Paul Hardcastle ‎– Rain Forest (1985)

Paul Hardcastle (born 10 December 1957, London, England is an English composer and musician, specialising in the synthesizer.

In the early 1980s, Hardcastle played the keyboards on several singles on the Oval record label by the dance music groups Direct Drive and First Light, before going solo.

He achieved some acclaim for his early singles, notably in 1984, the electro-funk/freestyle/instrumental track, “Rain Forest”, which along with the track, “Sound Chaser” hit number two on the dance chart. “Rain Forest” also hit number five on the soul chart and number fifty-seven on the Hot 100.

Rain Forest                               5:13

Rain Forest (Remix)                   5:42

Forest Fire                                4:08

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Mental As Anything ‎– He’s Just No Good For You (1987)

From late in 1986 to early 1987, Mental As Anything were the opening act on the multi-group Australian Made concert tour where they were joined by former Dynamic Hepnotics keyboardist Mike Gubb.The tour started with claims of mateship and cooperation; however arguments ensued between various band managers over the proposed concert series film. At the Sydney concert, Peter Trotter, playing saxophone for Mental As Anything, collapsed on stage and died a week later. The tour ended in acrimony with two managers, Chris Murphy (for INXS) and Jeremy Fabinyi (for Mental As Anything), arguing backstage in Sydney and coming to blows. A film of the tour, Australian Made: The Movie, directed by Richard Lowenstein, was released in July 1987,but contained no footage of Mental As Anything performing. They followed the Australian Made tour by extensive touring of Europe and the UK on the back of the success of “Live it Up” and to promote their album of that year Mouth To Mouth, again produced by Richard Gottehrer.

Mouth To Mouth charted in the top 20 in Australia and the two singles lifted from it, “He’s Just No Good For You” and “Don’t Tell Me Now” both charted in the Top 40. The music video for “He’s Just No Good For You” was filmed on Scarborough Street in Monterey, New South Wales.

He’s Just No Good For You (Extended Mix)                    4:04

He’s Just No Good For You (Special 7″ Version)             3:24

Ruby Baby                                                                  4:32

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Then Jerico ‎– Fault (1985)

Then Jerico are a British rock band who became popular in the late 1980s.

Mark Shaw formed the band at the age of 21, recruiting bassist Jasper Stainthorpe and drummer Steve Wren and poaching guitarist Scott Taylor from Belouis Some.

The band played The Limelight Club in NYC in 1983 and signed to London Records in 1984. The single “The Big Sweep” was recorded for London but they objected to the lyrical subject matter (an anti-Robert Maxwell/Rupert Murdoch statement). It was initially released by the track’s producer Martin Rushent on his own Immaculate label in 1985 and then, subsequently, as a limited edition by London Records along with the new song, “Fault”, both of which attracted attention in the clubs.

John Luongo remixed “Fault” for the 12″ single while the Club Mix of “The Big Sweep” was mixed by Then Jerico and Philth Tennant.

Fault (Club Mix)                                6:44

Fault (Single Version)                        3:32

The Big Sweep (Club Mix)                  4:47

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B-Movie ‎– A Letter From Afar (1984)

B-Movie were a futurist band from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, active in the first half of the 1980s. They were signed to the Some Bizzare record label, and had a track “Moles” featured on the original Some Bizzare Album.

In 1982, they released “Nowhere Girl”, which made the Top 10 in many European countries and reached No. 68 in the United Kingdom,but there was no follow-up and no sign of an album. The popular webcomic Nowhere Girl was named after this single.

Keyboard player Rick Holliday left in 1983 to form Six Sed Red with Soft Cell associate Cindy Ecstasy. Paul Statham switched from guitar to keyboards and was briefly replaced by Stuart McLean (Charming Snakes) for a tour of Israel. Their biggest success was having their song “Dream Baby” covered by Bananarama on their eponymous 1984 LP. The rest of the band re-surfaced in 1984 (with Adi Hardy on guitar) with the single “A Letter From Afar” produced by John “Jellybean” Benitez but this failed to chart.

A Letter From Afar (Big Mix)                          8:08

A Letter From Afar (Instrumental Mix)             7:47

A Letter From Afar (Small Mix)                      3:49

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The Revellettes – The Only 1 (1988)

The Revelletes were a female Dutch group consisting of Manuela Kemp, Anouk Broersma and Claudia Lynsvelt. The trio released three singles over 1987-1988.

The second single to be released by the act was “The Only 1″, written and produced by Bernard Oattes and Rob Van Schaik (The Limit).

The 12″ featured an extended 12″ mix by Ben Liebrand and the Action Packed Dance Track by Mark Hemmes.

The Only 1 (Extended 12” Remix)                           6:51

The Only 1 (Action Packed Dance Track)                6:59

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Anthony And The Camp ‎– What I Like (1986)

Anthony and the Camp is a dance music group led by producer Anthony Malloy. The group also consists of Crawford Peterson, Henley Goddard and Linden Aaron. Malloy, who already had a number-one hit on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with his former group Temper, hit the top spot again with the Camp in 1986 with the song “What I Like”.

