Music In The 1980s - Lesser Known Hits

[anpt]

Can we move our attention to more obscure tracks and regional hits for a while?
Some suggestions that may not be widely known:

//Edit

[anpt]

EYES OF ICE by SCARLET PARTY

Country of origin: UK
Release date: 1983

Portugal #8


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_Party

[anpt]

ELDORADO by DRUM THEATRE

Country of origin: UK
Release date: 1985

Italy #2

UK #44

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_T...musical_group)

[anpt]

NEVER AGAIN by CLASSIX NOUVEAUX

Country of origin: UK
Release date: 1982

Portugal #1

Sweeden #19

UK #44

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classix_Nouveaux

[anpt]

ANYONE CAN CONTINUE...

https://www.ukmix.org/forum/chart-di...d-biggest-hits - any coincidence is purely coincidental

[anpt]

NO, NO, NO by NANCY NOVA

Country of origin: UK
Release date: 1982

UK #63


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Nova

[anpt]

MADE IN JAPAN by NANCY NOVA

Country of origin: UK
Release date: 1982

Portugal #2

UK #88


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Nova

[Passing_Stranger]

I think we should do this properly

[anpt]

Nothing against it because it improves information. For many songs it is more complicated because they have only entered in a few countries.

Some are only worthy of a footnote and may not appeal to a wide audience.

A simpler model could make anyone's contributions easier. But different types of contributions can coexist.

[Passing_Stranger]

STATE OF THE NATION by Industry

Australia
21 May 1984 - #78 - 5 weeks

Italy
Musica e Dischi: 3 March 1984 - #1 (3) - 22 weeks
TV Sorrisi e Canzoni: 11 March 1984 - #3 - 25 weeks
RAI Hit Parade: 5 May 1984 - #2 - 15 weeks

Portugal
Música & Som: July 1984 - #5 - 4 months

Sweden
Topplistan: 7 February 1984 - #10 - 4 weeks

USA
Billboard: 19 November 1983 - #81 - 8 weeks
Cash Box: 26 November 1983 - #79 - 8 weeks

Truly surprised this great and very catchy song didn't take off in more countries. OK, the US didn't really support the home-grown synth stuff - but Europe could have been much more welcoming. Very strange how this one charted in Italy and Sweden - probably the opposite countries (in attitudes, that is) of the continent. There must be a reason for this, surely!

[Robbie]

^
'State Of The Nation' has a familiar sound to it though I'm sure I'm not familiar with the track itself. Perhaps it's a too generic sounding track but I quite like it.

[Gambo]

^ Never heard it I don't think, but I'm ashamed to say, it's bang-up my alley! Completely forgettable trash really, with dubious lyric-writing - are we sure they were American? It sounds like one of those songs where it's foreign but the words have been awkwardly-transposed into English! No 1 splash in Italy I see. There were many tracks around like this at that point and some made it while others didn't despite fair promotion - I call it 'Seona Dancing' syndrome - but whatever. Thanks for sharing; getting my fix of eightiesness each day while in Covid-19 lockdown is equally important as my fix of exercise!

[Metalweb]

Don't remember hearing this before either.

Agree it doesn't really sound American - and the lyrics are awful!

[Passing_Stranger]

That's when I feel blessed not being a native English speaker - I can happily ignore lyrics and enjoy the song as a whole, treating vocals as simply another instrument

Actually, no I couldn't now - my grasp of English is too good for this. Which actually marred my enjoyment of some types of music. My absolute favourite band for years was Modern Talking - but when I started to understand the words, it all dulled very quickly

Speaking of Industry, yes, very lightweight - and I remember having a hard time getting through their album: so saccharine and sweet and cutesy I practically gritted my teeth. Imagine my astonishment when I discovered their early stuff - which is a melange of post-punk (the US brand of it - for they were from North America!), minimal synth and even something experimental! They had quite a different line-up then, though. The singer in this hit, Jon Carin, had a fantastic twist to his carrier later, when he went on to play with Pink Floyd of all bands and co-wrote their great song "Learning to fly"!

Now, let's see another bit of, you can say, Euro-cheese - a collaboration between Harold Faltermeyer, already mentioned on sister thread, and the former actor from "Dynasty". Reasonable initial success with an inevitable slide - and even this biggest hit is not quite right to me. But still a nice piece of 1980s Europop history.

[Passing_Stranger]

SQUARE ROOMS by Al Corley

Austria
Der Musikmarkt: 1 April 1985 - #15 - 6 weeks

Belgium
BRT Top 30: 30 March 1985 - #24 - 3 weeks
Het Belgisch Hitboek: 30 March 1985 - #25 - 4 weeks

Denmark
12 January 1985 - #4 - 7 weeks

France
5 January 1985 - #1 (5) - 27 weeks

West Germany
3 September 1984 - #13 - 17 weeks

Italy
Musica e Dischi: 9 February 1985 - #16 - 7 weeks
TV Sorrisi e Canzoni: 10 February 1985 - #17 - 15 weeks
RAI Hit Parade: 23 February 1985 - #11 - 7 weeks

Switzerland
23 September 1984 - #6 - 10 weeks

USA
Billboard: 11 May 1985 - #80 - 5 weeks
Cash Box: 18 May 1985 - #84 - 3 weeks

[anpt]

Good!

