I HEART 80s

Eurythmics – The Miracle Of Love

Is this the last great Eurythmics single?

I'd argue that it is, given that it was the last one that I bought (or was given as a birthday present given the date that I acquired it).  Putting the subjective issue of its quality aside for a moment, this was the eighth to last 80s single to chart in the UK singles chart.

The date that I have written on my copy is 13 December 1986, when it was bumping around the bottom end of the top 30.  It managed to raise itself to the giddy heights of number 23, but I feel that it deserved of better.

It's a gorgeous rock ballad, characterised by a beautiful guitar track which threads itself all through the finished article.  Annie's voice is plaintive, sweetness personified.  The track is backed with a live version of When Tomorrow Comes, performed at The Roxy in Los Angeles during the Revenge Tour, the tour of the album from which Miracle is plucked.

Eurythmics – Thorn In My Side

I loved this the moment I heard it.  I was stood in John Menzies, something I did a lot of back then, when it came on over the in store tannoy.

Within seconds it was bought and paid for and I was off home to listen over and over and over.  This happened on 29 August 1986, towards the end of the long summer holiday, made longer this year by my finishing school and waiting for the start at sixth form.

A week later, on 6 September, the track had entered the UK singles chart at number 29 before it rose steadily to its highest position of number 5.  This was to be the Eurythmics ninth and final UK top ten hit.

The song is a rejection of a flawed lover in the most ardent terms.  She is telling him that their relationship is over as unambiguously as possible.  There is hurt and anger at his deceit and lies and betrayal of trust.  Ultimately though, there is regret on the singer's part - all this could have been avoided, "I should have known better..."

Eurythmics – It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back)

After the summer smash that was There Must Be An Angel (Playing With my Heart) the Eurythmics had been joined by another soul legend, this time Aretha Franklin, on the follow up Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves.

I had skipped that one, but I was out in the shops to buy this one.  It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back) is a gorgeous sounding slab (can I use that word?) of perfect pop.  It's a pæan to a returning lover that the singer has (by the sound of it) previously rebuffed.  It's less rocky than certain of their most recent single releases - almost a return to the electronica of their very earliest singles.

I bought this on 11 January 1986 on the last day of sales which counted towards its entrance into the UK singles chart at number 39.  It subsequently enjoyed a relatively quick  rise up the chart, but couldn't get past number 12.

Pretenders, The – Don’t Get Me Wrong

This was one of the first purchases of my sixth form years.

I had always been an admirer of The Pretenders, I remember Chrissie Hynde looked very much like one of a bunch of sisters from the top of our road - that was enough for me.  Looking at the single's cover, she (Chrissie) could be accused of trying a little too hard to be cool.  But then didn't all pop stars do that?

In common with quite a few of my singles purchases, I came a little late to the band.  Their first UK singles chart entries dated from 1979, with Stop Your Sobbing (34), Kid (33) and the awesome Brass In Pocket (1).  Obviously, I had heard them on the radio - I guess I was lucky in that Mum was quite happy to listen to Radio One (once Wogan had finished on Radio Two of course).  Remember, back then, there was a more clear distinction between what would appear on the respective play lists of the two monoliths of British Radio.

Anyway, that's enough of the history of Radios One and Two.  Don't Get Me Wrong was a comeback of sorts.  Released in October 1986, it was the band's first single since 1984's offering A Thin Line Between Love And Hate.  In fact Thin Line was only the band's third single single the death in 1982 of James Honeyman-Scott, guitarist, songwriter and founder member and second since the 1983 death of Pete Farndon, bassist and co-writer of a number of tracks.  The latter had been sacked by Hynde in 1982 for reasons connected to his drug use.

I bought the single on 27 October 1986 - a Monday, after all I was now in town on a daily basis with ready access to the delights of John Menzies, Woolworth's and other record shops.  The song made it to number ten in the UK singles chart and had only just faded from the chart before the haunting Hymn To Her was released.

Van Halen – Why Can’t This Be Love

Where would any self-respecting male WASP be without a bit of Van Helen in their record collection?  This song just oozes the eighties for me - you have to decide whether that is a good thing or not!

Released in the Spring of 1986, Why Can't This Be Love features vocals from Sammy Hagar who had recently joined the band replacing founding member David Lee Roth who left in 1985.  It was the first single taken from the band's 1986 album 5150 (fifty-one fifty) - the band's first work without Roth.

