+ 6 - 10 | § ¶80s Empire Arena Has Moved!
From now on we'll be blogging on Blogger - so be sure to update your bookmarks to: http://80sempire.blogspot.com
+ 10 - 11 | § ¶Jackie - the Annual 2010
Jackie - the Annual 2010 [CD Box set] (£11.69)
In the early ‘80s I used to write for ‘Jackie’ and its sister publication ‘Jackie Pop Special’. Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, Jackie was a phenomenon - quite simply the most popular magazine for girls. The magazine finally closed in the early ‘90s but while it’s gone it certainly isn’t forgotten. Riding high on a wave of nostalgia you can now buy Jackie-related books and CDs in time for Christmas.
I’ve been listening to the latest 3-CD set ‘Jackie The Annual 2010’ which lets you relive Jackie’s ‘70s heyday with a great collection of some of the best hits of the decade. As with all such collections the mix of musical styles is sometimes a bit odd - I mean, how many people who are happy to rock along with Slade’s ‘Coz I Luv You’ and Alice Cooper’s ‘School’s Out’ are going to be equally keen on Gilbert O’Sullivan’s ‘Claire’ or Donny Osmond’s The Twelfth Of Never’, I wonder?
The choice of music is pretty wide ranging in fact: everything from Barry White to David Bowie. While there are certainly plenty of songs that are likely to appeal to men, the ‘Jackie’ angle will no doubt make this a set that is mainly bought by (or for) women - and just to hammer that home, the disk set even features the ultimate ‘70s heartthrob, David Cassidy, on its cover.
Mind you, there were some boys who had a soft spot for David too! Swoon...
Track listing and samples available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jackie-Annual-2010-Various-Artists/dp/B002QXNN30/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1257695335&sr=1-1
+ 16 - 17 | § ¶The Very Best Of 10cc
What a great band 10c were - and still are!10cc are predominantly associated with the ‘70s, when they had a string of hits such as Donna, Rubber Bullets, The Dean and I, The Wall Street Shuffle, Dreadlock Holiday and I’m Not In Love. All those hits and more are on a new collection, ‘The Very Best of 10cc’.
Not only are these really catchy, tuneful pop songs but the production quality of many of them - for example, the magisterial ‘Under Your Thumb’, ‘I’m Not In Love’ and ‘Cry’ set these songs apart from most of the other hits of the ‘70s.
While 10cc did carry on recording into the ‘80s, they never again had the huge success which they enjoyed in the previous decade. 10cc are on the road again this year (in a new lineup which, it has to be said, lacks the pivotal Godley and Creme). And this new collection is a great reminder of the remarkable musical achievements of this highly versatile group.
More at: www.10ccworld.com
+ 25 - 15 | § ¶Smash Hits 80s
This new 3 * CD set contains some of my very favourite 80s hits so - even though it’s named after a ‘rival’ magazine (back in the ‘80s I was writing for Flexipop! and Number One rather than Smash Hits), I’m prepared to make some allowances...
There is a good smattering of the ‘obvious’ hits - Culture Club’s Karma Chameleon, The Human League’s Don’t You Want Me, Bros’s When I Be Famous - plus a nice selection of some of the less well remembered hits - such as Dollar’s rather good Oh L’Amour (at the time I wouldn’t have admitted to liking Dollar who were seen as desperately uncool, but I must say that listening now, so many years later, it doesn’t sound half bad) and Strawberry’ Switchblades’ Since Yesterday.
I won’t bore you with the whole track listing. See for yourself on Amazon.
Suffice to say, this is a damn’ fine collection. Just to get you in the mood, here’s the video for track 5 on disc one - Haircut 100’s wonderful, Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl).
+ 21 - 20 | § ¶The Edge Of the Eighties
There are so many 80s music collections being released these days that I must admit to being more than slightly bored by most of them. The trouble is, so many of them are either padded out with singles that are so obscure that I can’t even remember them or they have the same repetitive handful of hits from the likes of Culture Club, Duran and Dead Or Alive. If I get one more CD with ‘You Spin Me Round’, I swear I’ll tear up my leotard!I’m glad to say that the newly released Edge Of the Eighties (3 CD) set is a good deal better than the average. It begins magisterially with two of the truly great songs of the early ‘80s, Ultravox’s Vienna and Visage’s Fade To Grey… But then it branches out into some less obvious highways and byways of 80s music. There’s Soft Cell singing the wonderful ‘Torch’ rather than the more frequently anthologized ‘Tainted Love’. There’s David Bowie singing the far from obvious ‘Up The Hill Backwards’ - and there is, inevitably, Dead Or Alive but (for a nice change) singing one of their other hits - ‘That’s The Way (I Like It)’.
There is a pretty good mix of 80s music here, as a matter of fact - ranging from the super well-known performers such as Adam and the Ants and Siouxsie and the Banshees to the unjustifiably forgotten (by all but their fans, that is!) bands such as Telex and Swansway.
Get over to Amazon for a look at the full track listing.
