| 1 | The B-52’s– | Rock Lobster Written-By – Fred Schneider, Ricky Wilson (3)Written-By – Fred Schneider, Ricky Wilson (3) | 4:54 |
| 2 | Devo– | Whip It Written-By – Gerald Casale*, Mark MothersbaughWritten-By – Gerald Casale*, Mark Mothersbaugh | 2:39 |
| 3 | a-ha– | Take On Me Written-By – Mags Furuholem*, Morten Harket, Pål WaaktaarWritten-By – Mags Furuholem*, Morten Harket, Pål Waaktaar | 3:49 |
| 4 | Dexy’s Midnight Runners*– | Come On Eileen Written-By – Billy Adams, Jimmy Patterson*, Kevin RowlandWritten-By – Billy Adams, Jimmy Patterson*, Kevin Rowland | 4:13 |
| 5 | Eurythmics– | Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) Written-By – Annie Lennox, David Stewart*Written-By – Annie Lennox, David Stewart* | 3:37 |
| 6 | A Flock Of Seagulls– | I Ran (So Far Away) Written-By – Ali Score, Frank Maudsley, Mike Score, Paul ReynoldsWritten-By – Ali Score, Frank Maudsley, Mike Score, Paul Reynolds | 3:44 |
| 7 | Haircut One Hundred– | Love Plus One Written-By – Nick HeywardWritten-By – Nick Heyward | 3:40 |
| 8 | Madness– | Our House Written-By – Carl Smyth, Christopher Foreman*Written-By – Carl Smyth, Christopher Foreman* | 3:22 |
| 9 | Men Without Hats– | The Safety DanceWritten-By – Ivan DoroschukWritten-By – Ivan Doroschuk | 2:45 |
| 10 | The Cars– | Just What I Needed Written-By – Ric OcasekWritten-By – Ric Ocasek | 3:45 |
| 11 | Thompson Twins– | In The Name Of Love Written-By – Tom BaileyWritten-By – Tom Bailey | 3:20 |
| 12 | Toni Basil– | Mickey Written-By – Mike Chapman, Nicky ChinnWritten-By – Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn | 3:27 |
| 13 | Thomas Dolby– | She Blinded Me With Science Written-By – Joe Kerr*, Thomas DolbyWritten-By – Joe Kerr*, Thomas Dolby | 3:42 |
| 14 | Stray Cats– | Rock This Town Written-By – Brian SetzerWritten-By – Brian Setzer | 2:40 |
| 15 | Soft Cell– | Tainted Love Written-By – Edward C. Cobb*Written-By – Edward C. Cobb* | 2:41 |
| 16 | Modern English– | I Melt With You Written-By – Modern EnglishWritten-By – Modern English | 3:49 |
| 17 | Gary Numan– | Cars Written-By – Gary NumanWritten-By – Gary Numan | 3:59 |
| 18 | Bow Wow Wow– | I Want Candy Written-By – Bert Berns, Robert Feldman*, Gerald Goldstein*, Richard GottehrerWritten-By – Bert Berns, Robert Feldman*, Gerald Goldstein*, Richard Gottehrer | 2:46 |
| 19 | Frank Zappa & Moon Zappa– | Valley GirlWritten-By – Frank Zappa, Moon ZappaWritten-By – Frank Zappa, Moon Zappa | 3:49 |
| 20 | Wang Chung– | Everybody Have Fun Tonight Written-By – Peter Wolf (3), Wang ChungWritten-By – Peter Wolf (3), Wang Chung | 4:47 |
Somewhat unsurprisingly, Nena recorded an English-language version of “Luftballoons” as well, with the lyric referring to 99 red balloons…I believe that version became the Anglophone hit, but should Go Look.
