Following on from 1986, in comes 1987 and this along with the following year are milestones in pop culture as a new genre was evolving in the windy city of Chicago...

 

House!

 

Titanic-sized rock ballads were still getting a look in aswell...

 

01: Pet Shop Boys Ft Dusty Springfield "What Have I Done To Deserve This"

 

 

The greatest colloboration of the 80s. Bar none. Dusty sounds ice-cool on this undisputed classic.

 

02: Mel & Kim "Respectable"

 

 

Often regarded as S/A/W's finest moment, along with Dead or Alive. If only we knew what these good-time London girls would go on to achieve... RIP Mel.

 

03: Alexander O'Neal "Criticize"

 

 

Can't knock a bit of corney 80s soul. A-a-a-a-a-Alex baby!

 

04: Steve 'Silk' Hurley "Jack Your Body"

 

 

Having the honour of the first ever house chart topper and still an in demand producer and DJ. This, however, was partially chart ineligible at the time as the 12" was too long...

 

05: Prince "Sign O' The Times"

 

 

Taking the tone down a bit here. Prince or whichever your favorite alias WAS (not has, his recent material is just horrible!) an inspiring songwriter and this was pretty much pips it. Such strong message and the jaunty guitar that runs through makes this a great soul/funk track at the same time. However, any Prince track that is loaded up on youtube is immediately took off in respect of Lord Prince due to copyright... he must be preserving it for his next offer as a freebie giveaway from The Mail on Sunday. Bless him.

 

06: Bananarama "I Heard A Rumour"

 

 

Without a doubt my favorite 'Rama track and that takes some beating!

 

07: Terance Trent D'Arby "If You Let Me Stay"

 

 

I have vague recollections as a little boy idolising this bloke... a shame his arrogance got in the way for his second album.

 

08: MARRS "Pump Up The Volume"

 

 

This ended up getting sued by Pete Waterman for using a very subtle sample from his "Roadblock" but he failed (I think)! :D

 

09: Berlinda Carlise "Heaven Is A Place On Earth"

 

 

There is something very satisfysing and liberating about this track. Everything else from Berlinda was rubbish however...

 

10: T'Pau "China In Your Hand"

 

 

I'm so so so sorry, I know this is just absolutely awful and I dare say a lot of you who remember this well will absolutely hate it, but I can't resist that kitch saxaphone and the general corniness of it all. :P

Edited October 9, 200816 yr by ScottyEm

Oooh, T'Pau...yuck.

 

Still, on the subject of dodgy saxaphones...how about

 

 

The Blow Monkeys - It Doesn't Have To Be This Way

 

...and 1987:The Album has to include the excellent 'The Queen and I' by the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu - Abba never sounded so good.

i wasnt fond of 87... unlike 86 which had some all time favs, however it was the best year until 95 IMHO.

Ahh The Blow Monkeys! That hair in mental, saying that my hair is long enough to create something similar!

Edited October 9, 200816 yr by ScottyEm

01: Pet Shop Boys Ft Dusty Springfield "What Have I Done To Deserve This"

 

 

05: Prince "Sign O' The Times"

 

 

06: Bananarama "I Heard A Rumour"

 

 

Without a doubt my favorite 'Rama track and that takes some beating!

 

07: Terance Trent D'Arby "If You Let Me Stay"

 

 

I have vague recollections as a little boy idolising this bloke... a shame his arrogance got in the way for his second album.

 

08: MARRS "Pump Up The Volume"

 

 

This ended up getting sued by Pete Waterman for using a very subtle sample from his "Roadblock" but he failed (I think)! :D

 

Brilliant selection.... PSB and Dusty is a jaw-droppingly great track - a bona fide all-time classic.

 

Bananarama, too - how on earth are lightweights like Girls Aloud notching up top 5's all over the place - compare their best to I Hear a Rumour which, by anyones standards, is one of the finest examples of giddy 80s pop. Fabulous. And they look gorgeous in that video, too.

 

Interesting that I was listening to the Terence Trent D'Arby album the other week after it was given away in a newspaper.... I'd forgotten what a true classic Introducing was.... superb, every track, start to finsih. And that voice... wow.

 

10: T'Pau "China In Your Hand"

 

 

I'm so so so sorry, I know this is just absolutely awful and I dare say a lot of you who remember this well will absolutely hate it, but I can't resist that kitch saxaphone and the general corniness of it all. :P

 

Carol Decker :D A friend of mine worked in a posh pub in Monmouth many years ago and ole Carol used to come in quite regularly during the time she was recording in the nearby studios..... she was vile to all the staff, the big "I am"... obnoxious..and, shame of shames... she'd always put China In Your Hand on the jukebox... can you imagine?!? Not only that.... once, my friend went to the loos..and Decker was in the cubicle..... singing the song! My friend, who by this point loathed her, wet some toilet paper and flung it over the wall on her head.... to much screams and expletives.... Caol was none the wiser, though, as my friend fled to the safety of the bar.

