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

We Don’t Talk Anymore and Devil Woman are still oldies staples in the US. I heard Dreaming on Sirius not too long ago too. Cliff was well known in the States but nowhere where he was in most of the world.

 

Only 14 alerts this morning. The thread is finally slowing down.

 

Certainly among my favourites.
Its one of those songs that can actually make me feel very emotional if I'm feeling down at all.

 

They were a huge part of the 80s here. Not every record was enormous, but they had enough hits to be classed as one of the top acts of the decade.

When I bought a CD player in 1985, I was looking for new albums to buy on the format. I’d picked up a lot of CDs I already had on LP and cassette and it was fun to compare them to the shiny new digital discs. Despite never hearing a Eurythmics album before, I decided to get Be Yourself Tonight.

Now as you’ll know, it’s a great sounding album. I remember being blown away by the effects on Ball & Chain and playing it to friends and family to show them what CD could do (even though, I suppose, said effects were much the same on the record and tape!). But aside from that, I was amazed at what a great album it was. The final 2 tracks aren’t as strong, but I loved the rest of it. To this day, it’s my favourite Eurythmics album.

As for Would I Lie To You, I’ve no idea what happened here… When you listen to the LP it’s kind of the obvious hit on there. Angel is one of those songs that might do very well, or alternatively sink without trace as a 45. Luckily it was the former in the U.K.

The Eurythmics were very well covered in the U.K. press. I seem to remember them being in Smash Hits a fair bit. Especially in that 1983-86 period. Great band, excellent records and some of the best sounding early CDs you’ll ever hear.

 

Here’s a review of BYT I just found from Spin magazine. I’m guessing that’s a US publication as I don’t recall it here from the time.



If you want the rest of the Prince review I can post that too.

 

Eurythmics: For the most part, a good singles band; albums, for me, were rather patchy efforts. I like their earlier chart 45s the best; before that awful Sex Crimes nonsense, and the tedious Aretha duet. Sweet Dreams is definitely pure pop now now people. It became something of a mixed bag later on, but Thorn In My Side is a real stomper. Annie Lennox had a fabulous voice.

 

Imagine Prince releasing this fantastic and weird album just 9 months after the mammoth Purple Rain. He did exactly what he wanted, ignored the success of his previous album and went in a completely different direction.
Michael Jackson should have done this after Thriller instead of taking 5 years between albums hoping to sell more and more, when of course the reverse was true.

 

I have to say I’m very disappointed that my post about Ben from Curiosity Killed The Cat didn’t raise a single snigger.
Maybe I miss-read the room…

 

Well, there was The Jacksons Victory album in between, of course. Obviously Michael didn’t want to be a part of that..

 

The lead single was a misfire. Even though it was a big hit. That terrible spoken intro!

But I did really like the album. Probably one of my most played that autumn. Over familiarity hasn’t done it any favours, of course, but I could still play it through now without skipping a track and enjoy it all.

I understand what Jackson was trying to do with this album, but it was ultimately over cooked and shows.

And you’re right about the sound quality. It’s amazing. This was the time when CDs were regarded as superior (rightly or wrongly!) and not thought of as utter trash like they are now.

Did anyone see the full length Scorsese video for the title track? That was pretty grim!

 

I'd like to apologise to @BobbyMorrow and other participants for my attitude malfunction in the past 24 hours. I was out of line, and mistaken in some of what I wrote.
I wish you all the best for this thread - I will be taking a break for a while. I hope to see you all in some other part of the forum in the future.

 

As is the B-side, Lonesome Tonight.

 

The video for The Perfect Kiss is one of my all-time favourites.



Their early 80s singles - Ceremony/In A Lonely Place, Procession/Everything's Gone Green and Temptation - were all pretty awesome too.

 

That was the first thing I noticed when I played that CD back in '85.
Great track from a great album.
Personally I like their transition into a more 'Rock Band' during 85 / 86 and transition back to more Synth based stuff on Savage.

 

I liked Revenge too. Missionary Man is my favourite track on that.

 

Around The World In A Day is my favourite Prince album. It was rarely off my turntable for the second half of 1985. Parade is brilliant too.

 

I think a lot of people were expecting more of the same. When I heard WILTY first, I was really put off by the change in direction (blues rock???) and was hoping/praying the new album would have more of the synth pop of old - Touch had always been the benchmark. In my close-minded universe, I went through the credits and it said "guitars" everywhere except There Must Be An Angel, which was my sole favourite on the album for many years. Better To Have Lost In Love was fine until that horrible outro guitar solo destroyed the song for me. Fast forward to 2022 and Be Yourself Tonight is my favourite Eurythmics album by some distance. I find the breadth of styles just breathtaking and feel the album perfectly straddles the line between sticking to their old style, broadening their horizons and pandering to a more global audience. Revenge was trying to build on that but got it wrong imo.

 

Mine too. I just wish there was a bit less obvious filler like Let's Go and In This Town.

 

'The Last Time' and 'A Little of You' are great album tracks, though. They could've been singles (although I do think the four they chose from Revenge were the right choices).

 

Time for me to bring up the amazing Elkie Brooks, one of the UK's most talented and unheralded vocalists! Poor Elkie never really caught her big break despite having a couple of short periods of success in the late-'70s to early-'80s, but she could tackle any genre with a voice perfectly suited to rock/blues/jazz/pop/pretty much anything. Her career always seemed a bit slapdash and mis-managed, not to mention she was financially decimated by her accountant, losing everything in the late '90s and forcing her to keep touring and working and touring and working. But her music has always been solid, if sometimes patchy - from her initial solo efforts in the '60s to Dada and Vinegar Joe (with Robert Palmer) and then back to solo in the '70s and on to this day, she's never stopped chugging away - her career will celebrate 60 years in 2024, and she's still touring at 77!

Since we've arrived at the mid-'80s, here's her big "comeback" single from 1986, No More The Fool. This hit #5 in the UK in early 1987, and its same-named parent album hit #5 as well. It's a slow burner of a song without her more upbeat energy, but it's atmospheric and dramatic and stood out in the pop landscape at the time. Sadly, it was pretty much her last gasp of success, although she's continued to maintain a working-singer level of success ever since.

Unfortunately this TOTP performance video is completely out of sync!

 

Bit of a strange one, this. British duo The Pookah Makes Three only released four singles (and never recorded a full album) before breaking up in 1986. 'Take It Back' is by far the best of their singles: a wonderful mid-80s slice of synthpop. I'm shocked to learn that it was a complete flop in the UK, only reaching #85. Not sure if any of you know it — I only do because it reached the Top 30 in Australia.

 

I don’t recall this at all, but it sounds like it could have been a hit here.

 

I know, right? It has all the correct ingredients.

 

Like most U.K. female singers in the 70s, Elkie struggled a bit on the singles charts. Lots of flops mixed in with the hits. I’d say Pearl’s A Singer remains her most recognisable song in the U.K.

However, unlike most U.K. female singers, Elkie actually shifted a few albums in her day. Lots of chart entries and some sold extremely well. She seemed to garner decent reviews too.

 

I only know 'Fool If You Think It's Over' from Elkie. I really love that one, although it sounds like it belongs in the previous decade.