The track is only the second from the band to trouble the top ten of the UK singles chart.  I bought it on 17 May 1986 as it climbed toward its peak position of number 8.  Their only previous track to reach the top ten hit was 1984's excellent (even Mark Radcliffe likes it!) Jump which made number 7.

So, on the face of it, only having two entries in the top ten would indicate that Van Halen were not tremendously successful in the UK singles chart.  However, in my humble opinion these two tracks are as good as anything from the eighties.

Falco – Rock Me Amadeus

This was a bit of a departure for me. In a more Euro-friendly, why-not-try-something-different vibe, I bought Falco's Rock Me Amadeus. 'Ooh, Rock Me Amadeus.'

This was an absolutely huge world wide hit in English and German speaking countries. It made #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was also a number one in the UK singles chart - thus making him the first Austrian to have a UK number 1 single. And in a pointless piece of pop trivia, I feel obliged to tell you that Rock Me Amadeus was succeeded at number 1 in the UK singles chart by Spitting Image with their Chicken Song.

Sadly, Falco died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in February 1998. Ruhe in Frieden.

Big Country – Look Away

Big Country were a particular favourite of mine, I once gave up a ticket to a Shakespeare play in order to receive my deposit back from the teacher and use it to pay for a pirated tape copy of The Crossing, their 1983 album.

Naughty, naughty and even perhaps, a little culturally inward looking!  Theirs was a thumping, drum driven style and of course they had that peculiar ability to make guitars sound like bagpipes.

This one, Look Away, made number 7 in the UK singles chart - the band's biggest UK hit. In the US, it didn't register on the Billboard Hot 100, although it did reach an impressive #5 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.

I was as sad as any man when I heard of the passing of Stuart Adamson in December 2001.  RIP mate.

Geldof, Bob – This Is The World Calling

Unmitigated garbage?  Mmm, probably.

Why did I buy it?  Mmm, I dunno.

There, that just about sums this one up.  I think that I've already used this sentence opener already, but here goes... If ever anybody was an 80s icon then "Saint" Bob is surely one.

Already a household name following the late 70s success of his band The Boomtown Rats - go on admit it, you must remember I Don't Like Mondays - Geldof is of course best remembered for his role as the 'most gobby' originator of the Band Aid / Live Aid record / concert thing which was his response to the shocking scenes of famine from Ethiopia in 1984.

This record though is a dog, pure and simple, and I probably bought it because I was a fan of his and the whole consciousness that he raised in the 14/15/16 year old me.  I bought it on 12 December 1986 when it had already completed its less than earth shattering run in the UK singles chart where it peaked at number 25 on 8 (and 15) November 1986.  He deserved better but, fortunately, this song got exactly what it deserved.

Jones, Oran ‘Juice’ – Curiosity / The Rain

Well well well.  What was I thinking of?

This was far more my brother's taste than mine so I really must confess that I don't know what took me when I bought it.

Listening to The Rain, the more senior of the pair in this two record set, it seems like Oran 'Juice' is at times whinging about his girl going with another man; then standing over her hustling her out of his apartment having cancelled all of her credit cards and such like.  Indeed in the video the last shot shows her trying to cross the freeway with her worldy possessions in a single holdall.  It's the worst kind of naked misogyny and deserves to be stuck in the 80's.

For the record (Yes! A pun), the single The Rain with reference Def Jam A 7303 was a hit in the UK singles chart between November 1986 and February 1987.  Its highest chart position was number 4 and it spent a total of 5 weeks in the top ten over the Christmas period.

There is no listing on any of my sources for the double pack that I bought (Def Jam OJJD 2) - and this is another of those singles that I didn't get round to scribing my name and the day that I bought it on the sleeve.

Cameo – Word Up

My brother, who has been on Ken Bruce’s (well Mark Goodyear’s) Pop Quiz cited me as one of his musical influences. Well in that case then, I must nod to him in this regard.

Word Up was one of my purchases (16 October 1986) which was probably more of his taste than my own. It entered the UK singles chart in the w/e 30 August 1986 and quickly rose to number 3. This was by far the group’s biggest UK single – nothing else that they released in the UK made it further than number 11.

HOWEVER, it’s not bad is it? Who can forget the big red cod piece as featured on Top Of The Pops? Who can forget the thumping bass that was integral to the tune and not the tune in its own right?

No, Word Up was a top tune, a real eighties classic and it sits nicely with the other eclectic selections in my record boxes. If you don’t believe me, or you’d like a reminder, here they are on YouTube: