Peter Godwin took the #20 spot on my Top 200 with "Images Of Heaven". Another great song by the English new waver is "Baby's In The Mountains", the lead-off single from his 1983 debut solo LP, Correspondence. A dance chart hit upon its release, this song has been remixed many times for club play in dancehalls across North America and Europe. But like most things, the original is still the best. I did consider "Baby's In The Mountains" for my Top 200, but ultimately it didn't quite make it.
Godwin's ballad "Young Pleasure" (from the same album) is also great:
And "The Dancer" also rocks:
Be back next time with another song that almost made my list.
Fan’s of Marc’s Top 200 and Awesome Song of the Week know that every so often Marc or I slip one in that might not have synths, or isn’t exactly New Wave, or might be a year on either side the the 80s proper… this is one of those weeks!
The Housemartins formed in Hull, England in 1983. More a power pop outfit than anything else, they were unique in that they used humor and snappy upbeat melodies in parallel with sometimes depressing, sometimes religious lyrics and on occasion, angry socialist politics. Some very odd combos indeed! They released their first album in 1986 and were only around for about three years after that, releasing a total of two LPs and a fistful of EPs. But they were very successful - they had seven singles make the UK Top 40. Many of the Housemartins' songs are irresistible tunes, and their videos filled with the band clowning around as well as claymation. Afterwards, lead singer Paul Heaton formed The Beautiful South with a more downbeat sound but similar lyrical content- they went on for the next 20 years but none of their music came close to the great Housemartins. Their bassist had a more interesting path - Norman Cook formed Beats International and then went on to become world famous as music producer & top international DJ Fatboy Slim!
Let’s go back to 1986 for the first hit the Housemartins made - It’s Happy Hour !
-WAS
Bonus: Former Housemartin Norman Cook’s Best Song as Fatboy Slim - The Rockafella Skank (1998)… and what a wacky video !
Martha & The Muffins took the #168 spot on my Top 200 with "Women Around The World At Work", my favorite song of theirs. That tune was off their second album, 1981's This Is The Ice Age. The year before, however, they had burst onto the Canadian new wave scene with "Echo Beach", from their debut album Metro Music.
"Echo Beach" hit #5 in Canada and propelled Metro Music to platinum status. It also made #37 on the US dance chart. Martha Johnson and company soon became household names among music fans in the Great White North. "Echo Beach" nearly made my Top 200, but in the end just missed it. As an aside, at this time many Canadian women were hitting the charts, all pop artists with a pseudo-new wave sound. Here are some examples. #1 - Luba, who had two monster Canadian hits with "Storm Before The Calm" and "Innocent (With An Explanation)" in 1984 and 1986, respectively. While not actually a new wave performer, Luba attached herself to the new wave movement, associating with many bands and solo artists in that genre and wearing and affecting new wave fashions and styles.
#2 - Sherry Kean, who won the Juno award (Canadian Grammy) in 1984 as Best New Artist in the country. Formerly a punk rocker with The Sharks, Kean scored a massive solo hit with "I Want You Back" (#19 on the Canadian Hot 100), then went on to release a country album in 1986 before eventually leaving the music business to work in a museum. Like Luba, although Kean wasn't technically a new wave artist, she did everything under the sun to ride the coattails of the movement while it remained popular.
#3 - Finally, we have Nancy Martinez. More a dance artist than anything else, this latina singer from Quebec nevertheless made new wavers very welcome in her fanbase, as everything from comments in her interviews to the music played before her concerts seemed to indicate she was "one of us". Her 1986 hit "For Tonight" shot to #2 in Canada and reached #32 on the Billboard chart in the USA.
Be back next week with another great song that almost made my list.
For our milestone twenty-fifth entry of “Awesome New Wave Song of The Week” we’re going to go to a true New Wave original and largely hidden talent who has been at many key moments in New Wave history ….
Someone who gave Thomas Dolby one of his first jobs as a keyboardist. Someone who co-wrote and produced Dollar’s best song “Hand Held in Black & White”. Co-designer of The Buggles. Muse of Grace Jones when she made “Slave to the Rhythm”. Occasional backup vocalist for The Pet Shop Boys. Someone who not only performed - but co-wrote - the hit “Video Killed The Radio Star” !
He was even peripherally involved with Paul Lekakis of “Boom Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back To My Room)” fame … Hey, nobody's perfect!
I speak of none other than Bruce Woolley !
In 1979 Bruce Woolley and The Camera Club released their only album, “English Garden” and on it were the original versions of two classic new wave songs later covered by The Buggles: “Video Killed The Radio Star” and ”Clean, Clean”. Upon its release it got fairly good reviews, but many listeners were puzzled by the strange new sounds and concepts being introduced so far ahead of their time … hey, it wasn't even the 80s yet!