Amusingly, the first first album is clearly the MTV heavy rotation album, and the second is more college radio-esque (though certainly the Duran Duran and such got a lot of commercial radio airplay and MTV and similar clearance, too). The first as a result is a pretty unsurprising mix of good, bad and indifferent music, and the second is slightly less uneven but averages out similarly. I might give them both B-minuses, as I dislike the Romantics at least as much as like Nena and several others, and such bands as Wang Chung and A Flock of Seagulls were always even more inane than, and as dull as, A-ha, while I like Eurythmics and the B-52s a lot…though both recorded better work, and the latter even bigger hits. Soft Cell and Bow Wow Wow did well by their piss-take covers.
Nope, as WIKIPEDIA has it (and it was a #1 as per CASHBOX):
‘American and Australian audiences preferred the original German version, which became a very successful non-English-language song, topping charts in both countries, reaching No. 1 on the Cash Box chart, Kent Music Report, and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, behind “Jump” by Van Halen. It was certified Gold by the RIAA. The later-released English translation, “99 Red Balloons”, topped the charts in the UK, Canada and Ireland.”
Todd, as always, thanks for that clarification on “99 Red Balloons.”
Not too much I liked or even remembered besides the Eurythmics …
And of course the famous anti-war song 99 9 Luftballons out of which one might even have made a dystopian SF novel.
The 1980s were crazy in Europe. To some observers (like me …) it became obvious that the “communist” system in Eastern Europe was going down the drain, economically and especially ecologically.
They claimed to get nearer to the West – but at what price! Destroying nature …
And East Germany anyway wouldn’t have survived without the financial help of West Germany.
An example:
In my favourite bar I met a really nice guy who had managed to get to the West with his family after several tries – our government paid several ten thousands of Mark for this and he had to leave all hiv valuables in the East.
But he made it! The stories he could tell about the economics in the East …
He drove a Trabant and every evening he took off the windshield wipers – becaus the ywere difficult to buy and people would steal them …
Wolf, the Eighties were crazy in America, too. Ronald Reagan planted the seeds of wacky politics that we’re living with today.
And Reagan was the triumph of Goldwaterism. Goldwater as foisted by Eisenhower 2.0 (only more malignant when observed closely).
I pretty much agree with Todd. A few bands I like on both CD’s – B-52s, Devo, Eurthymics, Wall of Voodoo, frank Zappa (not his best work). B- for the first, C+ for the second (docked a point for having only 9 tracks.
Steve, there doesn’t seem to be any rime or reason for the number of tracks on these compilation CDs. I have some that have over 20 songs. And then there’s some with only 9 tracks.
It will probably come as no surprise that I know all of the songs on these two CDs and that I like most of them—and even love a few—probably because they remind me of my early days of living in Southern California, when I was a Reagan-era Go-Go Girl and listened to all these bands on KROQ and saw a few of them in concert. A la recherche du temps perdu, indeed.
Deb, glad I could help you out in that search for your lost past with these two CDs!
KROQ! Oh yes indeed, coming in on the receiver, volume and bass cranked up and coming through my AR3 sand-ballasted speakers. Yeah.
Rick, was KROQ “The Sound of the City”?
KROQ was the Edgy commercial rock station in LA. Rodney on the ROQ was, for example, the primary commercial radio station for LA punk rock as well as punk from elsewhere.
Pardon…that should be Rodney was the primary dj, and his show the primary series, for LA punk and neighboring approaches in LA…Paisley Underground alternative bands, the scene the Bangs/Bangles came out of, got airplay along with X and the Dead Kennedys and the Go-Go’s (in their early punk recordings, and in their slightly less early new wave singles. THE MAXIMUMROCKNROLL HOUR was not so much on KROQ. But you definitely would be likely to hear the likes of Sweet Baby (no longer Sweet Baby Jesus when signed by a major label) or Green Day (before they were very rich) on KROQ.
I’d like to cast a standing NO vote for these two, and all past and future compilations.
Michael, I’ll be featuring artists for the next few of weeks. No compilation CDs until July!