Meanwhile, as a tantalizing taster, here is a live recording of a great track from the album, Our Daughter’s Wedding (ODW) singing Lawn Chairs... I remember seeing ODW once. In the Hammersmith Palais, I believe. If my memory serves me well, they were then support act to Classix Nouveaux. What a great line-up!
+ 37 - 17 | § ¶Merry Christmas Everyone!
I trust you have an '80s Festive Season!
+ 20 - 15 | § ¶12"/80s/Dance (CD set) Review
12"/80s/Dance
This is the third in a series of ‘80s extended mix collections from Family Recordings. It comes as a set of three themed discs. Disk 1 is Pop; Disc 2 is Club and Disc 3 is R&B.
The inclusion of Dead Or Alive’s You Spin Me Round is well timed given the Pete Burns revival following his time in the Big Brother household. Over the years this track has been released in all kinds of different versions including the modern mix which was a hit recently. The version on this collection (The Murder Mix) is much closer to the original single, albeit with an extend intro of typical Stock/Aitken/Waterman-style disco percussion. At around eight minutes in length, this track is, for me, the highlight of the entire collection. This is what the ‘80s extended mix was all about. A real dance-floor filler if ever there was one!
The tracks haven’t all weathered the years so well, though. The instrumental opening of Wham!’s Everything She Wants sounds frighteningly like John Shuttleworth playing a bossa nova riff on a portable organ. Then there are some tracks which are barely extended at all. Shakatak’s Down On The Street runs for a mere 4 minutes and 46 seconds; Rockwell’s Somebody’s Watching Me goes to 4:53; Shalamar’s Friends only manages 5:01; and Donna Summer’s State of Independence lasts for a mere 5 minutes and 50 seconds (i.e. 85 seconds more than the non-extended version). Ah, how this makes me yearn for Donna’s much longer classics from the ‘70s (I Feel Love ran to a truly extended 8 minutes 14 while her MacArthur Park Suite ran to an epic 17 minutes and 47 seconds – now that’s what I call extended!)
The blend of songs on the three CDs is, in some way, curious. In particular, the third disc (R&B) seems a bit of an oddity. The whole point of the ‘80s extended mix was to get people dancing; the tracks were mainly to be heard at nightclubs and discos. I can’t say I recall hearing much of Cameo’s Single Life, Stephanie Mills’ The Medicine Song or Colonel Abrams’ Trapped at the discos I used to frequent! At least, it’s good to have The Art Of Noise’s Close To The Edit in all its percussive might; then again there is Eric B & Rakim’s Paid In Full (“This is a journey into sound….”) – ah, I’d almost forgotten that one! Freeez’s IOU is another track that probably qualifies as an ‘80s extended classic – and at 8 minutes 40 seconds it is provided at a satisfying length. Black Box’s Ride On Time is, for me, another highlight from disc #2.
All in all, this is a bit of a mixed collection. Not all the tracks are really what I would call extended classics. In my opinion, the collection is not as good, for example, as set 2 (12"/80s/2
12"/80s/Dance is released on February 27th, 2006
+ 16 - 25 | § ¶Duran Duran - Live From London
Duran Duran - Live From London (deluxe edition)
Back together again and sounding better than ever! Duran Duran recorded the tracks on this DVD / CD set at their Wembley concerts in 2004. The DVD kicks off with (Reach Up For The Sunrise) and then proceeds at a cracking pace through twenty songs including all their greatest hits such as Planet Earth, Wild Boys, Girls on Film and Rio. If you are kitted out with a decent Home Cinema system, you’ll be glad to know that the DVD is recorded in DTS and SRS for 5.1 surround sound.
While you can buy the DVD on its own, the ‘deluxe edition’ which includes a CD of live recordings is probably a better choice. This contains 10 tracks - all the big hits but none of the less famous songs. The sound is crisp and full but with all the atmosphere of a live event.
There are a few decent extras on the DVD including a documentary and some ‘3D’ concert footage. The 3D footage appears in the form of overlapping green and red images which - when you put on the green-and-red filtered glasses provided with the set - is supposed to add the effect of depth. All I can say is, for me, this didn’t work very well at all. Maybe that’s because I already wear normal glasses so balancing the 3D specs on my nose as well was less effective than intended….?
Anyway, with or without the 3D, this is undoubtedly a must-have set for all Duran fans.
DVD Song List
(Reach Up For The) Sunrise
Hungry Like the Wolf
Is There Something I Should Know
Union Of The Snake
Come Undone
A View to a Kill
What Happens Tomorrow
The Chauffeur
Planet Earth
I Don't Want Your Love
New Religion
Ordinary World
Night Boat
Save a Prayer
Notorious
The Reflex
Careless Memories
Wild Boys
Girls On Film
Rio
CD Song List
(Reach Up For The) Sunrise
Hungry Like The Wolf
Planet Earth
Ordinary World
Save A Prayer
Notorious
Careless Memories
Wild Boys
Girls On Film
Rio
+ 21 - 22 | § ¶Leee John. Feel My Soul
Leee John of 80s pop soul group Imagination releases a new Jazz album.
(more)+ 22 - 22 | § ¶Reviews of CDs, DVDs and more....
Keep reading for the inside info on all 80s goodies!