The Buggles’ version of “Video” garnered the #162 spot on Marc’s Top 200. BW&TCC's superb original is a great rendition of the song - a less produced, studio-fied sound. (although I’m willing to bet that the Buggles’ added production and addition of the “oh-a-oh-a” vocals is what made it such a hit later on)
But this week the Awesome honor goes to “Clean, Clean” - I always loved the manic sound and Clockwork Orange stylings of the tune. It’s more similar to The Buggles' version and rocks out with brilliant guitar and the always recognizable master strokes of Mr. Dolby on synths.
BW&TCC never made another album but between “Video” and how many insanely popular songs he’s written for others I don't think he’s hurting for cash flow!
-WAS
P.S. Here's the original “Video Killed The Radio Star".
After signing a record deal in late 1983, Belouis Some released his debut album in April, 1985. The self-titled effort scored him three UK hits: "Imagination", "Jerusalem", and "Some People", which hit #33 in Britain and #67 in the USA.
The next year, Some contributed his best song, "Round, Round", to the Pretty In Pink soundtrack. The track wasn't released as a single, but it's awesome and almost made my Top 200 list.
I'm a fan of all things Molly Ringwald, but Pretty In Pink isn't one of my favorite films. Here's the video anyway, if you want to relive the nostalgia (I keep forgetting Kristy Swanson is in the movie until I see that last scene).
Be back next week with another song that just missed making it.
The legendary Black captured the #90 spot on Marc’s Top 200 with the title song of his smooth 1987 “Wonderful Life” LP. An international hit that is played everywhere (even on Cadbury commercials!), it’s a magnificent song. Little known fact - it's being sung from a point of irony, not appreciation! More obvious irony comes across in this weeks awesome song, “Everything Is Coming Up Roses” - the second track off the LP. The strangely timeless and un-cheesy-for-the-80s video is awesome too.
“Roses" was the first song I ever heard from Black and it immediately made me a big fan. The entire “Wonderful Life” album is superb, but if I had to pick a favorite track right now it would probably be “Finder”….
But then again …. “Just Making Memories" is really growing on me…..
Platinum Blonde scored places on my Top 200 with "Situation Critical" (#196), "Not In Love" (#173), "Standing In The Dark" (#118), and "Doesn't Really Matter (#39). These four songs are all from the Blondes' first two albums, 1983's Standing In The Dark and 1985's Alien Shores.
By 1987's Contact LP, the country's musical landscape had changed. New wave was on the outs, and slick Canadian rock acts like Glass Tiger, Haywire, and Frozen Ghost were ascendant (see below). In response, Platinum Blonde changed their sound and look. The first fruit of this effort was lead-off single "Contact", which hit #13 on the Canadian charts, their biggest hit since "Situation Critical" in 1985.
Over the long haul, however, the new style didn't catch on, and "Contact" would prove to be the band's last top 40 hit. I've always loved the song despite it's warts, however, and I did consider including it on my list. Full disclosure: I have lost my voice belting out this song at several Platinum Blonde concerts.
Bonus: Haywire, Glass Tiger, Frozen Ghost - a calvacade of Canadian 80s rock!
Be back next time with another song that almost made my Top 200.
Many people are familiar with legendary pop-punk band The Buzzcocks and their enigmatic lead singer Pete Shelley (who as a solo artist scored the #136 spot in Marc’s Top 200). But before Pete Shelley fronted the Buzzcocks, the band was led by its co-founder, who departed after one EP - the one & only Howard Devoto. Devoto was even more an unusual character than Shelley - a true rebel & iconoclast, he was so punk rock that he prioritized his college studies over any punk rock nonsense! After the Buzzcocks he formed a pioneering post-punk band called Magazine who were way ahead of their time... and then he left the music industry entirely to work in photography.
But before he did, Devoto, tired of the whole punk genre, spent the years 1981-1983 crafting a wondrously tuneful solo new wave disc called “Jerky Versions of the Dream”. Coming from out of nowhere with great lyrics and a tight, well produced sound, “Dream” cast the eccentric Devoto in a whole new light. It even made a dent in the UK charts at #57, and was followed by a sold-out tour of Europe, Canada & the US. The stand-out track on “Dream” is the dense and emotive “Rainy Season”. I’m going with the unofficial video on this one, for many reasons - it contains the longer album version of the song, not the too-short edited single version. Plus, the quality of the sound is far superior. Also, the beauty of this tune is actually compromised by the horrific 80s cheesiness of the video.. look away, look away! And finally … Howard Devoto despite his ingenious music & innovative creativity… has a face made for radio.