48-26-18-14-13-14-14-15-22-19-30-30-32-39-52-56-55

Only #13 in Germany but there was a lot of competition.

https://www.offiziellecharts.de/char...e-465476400000

[Robbie]

The Al Corey track started well, the music in the intro is quite good. But the vocals are poor and somewhat spoil the song.

[anpt]

COLD DRESSES by Al Corley

Country of origin: USA
Release date: 1985

France #5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Corley

[Gambo]

The Al Corley track started well, the music in the intro is quite good. But the vocals are poor and somewhat spoil the song.

Quite agree Robbie. The 'killer chorus' we were all hoping for didn't quite come together despite a very promising (if formulaic for the times) opening. Again, something lost in the translation somewhere lyric-wise, but then as PS has said, perhaps sometimes it's better not to over-analyse and just enjoy the instrumental side. Never heard of this bloke before. While I went through a phase of watching 'Dallas', I seldom saw 'Dynasty' really so wouldn't know him from that either. Reminds us how prolific H Faltermeyer was though.

[Metalweb]

It's not bad......but I wish he'd stand still...

[Passing_Stranger]

anpt, what a spectacular Top 20! Nearly every song is a pop classic! Unthinkable nowadays (though the charts changed beyond recognition, too)...

Gambo, both "Dynasty" and "Dallas" were shown in Russia in late 1990s. I somehow chanced upon the former and got sucked in for some reason (perhaps Heather Locklear... Yes, now I remember it was the one where she appeared at the family's house - and it's was a combination of her looks and a desire to know what happened next Then Joan Collins and her character's antics...). "Dallas" I didn't really warm to, felt it was a bit timid next to "Dynasty". I remembered Al, though, and was hugely surprised to find he went on to a notable (for a season, at least) pop carrier. He released not one, but three albums during the mid-to-late 1980s! With rapidly diminishing returns, yes, but still.

And, Metalweb, I agree, he should've cut down on physical expressions (and maybe get a course on singing to boot) - but that must be actory thing. I'd much prefer less unnecessary movement, though.

Now, let's see how the next song fares

[Passing_Stranger]

SAMURAI by Michael Cretu

Austria
Der Musikmarkt: 1 October 1985 - #3 - 12 weeks
Ö3-Hitparade: 15 September 1985 - #7 - 10 weeks

Finland
10 November 1985 - #5 - 5 weeks

Italy
Musica e Dischi: 1 June 1985 - #7 - 19 weeks
TV Sorrisi e Canzoni: 23 June 1985 - #7 - 17 weeks
RAI Hit Parade: 20 July 1985 - #4 - 11 weeks

Portugal
15 February 1986 - #11 - 9 weeks

Sweden
Topplistan: 12 July 1985 - #4 - 8 weeks
Trackslistan: 17 August 1985 - #6 - 5 weeks

Switzerland
8 September 1985 - #2 - 12 weeks

West Germany
28 October 1985 - #12 - 14 weeks

[Robbie]

^
Another mid 80s generic sounding Euro track! Actually it's not too bad though I don't think I could listen to it too often. Three years after this track was a hit all over continental Europe he formed Enigma and the rest, as they say, is history.

[anpt]

Five years In that period he worked with Sandra, Moti Special, Cretu + Thiers. You must know that Sandra's cover of "everlasting Love" was #45 in the uk.

[Passing_Stranger]

This was the only significant solo hit from Michael - but not only he released very good solo records (I recommend his albums from 1983 and 1985 first and foremost), he's also a very successful producer. Interesting how 1985 gave such a big breakthrough to a couple of the biggest producers Germany produced - him and Dieter Bohlen. Cretu may seem second to Bohlen, but actually is much more successful in the long run - his Enigma project was massive worldwide, while Bohlen's successes were mainly limited to Europe. He also managed to get the most beautiful female of pop music, Sandra, for his wife - so it's actually an incredible set of achievements from humble Romanian refugee! I admire him, actually.

[Passing_Stranger]

I Wanna Be A Cowboy by Boys Don't Cry

Australia
16 June 1986 - #4 - 19 weeks

Belgium
Het Belgisch Hitboek: 19 July 1986 - #20 - 2 weeks

Canada
RPM: 12 April 1986 - #19 - 21 weeks
The Record: #15 - 14 weeks

West Germany
1 September 1986 - #41 - 7 weeks

Israel
22 June 1986 - #12 - 4 weeks

New Zealand
13 July 1986 - #1 (3) - 15 weeks

South Africa
26 October 1986 - #11 - 16 weeks

UK
Music Week: 7 June 1986 - #77 - 4 weeks

USA
Billboard: 5 April 1986 - #12 - 19 weeks
Cash Box: 19 April 1986 - #13 - 17 weeks
Radio & Records: 2 May 1986 - #13 - 9 weeks

[Gambo]

Now this is truly abysmal! The sort of naff record and image that unfortunately those who are anti-eighties by default assume most records sounded like! Perhaps people found it amusing? Just goes to remind us that there's no justice on musicality in chart positions; how could this register a Top 100 placing in the UK when the previous examples didn't?! Okay it only attained a compressed 'next 25' position, so there's the mild comfort of knowing this probably never was as high as the 77th bestselling single any week in truth, but really, No 1 in NZ, No 4 in Australia, No 12 in the USA, No 19 in Canada?!! So happy this passed me by at the time. Next please!