The U.K. 80s Singles & Albums Chart General Discussion Thread.

I've done homemade SDEs of 10 of these!

Would be more if certain acts/albums had a greater amount of non-album material out there.

EG.

 

Thanks for sharing your 1985 album list

 

'Brave New World' is a fantastic single and deserved to reach the Top 10, in my book.

It's interesting that Toyah's relentless drive and her need (and ability) to self-promote has been there from the very start. Like Madonna, I suppose she's just wired that way. I really admire artists who are endlessly ambitious, although as an introvert I'm baffled how they conjure up so much energy (and for five decades!)

So many musicians during the 80s were brilliant at the music but terrible at promoting themselves. I remember reading magazine interviews with Tears For Fears (for example) and they always came across as unwilling, grumpy bastards who looked down on pop stardom. As a fan, it was so disappointing.

 

Are we doing 1985 albums now? I can't keep up

Despite being more guitar driven in my musical preferences, and like my 1988 list, some big pop releases really dominate this year. The Top 10 has pretty much stayed with me throughout the years but with some moving up and down depending on where I am muscially at the time. The obvious ones were bought around the time of release while others like Tom Waits and Cherry Faced Lurchers came later...

1. Bryan Ferry Boys And Girls
2. Propaganda A Secret Wish
3. Arcadia So Red The Rose
4. The Cult Love
5. Simple Minds Once Upon A Time
6. Talking Heads Little Creatures
7. Sandra The Long Play
8. The Style Council Our Favourite Shop
9. Prince & The Revolution Around The World In A Day
10. Indochine 3
11. Scritti Politti Cupid & Psyche '85
12. Kate Bush Hounds Of Love
13. Pat Benatar Seven The Hard Way
14. New Order Low-Life
15. The Smiths Meat Is Murder
16. a-ha Hunting High And Low
17. Cherry Faced Lurchers Live At Jamesons
18. Jesus & Mary Chain Psychocandy
19. John Fogerty Centerfield
20. Tom Waits Rain Dogs
21. Kim Carnes Barking At Airplanes
22. Chris Isaak Silvertone
23. Lloyd Cole & the Commotions Easy Pieces
24. Lone Justice Lone Justice
25. Animal Nightlife Shangri-La

Others I like and still play:
John Mellencamp Scarecrow
Prefab Sprout Steve McQueen
Amii Stewart Try Love [UK tracklisting]
R.E.M. Fables Of The Reconstruction
Grace Jones Slave To The Rhythm
Purple Hearts Head on Collision Time
Sheila E. Romance 1600
The Waterboys This Is The Sea
Sade Paradise
Marc Lavoine Marc Lavoine
Kid Creole and the Coconuts In Praise of Older Women and Other Crimes
Supertramp Brother Where You Bound
Loose Ends So Where Are You?
Level 42 World Machine

Ones I've never properly listened to (yet):
Dexys Midnight Runners Don't Stand Me Down
The Pogues Rum, Sodomy & The Lash

Ones I need to re-assess:
The Cure The Head On The Door
Madness Mad Not Mad

Sleeves of the some of the lesser obvious suspects... does New Order count?

 

Thanks for your Top 25 album list of 1985 It would be nice if you could also post your other album lists from the 80's here in this thread.

 

If only I was that organised to have them all stored in one place for easy access I'll dig another one out soon... of course when I find one I did only a few years ago, I already disgree with my ranking and immediately need to start tweaking!

 

I definitely have that Fogerty album. With the last track in its original form as "Zanz Kant Danz" before threatened litigation from his former boss-turned-adversary, Fantasy Records head Saul Zaentz, led to it being changed to "Vanz Kant Danz."

 

The thing with TFF though to be fair is they never pretended to be anything else. If you read the lyrics from The Hurting it’s pretty clear they both had difficult childhoods.
However the big difference between them and Toyah was pure songwriting brilliance and superb musical talent.
Songs From The Big Chair sold 12 million copies in the US. Toyah i think has sold 12 copies… LOL
Do not get me wrong i still support her, and buy all these new Cherry Red remasters because they are done so very well, but something about selling yourself so well without the end product to back it up actually seems worse to me.

