VHS defeated Betamax… Ronald Reagan was president of the United States… Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles… John Lennon was gunned down… The wreck of the Titanic was discovered… The Berlin Wall was demolished… and it was the dawning of the Golden Age of Pop Music: The fabulous 1980s.
Some would say it was the greatest decade in music history. It is certainly the most favoured (and played) for those that lived through it, and those that came to appreciate it afterwards. It defined who we are and became the soundtrack to our lives.
Duran Duran, Culture Club, Spandau Ballet, Wham!, The Human League, Kajagoogoo, Bananarama.
They all had hit after hit, after hit, after hit.
Some 30 plus years later and some songs are remembered (and revered) more than others. Each band has at least one synonymous classic that radio still plays to death, stuck on repeat with the tone arm up and nothing else on the stacker. But what about the next best record? Or the one after that?
This book celebrates the other songs, the ones not so famous, but still every bit as good. You may remember them from the first time around… or you may just discover an all new soundtrack to the 80s that’ll make you want to live through it, all over again.
I don’t profess to be an expert on music, but when it comes to the 80s I’d like to think I know my stuff.
I was born in 1972 (hard to believe, I know) and got my first record in 1981; unless you count a Pinky and Perky album I got for Christmas, sometime in the 70s.
I don’t pretend to be cool either. I’ve never jumped on the dead artist of the week bandwagon. I never got Elvis Presley. And I can take or leave the Beatles, with a pinch of salt.
In fact I’m not ashamed to admit that one of my first records was ‘My Camera Never Lies’ by Bucks Fizz and I played it on repeat, wore the record and burned the player out in just one day.
The thing about the 80s is that the music was so good, you didn’t have to just like the ‘real’ bands that wrote and played their own music and instruments. Everyone mimed on Top of the Pops anyway.
I liked 80s Pop in its purest form. If you could hear the drums or the guitar too loudly – or the band wasn’t pretty enough – it went completely over my head.
But that was what the 80s were all about. And what made them so special.
It was the decade pop stars didn’t have to wear designer labels. They made their own clothes out of torn curtain or cut up dish rags.
You could listen to chart friendly music and even now, you don’t have to feel guilty about it.
In fact, there was so much good stuff I keep finding new old songs I missed the first time around, and latching on to new old bands. My ears don’t seem to mind the louder guitars or drums anymore.
Radio generally only plays the definition of Classic 80s, which tends to fall between one or two tracks by the majority of popular 80s artists, and that’s if they’re lucky.
So what about the other hits? The slightly lesser known ones? They may not have charted as highly or they may just have been overshadowed by an even bigger hit.
Some of my selection in the book went Top 10, some barely charted at all, but they all have one thing in common:
Their time is now.
For over 80 of the 80s most under-realised pop delights, get my book ‘Unsung Pop Songs of the 80s’, available now and the perfect Christmas present for any 80s music loving pop fan!
And as an online exclusive, here are a few that just missed out on the final cut…
Belinda Carlisle ~ Circle in the Sand Official Video
Circle in the Sand by Belinda Carlisle
Sometimes when you have one particularly super-memorable song, like Belinda Carlisle does with ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth’ (oh, the infamy!) everything else tends to have a lasting impression that pales in comparison. One such example is the lush purity that is ‘Circle in the Sand’. Her joint second biggest hit (‘Leave a Light On’ sharing honours), it reached no. 4 back in 1988 and was taken from her ‘Heaven on Earth’ album. Combined with a thumping bass line and accentuated with swirling and shimmering guitar, the melody borrows from Mike & the Mechanic’s ‘Silent Running’, but features a unique lead keyboard theme provided by pioneering Thomas Dolby. Belinda went onto score top 10 hits well into the 90s. Other notable songs included ‘I Get Weak’, ‘We Want the Same Thing’ and ‘Live Your Life, Be Free’. Belinda is an American singer – and daughter of a travelling vacuum cleaner salesman – who gained worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the Go Go’s. Although only slightly denting the UK chart on a couple of occasions, the girls became one of the most successful American bands of the early 1980s, helping usher new wave music onto popular American radio, and became the first all-female band who wrote their own music and played their own instruments to achieve a No. 1 album called ‘Beauty and the Beat’. More recently, Belinda did a pictorial for Playboy magazine in 2001, appeared on the West End in London in the musical ‘Hairspray’ and her autobiography ‘Lips Unsealed’, published in 2010, was a New York Times best seller and received favourable reviews. On August 11, 2011, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She continues to record and tour, both with the Go-Go’s and as a solo artist, doing the 80s revival circuit.
