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

The nuttiest man in pop?

 

Just a short note to let you know that I have just started that 80s compilation thread I mentioned here a couple of days ago,
so take a look if you are interested and hopefully some of your would like to contribute to it as well......

 

Note the low key mention of U2's 'Pride'. Clearly had no clue as to how mighty it was going to be. Saying that, none of us had (and that may even include the band).

 

I reckon this must have been the last time I was ever in sync with the charts. Of the top 30, I bought these (in real time).

Dire Straits - 'Brothers In Arms'
Brooooce - 'Born In The USA'
Eurythmics - 'Be Yourself Tonight'
Paul Young - 'Secret Of Association'
Phil Collins - 'No Jacket Required'.
'Like A Virgin' - Madonna
'The Unforgettable Fire' - U2
'Under A Blood Red Sky - U2
Misplaced Childhood' - Marillion
Tina Turner - 'Private Dancer'
'The River' - Bruce Springsteen
Alison Moyet - 'Alf'

Of those lower than the top 30 I picked up (or had previously picked up):

'October' - U2
'The Man - The Best Of Elvis Costello'
'Flip' - Nils Lofgren
'Real To Reel- - Marillion
'The Wild, The Innocent And The E-Street Shuffle' - Bruce Springsteen
'Boy' - U2
'Legend' - Bob Marley
the Burnstein and Te Kanawa version of 'West Side Story'
'Greetings From Asbury Park' - Springsteen
'The Works' - Queen
'Wide Awake In America' - U2
'Purple Rain' - Prince
'Best Of The Eagles'
'No Parlez' - Paul Young
Springsteen - 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town'
'Best Of The 20th Century Boy' - Marc Bolan & T-Rex
'Born To Run' Springsteen
'War' - U2

Oh, and the wife bought the best of Queen even though we had every track on other albums

That's quite a sizeable chunk o' charts. Not had that many in one week since the mid to late 70s. The last magnificent chart EVER? - discuss.

 

Picking a favourite Madness single is tough - but 'Michael Caine' has to be top 3 (along with 'Yesterday's Men' and their version of 'It Must Be Love'). Just don't ask which order I'd put them .

 

They were a great singles band, but I never bought any of their albums.

 

Where's the link chum? (I've been away).

 

The LPs are probably best described as 'of their time'. My 2 favourites would be 'Rise And Fall' and 'Mad Not Mad'. Completely different as pieces of work, but both show Madness at their best/most inventive. But, let's be honest, you only ever really need 'Complete' and 'Utter'. ('Utter' edges it - just).

 

Loved the 'Don't Shoot' LP cover (and inside). Probably still my favourite Elt album.

 

Here's another marmite/polarising 80s act. As many people I talk to don't like 'em as do.

It took me years to get into the Cure. I bought the Punk compilation '20 Of Another Kind'. It had 'Killing An Arab' on. Thought it was weird. A bit left of centre. Liked it. However the numbers I heard after just didn't touch me. I began to think Robert Smith was a bit of a pillock actually.
Exit moi for decades.

A few years back I went to see Lol Tolhurst at a talkie promoting his book 'Cured: The Tale Of Two Imaginary Boys'. It was interesting evening with an enlightening Q&A at the end so I decided to give them another chance. I was d-box'd 'Greatest Hits' and 'Staring At The Sea' by a good mate.

Now I get the Cure........

 

No one minds the gays, but the Geordies......Hmmm, might have kept quiet about that chum..... . Rum lot, the Geordies.

 

I suppose it was fortunate that my first exposure to The Cure was the wonderful Love Cats. I had no idea about all the gloomy indie past (which I actually love, and discovered 3 yrs later with Standing On A Beach).

One of the best singles acts of the 80s.

EG.

 

1980s - various artists compilations - the good, the bad & the fabulous

 

Yeah. Like I said, now it all makes sense. Next door neighbour bought the 'Kiss Me' album. Played it to death and it just didn't touch me.

 

Ta!

 

Good one.

.....which they actually are, but they are also a great album band....at least throughout the 80s......

 

I only know three of their 80s albums. Got them all but not got around to them.

EG.

 

That’s my favourite Cure album! Do you like it now? Like all doubles, it’s sprawling and uneven but I think it's quite brilliant.

 

I love their early work but I think they became truly great when they turned the pop corner. 'Let's Go To Bed' was the song that did it for me. It only reached a disappointing #44 in the UK but was a Top 20 hit in Australia and New Zealand. We loved The Cure down here.

 

The Cure EP with Upstairs Room gets a lot of play here.

 

Drinking Gasoline by Cab Volt is on there. Cool! Love it.

 

Thats the first time anyone has mentioned Cabaret Voltaire in connection to this thread although I am not quite sure whats exactly about.....

 

Talking about Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me earlier reminded me that 1987 was the year that I moved away from standard pop towards more alternative sounding music. I turned 17 that year so it was probably a natural progression, but I think it was also due to the Top 40 not being as exciting as it had been only a few years earlier. It was also propelled by the incredible album releases by British alternative acts that year. How's this for a release schedule:

Feb 87 - The World Won't Listen
Mar 87 - Through the Looking Glass
May 87 - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Aug 87 - Substance
Sep 87 - Music For The Masses
Sep 87 - Strangeways Here We Come
Nov 87 - Floodland

No wonder I started wearing black and writing tortured poetry that year!

 

Same here!

I guess we are the same age and also share quite a lot of musical affinities.

I love the term that you used there - "natural progression"

I also started using that term a long time ago when I tried to sum up my individual musical growth from the earliest days

started with straight up pop music, continued with synth-pop right up until 1986.
Late 1986 and early 1987 would have been the critical time for me when I turned 16 and - with a little help of my high-school schoolmates
discovered the more alternative driven sounds of early Simple Minds, The Cure, The Smiths which prompted me to move on
to the overall darker sounds of Bauhaus and Joy Division and on the electronic side of the spectrum first and foremost Depeche Mode
and then later Soft Cell, Yello, Cabaret Voltaire, early Sisters Of Mercy etc.....

Funnily enough, I did go much deeper into the new wave scene until waaay later, but thankfully, its never too late.......

 

As for wearing black is concerned, I am also with on that one......

Actually no wonder, since I knew just about all lyrics to the Smiths songs even back then:

".....I wear black on the outside because black is how I feel on the inside...."