'Love Action' is good, I think its my favourite of the Human League's early hits.

'Water On Glass' is good too.

Duran's 'Girls on Film' is a bit frivolous lyrically but the production is very good.

Si (Je Suis Une Rock Star) is very quirky I assume it is Jona Lewie - Kitchen At Parties influenced!

Girls on Film (with that naughty video) is decent. It went top 10 for me but I find myself less bothered about it these days 8/10. Love Action is fabulous, Human League were poised to take over "My fave current popstars" award as Abba quietly disbanded slowly, 10/10. Sampled by Utah Saints in later years. I dont recall Boys getting any airplay, Water On Glass was good though, but not as great as the previous singles 8/10.

Backfired was OK, borderline 7/10, and was one I got a free copy of - I'd gone to buy a pile of classic old singles that were being discounted by Revolver record shop in mansfield. We are talking mint copies of stuff like Marakesh Express from 1969 and more so I had a huge wadfull and the shop assistant sorting new singles arrivals accidentally stuffed Debs in with my bundle, which I didnt discover till I got home. I didnt want to get the assistant in trouble so I snook it back to her the next day when there was no-one around. Too honest me! 😄

Happy "not an American single" Birthday was a chart-topper for me, so joyous, and MLK was a legend. 9/10. Hold On Tight was another ELO gem for me, another chart topper and I bought both Stevie and this one new. 10/10, the french-language hook is just irresistible. Hooked On Classics really does work, it made labels aware of the built-in appeal of classical compilations to people that might not necessarily know names of composers and works (like me) but loved the melodies. What a great romp 8/10.

Bill's cockney-french quirky hit was nice to see after the flopping of his earlier attempts like Monkey Grip Glue in 74. Si Si 7/10. I Love You Yes I Love You was Eddy's best single since Do You Feel My Love 7/10. Dancin' The Night Away is more vague than Voggue at this distance but I think I liked it around about a 6/10. Green Door got on my nerves big-time, and is still not a fave I can happily not hear again, but it's a 4/10 I suppose.

Carl Carlton I dont recall being big on, but also didnt dislike, so say a 5/10. Not heard that Lobo track in 44 years, so it's hard to judge, but it's reggae so let's say 4/10. Tight Fit Mark 1 arrive with cheesy covers and havent heard this since 1981 either 3/10. Startrax left no impression on me at all and the songs were too recent to justify cheesy covers 2/10.

A fantastic top 9 here: I feel quite harsh on Gary really. And I’ve decided to give the very rare triple 9. Soft Cell is an obvious huge highlight but the Uktravox and Soft Cell tracks are real titans of the synth-pop age too.

9	Soft Cell	Tainted Love	484th #1: one of the all time great covers with a synth pop makeover and a crazed but commanding performance from Marc
9	Ultravox	The Thin Wall	A surprisingly low peak for their lead from a new album, but it's a superbly powerful and atmospheric track about nightmares
9	Genesis	Abacab	An epic synth track following the ABACAB structure: this feels like it goes on a journey and I love how the instrumentals develop
8	UB40	One In Ten	After a run of more and more moribund double As this is their best hit to date: social commentary captured in a hypnotic hook
8	U2	Fire	1st hit for the Irish band who won't have big success for a bit: doesn't feel like they've found their later style yet but it's great
8	Siouxsie And The Banshees	Arabian Nights	Their usual dark, stark and brooding sound with  intensifying, fearsome and biting vocals over a pulsating and menacing beat
7	Cliff Richard	Wired For Sound	The title track from his 24th studio album, this is very much top drawer Cliff and a lively track with some interesting rhythms
7	The Rolling Stones	Start Me Up	It's on the light hearted side but this is certainly one of their strongest later hits with a really infectious and joyous style to it
6	Gary Numan	She's Got Claws	A more jazzy sound than previous hits but the melody is quite like "Cars", and it's the usual jungle of synths and intense vocals
5	Aneka	Japanese Boy	485th #1: I actually quite enjoy the clumsy cultural references, but beyond the catchy tune there isn't that much replay value
4	Modern Romance	Everybody Salsa	1st hit for this UK band: this is quite a catchy piece of Latin style pop but it doesn't have a huge degree of musical substance
3	Tenpole Tudor	Wunderbar	Their 2nd and last Top 40 with a similar gung ho energy: it feels rather like a football chant and they mispronounce the title
3	Randy Crawford	Rainy Night In Georgia	A cover of a Brook Benton RnB song from a decade before: it's nicely sung but manages to be a rather boring overall package
2	The Nolans	Chemistry	Another attempt at sunshine pop from them but the chorus doesn't pop at all and ultimately it feels very pedestrian and flat
1	Enigma	I Love Music	Another all purpose medley of varying quality covers with no obvious unifying theme: we all love music but arguably this isn't it