Rick Springfield ~ Human Touch Official Video
Human Touch by Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield is a bit of an enigma in the UK. Although massive worldwide, particularly in the USA and his country of origin Australia, Rick barely scratched the surface of the UK pop charts. His iconic popular soft rock anthem ‘Jessie’s Girl’ (which is still revered as a 80s classic in most parts of the world) only reached a lowly no. 43 here. His other UK ‘hits’ included ‘Celebrate Youth’ (no. 80 in 1985) and ‘Rock of Life’ (no. 83 in 1985), so it was literally quite phenomenal that ‘Human Touch’ actually reached the heady heights of no. 23, back in 1983. This song was clearly something special. Born in a western suburb of Sydney, Australia in 1949, Rick played his first guitar at the age of 13 and was hooked. After leading various bands during the late 60s / early 70s, he signed a solo record contract and started making inroads in the music scene. He broke through with ‘Jessie’s Girl’ in 1981 but became frustrated at being confused with name-and-look-a-like Bruce Springsteen, so much so that he wrote a song about it called ‘Bruce’ that appears on his 1984 ‘Beautiful Feelings’ album. That same year he starred in his own movie ‘Hard to Hold’ and recorded the majority of the soundtrack. He had previously acted in the US daytime soap ‘General Hospital’ as Dr Noah Drake from 1981-83, which no doubt assisted his assault on the US Billboard chart. And in 1989 he played an 800-year-old vampire seeking a cure for his condition in the film ‘Nick Knight’, which was later made into a TV series. Although he has continued to sing, strum his guitar, record and play music, acting has also played a big part in his life and career. On the small screen his credits have included ‘Californication’, ‘Hawaii 5-0’ and ‘True Detective’. He must have had an easy paper round as the years have been more than kind to him, as evidenced by his recently cinematic co-star alongside Meryl Streep in the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Ricki and the Flash’.
Matthew Wilder ~ Break My Stride Official Video
Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder
‘Break My Stride’ is a pop genius of a record by American singer Matthew Wilder. It was released in 1983 as the lead single from his debut album ‘I Don’t Speak the Language’, and became an instant hit single for him on both sides of the Atlantic, going to number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 4 in the UK charts, back in February 1984. Though ‘Break My Stride’ was in fact Matthew’s only UK hit, he also reached the US pop chart with his next two singles, ‘The Kid’s American’ (#33) and ‘Bouncing Off the Walls’ (#52). But his second album failed to gain much momentum, even with an innovative music video for the single of the same name, and was subsequently deemed a commercial failure. Despite the downturn in his solo career, Matthew continued his career in the music industry as a songwriter and record producer for such acts as No Doubt, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson and Miley Cyrus. The song has been covered by several artists throughout the years, including Unique II in 1996 and Blue Lagoon in 2004, both versions of which charted highly in various places; and also in interpolations by Puff Daddy in 1997 and Christina Aguilera with Lil’ Kim in 2003. Born Matthew Weiner in 1953 in New York City, the musician, composer and record producer moved to LA, and sang for television commercials, and as a backing vocalist for Bette Midler.
Nu Shooz ~ I Can’t Wait Official Video
I Can’t Wait by Nu Shooz
‘I Can’t Wait’ was a one hit wonder for American pop group Nu Shooz in 1986. The song was originally recorded in late 1984 and flopped, until a copy of the song made it to the Netherlands, where it was remixed by Peter Slaghuis. It finally set the charts alight, peaking at no. 2 in the UK in March of that year. In the US, the song climbed to No. 3 and remained in the top 40 for 15 weeks. The extended version contains a sample from Madonna’s ‘Into the Groove’ and takes the pitch shifting of the chorus further, creating an eventual pitch down at the end. Critic John Leland from Spin magazine described the song as “the perfect disco record.” Its follow-up ‘Point of No Return’ was remixed by Shep Pettibone and also topped the dance chart in September 1986. Nu Shooz were an American R&B dance group fronted by husband-and-wife team of John Smith and Valerie Day. They released a total of four albums during the tenure of the 1980s, although it was mainly their third album ‘Poolside’ (on which ‘I Can’t Wait’ appears) which brought the group’s sound to a wider audience. The song’s hook has been sampled in too many songs to mention over the years and ‘I Can’t Wait’’ was in fact covered in 2002 by the British female R&B group ‘Ladies First’ where it was a UK Top 20 hit, reaching number 19; and later by Icona Pop. In 2007, Nu Shooz were inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame, and they continue to perform to this very day.
Natasha ~ The Boom Boom Room Official Video
The Boom Boom Room by Natasha
Most known for her top 10 ‘Iko Iko’ cover thrashing that of The Belle Stars, Natasha’s true defining moment in pop was actually with the underappreciated follow-up pop explosion that was ‘The Boom Boom Room’, which peaked at a disappointing no. 44 just a few short months later and remains a little-known pop gem. It was taken from her debut album ‘Captured’ and Natasha England (as was her full name) had been a little known Scottish singer who moved to London in the late 70s and started working back office for the likes of Rod Stewart and David Bowie. She proved so successful working behind the scenes that it would have been tempting to stay there, but having the looks, voice and song writing talent to match her business acumen, a move into the spotlight was inevitable. However by 1984 music was evolving rapidly, radio play was proving elusive, and following her second album ‘Don’t Walk Away’, Natasha did just that. Despite which, she continued writing songs and stockpiling material, was diagnosed and beat breast cancer and is fighting fit and releasing music again: a new version of ‘Iko Iko’, the song that started it all; an anthology of unreleased material from the 80s and a brand new album ‘Deeper Into Reality’ and single ‘Stop Doing Nothing’ ensure this welcome blast from the past is deserving of her previous pop accolades and truly back with a bang.
Author Brian Lovestar is not the most interesting person in the history of the world ever, but he has been to over 40 countries, survived two earthquakes; once dropped a record player on his head and took Louis Walsh nightclubbing. Not both on the same day, he hastens to add.
When he’s not writing, he’s playing records and when he’s not playing records, he can usually be found writing. When he’s not doing either, he’s probably asleep.
His debut novel ‘Dream Myself Alive’ was described by one critic as “a masterpiece, created by a genius” and who is he to beg to differ?
‘Unsung Pop Songs of the 80s’ is much of the same, and available now, right here:
brianlovestar 
I’d love this to appear in my Xmas stocking!