80's pop Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Fine Young Cannibals “Don’t Look Back”

sfilzen — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 16:56:36 +0000

Fine Young Cannibals “Don’t Look Back” 1989. 12″ single, remixed, extended version. It was the third single from their second, and last, album, ’89’s The Raw & the Coooked. The previous two singles from the LP, “She Drives Me Crazy” and “Good Thing,” both went to #1 in the US and I totally remember – and liked – those songs. “Don’t Look Back” was the third single and while it did almost make the Top 10 in the US, going to #11 (and to #34 in the UK), I have zero recollection of it. It’s danceable but not nearly as much as the other singles, nor as ear-wormy/catchy. It’s fine but not remarkable, more 80’s-bland. Side A has the longer extended remix version and Side B has the 7″ single version of “Don’t Look Back” as well as another just OK song, “You Never Know” which is brightly and boppy very 80’s dance pop.

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Madonna “True Blue”

sfilzen — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 20:07:29 +0000

Madonna “True Blue” 1986. Today, August 16th, is Madonna’s 66th birthday (b. 1958). I turned 15 the summer of ’86 when True Blue came out and considered myself punk AF; me and my friends made so. much. fun. of this record but as I listen to it almost 40 years later I realize that 1. that it’s a great record and 2. that I know the words to most of the songs which means I clearly was paying attention to her third studio LP (it went #1 in nearly every single country that tracks that type of thing). I can also visualize all the videos to the singles from the record, especially the album opener “Papa Don’t Preach” (#1 US, UK, pretty much everywhere else too) with her unexpected pixie hair, striped shirt and actor Danny Aiello as her dad (he did it as a favor for Madonna’s then-husband Sean Penn). I also love the singles “Open Your Heart” (#1 US, #4 UK and a peepshow-themed video) and “La Isla Bonita” (#4 US, #1 UK) which apparently is not about a great trip she had to San Pedro – she didn’t even know where it was when she wrote the song. Though I’m usually not a ballad girl, my favorite song on True Blue is “Live to Tell,” a sultry and sad song (that was totally uncharacteristic for Madonna at the time) which hit #1 in the US, #2 in the UK and appeared in the Sean Penn movie At Close Range. Many critics consider it one of her best songs ever. There are a couple of stinkers, though. I still don’t like the title track “True Blue” (this was the one I clearly remember me and my friends ripping on repeatedly in ’86). It’s sappy and saccharine sweet (written about her then-love for Sean Penn) with a cartoony vibe: it did hit #3 in the US and #1 in the UK so I guess a lot of folks didn’t agree with my friends and me. I’m also not crazy about the non-single “White Heat” which has a bizarre intro/outro (which I just learned was lifted from the 1949 film White Heat so I guess it makes just a little more sense) and not much good in between; but I do like the non-single track “Jimmy Jimmy” which has a 50’s meets new wave synth vibe and is about Madonna’s childhood crush on James Dean (we’ve all been there, Madonna).

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Prince “Around the World in a Day”

sfilzen — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 19:16:51 +0000

Prince “Around the World in a Day” 1985. Prince’s 7th LP and his second with the Revolution, Around the World in a Day went to #1 in the US and to #5 in the UK (and re-charted at #51 after Prince’s death in 2016). Swirly, funky psychedelic pop, it’s an album I admit to not thinking much about beyond the hits until relatively recently (I was far too into British new wave in ‘85) and now have a much greater appreciation for its complexity in the context of 80′s pop. I also now realize that this record probably inspired my 14-year-old self’s fashion choices (my friends and I wore a LOT of paisley that year). The singles are amazing of course: “Raspberry Beret” (#2 US, #25 UK) is a classic that I still listen to frequently, “Pop Life” (#7 US, #60 UK) and “America” (#46 US). “Paisley Park,” another great track, was a single only in the UK, Europe and Australia; it hit #18 in the UK and #38 in Australia. I also really love the funky groove of “Tamborine.”

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Go-Go’s “Beauty and the Beat”

sfilzen — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 18:20:28 +0000

Go-Go’s “Beauty and the Beat” released 40 years ago today, July 8th, 1981. Their debut album is one of the best of the 80′s and hit #1 on the US charts. I was absolutely gaga for the Go-Go’s after hearing their smash hit single from Beauty and the Beat “We Got the Beat,” which went to #2 on the Hot 100 chart in 1982 (The Go-Go’s first recorded and released “We Got the Beat” in 1980 on Stiff Records in the UK), remaining at that no. 2 slot for three weeks thwarted only by the equally awesome “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” by Joan Jett who was at #1. I remember those three weeks of girl-power rock-n-roll in April ‘82 vividly, me huddling by the radio, waiting for Casey Kasem to announce the top songs so I could hit record on my little cassette player. I also still adore “Our Lips are Sealed,” their first single from Beauty and the Beat which went to #20 in the US. Besides those two singles, I also love “How Much More, “This Town,” “Skidmarks on My Heart” and “Can’t Stop the World.”

