My Favourite 45s: The Ones that Got Away, 1980-90 Quiz

Answer: Bob Marley and the Wailers

In the late 1970s Bob Marley was coming to the end of his life due to cancer in his toe, the result of a football injury. One of the last pieces of music he composed was this solo acoustic ballad, "Redemption Song". The lyrics quote a speech made in 1937 by black activist Marcus Garvey, in which he calls on people to "emancipate yourself from mental slavery," because "none but ourselves can free our minds". Sadly, this truly inspirational song failed to chart in the UK and wasn't even released as a single in the US.

However, it was ranked at number 66 in the 2004 "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Answer: Visage

Music in the UK in the late 70s and early 80s went through a number of stylistic changes, evolving from raw punk to new wave, synth pop and onwards. One particular style movement was the New Romantics, typified by Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet. The best of these synthesizer-based bands, however, was Visage. The band featured fashion icon Steve Strange and serious musicians like Midge Ure, Rusty Egan and Billy Currie.
This synth-pop song, "Fade to Grey", was the second single from their debut album and by far the most successful. It features sung and spoken lyrics in English and French, and it's a weird and wonderful song! The accompanying video was directed by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme of 10cc.
It went to number eight on the UK Singles Chart but didn't chart in the US.

Answer: The Cure

Formed in 1978, the Cure have been one of the most progressive bands over the last 40 years. Surfing the new wave of British rock in the early 1980s, their increasingly dark music made a major contribution to gothic rock and the goth subculture.
The band's 1980 single "A Forest" was taken from the band's second album, "Seventeen Seconds", and was their first chart entry. Its haunting, gothic nature is clear: singer/songwriter Robert Smith has said that it's representative of the archetypal Cure sound. Over the years it's become the song most performed by the band, with over 1,000 live appearances.
It went to number 31 on the UK Singles Chart but didn't chart in the US.

Answer: Rick James

Rick James' career reads like a "so near yet so far" manual - he could have been amazingly successful but circumstances such as drug issues and poor health often dragged him down. His classic song is "Super Freak", released in 1981 - a mixture of funk, pop, disco and punk rock, with the most amazing riff. And yes, it was that riff that was lifted by pretend rapper MC Hammer for his massive 1990 hit, "U Can't Touch This". It went to number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart but it didn't chart in the UK.

It was ranked at number 477 in the 2004 "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, at number 481 in the 2021 list, and at number 153 in the 2021 "Rolling Stone" list.

Answer: The Go-Go's

"Our Lips are Sealed" has an interesting back story. It was co-written by Jane Wiedlin, guitarist of the Go-Go's, and Terry Hall, singer of the Specials and Fun Boy Three. The Go-Go's released their version first as their debut single; it's a great record with a pulsating rhythm, jangly guitar riffs and a wonderful "home made" feeling.
The Go-Go's single went to number 47 on the UK Singles Chart and to number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. This version of the song was ranked at number 477 in the 2021 "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
The Fun Boy Three released their version in 1983; it's a darker version, quite moody and threatening. However it does have the wonderful June Miles-Kingston on drums. This version went to number seven on the UK Singles Chart; it wasn't released in the US.

Answer: Rod Stewart

With the honourable exception of "Hotlegs" I've never been a fan of Rod Stewart. However this 1981 release, "Tonight I'm Yours", brings back so many happy memories of dancing at my local club that I've decided to include it in this quiz. It's just a great dance record, very uptempo with hooks and brilliant percussion - terrific!
It went to number eight on the UK Singles Chart and to number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: Kim Wilde

The absolutely drop-dead gorgeous Kim Wilde is a Londoner, the daughter of 1950s rock'n'roll singer Marty Wilde who had six Top Ten hits in the UK. In the 1980s she ruled the UK charts: with 17 Top 40 hit singles she holds the record for being the most-charted British female solo act of that decade.

The first of these was "Kids in America" a great synth-pop song inspired by Gary Numan and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. It went to number two on the UK Singles Chart and to number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Despite her success in the music industry Wilde made a massive career move in the late 1990s into landscape gardening.

She has presented TV gardening shows, and in 2005 she won a Gold award for her courtyard garden presented at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show.

Answer: The Waitresses

I detest Christmas songs - as soon as I hear Noddy Holder shout "It's Christmas!" I have to leave the room, and Roy Wood's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day" makes me feel physically ill. However there is one exception to this allergy: "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses.
The Waitresses were a new wave band from Akron, Ohio, and lasted for just a few years from 1978 to 1983. Their record label, ZE, insisted that they and all the other artists on the label record Christmas songs for a compilation album, and despite a rather negative response to this request the band came up with "Christmas Wrapping". It's the most charming, joyous song, bright and catchy, with quite amusing "girl meets boy" lyrics. It's the only Christmas record I like, and I always look forward to hearing it every December as Christmas draws nigh.
It went to number 45 on the UK Singles Chart but it didn't chart in the US.