 

 

I was gonna go for a "1987" thread, but went for 1981 instead. Just as well. :lol:

 

A lot of your choices, Scott, would have been in mine too. My choices:

 

1. Mel And Kim - Respectable

Completely agree with you on this one. Whatever anyone's views on S/A/W, this is a classic.

 

2. MARRS - Pump Up The Volume

Adore this. Still a floorfiller twenty one years on

 

3. Alexander O'Neal - Criticize

I always thought this was a S/A/W production. Turns out it's not. Superb track

 

4. Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth

Love love love this. Although I do think she's released several great records. But hey, just my opinion.

 

5. Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind

Best cover ever?

 

6. Heart - Alone

OK, pompous, overblown, even slightly embarrassing, but I still LOVE this

 

7. Krush - House Arrest

This went Top 3 I think. Again, quite a ridiculous tune, but infectious nevertheless

 

8. Bananarama - Love In The First Degree

I would have gone for I Heard A Rumour too, but thought this one deserved a mention

 

9. Spagna - Call Me

OK, more euro-pop, but it's a great pop tune. Really surprised there hasn't been a 21st century cover...yet

 

10. Beastie Boys - You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party

Love it!

 

11. Scarlet Fantastic - No Memory

Should have at least gone Top 5, but I think it stalled at #24. Great record

 

12. Run DMC - It's Tricky

No, I'm not a huge fan of rap/hip hop, but there's something about this I really like.

My 87 classics..

 

1. The Smiths - Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

 

From the gorgeous dramatic intro, which Marr wanted to sound like an aural Dante's Inferno (and it does) to the heartbreaking lyric and to Morrissey's most beautiful vocal - this is one helluva way to finish off your final year. Cited by both Morrissey and Marr as their favourite Smiths track, it has everything.... it's a classic, and could easily have been sung by one of the bona fide crooners Morrissey seems to ape these days - or even someone with a range like Bassey - a massive monster of a song. Just.... incredible.

 

2. Sisters of Mercy - This Corrosion

 

Overblown and pompous...and my single of the year... Steinman production at its best. The 12 minute full version's hard to beat and the single version's waaay too short... but it doesn't lose the brilliance of this track. Superb.

 

3. The Cure - Why Can't I Be You?

 

Standout track from the sprawling Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, The Cure at their most frivolous and fun... 2nd only to Let's Go To Bed as a perfect pop single...and this 12" version is tremendous. Fab video, too. :wub:

 

4. Prince - U Got The Look

 

A Prince video still on YouTube?! Anyway.... my favourite single from his best album.... even having Sheena Easton on vocals couldn't ruin this sassy, brassy little stormer.

 

5. New Order - True Faith

 

Not their best - but a gorgeous pure-pop moment nonetheless...and of course, it's the soundtrack for that video :wub:

 

6. Bananarama - Love In The First Degree

 

On par with I Heard A Rumour in that it's perfect pop song.... the accompanying video here is from the 1988 BPI Awards.... yes, Bananarama really still are Britain's greatest ever girlband.

 

7. Pet Shop Boys - Rent

 

Still one of my favourite PSB moments - and surely their greatest-ever lyric..... all this and the wonderful Margi Clarke n the video. Pop perfection.

 

8. Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again

 

The absolute standout from the Music for the Masses album sees DM address drugs for probably the first time in their music.... released at a time when they were Britain's brightest hope in America... this is a triumph - a really, really excellent single and one they've only bettered once since....

 

9. Eurythmics - Shame

 

Taken from their finest work, 'Savage', 'Shame' was a commercial failure - despite the stunning video. Recorded in the days when Annie Lennox had a) a voice and B) something interesting to say. Shame indeed.....

 

10. Alison Moyet - Love Letters

 

I'm not a huge fan of cover versions (check Eurythmics appalling cover of my number one song for a great example), but Moyet's beautifully understated cover of this old classic deserves a mention... and the video was pretty great, too.

 

Notable mentions, also, to Sugacubes, Pink Floyd, Suzanne Vega, Lover Speaks, Black, Terence Trent D'Arby, INXS and David Sylvian for 87, too...which, despite some real crud, was a pretty good year for music if you looked for it.

Brilliant selection.... PSB and Dusty is a jaw-droppingly great track - a bona fide all-time classic.

 

Bananarama, too - how on earth are lightweights like Girls Aloud notching up top 5's all over the place - compare their best to I Hear a Rumour which, by anyones standards, is one of the finest examples of giddy 80s pop. Fabulous. And they look gorgeous in that video, too.

 

Interesting that I was listening to the Terence Trent D'Arby album the other week after it was given away in a newspaper.... I'd forgotten what a true classic Introducing was.... superb, every track, start to finsih. And that voice... wow.

Carol Decker :D A friend of mine worked in a posh pub in Monmouth many years ago and ole Carol used to come in quite regularly during the time she was recording in the nearby studios..... she was vile to all the staff, the big "I am"... obnoxious..and, shame of shames... she'd always put China In Your Hand on the jukebox... can you imagine?!? Not only that.... once, my friend went to the loos..and Decker was in the cubicle..... singing the song! My friend, who by this point loathed her, wet some toilet paper and flung it over the wall on her head.... to much screams and expletives.... Caol was none the wiser, though, as my friend fled to the safety of the bar.

 

Nice one on your mate there, Russ. My mother absolutely hated 'China In Your Hand' and never fails to tell me what a big-headed b**ch she was at the time. I celebrated my 4th birthday in 1987 and having been older at the time, I feel my choices would be better. T'Pau is never a track I would play out of choice, it's there purely for laughs as I find those dramatic sax solo's hysterical!

 

Yeah, Bananarama still remain the greatest girl band ever, I agree. Girls Aloud have fronted some irrestitable kooky pop tracks but - like every other bugger these days - Bananarama oozed that raw, DIY approach to their style which you just don't get these days in pop acts.

1987 - What the f*** is Going On?

 

TBH you only really need one record from this year and it's the above album by The JAMMS (aka The KLF) - The first time I heard it had exactly same effect on me first hearing Metallica... jaw dropping.

But then these amazing records also came out...

 

1. Birthday - Sugarcubes

2. Sign O The Times - Prince

3. Paid in Full - Eric B and Rakim

4. Big Decision - That Petrol Emotion

5. Rebel Without a Pause - Public Enemy

6. Pump up the Volume - MARRS

7. Hit the North - The Fall

8. Fairytale of New York - The Pogues and Kirsty McColl

9. April Skies - Jesus and Mary Chain

10. Sheila Take a Bow - The Smiths

11. Prime Mover - Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction

12. Fight for Your Right to Party - Beastie Boys

 

A lot of this was truly visionary music (Obviously not Zod!) and put the slop that made up the rest of the charts to shame.

Edited October 9, 200816 yr by grebo69

3. Paid in Full - Eric B and Rakim

 

Nice choice! The Coldcut mix of this broke boundaries.

Bananarama, too - how on earth are lightweights like Girls Aloud notching up top 5's all over the place - compare their best to I Hear a Rumour which, by anyones standards, is one of the finest examples of giddy 80s pop. Fabulous. And they look gorgeous in that video, too.

 

lol... your devotion to the bananabints sometimes skews your brain m8 :P ... girls aloud are FAR 'heavier' then bananarama whos track in comparison are the 'lightweight' ones.

But then these amazing records also came out...

 

1. Birthday - Sugarcubes

2. Sign O The Times - Prince

3. Paid in Full - Eric B and Rakim

4. Big Decision - That Petrol Emotion

5. Rebel Without a Pause - Public Enemy

6. Pump up the Volume - MARRS

7. Hit the North - The Fall

8. Fairytale of New York - The Pogues and Kirsty McColl

9. April Skies - Jesus and Mary Chain

10. Sheila Take a Bow - The Smiths

11. Prime Mover - Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction

12. Fight for Your Right to Party - Beastie Boys

 

A lot of this was truly visionary music (Obviously not Zod!) and put the slop that made up the rest of the charts to shame.

 

this is strange... because i dont regard those tracks as 'great' or 'visionary', to me they are just bog standard contemporary pop/rock/indie call it what you will from a period in time.

 

but by 87 i wasnt liking at all the flavour of music...

But then you'd probably think Phil Collins was recording better stuff than any of these ;) :D

 

I was thinking mainly of Sugarcubes, Public Enemy and Eric B & Rakim and MARRS. None of those tracks though were bog standard indie/rock/pop.

But then you'd probably think Phil Collins was recording better stuff than any of these ;) :D

 

I was thinking mainly of Sugarcubes, Public Enemy and Eric B & Rakim and MARRS. None of those tracks though were bog standard indie/rock/pop.

