money on a one horse race.  He just sort of stood there. Sort of singing. Looking like he sort of wanted to be there but not really.  Like he'd just wandered in off the street to stand in for the real singer, looking a bit shifty and looking forward to the whole Top of the Pops thing to be over so he could go get a chicken from ASDA, go home and make tea for the cousin he stupidly allowed to stay over 4 months ago and never left.  I should really Google this but I'm sure 'Our lips are sealed' was written by Hall with one of the Go-Gos, probably Jane Wiedlin.  This song has stuck with me throughout the years and I've always enjoyed it when I've heard it accidentally on the radio or something.  It's so jolly - for Terry Hall anyway.

A 'Dazzling' performance from Terry's washing powder

136 - The look of love - ABC

I never got the joke.  The song was titled, 'The look of love - part 1' and on the album 'The Lexicon of Love' there was a 'part 4'.  Still not sure what that was all about.  However, I'd not been exposed to a lot of pop/funk/soul before I got into Prince.  It didn't surprise me that ABC later did a song called 'Minneapolis' from where their sound was derived.  They had the lush synth basses of Human League and the wonderful soaring vocals of Martin Fry but they mixed in sweeping strings, tom toms, bell synths and powerful deep grand pianos too. What a lovely combination.  It was grand pop opera at it's absolute greatest.  I still can't believe 'All of My Heart' was written and recorded in 1983.  More on that later though.

I'm sure I parked my Ice Cream van round here somewhere

135 - Intuition - Linx

Having a bad day?  Stick this on.  What happens if you put David Grant and Norman Junior 'Mama Used to Say' Giscombe in a room?  Everything that's great about British soul/funk.  I liked everything both these guys did in the 80s - especially Junior's collab with Kim Wilde.  Listen to the intro to this song and then play the arcade game 'Out Run'.  Can't believe they didn't sue Ocean!! 

These glasses will be all the rage in 1983

134 - I just don't have the heart - Cliff Richard

I was pretty down on Stock, Aitken and Waterman in the late 80s.  They'd come along and taken over the charts with songs which all used the same formula, drum machine and vibe.  They seemed to just take the same song, use different lyrics and stick someone pretty at the front.  That wasn't the case with this Cliff track however.  Not that he's not pretty in his own way but it was a bit left field for both of them to get involved together.  Donna Summer had her moment with SAW, as did Bill Tarmey (Jack Duckworth), La Toya Jackson, Sinitta, Pat and Mick and Roland Rat but they did kinda make Siobhan Fahey leave Banarama and form Shakespears Sister so they weren't all bad.

We're all going on a...

In my old age, I've come to realise that although they squeezed a lot of good stuff out of the charts, they did write 'You'll never stop me loving you', 'Say I'm your number one' and 'Hand on your heart'.  And Mike Stock was responsible for the amazing recent Bucks Fizz album 'The A-Z of Pop'.  I'm not ashamed to admit I was (kind of) wrong about them.

133 - Alone - Heart

As you might have already guessed, power ballads get me right there.  Not that you can see where I'm pointing right now... The piano led verse is lovely in itself but the song bursts into life with the chorus.  It's been ruined (as most songs are) by that stupid loan advert.  I realise these people need money and if they've got something they can sell to fund their next packet of Wotsits, then fair enough but it's taken the gloss right off this song for me.  However, it still tickles the part of me that likes raw energy in songs so it sits here in the upper 100s which is no shameful place to be in such a decade of amazing tunes.  Well played.

Why does the room look all lacy?

132 - What's love got to do with it - Tina Turner

I was in Middlesbrough when I first heard this song.  That was bound to make anything I heard that day sound amazing.  Hearing a seagull in it's final death rattle after trying to swallow a scotch egg whole would probably have made it into my top 10 songs that day.  Anyway, it was the six weeks holidays from school and this song came on the radio.  The strange pipey flute thing at the start caught my attention.  Probably not the instrument of choice for most songwriters but that was the hook - never mind Tina's gravelly interpretation of singing making me instantly fall in love with a woman I'd not previously heard of.  I saw her live in 1996, a concert I will never forget and this song will always be the one that reminds me of the day I first heard her sing. 