Answer: KC and the Sunshine Band

Founded in Florida in 1973 by Harry Wayne Casey (KC), KC and the Sunshine Band were a successful disco and funk band for some years, scoring five US number one hits between 1975 and 1979 (though none in the UK). As disco gave way to punk and new wave in the early 1980s the band rather lost their way, but the release of "Give It Up" gave them their last hit.

It's just a great dance record, full of hooks such as the "na-na-na" chorus - you can't hear it without smiling! It went to number one on the UK Singles Chart and to number 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Sadly, however, it was their swansong, their last-ever hit record.

Answer: Talk Talk

Founded in London in 1981, Talk Talk started as a synth band influenced by Roxy Music and Duran Duran. Their 1982 album, "The Party's Over", generated a couple of minor hits, and their 1984 album, "It's My Life", did even better. The title track is one of my favourite songs, due mainly to the wonderful and subtly different bass guitar riffs for the verse and chorus. The 12" single is particularly breathtaking.
The band changed direction with their third album, and when their fourth proved to be sadly non-commercial they broke up. However they're credited with inventing "post-rock" in these final albums.
"It's My Life" went to number 46 on the UK Singles Chart and to number 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart; the UK 1990 re-release went to number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. It's interesting that despite the band's relatively limited success in the UK they were very popular in Europe and Australia.

Answer: Simply Red

I was never that keen on Simply Red, and in particular Mick Hucknall, their vocalist. However this lovely ballad almost changed my mind. The lyrics are quite powerful; the song is basically about leaving home and moving on. To quote Hucknall, it's a song "about that moment where you know you have to leave home and make your mark, but the outside world is scary. So you're holding back the years".

The instrumentation sets the mood of the song perfectly, and Hucknall's vocals are beautifully sung. It went to number two on the UK Singles Chart and to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: Bruce Hornsby and the Range

After graduating with a degree in Music in 1977, Bruce Hornsby spent many years paying his dues, playing in local clubs and bars, touring, songwriting and session playing. In 1984 he formed Bruce Hornsby and the Range, and struck massively lucky with their second single, released in 1986: "The Way It Is". With a lovely piano intro which mutates into a repeated figure, the song looks at social conditions in the US - homelessness, unemployment and institutional racism.

There appears to be an acceptance of complacent bigotry and discrimination - it's "just the way it is" - but the important line is "Ah, but don't you believe them".

It's a powerful message. It went to number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: The Human League

Formed in Sheffield in 1977 as a synth band, the Human League lost two members in 1980 when Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh left to form Heaven 17. However the recruitment of vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley rescued the band, and the rest is history as UK and US number one hits followed.
The 1986 single "Human" came about when Virgin Records called in new producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to help the band record their fifth album. Jam and Lewis came up with "Human", a mid-tempo ballad about infidelity and forgiveness with a lovely melody. Despite the band having to spend a month recording the vocals, the result was excellent. However, the reviews were mixed: Martin Rushent (the producer of the band's platinum-selling albums "Dare" and "Love and Dancing") said that it "just wasn't what [he] imagined the future for the Human League ought to have been".
It went to number eight on the UK Singles Chart and to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: Suzanne Vega

Californian singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega started playing in clubs in the early 1980's, and by 1984 had enough material for her first album, "Suzanne Vega". This went platinum, and was followed by her second album, the million-selling "Solitude Standing". The first single from the album, "Luka", was an international hit, but the follow-up single, "Tom's Diner", didn't do so well.
However a couple of English electronic music producers, Nick Batt and Neal Slateford, got hold of the track in 1990, remixed and released it
It's an interesting song, just relating what a woman sees as she sits in a diner, watching things but not being involved in them. Vega's original version is sung a capella, very softly, while the DNA version has various bits added and is quite a good dance record.
The original 1987 release went to number 58 on the UK Singles Chart but didn't chart in the US. The 1990 DNA cover version went to number two on the UK Singles Chart and to number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
An interesting fact: the song was used by researcher Karlheinz Brandenburg as a reference in developing the MP3 audio compression scheme, and as a consequence Vega has been referred to as "The Mother of the MP3".

Answer: The La's

The La's (that is, the Lads), were a rock band from Liverpool in the 1980s. Their membership chopped and changed for many years and their attempts at recording an album were frequently abandoned and restarted. An initial release in 1988 attracted little attention, but after it was re-recorded and remixed by U2 producer Steve Lillywhite it was re-released in 1990 to much greater acclaim.
The best song on the album is "There She Goes", sung to a jangly guitar backing, simple and rather Beatles-ish. There's debate whether the song is about unrequited love or heroin usage - whatever, it's a perfect pop song.
The 1988 release went to number 59 on the UK Singles Chart; the 1990 release went to number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and to number 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.