So New Wave, It Hurts Your Brain

I was thinking about doing an end-of-year recap of sorts, but then changed my mind. Memories of 2020 will be filled with equal parts angst and bewilderment, so why not close out the year with something fun? My final entry for this year is a list of albums from some of the new wave, techno and new romantic bands that shaped my teen years in the 1980’s — and which most of the mainstream populace probably missed. This is not a Top 10 list…..but a smattering of albums (15, to be exact) within my collection that are still within playing rotation at casa de Buckley. Enjoy.

King – Steps in Time

Steps in Time is the debut album by the English band King, released by CBS Records in October 1984. The album peaked at number 6 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the BPI. The band achieved chart success in 1985, and are best known for their hit single “Love & Pride“, which reached number 2 in the UK. The band had two Top 20 albums (both certified Gold) and five Top 30 singles in the space of a year. (Wikipedia)
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Fruer – Doot Doot

Doot-Doot is the debut studio album by Freur and was released in 1983. The cassette version of the album included four extra tracks. The lead single, “Doot-Doot”, charted at 59 on the UK Singles Chart and 17 in New Zealand. Freur was a Welsh new wave/synth-pop band featuring Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, who went on to form the electronic act Underworld. (Wikipedia)
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Clan of Xymox – Clan of Xymox

Clan of Xymox is the debut studio album by Dutch dark wave band Clan of Xymox, released 1 July 1985 by 4AD. The album was produced by 4AD co-founder Ivo Watts-Russell and recorded at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh. The remixes included on the album (“A Day” and “Stranger”) were mixed and produced by John Fryer at Blackwing Studios in London. Fryer had gained notability for working with seminal bands on the 4AD, Mute, Rough Trade and Beggars Banquet record labels, including Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget and Cocteau Twins. (Wikipedia)
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Tones on Tail – Pop

Pop is the only studio album by the English post-punk band Tones on Tail, a side project of the Bauhaus members Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins (who later went on to form Love and Rockets with David J), and the Bauhaus roadie Glenn Campling.[1] It was released on 6 April 1984 by the Beggars Banquet record label. (Wikipedia)
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OMD – Junk Culture

Junk Culture is the fifth studio album by English electronic music band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released on 30 April 1984 by Virgin Records. After the commercial disappointment of the band’s experimental 1983 album Dazzle Ships, OMD and Virgin intended for the band to shift toward a more accessible sound on its follow-up release. The record spawned four singles, including the UK Top 20 chart hits “Locomotion” and “Talking Loud and Clear”. (Wikipedia)
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Visage – The Anvil

The Anvil is the second studio album by the British rock/pop band Visage, released in March 1982 by Polydor Records. The album reached No. 6 in the UK and was certified “Silver” by the British Phonographic Industry in April 1982. Visage were a British synthpop band, formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit “Fade to Grey” which was released in late 1980. (Wikipedia)
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Yello – Stella

Stella is the fourth studio album by the Swiss electronic band Yello, first released in Germany, Switzerland and Austria on 29 January 1985, and in the UK and US in March 1985.[1] It was the first album made by the band without founder member Carlos Perón, and with his departure the remaining duo of Boris Blank and Dieter Meier began to move away from experimental electronic sounds towards a more commercial synthpop and cinematic soundtrack style. As well as becoming the first album ever by a Swiss group to top the Swiss album chart, it was the band’s breakthrough album internationally, helped by the success of the song “Oh Yeah”, which gained the band worldwide attention the following year after it was prominently featured in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and then a year later in The Secret of My Success. (Wikipedia)
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Abecedarians – Eureka

Abecedarians were an American, Los Angeles-based post-punk trio, active in the mid to late 1980s. The lineup consisted of Chris Manecke (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Kevin Dolan (drums) and John Blake (bass). They specialized in sparse, guitar-driven post-punk, though their most well-known song, “Smiling Monarchs”, is alternative dance in the vein of New Order, and was in fact mixed by that band’s guitar player and vocalist, Bernard Sumner. (Wikipedia)
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The Durutti Column – Another Setting

Another Setting is the third studio album by English band The Durutti Column, released in August 1983.  The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England.[2] The band is a project of guitarist and occasional pianist Vini Reilly who is often accompanied by Bruce Mitchell on drums and Keir Stewart on bass, keyboards and harmonica. They were among the first acts signed to Factory Records by label founder Tony Wilson. (Wikipedia)
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Thomas Dolby – The Golden Age of Wireless

The Golden Age of Wireless is the debut album by Thomas Dolby, an English musician, producer, entrepreneur and teacher. He came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including “She Blinded Me with Science” (1982) and “Hyperactive!” (1984). Released initially in May 1982, the album contains the pop hit “She Blinded Me with Science” in its later resequencings. The album’s overall theme is the era of early radio. (Wikipedia)
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Cocteau Twins – Blue Bell Knoll

Blue Bell Knoll is the fifth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on 19 September 1988 by 4AD. This was the band’s first album to receive major-label distribution in the United States, as it was originally licensed by Capitol Records from 4AD for North American release. After a period of being out of print while 4AD reclaimed the American distribution rights for their back catalogue, the album (along with much of the band’s 4AD material) was remastered by Robin Guthrie and reissued in 2003. Elizabeth Fraser named the album after a peak in southern Utah called Bluebell Knoll. (Wikipedia)
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The Glove – Blue Sunshine

Blue Sunshine is the only studio album by the British supergroup the Glove, released in 1983 by Wonderland Records/Polydor. This album mainly served as a diversion for Robert Smith and Steven Severin when both of them were under heavy stress in their respective bands the Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Since Smith was prohibited from singing in another band by his record company, he and Severin recruited Zoo dancer Jeanette Landray (a former girlfriend of Banshees drummer Budgie)[3] to sing the majority of the tracks on the original release; Smith only sang on “Mr. Alphabet Says” and “Perfect Murder”. Other musicians involved in this project were Andy Anderson (who later joined the Cure), Martin McCarrick (who later joined the Banshees), Ginny Hewes and Anne Stephenson. (Wikipedia)
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Talk Talk – The Party’s Over

The Party’s Over is the debut album by Talk Talk. It was released in 1982 and produced by Colin Thurston, who was a former engineer for David Bowie but was better known for producing Duran Duran’s first two albums. Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles “Talk Talk” (1982), “It’s My Life”, and “Such a Shame” (both 1984) before moving towards a more experimental approach in the mid-1980s,[5] pioneering what became known as post-rock.[3] Talk Talk achieved widespread critical success in Europe and the UK with the singles “Life’s What You Make It” (1985), and “Living in Another World” (1986), and in 1988 they released their fourth album Spirit of Eden, which was critically acclaimed yet commercially less successful. (Wikipedia)
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Wire – The Ideal Copy

The Ideal Copy is the fourth studio album by the English rock group Wire. It was the first full-length recording following the band’s hiatus of 1980–1985. (The band had recorded and released the Snakedrill EP in 1986 after reuniting). Mute Records released the album. The Ideal Copy peaked at number 87 in the UK albums chart. (Wikipedia)
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Killing Joke – Night Time

Night Time is the fifth studio album by English post-punk band Killing Joke, released in February 1985 by E.G. through Polydor Records. The album was produced by Chris Kimsey whom the band believed would help to promote the band in America due to his work with the likes of the Rolling Stones. (Wikipedia)
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