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Culture Club “Colour By Numbers”

sfilzen — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 17:55:33 +0000

Culture Club “Colour By Numbers” 1983. Today, June 14th, is Boy George’s 60th birthday (b. George Alan O’Dowd, 1961) so I’m spinning Culture Club’s biggest and best LP. A massive smash, it hit #1 in the UK, #2 in the US and a ton of other countries; it’s considered one of the best albums of the 80′s. I absolutely adored Colour By Numbers in ‘83, so much that I was inspired to get a chameleon and name it “Karma” – of course. That single, “Karma Chameleon,” topped the charts literally everywhere except Poland (#8) and West Germany (#2). Culture Club also released “Church of the Poison Mind” (#2 UK, #10 US), “Victims” (Europe-only single, #3 UK), “Miss Me Blind” (North America only, #5 US) and “It’s a Miracle” (#4 UK, #13 US). The album is smooth new wave pop infused with British blue-eyed soul, a sound that was huge in the mid-80′s. Boy George is at his beautiful best: his voice rich and his look fabulously flamboyant – and so fun to recreate (I do believe I dressed up as Boy George for Halloween in October ‘83).

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INXS “Listen Like Thieves”

sfilzen — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 17:46:49 +0000

INXS “Listen Like Thieves” released 35 years ago today, October 14th, 1985. INXS’s 5th release was their international breakthrough and a massive hit, going to #11 in the US (and to #1 in Australia, of course). Big, soaring anthemic new wave pop, the first single (and album track) “What You Need” is one of my favorite pop songs of the entire 80′s decade; it was the band’s first US Top 10, hitting #5 on the charts. The other singles from Listen Like Thieves rank pretty high as well: the title track “Listen Like Thieves” (#54 US), “Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)” (#24 US Album Rock Tracks) and the soaring “This Time” (#81 US). I also love the non-singles “Shine Like It Does,” “Good + Bad Times” and “Same Direction.” My love for Listen Like Thieves is only shadowed a bit by INXS’s previous album, The Swing, which I love just a little bit more.

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Wham! “Make It Big”

sfilzen — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 14:56:46 +0000

Wham! “Make It Big” released 35 years ago today, October 23rd, 1984. Wham!’s second album was a massive smash and I absolutely loved it (this is my original copy from ‘84) – it went to #1 all over the world, including in the US and the UK. Fantastically crafted 80′s pop in the spirit of 60′s Motown (see the girl-group, wall-of-sound inspired “Heartbeat” in particular), Make It Big spawned four hit singles including the infectious dance track “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (#1 UK and US), “Careless Whisper” (#1 UK and US) whose sad 80′s sax still brings up the heartbreak of 13 year-old puppy love (long-story short, I got ditched at a junior high school dance and this song came on and it was ugly), “Freedom” (#1 UK, #3 US) which is notable for its video recorded while Wham! was on tour in China (1984/85 height of Cold War tensions), and “Everything She Wants” (#2 UK, #1 US), which Wham! released as a double-A side along with “Last Christmas” which, while not on Make It Big, can also count as a hit single, reaching #2 in the UK and #25 in the US (#5 on the US Holiday 100 chart, which I didn’t know existed until now).

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Wham! “Freedom”

sfilzen — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 19:04:47 +0000

Wham! “Freedom” released in the UK 35 years ago today, October 1st, 1984. This 12″ single has Long Mix of “Freedom” on Side A; the single version went to #1 in the UK and upon its 1985 release in the US, went to #3 there. From what I can tell, the difference between the Long Mix and the single version is a longer intro and a lot more prominent horns. I remember seeing the video for “Freedom” on MTV a lot during the summer of ‘85 and hearing that it was a really. big. deal. as Wham! had toured China and the video contains a montage of footage shot there. China was still a pretty closed country in the mid-80′s during the height of the Cold War and a Western pop group being allowed to perform to its citizens was, as weird as it seems now, pretty monumental. The B-side to this 12″ single has the track “Heartbeat,” which is a kind of 60′s girl-group inspired pop song, complete with a faux wall of sound musical backdrop. Also on Side B is an instrumental version of “Freedom” which is OK I suppose but really one of the best parts of Wham! was George Michael’s voice (though he does come in toward the end of the song on the chorus for a bit).

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Madonna “Madonna”

sfilzen — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 13:37:17 +0000

Madonna “Madonna” released on this date, July 27th, in 1983. I’m taking a sharp turn from the usual Vault-focus on rock/punk/garage/blues to pure 80′s dance pop and all its glory that manifested in Madonna’s first album. Though sometimes panned and often reviled (i.e. this review from Blender: “quacking synths, overperky bass and state-of-the-art mechanical disco, with Madonna strapped to the wing rather than holding the controls. It’s a breathless, subtlety-free debut..”), Madonna was instrumental in moving dance music out of club-exclusivity and into the popular mainstream with this top-selling LP which peaked at #8 in the US and #6 in the UK. Madonna is over- processed and over-polished (which basically sums up most of the 80′s) but it’s also infectiously glorious. Rolling Stone called it “an irresistible invitation to the dance.”

Madonna released five singles from the LP; two singles charted only on the dance charts: “Everybody” and “Burning Up” which both came out before the album. Three singles did make it to the Top 100 charts: “Holiday” (#16 US, #2 UK), “Lucky Star” (#4 US, #14 UK) and “Borderline” (#10 US, #2 UK). “Holiday” was the first song I ever heard by Madonna and my 12-year-old self was enthralled by the danceable disco beat and girly vocals. And then I saw the video for “Lucky Star” and a thousand black rubber bangles and beauty marks were launched. I think I spent the next year scrutinizing her dance moves and practicing them out in the fields surrounding our house and with friends at sleepovers. We could not get enough of Madonna: her voice, her moves, her look.

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