This is what happens when you let people do their own hair and make-up

131 - Hold me Now - The Thompson Twins

I have to admit that I thought this was just OK at the time.  I was more into Human League and Paul Young; Thompson Twins were a bit weird singing about Detectives and Doctors and they had this woman at the back with an explosion in a mattress factory on her head playing xylophones and shaking odd percussion instruments.  I heard this song again in 1999 on the soundtrack to the Wedding Singer and was all like 'Woah, no way dude' or whatever the kids were saying back then.  There's no denying the quality of this song - despite the lyrics - it represents a period of the 80s when everyone was starting to get their production together.  Warm. Fuzzy. Joyful. Perfect.

I'm not sure what this is but I'm going to hit it repeatedly with a stick. See what happens.

Check out the rest of the top 200 videos here :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8C2p97n8SmX5qmS8asB7YWWuu2GCDq_o

The Greatest 200 singles of the 1980s (150 to 141)

Duran Duran were the culprits for getting the Youtube bit of this blog blocked in the UK.  Like they don't have enough money and like they would object to someone using a tiny snippet of their 'Reflex' video to call it one of the best songs of the 80s.  Yet, the U2 snippet didn't flag any issues, not even a 'you can use it but you can't monetise the video' thingy.  Anyway, I've had to put up the cover of the single without audio so you can get the video part of the blog by clicking below, and if you really really want to watch the video for 'The Reflex' then the link is in the description.

The Way it Is - Bruce Hornsby and the Range

As a single, its greatest power is the piano riff on that crispy upright, obviously. But if you listen to what's actually being sung, it actually transcends that beautiful bright intro.  Bruce is from the Mark Knopfler singing school, and the song is given the right level of gravitas because of it.  TV shows like The Voice and X-Factor miss the point of pop music spectacularly.  Most of the songs in my countdown aren't vehicles for wonderful voices (well, maybe the Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross ones are) but in the main, they're well crafted pieces of music, modern symphonies that replace the Cor Anglais and Bassoon with the Moog and the Stratocaster.  The voice of the artist complementing that - and usually because their voice was unique, with expression and soul.  I love Gene Pitney for that, and Neil Sedaka... voices that blend with the track, without overpowering it or being the only thing you're listening to.  Remember when Marc Almond destroyed 'Something's gotten hold of my heart'?

Diggin' Your Scene - Blow Monkeys

Who can resist Dr. Robert's massive suit jackets, slicked hair, clown make-up and smooth soul vocals that really shouldn't be coming out of someone who looks like he did.  He made about 40 solo albums after they split up and then reformed, making 3 albums in 5 years.  He's got a lot of music in him, I'll give him that - none as good as this lounge-jazz number.

Up next on QVC...

Running up that Hill - Kate Bush

I've always been fascinated by Kate Bush; a lot of her stuff is just too odd for me though.  The album 'Hounds of Love' is an absolute masterpiece however.  There are still some very odd moments on it but they're sensibly odd.  'Running up that hill' has a life about it, one no other song has ever had.  I love the desperation in the lyrics and the determination to prove something.  It also has one of the greatest lyrics of all time in the second verse.  'You don't want to hurt me, but see how deep the bullet lies'.

Lay your hands on me - Thompson Twins

One of the best choruses of the 80s this.  The song is let down quite a bit by the introduction which doesn't give you any indication of the behemoth to follow.  It's nice to see Tom Bailey out and about again after the 'twins' said they'd never ever ever re-unite for one of those 'rewind' festivals or 'then and now' tours.  Fair play that they never did but Tom looked and sounded like the 80s and deserves a place at the top table of the decade's leading influences.

