Shane’s Music Challenge: Various – 2002 – THE RANDOM EIGHTIES, Part I

Shane | 27 March 2014 | Reply

Shane’s Music Challenge: Various – 2002 – THE RANDOM EIGHTIES, Part I
10/10

I obviously had a lot more time on my hands a decade or so ago than I do nowadays – I could spend time making digital versions of ‘mix tapes’, for fuck’s sake!!

I put this compilation together to collect 80’s hits – mainly one hit wonders, or at least bands who I only liked one or two songs and didn’t want to get a full CD of. (In the case of The Sunnyboys I simply couldn’t find a copy) Consequently it’s full of cool stuff, though with a pretty hefty emphasis on CHEESE…

So we have kookiness (Captain Sensible), classics (Video Killed The Radio Star, Tainted Love, I Don’t Like Mondays), obscurities (Counting The Beat, Quasimodo’s Dream) and outright WTF-were-they-(or I)-thinkings (Pass The Dutchie)!

The one thing they all have in common is that they were big when I was growing up, and I saw them all whilst religiously glued to the TV watching Countdown every Sunday night for years. To this day I can still see the video clips for every one of these songs when I hear them – without Countdown my generation would have had little or no clue about music from around the world. Now it’s easy for kids to find something they like using the net, but back then, it was a very different ball game indeed.

1. Boomtown Rats – I Don’t Like Mondays
2. J Giels Band – Centrefold
3. Martha & The Muffins – Echo Beach
4. The Romantics – What I Like About You
5. Musical Youth – Pass The Dutchie
6. Katrina & The Waves – Walking On Sunshine
7. The Sunnyboys – Alone With You
8. Soft Cell – Tainted Love
9. Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
10. Ultravox – Vienna
11. The Reels – Quasimodo’s Dream
12. Feargal Sharkey – A Good Heart
13. Captain Sensible – Happy Talk
14. The Buggles – Video Killed The Radio Star
15. Bow Wow Wow – I Want Candy
16. Europe – The Final Countdown
17. Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax
18. The Swingers – Counting The Beat
19. Bonnie Taylor – Total Eclipse Of The Heart
20. Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes