Five from 82

[The Modernist]

Comments and marks please (oh and I've added a poll as that always sells a thread!)











I usually try and mix these things up with a few curve balls, but I've gone for an unashamedly New Pop selection here.

[naughty boy]

'Mirror Man' and 'Party Fears Two', of course!

[The Modernist]

'Mirror Man' and 'Party Fears Two', of course!

Why?

[naughty boy]

Well, the Associates song is just out of this world, I think you know how I feel about it! and I think you feel the same.

I always like songs that really push at the edges of what's 'acceptable', yet still sound fun and catchy and full of life and colour and all that. This has all of that. It's a spectacle. There's actually a lot of music like that in this decade - gaudy, uncompromising.

I'm a big fan of The Human League and altho' they did better than this, it's another one that's suffused with that 80s spirit.

The Pigbag one's OK but a bit wearing after a while. The Haircut 100 song is a bit of an outlier. The Kid Creole is great and would get my third vote.

[The Modernist]

Yeah I guess the Haircut one is a bit under the radar. It wasn't as big a hit as some of the others. But I've always loved its descending melody and pacey tempo, it's got that bouncy Beatles melodicism to it.

[toomanyhatz]

The Associates is probably my favorite too, though his voice IS on the edge of grating for much of it. I look past it since I like the song so much (often the case with them).

The rest are all just OK except for (surprisingly!) the Kid Creole, which I find rather dull. I usually like them OK.

I'll probably go for the Pigbag as my second. I'm a sucker for a horn section, though there's not much to the song.

[The Modernist]

It's a helluva bassline tho'.

[Sneelock]

wonderful thing & nobody foo.

[Darkness_Fish]

Billy Mackenzie really did have a helluva voice, I've always wondered if I should own something from The Associates. The only thing I have by him is a Holger Hiller single, "Whippets", which is as avant-garde and screechy a vocal performance as you're probably not going to want to hear.

I wasn't familiar with the Haircut 100 track, or the Kid Creole, and I'm quite happy to forget both again. Nice to see Nick Heyward dressed like Nigel Farage though.

Got to be Associates and Human League for me.

[Rayge]

The Associates and Human League are the two I have, so I voted for them. A different Haircut 100 or Kid Creole track might have troubled the vote, but I always found Pigbag a bit horrid.

[Ranking Ted]

Haircuts and the League.

[fange]

The Associates and Human League ... A different Haircut 100 or Kid Creole track might have troubled the vote, but I always found Pigbag a bit horrid.

Same here.

The HL is the top of the heap of this group here.

[Diamond Dog]

The Associates by several million miles.

Pig Bag just snatch second from Human League.

[Insouciant Western People]

The Associates by several million miles.

Pig Bag just snatch second from Human League.

Fuck me. For once, I'm in agreement with Pete.

I'd have had Haircut 100 in third place, but that aside, what he said.

[Insouciant Western People]

I always like songs that really push at the edges of what's 'acceptable', yet still sound fun and catchy and full of life and colour and all that. This has all of that. It's a spectacle. There's actually a lot of music like that in this decade - gaudy, uncompromising.

Yeah, the 80s was a great time for that sort of weird but perfect pop. The Associates is a great example of it, but you could just as easily cite something by Scritti Politti, or Close To Me by The Cure.

Duel by Propaganda, that's another fantastic one. And Frankie Goes To Hollywood, obviously.

[naughty boy]

Such a strong flavour, that Associates song, and yet we're pretty much all in agreement. It's interesting that something so outre can be so appealing.

I suppose it's no coincidence that there are similarities with Bowie there. Maybe we all like a bit of camp in our pop music, regardless of our specific tastes...

[Goat Boy]

It's one of those songs that manages to combine something thrillingly strange with real pop smarts (the bass and piano hook are both irresistible). Plus in the final 30 seconds or so when Billy flies into the ether it creates a moment of real pop transcendence.

[naughty boy]

That piano motif is amazing, isn't it? Flowery and beautifully melodic. It reminds me just a wee bit of Manzarek's intro to 'Light My Fire'.

[clive gash]

I’m so fucking bored with it though, we’ve been hearing about how great it is for 35 years.

[The Modernist]

I’m so fucking bored with it though, we’ve been hearing about how great it is for 35 years.

I don't think we talk about it enough, we talk about it a lot less than Steely Dan!