Alannah, standing in front of a Candy Floss machine

Pride - U2

For me, this was the song that broke U2 into the collective conscience.  They had some great songs before this but 'The Unforgettable Fire' was an album which set them apart from say, Simple Minds, who were making songs about love, lost love and other such generic song contents.  U2 were singing about politics and war.  Pride is of course driven by the ideology of Martin Luther King (as is some of the album) and it was a stepping stone to world stardom through the Joshua Tree.  This song, as a single, relies a lot on the Guitar riff at the start and the anthemic chorus which we've all tried to sing out loud in a club or at a party and failed miserably.  This record defined U2's chart sound - a lot of their future releases had a hint of the production on this record about them - and why not?

There's no stopping us - Ollie and Jerry

If you grew up in the 80s then there's a good chance you tried doing a spot of electric boogaloo in your bedroom and succeeded in knocking several things off shelves in the process.  Breakdancing was MASSIVE and there were various films about it, loads of breakdancing songs in the charts and people in city centres with squares of carpet and boomboxes (tape recorders with big speakers) flipping out to electric breakbeats.  I loved it even though I could only do half a spin on my back unaided.  This song epitomises that whole genre and snapshot of the 80s - makes me feel 8 years old again. Not even Spangles can do that!

The coolest people on the planet for 34 seconds in 1984

The Reflex - Duran Duran

The album version of this nonsense song was good but then Nile Rogers got his sweaty little paws on it and gave it an edge that transformed it into a funky number that jumped straight to number 1 from absolutely nowhere.  The lyrics mean absolutely nothing but that doesn't matter - when I saw the video, if I'd been visited by a Genie at that precise moment and granted one wish, I'd be Simon le Bon right now.  The concert footage of the band in that video is what all concerts should look like.  Proper pop stars on stage looking cool, John Taylor pouting and looking mysterious, Andy Taylor looking like he's just won the pools, Roger Taylor hammering away at his electric tom-toms like they're a game of 'whack-a-mole' and Nick Rhodes, shaking his shoulders in a jumper his Nanna bought him from Hagley Road Market.  Every little thing the reflex does leaves me thinking this is an absolutely joyous pop single.  The Reflex - Video

Whistle Down the Wind - Nick Heyward

I had the absolute priveledge to see Nick perform live when he did a show with 5*Star and Curiosity Killed the Cat.  This song silenced the 'refreshed' crowd.  Such a sad song and it never gets old.  Nick's solo album sounded exactly like what Haircut 100's second album would have sounded like.  Then he started doing Beatles covers and slowly slid out of the musical landscape.  He left this gem behind though so he will forever be a star in the sky of the 80s.



I'll be right up, I'm just doing a photoshoot for Smash Hits

Our House - Madness

This one smashes you right in the face from the first guitar 'zoom' to the bass slide and the brass section which brings in Suggs' deadpan vocal perfectly.  It was so different to the previous Madness offerings that I'll bet their fans were a bit 'what's going on here?' but probably gained them a lot more fans who didn't realise they were actually a hugely talented bunch of musicians who had quite a bit to say.  It's a shame that their popularity seemed to wane when their song writing improved.  'Yesterday's Men' and 'Ghost Train' are great songs but they just didn't connect with the public.  They had a B-side called 'Maybe in another life' which I still listen to now.

3 of Madness try to sneak up on another 3 of Madness

Sweet Little Mystery - Wet Wet Wet

I love that guitar pick at the start.  Perfectly produced.  Marti Pellow's vocal is jazzy and unique too; it's a shame he went down the road he did. He had real star quality - that's not to knock songs like 'Goodnight Girl' and 'Love is all around' because they performed extremely well in the charts, it's just that the group lost that cheeky fun element that I liked so much.  I went off them when they went all serious and weird.  Still, this is a near perfect pop single and will always get them up dancing in the over 40s bars in Ibiza (other holiday resorts are available)

Marti, singing into a liquorice allsort

Well, that's me for another ten songs in the countdown.  Please let me know if you agree, disagree, have any comments or want to give me your own top 10's (100's or 200's).  The next instalments should be up soon.

