1985A-ha - Take On Me - An amazing, groundbreaking video that has never been bettered for me.
Duran Duran - A View To A Kill - one of the best Bond themes ever, which is a shame really, because - for me, anyway - it's probably the second worst Bond movie ever made.
The Commodores - Nightshift
The Cars - Drive - Aside from being a brilliant song, I'm pretty sure I recall that the song plus the video that was made to accompany it during Live Aid was the tipping point for many, and led to a massive wave of donations.
Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - the Murder Mix 12" is superb.
Wham! - I'm Your Man - The year I left school and started the YTS that ended in my getting the best job I ever had, with some of the best people I've ever worked with - some of whom I'm still in touch with via a WhatsApp group.
A workmate recorded the first play of the 'Extended Stimulation 12 inch' off the radio just before the single was released in November of that year, and with it being the run up to my first Christmas as a young working man I was doing loads of overtime to boost my money up.
He was also doing the overtime along with a few of us and we absolutely played that mix to death on his 'ghetto blaster', with every one of us pre-ordering that 12" single as soon as we heard it.
That version brings back so many memories of that fantastic first year out of school and I still have that 12" single, and yes, I looked after it and I still play it every now and then.
Phil Collins - Sussudio
Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)
James Brown - Living In America - Rocky 4 was HUGE that year and this song was and still is the pick of the soundtrack - RIP, Carl (Apollo) Weathers
Dire Straits - Money For Nothing - probably the second best intro to a song ever, behind Band On The Run by Wings
1986The Bangles - Manic Monday - if you are around my age and Susanna Hoffs didn't make you want to go...
...then may I suggest you go find a quiet corner and check yourself for a pulse!
The Housemartins - Happy Hour - 'London 0 Hull 4' was an absolutely brilliant album. A little story about The Housemartins...
Myself and my brother were a huge fans and I had bought every single record of theirs (I'm still trying to locate their whereabouts for my collection), and had massive 5ft posters ALL over our bedroom walls, and I mean that quite literally.
They did a 'Hold Tight!' gig for Granada TV at City Lites in Manchester in 1986, which my brother and I recorded and played almost daily on the living room TV until the VHS was almost worn out.
One day my Dad (who worked at Granada TV in various roles for over 25 years) walks into the living room from work and sees us playing it and says: "I didn't know you were into these, I could have got you tickets for that gig".
Bedroom walls FULL of posters and Dad constantly coming into our room telling us to keep the music down, which was more often than not The Housemartins. Needless to say we were not impressed.
Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al - another great video.
Stan Ridgway - Camouflage - I love a song with a good story, and Stan seemed to cram a lot of story into just 5 minutes, and the extended version is even better.
Swing Out Sister - Breakout
Madonna - Open Your Heart
Bowie - Absolute Beginners
The Damned - Eloise - I remember a mate at the time (he was in his final year in school and I had left the year before) was absolutely besotted with a girl in his school called Louise when this came out, and he asked me to record that one song multiple times from start to finish on both sides of a C90 cassette, which I did.
I was absolutely sick of the song by the time I'd finished it, but enough time (not to mention therapy
) has passed now for me to be able to include it here!
Run DMC/Aerosmith - Walk This Way - absolutely fantastic!
Huey Lewis & The News - The Power Of Love - GREAT SCOTT, WHAT A MOVIE!
Janet Jackson - When I Think Of You - pre-plastic surgery Janet was absolutely f***ing gorgeous!
Cameo - Word Up
Dead Or Alive - Brand New Lover
Human League - Human
Jermaine Stewart - We Don't Have To
Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia - 'The Full Horror' 12" version is fantastic!
Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth
Bruce Hornsby & The Range - The Way It Is - brilliant song with one of the best piano solos ever.
I could go on forever this year, but I'll leave it there
1987Wet Wet Wet - Wishing I Was Lucky
Terence Trent D'Arby (before he took on that weird 'Sananda Maitreya' name) - If You Let Me Stay - I remember when he first appeared on The Tube with this, I was totally blown away. If I remember correctly, he was only booked to do one or two songs, but he went down so well with the audience he was asked to stay on and perform more songs, pushing the subsequent artists onto the following week's show.
That extended performance was more than likely pre-arranged, in order to build up the hype for the single 'If you let me stay' and the upcoming album 'Introducing The Hardline...', but Christ he was f***ing sensational! It's on YouTube.
The Fatback Band - I Found Lovin - I have the original 1983 12" single, but it was re-released at the beginning of this year. The late British DJ Steve Walsh did a cover of it in the Summer of that year, no doubt inspired by the re-released original
The Housemartins - Caravan Of Love
Robbie Nevil - C'est La Vie
U2 - With Or Without You
U2 - In God's Country
Curiosity Killed The Cat - Down To Earth - I know they were a bit of a poster band, but the album 'Keep Your Distance' that this song was on is actually very good
INXS - New Sensation - what a tune, what an album ('Kick' - I went out and bought both as soon as I heard that song) and what a frontman - continue to rest in peace, Hutch
1988Enya - Orinoco Flow - an unusual song but brilliant
Billy Ocean - Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car - You just can't have the 80s without the legend that is Billy, and this is as good as it gets! This is another 12" single that gets played a lot when the vinyl comes out.
Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy - I absolutely love this one
INXS - Need You Tonight
The Pasadenas - Tribute
Deacon Blue - Real Gone Kid
1989Deacon Blue - Fergus Sings The Blues
Jane Wiedlin - Rush Hour - she was absolutely f***ing gorgeous, and she still looks good today!
Simple Minds - Belfast Child - fantastic tune that I always have to turn up whenever I hear it
The Beautiful South - Song For Whoever - still got the original 12" and it's still in fantastic condition
Fine Young Cannibals - Good Thing
Cyndi Lauper - I Drove All Night - am I the only one who thinks that Roy Orbison's version isn't very good?
Roachford - Cuddly Toy
Double Trouble & The Rebel MC - Just Keep Rockin' - Great use of the brilliant 'Liquidator' by Harry J Allstars
Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine - Incredible tune, but it's Slash's epic skills on the guitar that make this worth listening to
Gladys Knight - Licence To Kill - Epic Bond theme, with Gladys showing how it should be done
Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire
That'll do, so now is time to pick my favourite. Well, it's got to be, hasn't it?...
Simple Minds - Don't you (Forget about me) - if ever a single song defined a decade, it's this one. The movie (The Breakfast Club) was an absolute genius piece of cinema and they couldn't have picked a better song for the soundtrack.
Cheers, thank you!
) has passed now for me to be able to include it here!