NOW That's What I Call An Era: The Albums - 1980-1984 (3LP)

Essential Tracks From Iconic Albums…

Opening with a trio of tracks from stunning debuts: ‘A Ray Of Sunshine’ from ‘Fantastic’, the 1983 debut album from Wham, ‘Lemon Firebrigade’ from Haircut 100’s ‘Pelican West’, and the sumptuous ‘Show Me’, the opening track from ‘The Lexicon Of Love’ from ABC. Huge 1983 albums are up next from Culture Club, with ‘Black Money’ from ‘Colour By Numbers’, and ‘This City Never Sleeps’ the closing track on ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’ from Eurythmics, plus another epic closer from Alison Moyet with ‘Where Hides Sleep’ from her solo debut ‘Alf’ completes the first side…flip the lp over and Wham! are back with ‘Heartbeat’ from 1984’s ‘Make It Big’ – an album that housed multiple #1 singles. Howard Jones had a huge debut album with ‘Human’s Lib’, with ‘Equality’ featuring here…  Donna Summer is up next with ‘Protection’ from her Quincy Jones produced 1982 eponymous album alongside Tina Turner with the opening track from her landmark 1984 release ‘Private Dancer’ and Bruce Springsteen from his 1980 double classic ‘The River’, whilst the first LP closes with ‘Angels On The Balcony’, featuring their signature sound, taken from Blondie’s 1980 release ‘Autoamerican’.

LP2 opens with a stellar line up of the era’s most sophisticated pop. Leading off with the timeless ‘The Chauffeur’ from Duran Duran’s enormous second album ‘Rio’, before ‘Taking Islands In Africa’ a stand-out from Japan’s ‘Gentlemen Take Polaroids’. Tears For Fears made their album debut in 1983 and the title track from ‘The Hurting’ is featured along with a great pop moment, ‘Black Night White Light’ from Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s 1984 debut ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’. 1981’s biggest selling album in the UK was ‘Kings Of The Wild Frontier’ from Adam & The Ants and ‘Ants Invasion’ taken from it is featured next along with Echo & The Bunnymen with ‘Crystal Days’ from ‘Ocean Rain’, and the side signs-off with the gorgeous ‘The Day It Rained Forever’ from the fantastic solo debut ‘North Of A Miracle’ by Nick Heyward. Over on the other side The Cure open with ‘Play For Today’ from their second album ‘Seventeen Seconds’, followed by Joy Division from their second ‘Closer’, with ‘Isolation’. The opening track ‘Tyler’ from UB40’s acclaimed 1980 debut ‘Signing Off’ comes ahead of Grace Jones’ breathtaking version of ‘Nightclubbing’ and The Police with their fusion of post punk and ‘reggae rock’, from their 1980 #1 album ‘Zenyatta Mondatta’ with ‘When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around’. The last two tracks on LP2 were featured on albums released on the influential 2-Tone label; The Selecter with the title track from 1980’s ‘Too Much Pressure’, and The Specials with their cover of ‘Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think)’, the opening track on their 1980 album ‘More Specials’.

The final LP opens with a superb line-up of tracks from hugely influential albums: Spandau Ballet open with ‘Reformation’ from their 1980 debut ‘Journeys To Glory’, followed by Ultravox with ‘New Europeans’ from ‘Vienna’, The Human League with ‘The Things That Dreams Are Made Of’ from 1981’s hit-packed ‘Dare’ and ‘Secret Life’ from Soft Cell’s remarkable debut ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’. Heaven 17 are up next from ‘The Luxury Gap’ followed by Simple Minds with the title track ‘New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)’ from their brilliant 1982 album – and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark with ‘She’s Leaving’ from ‘Architecture And Morality’ closes the side…Turning over to the final side, opener ‘Mystery Achievement’ was the final track on the Pretenders debut ‘Pretenders’ released just two weeks into 1980, and second album highlights follow: ‘Harborcoat’ featured on R.E.M.’s ‘Reckoning’, and ‘Age Of Consent’ opened New Order’s second album ‘Power, Corruption And Lies’. The final three tracks are all stellar examples of the era’s most sophisticated pop; Roxy Music’s 1982 ‘Avalon’ included ‘The Space Between’, and in 1984 David Sylvian released his first solo album ‘Brilliant Trees’, and from it the outstanding and atmospheric ‘Nostalgia’ shares a jazz-influence with the final track, a collaboration between The Style Council & Tracey Thorn ‘The Paris Match’ taken from The Style Council’s 1984 album ‘Café Bleu’.

40 fantastic tracks – A sampler of the iconic albums that represent an incredible period of creativity and originality:

NOW That’s What I Call An Era : The Albums 1980 > 1984.