The greatest 200 singles of the 1980s - 160 to 151

You used to have to make an effort to listen to music didn't you?  If not tuning your radio in to a station that was playing the music you liked or going to the unit in the corner which held all your LPs and Singles, taking one out of it's sleeve making sure not to touch the surface, plop it on a turn-table, drop the needle everso slowly onto the record and make sure the volume was appropriate for the time of day (or employ a set of headphones that would have made the pilot of a Lancaster Bomber jealous) and then sit back for a moment listening before having to get up again and choose your next record.

I think that's got a lot to do with why music from the 80s is special - you had to work for it.  It wasn't just there whenever you typed something into youtube or spotify (for which I'm eternally grateful by the way - there were loads of 80s songs I never thought I'd ever hear again unless I'd got one of those 'record collectors' magazines and sent off £14 for a copy of 'Labour of Love' by Hue and Cry in the post.  Anyway... I digress (again). Here's my countdown of songs 160 to 151 in my personal chart of the best 200 singles of the 80s.

160 - Safety Dance - Men Without Hats

There was only one man in the video from the band and he definitely didn't have a hat.  This is a song which has proliferated the human conscience and is now part of our very beings.  However, thanks to The Simpsons, I can't hear this song now and not sing 'We can dance, We can dance, Everybody look at your pants'.

They don't write 'em like this any more!


159 - Africa - Toto

I'm suspicious of this song a little bit as it has the same hook as Abba's Dancing Queen, in fact, I'm pretty sure it's exactly the same.  You know the twinkly bit when they sing 'Friday night and the lights are low...' and it goes 'dooby dooby dooby dooby dooby doodloo'?  Well, Africa goes 'Doo do do d-do do dooo' and then 'dooby dooby dooby etc.'  You know what I mean?  Anyway, the chorus of 'Africa' is a masterclass in how to shift your brooding yet intriguing verse into a Dream Academy type burst of energy that wakes everyone up.  There's a bit of a dodgy lyric going on in this song too though - 'see as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus'.  What they're saying is see as that mountain rises like this other mountain?  Hmmm.  Otherwise, it's great!


158 - Heartache - Pepsi and Shirley

Not everyone's cup of tea is Europop.  This was before Europop became a thing but it fits that genre perfectly.  I'm a sucker for a three minute energetic pop song, especially one about which Margaret Thatcher said you could 'definitely do a movement to it'.  The horror of that assessment is at about 30 seconds into this youtube clip :

157 - Hey Little Girl - Icehouse

Such a strange song this.  It's almost David Sylvian but better. It was from a time when people were experimenting with sampling and building chains of synthesizers and singing with theatrical expressionism.  I loved it and always give it a cheeky play now and again these days.


156 - Wishing Well - Terence Trent D'Arby

I might have said this before in a previous post but this guy had the best voice of the 80s.  He just knew how to use it.  The beauty of this song is it's minimalist qualities - it may as well have been acapella from beginning to end and it would still have been a beautiful masterpiece.  Oh to be able to sing like Terence. Pity he lost his way in the 90s.


155 - Touch Me - Samantha Fox

Couldn't get this out of my head when I was 11 years old.  When I bought the single, after reading 'touch me' on the front cover, I half expected the back to have the words 'now wash your hands'.  She wasn't a singer was she?  She did manage to belt this number out with some conviction though so full marks for that.  My favourite lyric in this song is 'Like a tramp in the night I was begging for you'.  Still have no idea what the hell that means.


154 - Love Resurrection - Alison Moyet

A perfectly crafted pop song and a million miles away from the stuff she did with Yazoo.  I always thought she was brave.  She was a punk with a soulful blues voice singing straight up pop.  Whether she ever wanted to produce this kind of record wasn't clear but it was very successful alongside songs like 'Invisible' and 'All Cried Out'.  She worked with Jolley and Swain on this single who'd written massive hit singles for Bananarama. It was always going to be a winner wasn't it?


153 - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - The Smiths

I don't need to tell you anything of the genius of Morrissey but I very often find myself singing the second line of this song in my head from day to day.  I was looking for a job and then I found a job, and Heaven knows I'm miserable now.