I beg to differ. Granted, it wasn’t all in German, but Elvis’s “Wooden Heart” (later covered by Joe Dowell, whose version went to #1) did have a couple of German parts in it, as it was taken from the German “Muss i denn.”
As for which album I would take, there is no comparison. The first one has several songs I like (or can tolerate). The second goes right in the bin.
Let’s not forget the German-English of Falco’s “Der Commissar,” “Rock Me Amadeus,” and “Vienna Calling.” I’m not sure how high any of these charted—but they were very big on alternative radio in the 1980s.
Well, “Rock Me Amadeus” was #1, a prime example of what was wrong with the ’80s.
Jeff, you’re right. A lot of dubious songs made it to Number One in the 1980s. Payola???
OK, I checked. The German version of “Rock Me Amadeus” was the only German language song to reach #1 in the US. “99 Luftballons” reached #2, behind Van Halen’s “Jump.”
Jeff, thanks for that clarification.
Deb, you’re right about Falco.
Jeff, and then there’s Wayne Newton’s Danke Schoen.”
I recognize (barely) only a few songs from the first and none from the second. Both albums woud probably get a big yawn from me if I were to listen to them, but I will admit to liking the Stray Cats.
Jerry, a friend offered me tickets to a Stray Cats concert…but I turned them down. Now I wish I’d gone to see them.
I wasn’t expecting to like them when we saw Stray Cats open for George Thorogood, but we were very pleasantly surprised.
Jeff, I’ve heard other good reports about The Stray Cats’ performances.
Are “a-ha” and “The Thompson Twins” actually New Wave? I always lumped them in with other listenable but more MOR male groups and vocalists of the mid and late ’80s like Spandau Ballet, Mister Mister, Phil Collins, and Howard Jones.
Dexy’s Midnight Runners?
I’m happy to be corrected if I’m wrong.
Fred, a lot of groups got lumped into the New Wave genre. I have THE GREATEST HITS OF THE THOMPSON TWINS around here somewhere. Here’s the scoop on Dexy’s Midnight Runners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexys_Midnight_Runners
I enjoyed the ’80s music so I recognize most of these songs.
I think I hear Modern English’s I Melt with You more now than I ever did when it came out.
For me, Cutting Crew’s I Just Died in Your Arms is the quintessential ’80s track.
Beth, our Oldies radio station plays Cutting Crew’s “I Just Died in Your Arms” on a regular basis.
I still here Turning Japanese and I Melt With You a lot. New Wave was a pretty loose term. I would consider Thompson Twins new wave but not A-Ha. Elvis Costello and Grahjam Parker and Joe Jackson and Nick Lowe all got lumped under the New Wave banner but were basically singer songwriters. And Stray Cats were retro rockabilly.
Steve, The Stray Cats played a number of concerts in our area. Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, and Joe Jackson appeared in Toronto (about 90 minutes away…once you got across the International Bridges).
Despite a few decent tracks, I wouldn’t have either of these CDs in the house!
Bob, what are the “decent” tracks?
Sweet Dreams and Rock This Town! I’m sure I could scrape up one more!
Bob, check out Todd’s comment to help you with your third choice!
There are the ones I recognize and like, from the CDs:
Devo – Whip It
Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
A Flock Of Seagulls – I Ran (So Far Away)
The Cars – Just What I Needed
Modern English – I Melt With You
Oingo Boingo – Weird Science 3:49
Cutting Crew – (I Just) Died In Your Arms
The rest, meh.
Rick, The Cars’ “Just What I Needed” gets played a lot on Canadian radio stations for some unknown reason.
Unusually cheerful hit for the Cars.
1 The B-52’s– Rock Lobster A- Witty and you can dance to it. But not quite up to say, “Private Idaho” or “Roam”
2 Devo– Whip It B+
3 a-ha– Take On Me C- Points for attempting to compose lyrics in English. Shocking Blue and some others played with their incomplete understanding of the language better.
