DISQUS

Jonc · 1 month ago

Who are you, me?? :p Seriously...1986 was about the time I switched genres as well (for me, it was accidentally stumbling upon UMass Amherst's radio station one evening) but still enjoying straight ahead pop.

And I LOVE the Highland Mix of 'Stripped'...especially that middle section where everything drops and you're just floating there in the air with the rest of the keyboard fill...until you crash to the ground with the drums!

DavidMedsker · 1 month ago

Ha! I think a lot of us made the switch at that time. We didn't know any better before, and there was no going back after.

rockymtranger · 1 month ago

Good gawd! This is one of the best 80s mixes I have ever laid eyes on. Sigue Sigue will always be Ferris Bueller to me, which is amusing because I knew the song when it first came out. "Opportunities" was a highlight on a classic debut, and while I love Level 42, 10.5 minutes is just too much. I actually saw them open for Steve Winwood later that year.

Sounds like we had a similar bent toward slightly off-radar acts. Some of mine included Dream Academy, a-ha, and Go West, who didn't have more than 2 hits each, and yet now I look at them and think "lightweight". This was the summer between Junior and Senior year, and there's a lot of baggage along with these tracks, including a pretty intense crush that somehow got associated with Pet Shop Boys (sign of things to come, apparently).

sneezebag · 1 month ago

I echo just about everything you've posted here. I've had every one of these tracks for years, even Sigue Sigue Sputnik. For anyone wanting to dig a little deeper and discover a truly wonderful band, do yourself a favor and get anything by Love and Money. They moved away from the white-boy funk more and more with each successive album, but leader James Grant knows how to write a fine song and he wrote plenty of them. Every single had two, three or four b-sides and the material was almost always the equal of what ended up on the albums. In truth, "Candybar Express" is perhaps the weakest - and most dated - single. If you find a cheap copy of the album "Strange Kind of Love", which shouldn't be too hard, give it a chance. Grant's a hell of a guitar player, too. They never had a top 40 single or album in either America or the U.K., but once a pop-boy turns into Alterna-boy, that no longer matters.
I must admit, I also bought the Smiths "The Queen is Dead" very shortly after the Glass Tiger album. Seriously. But that lack of self-consciousness and discrimination allowed me to purchase "Please" by the Pet Shop Boys right around the same time, and that was the start of long-standing good fortune.

CarlosRamirez · 1 month ago

The Models song brought back memories! Great stuff :)

SteveA · 1 month ago

I remember all these songs. Sigue Sigue Sputnik were big in the UK before crosiing the Atlantic and the release of their album had alot of buzz - for one there was talk about placing "commercials" in between the grooves between songs which would have been a different means to "advertise". Of course that idea was scrapped.
This song was really unique - had the 12" cut of it.

I saw DM in July in Boston and Stripped sounded amazing - I absolutely love that band and that song.
Always a fan of P/S Boys.

Gigi · 1 month ago

Always happy to see PSB getting their props. Not just a queer dance-pop duo, but full-service geniuses. Oh Shep.

bama · 1 month ago

Much appreciated, thanks!