Classic.


152 - Don't tell me - Blancmange

Thinking about it, this should maybe have been in my top 100.  It's a genius tune and so timeless.  I was a little bit scared of the lead singer to be honest.  He looked a little bit unhinged, like he'd just walked out of Alfred Hitchcock's imagination.  I remember when libraries started loaning CDs out (one of the first places I was able to finally listen to all the albums I'd been denied in the past because of the price of things on 50p pocket money a week) I got the Blancmange album out and gave it a spin.  They started sing about God being in the lampshade so I turned it off.  I think I'll stick to just listening to this track instead.


151 - I'm Still Standing - Elton John

The doyen of piano pop.  Elton taught me most of what I know today about using pianos in pop music.  I bought a sheet music book of his greatest hits and it was actually transcribed exactly from the records (normally, they just print an approximation and simplify it) and I learned a lot about how to make chords 'bigger' sounding, splitting cadences and inverting chords that seemed impossible to invert.  My admiration for this man has no bounds.  Still, he could still learn a thing or two about discords from Gary Numan.  There's a double act I'd pay to see.

'I'm still standing' is to this day, a faultless piece of pop perfection. If you don't enjoy this song then there's a piece of your soul missing.


Watch out for 150 to 149 of the countdown soon!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8C2p97n8SmX5qmS8asB7YWWuu2GCDq_o

Watch 160 to 151 right here :

170 to 161

170. Can't Stay Away from You - Gloria Estefan

After 'Dr. Beat' and 'Bad Boy', it looked to me like Miami Sound Machine were going to disappear into the same Chasm as El DeBarge.   Gloria showed us all that there was another string to her bow when she came back (with Miami Sound Machine still in the title but taking a back seat) with 'Anything for you'.  A wonderful ballad followed up with another calypso hit in 1-2-3 and the awful 'Rhythm is gonna get you'.  However, she had her biggest hit since Dr. Beat, hitting number 7 with this superb song.  She kept on having hits until 1999 but none as good as this.

169. She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult

That guitar riff!! It doesn't matter that you can't understand a word being shouted throughout the song, it's just the raw energy that drags you along.  I had no idea what was going on and I still don't but I still stick it on when I'm in the mood for some moshing*

 

*Sitting on a chair listening to my Hi-fi stereo with a nice cup of coacoa

168. Dancing with Tears in my Eyes - Ultravox

Could've sworn this was a Midge Ure solo single - but the internet has proven me completely incorrect.  I love how there's like a four second introduction and it's straight into the Chorus - no messing about.  If ever a single was written to appeal to the masses, it's this.  No slow build, no teasing the emotions, just hit straight in the face with a cast iron chorus.  It's also one of those you reckon you can belt out on the Karaoke until you have to sing that first syllable.  Then you put the mike back in the holder and wander off to the bar.

167. Gold - Spandau Ballet

I actually thought, for a long while, that this was the greatest song ever written.  It usurped Heaven 17's Temptation at least.  It didn't take long before I started scratching my head at the lyrics and getting into Tears for Fears instead.  You're indestructible!  Tony Hadley was a wonderful front man; those suits and that stare down the camera lens - made you want to learn the words to every Spandau hit and go out and form a tribute band.  I always sounded more like Gary Numan drinking vinegar so that wasn't an option unfortunately.    If you're wondering where 'True' is on this list, it's not; I've never liked that song.

166. Where the Streets Have no Name - U2

There's not a huge amount to say about this that hasn't already been said a million times apart from, I didn't really get it at the time.  Bono and the boys on top of a building in New York, rock and roll stops traffic and all that.  I got it later of course and this song is just a non-stop juggernaut of guitar pop that I think every single bedroom guitarist tried to emulate but without 10000 effects on the guitar it just wasn't going to sound like Edge.  Never mind.

165. How Soon is Now? - The Smiths

'I am the Son and the Heir of nothing in particular.'  Whatever you think of Morrissey or The Smiths in general, you can't fail to be sucked into the atmosphere of this song for the entire four minutes.  I have to admit that I didn't actually hear this song until the late 90's when it was on the sound track for the film 'The Wedding Singer'.  I've since bought several Smiths albums and have become a convert. 