4 Dexy’s Midnight Runners Come On Eileen B
5 Eurythmics– Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) A Good way to introduce themselves.
6 A Flock Of Seagulls– I Ran (So Far Away) F+ Sha. SHAAAA. Sha. But haircuts are IMPORTANT!
7 Haircut One Hundred– Love Plus One C + Eh. They could be clever at times.
8 Madness– Our House A- Good if a bit overly sentimental. Not up to their best.
9 Men Without Hats– The Safety Dance B+ Trvuak bit fun. Haircuts are Not important, but I did attempt to emulate the lead singer’s. (Failed.)
10 The Cars– Just What I Needed B OK
11 Thompson Twins– In The Name Of Love B Slick, listenable.
12 Toni Basil– Mickey B- Trivial but fun and catchy enough…young middle-aged Basil as cheerleader in the video also fun.
13 Thomas Dolby– She Blinded Me With Science A- Witty, catchy, a bit obvious.
14 Stray Cats– Rock This Town B As rockabilly revivalists, a bit too slick…one of their best.
15 Soft Cell– Tainted Love B+ Great vocal over amusingly “beep fart” synth backing,
16 Modern English– I Melt With You A- Solid, almost-overproduced anthem
17 Gary Numan– Cars B+ Numan introduces himself, but a bt lite for him.
18 Bow Wow Wow– I Want Candy B+ As with Soft Cell, a decent, fun cover.
19 Frank Zappa & Moon Zappa– Valley Girl B-, considering it’s the Zappas. But it did help such films as VALLEY GIRL and HEATHERS to exist.
20 Wang Chung– Everybody Have Fun Tonight F. “Everyone have fun tonight/Everyone Wang Chung tonight” is one of the most memorably inane couplets of ’80s rock.
1 The Tubes– She’s A Beauty B- The Republican Bad Boys of the era. Some of their songs were funnier.
2 Oingo Boingo– Weird Science B. Close enough for a film score. Not their best.
3 The Vapors– Turning Japanese A- Amusing enough. Though I always think of Rick Moranis on SCTV NETWORK 90 doing an impression of Vaughn Monroe covering this one, among others.
4 The Boomtown Rats– I Don’t Like Mondays A Good banality of evil song.
5 Wall Of Voodoo– Mexican Radio B+ Close to their best.
6 Nena– 99 Luftballons A Catchy, sad little ditty. Everyone’s a silver hero, everyone’s a Captain Kirk.
7 Duran Duran Is There Something I Should Know C-/D+ One of their less bad whines. “Save a Prayer” their only decent song I remember.
8 The Romantics– Talking In Your Sleep F- There’s nothing I liked about these whiny, boring creeps, their two hits or the filler they dribbled out around them.
9 Cutting Crew– (I Just) Died In Your Arms. No grade, since I’ve forgotten them and this altogether. Shall have to Go Listen, as it seems a pop fave of several here.
“Safety Dance ” Trivial but fun.
“Everbody Have fun/Wang Chung” –its inanity more memorable than the exact phrasing.
Everybody…I’m tired, but not as tired as Wang Chung the band’s smugness.
The Cutting Crew song seems very faintly familiar…if The Police were Foreigner. Not terrible. B-.
Todd, you have a keen grasp of a group “blend” with “if The Police were Foreigner.” Nice analysis!
Thanks, George. I was, particularly in my late youth and young adulthood in the ’80s, someone fairly perfectly situated and inclined to be a Music Enthusiast, even down to being the worst musician (if perhaps the least bad singer on a good day) in my nuclear family and almost by default a radio DJ (my mother had dabbled in this, at a similar age in her life) and a music reviewer for various sorts of press. Eclecticism (I’ve always been a jazz listener at least close to first) didn’t mean I didn’t listen to rock and other pop A Whole Lot.
Todd, I try to listen to a music CD each day so my familiarity with many of these songs from the 70s and 80s is above average. Like yours!