#706 The Human League – Dare

As Pulp were the sound of Sheffield in the 90s, The Human League (I always forget there’s a ‘the’) were the sound of Sheffield in the 80s. Dare was their third album, the one where singer Phil Oakey took over the reins as main songwriter and turned this slightly experimental electronic outfit into a commercial …

#492 Eurythmics – Ultimate Collection

I can only assume that the person who decided to start this otherwise not-far-off-perfect ‘greatest hits’ compilation with a new song that no one had ever heard of and you’ll forget as soon as it’s over, must be called either Annie or Dave. That said, the video for it is pretty cool, and was clearly …

#777 Ladyhawke – Ladyhawke

Brandishing what must be the best moniker ever (named after a character played by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1985 film of the same name), and songs which are gloriously storming with 80s pop energy, so uncool they’re red hot, it’s a shock that Ladyhawke is not a worldwide pop sensation. A one-woman band hailing from …

#539 Julia Fordham – Porcelain

This vinyl LP is a recent ‘€1 from cratedigging at a Record Fair’ addition to my collection, but my knowledge of the album goes way back. 1993, my second year at Uni, and the dear friend who was to become my first girlfriend made a mixtape for me – back in the days that people …

#547 Furniture – When The Boom Was On

Brilliant Mind is one of the most perfectly brilliant songs of the 1980s. I fell in love with it instantly when heard on the radio in 1986 at the age of 13. And then I heard nothing more from the band that created this brilliance, Furniture. Sadly, very few people did, since their record company …

#498 The Fall – 50,000 Fall Fans Can’t Be Wrong

File Under Uneasy Listening. No doubt if Mark Edward Smith was still alive (he died in 2018) The Fall would still be churning out albums at a rate of knots. Roughly one a year since the band’s inception in 1976. 42 years, 32 studio albums (many many more EPs, live LPs, comps and others) and …

#6 Abba – The Visitors

This is Abba’s eighth and final studio album and, although not as commercially successful as their preceding ones, it really is very good. There’s no Dancing Queen or Winner Takes it All on here, but that’s okay because they’d already written those perfect pop songs. What we do have is a little darker, a bit …

#995 Pet Shop Boys – Introspective

Listening to this, it’s 1988 all over again, which is rather a nice thought: everything was so much simpler back then. Late 80s was the Pet Shop Boys’ “Imperial phase” - a term first coined by Neil Tennant but now used to describe any pop star at the height of their commercial and creative ascendance. …

#1050 Prince – Controversy

I somehow missed this Prince album for a long time. Purple Rain was my entry point, which I had only on cassette tape for a decade, but his follow up Parade was the very first vinyl LP I ever bought. With my own pocket money too, I might add. I explored backwards to 1999 and …

#1103 Queen – Hot Space

This is Queen's least good non-soundtrack album (respectfully ignoring Made in Heaven). It’s the one usually dismissed or derided by critics. And it’s understandable. Buoyed by the success of Another One Bites the Dust, featuring John Deacon’s grungy-funk bassline and semi-spoken word (ie ‘rap’) lyrics, as well as their second no 1 hit single collaboration …