164. Sweet Dreams - The Eurythmics

This is the perfect example of a single you buy, take home and put on loop all afternoon.  The story behind how the bass line for this was written is interesting but you'll have to buy my book '1980's pop song facts' when it's published (follow me on twitter, Facebook or go to my website to find out when) later in the year (or google it).  Annie Lennox won Best Female at the Brits about 60 times in a row, and it's easy to see why.  Nobody was performing this kind of vocal acrobatics in the charts back then.  Her vocal performance on 'There must be an Angel' is second to none too.

163. Cloudbusting - Kate Bush

Who doesn't like Kate Bush?  This song is by no means a conventional pop single but it definitely made a lot of people stop what they were doing and pay attention when they showed it on Top of the Pops.  The story behind it is fascinating as well, which makes it all the more listenable when you hear it for the fiftieth time in a row.  Then Utah Saints come along and destroy the entire thing.  Who agreed to that? Hope the money was worth it.

162. Sunset Now - Heaven 17

Bright in more ways than one this. The lyric "Sun crazed in our room. It was an endless afternoon", always made me feel happy - still does.  This ditty bounces along and cheers you up no end. I liked Glenn Gregory as a front man, he looked a bit unhinged and his teeth were massive. 

161. What is Love? - Howard Jones

What a follow-up single!  New Song was jolly enough but to follow it up with this gem is something every one hit wonder would be jealous of.  It'll be in your head for the next few hours now!

180 to 171

180. Human Racing - Nik Kershaw

Despite listening religiously to the radio on a night and especially to the chart run-down on a Sunday Afternoon, I don't remember ever hearing this song on the radio.  Which was a shame.  I first heard it only because it was the last track on one of the 'Now that's what I call music' albums my Sister bought.  It's haunting quality hooked me at the time, being so different to anything else on that album - and being such a departure from the single I'd heard of Nik through 'I won't let the sun go down on me'.  Mainly though, I'd been learning classical piano for about a year and instead of practicing Bach and Beethoven, I was working out chords to the pop songs of the day by ear.  This one had me completely baffled for years.  It wasn't until I found a book in my local sheet music store which had the chords written down that I managed to learn and play it.

I've since recorded a version of it myself (here) but I'm still not convinced the chords are quite right...

179. Farewell my Summer love - Michael Jackson

Talk about cashing in.  Jacko had become the hottest property in world music after Thriller so his old record company decided to cash in and ride on the coat-tails by releasing this song from his early solo days.  This was a lovely little ditty and I liked it more than Billie Jean or Beat it.  In fact, I've only got one more Michael Jackson single in the top 200.  This song takes me back to a non-specific summer and although the lyrics are bitter-sweet, they keep you engaged the whole time.  It always cheers me up when I hear it somewhere random.

178. Red Red Wine - UB40

It might feel like I've got an aversion to the late 80s as only 6 songs in the countdown so far have come from 88 or 89.  I've just done a quick check and it's the early 80s that provide the least amount of great singles.  In the entire 200, I've only chosen 5 songs from 1980, 10 from 1981 and 12 from 1982.  1987 is where it's at (34 singles) followed by 1983 (30 singles).  It's 1983 that provides this little gem.  There aren't many bands or singers who can take someone else's song and make you forget that the original ever existed in the first place.  Sinead O'Connor is probably the only person to make a Prince song better with 'Nothing compares 2U', Whitney turning 'I will always love you' into an actual song and of course, Johnny Cash's version of NIN's 'Hurt'.  How UB40 even had the idea of re-working 'Red Red Wine' into a pop single, is genius in itself.  The original is slow, dull and instantly forgettable.  The reggae remake is so beautifully produced and Ali Campbell's vocal sufficiently quirky, it drags you into the story and breaks your heart.  Wonderful single!

