Now! That's What I Call Q the 80s

Flexipop one of the greatest pop mag's ever - you can catch an interview with its inventor Barry Cain here..

Following on from Friday's guest blog-spot, I've picked a few tunes from Matt Rudd's Q the 80s playlist for scanning with a wily eye. The full rundown and reveal of Matt's Sunday evening show can be found by tuning in here.

The Ginger/Beard Theory: much like beards are now the musical shorthand for alt, edge and earthy honesty - ginger glints (or Caribbean Sunset as I believe it's currently called) were used as a similar indicator of non-production line pop during the 80s.. thumb through this selection and you'll see what I mean.



When someone invents Grange Hill - The Musical *copyrights idea* This Nutty Boys anthem would have to be the end of show spectacular - it's like a fun size Willy Russel's Our Day Out expressed through the medium of Blockheads influenced North London Ska..

Kajagoogoo - Ooh To Be Ah
Harmless but hopeless weren't they - a Happy Shopper Duran Duran you could say. Nick Beggs (bass) was like Orville the Duck meets Mark King. And don't get me started on the sacrilegous use of Lord Harold of Lloyd for this sleeve.
Spot the ginge: a double whammy - ye olde perma-grinner on drums and ermm that other one

Bronski Beat - Tell Me why
It is the taste of snakebites and the smell of dry ice and poppers (what was the variety that didn't give you a raging micro-headache though), with horns that sound re-purposed from Heaven 17's Height of the Fighting. Although The liveliest version of Why is the 12" and can be found on the Hundreds and Thousands album. I spotted Mr Bronski snooping around Forbidden Planet 2 in the summer of 84 you know.
Spot the ginge:  wee Jimmy somerville

Duran Duran - Save A Prayer
Pre-dating the 90s Pan Pipe buzz - Prayer is the sound of a jacuzzi/infinity pool scored for glossy 80s fop-music. Has this been sampled by a rap or chill type remixer - it should be. Better yet, Le Bon has reigned in his signature honk for this bubbling tooty-fluter. Pop Quiz: do you know what the Sex Pistols/Duran link is ?
Spot the ginge: vacuum packed cheeks and pouting like a champ - it's Nick Rhodes. Although several Duranies did strawberry blonde variations



Sputnik were the New York Dolls of the 80s: clockwork rockers in fright-wigs and high heels doing video game glam, double drums and Rollerball bass with rockabilly riffing - what's not to like? The most exciting thing since the Pistols - if you were there at the time (and liked the Pistols and Sputnik at the time). The explosivest Love Missile Remix can be found on the rare Video Edition 12"  (see below). The $ci-Fi $ex $tars scarcity is also worth a squint. Did you know Bowie covered Love Missile - grab at the bottom of this post..
Spot the ginge: Degville's Clockwork Orange outsize syrups

Wham!  - Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)
Got this on 12" (Inner Vision label) - bought Sept 82, after a holiday in the south of France, camping with two mates..Dave Wright (you'll spot his name on the Dear Diary entries) and Kurt (now the headmaster of a local private school). Some joker had apparently nicked most of the campsite's record collection, meaning the DJ in residence was restricted to playing the exact same set every night - 'You set could your watch by it' I remember someone saying.
For those who haven't heard -  I experienced the most spectacular moment of hi concentrated-campness  in the summer of 83, while meeting George Michael, Paul Gambacinni, Leee John and Limahl in the cocktail bar of the Camden Palace.  Leee John and Limahl were furiously trying to out swish each other, George Michael sulked at the bar and Boy George and Marc Almond were downstairs. Rusty Egan DJ'd and Steve Strange MC'd - Now that's what I call the 80s

OMD - Messages
Much better than I remembered atually, but I can't forgive Andy McWhatnot for that dire dancing - it's woeful. Like a new born deer trying to steady it's creasing knees. Only out-skittered by the those two guitar twits from the fine young cannibals. Electricity for me remains their finest moment

Eurythmics - Love Is A Stranger
Is it me, or does she really sing 'so it's circumcision' - and why is Professor Wilf Lunn moonlighting as a chauffer?
Spot the ginge: Annie Lennox reworking Bowie's Man Who Fell to Earth wardrobe

AC/DC  - Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
R.O.C.K. The riffs have been lifted by bootleg remixers and hip-hoppers, the songs now soundtrack almost every action film - you literally can't argue with that. Surely they're due for a Bond theme soon (or perhaps Goldfrapp)? It's the sound of a Ray Harryhausen Dino-fight re-rendered as hi-volume wallop and flat capped throat shredding..

The SFW vid..


Lead off single from Undercover - the album that gets an unjust kicking in the catalogue  (Dirty Work is the deepest the Stones ever dipped) - Undercover of the Night is all hoodlum guitar,  voodoo rhythms, pulse pumping drums and a banned Julian Temple vid - still keeping naughty into their fourties. Good work Stoners..

David Bowie - Love Missile F1-11