THE BARGAIN BUY: Various Artists; 100 Hits, 80s

 |   |  1 min read

The Stranglers: Golden Brown
THE BARGAIN BUY: Various Artists; 100 Hits, 80s

Yes, it's easy to tick off who isn't represented among these 100 hits of the decade that discovered synths -- Prince, Madonna, Bowie, every decent hip-hop act, the paisley underground bands, alt-indie rock from the US, post-punk UK bands . . .

But this still manages a fairly decent pop overview of a period where Hot Chocolate and Sheena Easton rubbed hairstyles with Culture Club, Duran Duran, Kim Wilde and Spandau Ballet . . . all of whom are here represented by their big hits.

So at a quick glance this looks like the Eighties as your local classic hits radio station might want you to believe it was. 

But it's the other inclusions which make this a fair selection: Billy Idol (White Wedding and Rebel Yell), Dr Hook (Sexy Eyes), Dexy's Midnight Runners (Geno, good choice!), the Specials (Ghost Town, another good one), Feargal Sharkey (A Good Heart), Dusty Springfield (In Private), J. Geils Band (Freeze Frame), The Rock Steady Crew, Mel and Kim, the Go-Go's, Stan Ridgeway (Camouflage), Black Slate (Amigo of course), Talking Heads (Wild Wild Life) . . .

Some of those mentioned above get a hit and a near-hit which seems odd when there were other acts which needed inclusion, but who knows the vagaries of such compilations, licencing and so on.

No matter, this is a nostalgia trip for some and source material for a new generation which didn't know this stuff first hand but is now intent on graverobbing it for styles, melodies and oddy enough production values . . .

JB_HZ_CHEAP_longBut thankfully, so far anyway, not the hairstyles.

And at just $30 for 100 songs over five CDs from JB Hi Fi stores here that makes this synth-drum collection our recommended Bargain Buy. 

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   The Bargain Buy articles index

THE BARGAIN BUY: Emmylou Harris, The Original Album Series (Rhino)

THE BARGAIN BUY: Emmylou Harris, The Original Album Series (Rhino)

With a new Emmylou Harris album about to be released -- does an Emmylou album "drop"? -- it is timely to look briefly at this five CD set of her early solo albums. It skips past her... > Read more

THE BARGAIN BUY: Neil Finn: Out of Silence

THE BARGAIN BUY: Neil Finn: Out of Silence

Our long-running Bargain Buy column -- cheap-as-chips CDs through JB Hi-Fi -- has somewhat taken a back seat lately because so many people are streaming and more and more are looking to vinyl.... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Anouar Brahem: Le Voyage de Sahar (ECM/Ode)

Anouar Brahem: Le Voyage de Sahar (ECM/Ode)

Tunisian Brahem who plays oud --- like a slack-string lute -- steers another fine album under his own name on ECM, a label with a reputation for meticulously produced if sometime emotionally... > Read more

ONE WE MISSED: Various Artists; One Love, The Very Best of Aotearoa Reggae (Sony)

ONE WE MISSED: Various Artists; One Love, The Very Best of Aotearoa Reggae (Sony)

Released a few weeks back, this highly inclusive, 34-song double disc got repeat play in the car stereo because it isn't always our default position of "barbecue reggae" (although there's... > Read more