 

There is that . . .

 

I never knew that... Fogerty is of course not known to mince his words

 

My best-of-year lists are always in a state of constant tweaking.

Interesting you include Scarecrow, as the 2CD remix/remaster of that arrived through my letterbox just this morning. Half price at HMV.com. It's only my 3rd version of the album!

EG.

 

Finally the this Mike Francis gem at least gets mentioned !

Its also worth checking out his 1984 solo album Lets Not Talk About It.

He was a wonderful songwriter / performer.

Great to have seen him team up with Amii.

 

I only have the American Fool album.

 

I got into him via The Lonesome Jubilee, albeit in early 88 after Johnnie Walker had been playing tracks off it for several weeks. I did like Paper In Fire right off the bat, but so many other albums in Q4 of 1987 and JCM wasn't someone I could risk £10-11 on at the time without knowing if I liked the rest.

Then I kept buying his albums up until the late 90s.

EG.

 

Scarecrow is cheap on Amazon too. One of those voucher deals.

 

1985 (from a purely local perspective)


Laibach - Laibach
Borghesia - Love Is Colder Than Death
Videosex - Lacrimae Christi
Denis & Denis - Ja Sam Lazljiva (I am A Liar)
EKV - Ekatarina Velika
Dorian Gray - Za Tvoje Oci (For Your Eyes)
Karlowy Vary - La Femme

 

Yes they're price-matching whatever's in stock from the HMV sale, it seems.

EG.

 

My first was Uh-Huh, bought the year of release, and I loved the three singles from it as it was the period I started getting into the US singles chart... "Paper In Fire" is brilliant, maybe my second favourite single by him after "Crumblin' Down"..., I have Fool through to Lonesome and then for whatever reason, I moved on

 

Support the underdog (no pun intended) when the price is comparable, buy HMV!

 

I haven't heard that, although I may have listened to some singles from it if they charted in Italy... Annoyingly, there is no official remaster of Try Love on CD... although original vinyl copies are easy to come by... I really don't know what RCA/Sony are waiting for...

 

I became a Mellencamp fan when i moved to the US in 1998. Up till then i had really only heard Jack And Diane. I was watching VH1 Behind The Music and he came on.. brilliant episode BTW.. and i started buying his cds.
It’s rare i have come across a studio album from him that i do not like.. his songwriting is pretty consistent, shame his voice is shot to pieces these days because he is still writing really good songs.

 

As is the way these days, on Amazon many of his albums are either OOP (Uh-Huh appears to be. If I’m looking right) or quite expensive for what they are. Scarecrow being a recent remaster is still around. This is happening more and more. Albums you think will be easy to find on CD just aren’t anymore. Mellancamp was never a big seller here, so it’s no surprise his CD catalogue is a mess.

 

Uh-Huh is excellent...

PS. You know the acronym OOP freaks me out, don't you?

 

So Mellencamp is from Seymour Indiana.
A very small town.
I think he still lives in Seymour. Back in 2007 i was in Durango Colorado. And i hate heights.. i took a train up this mountain that was 14,000 ft above sea level. This train track was right on the edge of the cliff.. and i was lets just say in panic mode.. i noticed these 2 little old ladies sitting in front of me talking about Indiana and i ask them are you close to Seymour? Yes we live in Seymour.. lets just say they claimed to know John from a young boy, and this conversation kept me occupied while i felt i was about to fall 2000 ft to my death on that train.. those 2 ladies were way way braver than me.

 

Have to say the Now Year Book 82 12 inch cds is worth it alone for the Thomas Dolby. She Blinded Me With Science 12 mix. Sounds much better than previous versions i had. And the only way to listen to that track. The Golden Age Of Wireless really is an early 80s classic.