Vitamin Z “Rites of Passage” 1985. English soft-new-wave Vitamin Z’s debut album (and I would proudly pronounce the band’s name the British way, with a hard ‘i’ in Vitamin and ‘zed’ for Z). I’m not entirely sure how I got into them back in ‘85 as they only had moderate success in both the UK and the US; the single “Burning Flame” received some radio play and peaked at #73 on Billboard. That ballad, described by Allmusic’s Michael Sutton as “encapsulating the mid-‘80s pop scene in England when British artists such as [Paul] Young, the Style Council, and Spandau Ballet took stabs at blue-eyed soul,” must have been enough for me to become a fan and buy Rites of Passage.

Rites of Passage is whispery, a little boppy, self-consciously romantic and therefore perfect for a Brit-obsessed American teenage girl like myself in ‘85. “Burning Flame” is definitely the highlight of the album, with a couple others worth a second listen (maybe not a third): “Casablanca” with its vaguely ethnic beat and minor key and the urgent “Anybody Out There?” showcasing classic 80′s keyboard and guitar solos.