177. The Slightest Touch - 5 Star

I'd say 5 Star were very underrated but no, they were massive at the time.  It's looking back that I think they've lost a bit of their gravitas. Their greatest hits album is like a 'How to' for 80s pop songs.  I've got three 5 Star songs in my run-down just because there's so much to enjoy in a 5 Star song.  Unfortunately, they don't travel well - I think even in 1989 their songs had lost their edge and they're so identifiable with the mid-80s these days, they're considered a bit archaic.  However, sticking one of these on at any time will transport you right back.  Fabulous.

176. Raspberry Beret - Prince

I know it's going to look weird but there are only 2 Prince tunes in my top 200.  The man was a genius but I never felt like he was the person to sing a lot of his songs.  I wrote about my feelings for the artist here when he passed away so unexpectedly in 2016 so I'll not repeat myself here.  Suffice to say, there's a canyon full of goodness in Prince's back catalogue and this is such a joyous song, it should maybe have been higher up the list.  Again, like 'Farewell my Summer Love', it takes you into a world you can picture and you're always looking forward to the next line, like turning pages in a novel.  The video is great too.

175. Love in Itself - Depeche Mode

I'm going to have a small rant here but I remember buying a Deacon Blue album - their Greatest Hits - and then on getting it home discovering it had an anti-piracy lock on the CD to prevent you copying it.  What it failed to acknowledge was that at the time, I didn't have a Hi-Fi and burned all my CDs to my PC and listened to everything from the library.  Anyway, it meant I never really listened to it and it meant I didn't get past the few singles I was aware of and was never tempted to delve into their back catalogue.  Idiots.  Then, for the video for this blog, I tried to get the video for 'Love in itself' but it's not even available to watch on any website in this country because of copyright.  Spotify have it right - you can listen to anything you want (as long as the artist likes you listening to their music - and if they don't, they're a bit weird) whenever you want (as long as you don't mind listening to the odd advert every fifteen minutes).  Why some artists won't let people access their reason for existence for nothing baffles me.  Anyway, I like this song but I'm now annoyed at Depeche Mode for some reason.

174. The Fairy tale of New York - The Pogues (Ft. Kirsty McColl)

I do love Christmas songs - not too much you understand and not out of season, but this is the only one that worked as a chart single for me.  I understand why they're played in December year in year out and that a 'good' Christmas song is like the writer pulling a winning lottery ticket but as a single, you can't fault this one.

173. Everything she wants - Wham!

Following on from a Christmas Single, this one from Wham! was the double A side to 'Last Christmas'.  Whilst that was a jolly ditty, it wasn't a patch on this, which in my opinion deserved a lot more airplay than it got.  Although the lyrics might not have been written from experience, George Michael sings like he means every single word.  I love the arrangement too. You just don't get this level of genius in the charts any more.

172. I guess that's why the call it the blues - Elton John

I think Elton was at the height of his powers in the 80s.  I tried for many years to play this on the piano and although I mastered a lot of Bach's back catalogue, I couldn't get close to Elton's.  His trick was to invert a major or minor 7th chord and use the leading tone as the bass note (that is in a C Chord, to play C-E-G-B but flip the final B into the bass hand).  It gave his playing that 'odd' nuance which non-musicians would hear and be intrigued by.  I have to admit to stealing this method several times myself without becoming a world renowned singer songwriter and football club owner with silly glasses.  Actually, I do have silly glasses.

171. Thunder in the Mountains - Toyah

I was six years old when I first heard this song and I would go to bed each night for months singing it in my head to help me get to sleep.  I was too young to be buying singles (my pocket money was 20p a week I think) and I was at least two years away from getting a radio with a tape recorder on it so it was quite a while until I managed to own a copy of this song - about 20 years in fact when I saw it at a car boot sale for 10p.  I liked Toyah as a young lad because she looked like a lot of fun - like someone who would present a kids' TV program and not at all Punk and scary like I think she was hoping. 

Remember to subscribe or come back in about a week when I'll have 170 - 161 revealed!

Watch the countdown on YouTube here