“What I Like” spend three weeks atop the dance chat and was ranked as the most successful dance single of 1986. It also briefly appeared on the U.S. R&B Singles chart, peaking at number eighty.

The backing vocal on “What I Like” were performed by a number of notable singers such as  Audrey Wheeler, Cindy Mizelle ,Jocelyn Brown, and Siedah Garrett.

Produced by John “Jellybean” Benitez.

What I Like (Extended Mix)            6:36

What I Like (Dance-Appella)           5:26

What I Like (Dub Version)              5:37

What I Like (Short Version)            4:03

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Missing Persons ‎– I Can’t Think About Dancin’ (1986)

Missing Persons is an American band that plays a blend of New Wave and pop rock. The band was founded in 1980 in Los Angeles by guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, vocalist Dale Bozzio, and drummer Terry Bozzio. They went on to add bassist Patrick O’Hearn and keyboardist Chuck Wild.

Dale and Terry Bozzio met while working with Frank Zappa, and they married in 1979.  Cuccurullo encountered the pair while contributing to the Zappa album Joe’s Garage. O’Hearn was also a former member of Zappa’s touring band, and Chuck Wild had played with a variety of bands before joining.

In 1986, Missing Persons released their third and final LP, “Color In Your Life”. The album was considered more conventional after the experimental 2nd album, “Rhyme & Reason” only managed to hit #43 on the US charts in 1984.

“Color In Your Life” performed even more poorly, going to #88 but it did spawn this excellent single “I Can’t Think About Dancin'” which received the Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero remix treatment for the 12″ release.

I Can’t Think About Dancin’ (Extended Version)         5:47

I Can’t Think About Dancin’ (Single Version)             4:18

I Can’t Think About Dancin’ (Dub Version)                 5:14

Face To Face                                                         3:32

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DAF ‎– Brothers (1985)

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft or D.A.F. is an influential German electropunk/NDW band from Düsseldorf, formed in 1978 featuring Gabriel “Gabi” Delgado-López (vocals), Robert Görl (drums, percussion, electronic instruments), Kurt “Pyrolator” Dahlke (electronic instruments), Michael Kemner (bass-guitar) and Wolfgang Spelmans (guitar). Kurt Dahlke was replaced by Chrislo Haas (electronic instruments, bass guitar, saxophone) in 1979.

D.A.F. released five albums in the period 1979 to 1982 and by the time of the release of the third album, the minimalist pop masterpiece “Alles Ist Gut”, D.A.F. were reduced to the duo of Gabi and Robert.

The next two albums, Gold und Liebe (Gold and Love) and Für immer (Forever), continued in the same vein, until, as one British music journalist of the time put it, D.A.F. had exhausted all the possibilities of the 16-step sequencer.

The duo reformed briefly in 1985 to record their only English language album, “1st Step To Heaven” which spawned a number of singles including Pure Joy, Voulez Vous Coucher Avec Moi Ce Soir and Brothers.

Brothers (Mix Gabi)                 6:08

Brothers (Mix Robert)              5:04

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Nitzer Ebb ‎– Let Your Body Learn / Warsaw Ghetto (1987)

Nitzer Ebb is a British EBM (Electronic Body Music) group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Vaughan “Bon” Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums).

In May 1987, the group released its debut album on Mute Records (Geffen/Warner Bros. in the US), That Total Age, which spawned a hit with the pounding bass rhythms and barked vocals of “Join in the Chant” and “Let Your Body Learn.” Both tracks found favour with the Euro club scene and the nascent Balearic Beat movement.

The 12″ mixes of  “Let Your Body Learn” and “Warsaw Ghetto” are by Phil Harding while the instrumental mix of “Let Your Body Learn” is by Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones.

Let Your Body Learn (Twelve Inch Mix)                     6:26

Let Your Body Learn (Instrumental Mix)                   3:05

Warsaw Ghetto (Twelve Inch Mix)                            7:00

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Bryan Adams ‎– Heat Of The Night (1987)

Bryan Guy Adams, OC OBC (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. For his contributions to music, Adams has garnered many awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations, 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television in 1992. He has also won MTV, ASCAP, and American Music awards. In addition, he has won two Ivor Novello Awards for song composition and has been nominated for several Golden Globe Awards and three times for Academy Awards for his songwriting for films.

“Heat of the Night” was written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. The song became the most successful song from Adams’ album Into the Fire in 1987. It was released as the first single from Into the Fire and reached number 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks.

The song is very popular among Bryan Adams’ fans and it won Canadian Music Publisher’s Association Rock Song Of The Year Award. According to Billboard magazine it was one of the most-listened to (84th) songs of the year.

The track was produced by Bob Clearmountain who also provided the 12″ remix although the big drum sound reminds me of some of those great Steve Lillywhite 12″ singles for Big Country and Simple Minds in the early 80’s.

Heat Of The Night (Extended Remix)           6:24

Heat Of The Night (Album Version)              5:07

Another Day                                              3:41

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