1981 Group 15:

9	Soft Cell	Tainted Love	484th #1: one of the all time great covers with a synth pop makeover and a crazed but commanding performance from Marc
9	Ultravox	The Thin Wall	A surprisingly low peak for their lead from a new album, but it's a superbly powerful and atmospheric track about nightmares
9	Genesis	Abacab	An epic synth track following the ABACAB structure: this feels like it goes on a journey and I love how the instrumentals develop
8	UB40	One In Ten	After a run of more and more moribund double As this is their best hit to date: social commentary captured in a hypnotic hook
8	U2	Fire	1st hit for the Irish band who won't have big success for a bit: doesn't feel like they've found their later style yet but it's great
8	Siouxsie And The Banshees	Arabian Nights	Their usual dark, stark and brooding sound with  intensifying, fearsome and biting vocals over a pulsating and menacing beat
7	Cliff Richard	Wired For Sound	The title track from his 24th studio album, this is very much top drawer Cliff and a lively track with some interesting rhythms
7	The Rolling Stones	Start Me Up	It's on the light hearted side but this is certainly one of their strongest later hits with a really infectious and joyous style to it
6	Gary Numan	She's Got Claws	A more jazzy sound than previous hits but the melody is quite like "Cars", and it's the usual jungle of synths and intense vocals
5	Aneka	Japanese Boy	485th #1: I actually quite enjoy the clumsy cultural references, but beyond the catchy tune there isn't that much replay value
4	Modern Romance	Everybody Salsa	1st hit for this UK band: this is quite a catchy piece of Latin style pop but it doesn't have a huge degree of musical substance
3	Tenpole Tudor	Wunderbar	Their 2nd and last Top 40 with a similar gung ho energy: it feels rather like a football chant and they mispronounce the title
3	Randy Crawford	Rainy Night In Georgia	A cover of a Brook Benton RnB song from a decade before: it's nicely sung but manages to be a rather boring overall package
2	The Nolans	Chemistry	Another attempt at sunshine pop from them but the chorus doesn't pop at all and ultimately it feels very pedestrian and flat
1	Enigma	I Love Music	Another all purpose medley of varying quality covers with no obvious unifying theme: we all love music but arguably this isn't it

double-posted but worthy set of reviews! Tainted Love is a perfect record, Marc on manic bitterness best, 10/10. The Thin Wall was good, but not quite top rank Ultravox for me 8/10. Abacab is better than I gave it credit for at the time, but the lack of a proper chorus always bugged me but a driving radio favourite for many these days 7/10. One In Ten back on form UB40, and indeed I was one of the one in ten 8/10.

Fire was energetic and more punk than stadium rock, my first U2 purchase, 7/10. Arabian Nights is fab, Siouxsie's best record to date 9/10. Wired For Sound is one of Cliff's best records, top synth pop and sounding very much a part of the 1981 pop scene, quite an achievement for a 50's star 9/10. Start Me Up had been saved for 3 years or so, but it energised their career briefly back to rocking out old-skool-style 8/10.

She's Got Claws marked the point at which Gary and I parted company on his musical direction 6/10. Japanese Boy, loved the Eastern music swipes and sounds and driving beat, but cheese cannot be avoided here 8/10. Modern Romance were generally fairly mundane for a salsa beat, and tended to get on my nerves after a few plays, bar one. 5/10.

Vunderbar indeed, and very footie anthemic yes, but it was a bit of a laugh 6/10. Randy Crawford, classy but dull is a fair assessment, 6/10. Chemistry was OK pop I didnt mind it, though I havent heard it in decades so this is based on memory 6/10. Enigma had a follow-up? Dont recall that one at all and the cheesey cover version medleys had very much outstayed their welcome by this point so 1/10 on principle.

'Lay All Your Love On Me' is my favourite ABBA song but it had stiff competition from that Kraftwerk double A-side in its respective group for sure. I'm so glad that 'The Model' eventually got to be a chart-topper as it's my favourite #1 of the 1980s, even if it dates back to the '70s, making it feel even more futuristic. Hearing those synths for the first time was such a magical moment for me and helped to shape that large facet of my music taste. 'Computer Love' is special too, with a timeless riff and equally standout lyrics. The Computer World album is so strong in general.

Duran Duran are on a good run right now, so can't fault that top pick, although I think 'Love Action (I Believe In Love)' would just pip it for me - another group who are on top form and we haven't even got to their signature song yet *.*

I would be happy to never hear a medley again after the overload of them on SyncTube but do agree that 'Hooked On Classics' is a better example of them!

Back to snapping on that latest group as 'Tainted Love' is a synth classic - that's how you do a cover version! I was unaware of the lengthier 'Where Did Our Love Go?' mash-up version until yesterday's session, but happy to report that it worked well in that form too. Ultravox a mighty fine runner-up.

The two dance-focused synthpop singles on top of your rate, would be the same for me.

'The Thin Wall' has a very interesting beat to it. Maybe the chorus especially is a bit darker than the other early Ultravox songs, a bit more towards the direction Depeche Mode would eventually head.

'Tainted Love' is an anthem of course and the video is good had forgotten about it, a bit like a Levi's advert when he puts on the jeans!

'One in Ten' is very good and better than the later covers from UB40.

'Abacab' is good too from Genesis but 'Turn It On' is better known today probably.

'She's Got Claws' isn't one of Gary Numan's better songs but it does introduce the bass guitar and synth combo he would do better songs with in 1982.

'Wunderbar' is like a Bundesliga football match mixed with Oktoberfest lol.

Yeah definitely the 90s Enigma were way better than the 80s one!

Edited Tuesday at 17:181 day by TheSnake