 

that depends upon which yardstick you use to measure 'better stuff'... he sold more! :P

 

nah... after punk i think i suffered a pop music hangover, it might have been your era, fair enough, but from my personal point of view the flavour of music by 87 simply wasnt mine.

that depends upon which yardstick you use to measure 'better stuff'... he sold more! :P

 

nah... after punk i think i suffered a pop music hangover, it might have been your era, fair enough, but from my personal point of view the flavour of music by 87 simply wasnt mine.

The late 80s probably was my era but not because of the pop music that was around. Most of that sucked hugely.

 

1987 was the year I went to uni and I absorbed a lot of new sounds and 1986 was the year I got into the alternative scene. To me that time was really exciting.

 

And then we had 1988... a truly astonishing year for me what with The Pixies, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, The Sugarcubes, Butthole Surfers, AR Kane, Talk Talk, The House of Love, Nick Cave, Dinosaur Jr, The Waterboys and Spacemen 3 all releasing amazing records.

lol... your devotion to the bananabints sometimes skews your brain m8 :P ... girls aloud are FAR 'heavier' then bananarama whos track in comparison are the 'lightweight' ones.

 

ah, but you probably only remember the fluffy early Bananarama and the SAW stuff... the best Nana era - the Youth-produced 'Pop Life' album was excellent.... and GA 'heavier'? Hmm.. maybe on the mascara and hype...but certainly not their music which, even at best, makes Debbie Gibson sound like Diamanda Galas....

 

As for 87... the only thing it can be remembered for is the premature demise of the greatest band Britain has ever produced.... :cry:

As for 87... the only thing it can be remembered for is the premature demise of the greatest band Britain has ever produced.... :cry:

 

.... but the beatles split in '70! :P

The late 80s probably was my era but not because of the pop music that was around. Most of that sucked hugely.

 

1987 was the year I went to uni and I absorbed a lot of new sounds and 1986 was the year I got into the alternative scene. To me that time was really exciting.

 

And then we had 1988... a truly astonishing year for me what with The Pixies, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, The Sugarcubes, Butthole Surfers, AR Kane, Talk Talk, The House of Love, Nick Cave, Dinosaur Jr, The Waterboys and Spacemen 3 all releasing amazing records.

 

pretty much sums it up... that music at that time was ideal for you in your position :) . tbh i was doing the marriage thang with daddyhood too... so my mind was on other things. but i think it underlines the fact that if you look hard enough past the charts..there is always good music. i couldnt be arsed to look for it though! :lol: twasnt my bag.

lol... your devotion to the bananabints sometimes skews your brain m8 :P ... girls aloud are FAR 'heavier' then bananarama whos track in comparison are the 'lightweight' ones.

02: Mel & Kim "Respectable"

 

 

Often regarded as S/A/W's finest moment, along with Dead or Alive. If only we knew what these good-time London girls would go on to achieve... RIP Mel.

 

I think 'MUSHYMANROB' would probably appreciate Mel & Tim more than Mel & Kim, maybe Matt & Kim as well but that might be too modern...Mel & Tim = more to your liking than Barry White or The Stylistics is it good stuff??

 

Mel & Tim - Starting All Over Again

 

Mel & Tim - I May Not Be What You Want

 

Stylistics - You Are Everything

 

I was looking in the hits singles book today and Bobby Womack's hits start in 1984 and doesnt feature the most brilliant Across 110th Street...but in 1987 he makes a record with a band called Living In A Box called So The Story Goes and then makes a record called Living In A Box

 

Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street :cheer: :wub:

Living In A Box ft Bobby Womack - So The Story Goes

 

this Living In A Box video seems like a not very good attempt at making a Zbigniew Rybczyński video - like a rip off of the second Opportunities video by pet shop boys

 

Art of Noise - Dragnet (promo directed by Zbigniew Rybczyński)

 

ART OF NOISE ft. RAKIM - Metaforce

 

and talking of acts that feature people from 10cc...even tho 10cc are responsible for some of the most horrid w*** ever...and even though the next record is cheesy as hell...one of those records that you wouldnt buy a best of sony bmg pop album for...a record that is so awful, so techno-oompa-oompa (and featuring one of the most awful 1980s style synth sax breaks)..that its awfulness actually quite charmingly kitsch and you really end up was wishing it came from Germany and not from that lonely boy Andrew Gold. :lol:

 

Wax - Building A Bridge To Your Heart

 

on the other hand actually bought the Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full album last week after hearing coldcut's remix of Paid In Full on the free bonus disc from the sound mirrors album...features stop this crazy thing and autumn leaves as well - as well as true skool on the main disc...

 

Coldcut - True Skool

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a2/Sound_Mirrors_cover.jpg

 

Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full (Coldcut Mix)