Now That's What I Call 1983

My Dear Princess and Dear Fellows,

I had this album! Back in the day! My Auntie Rose bought it for me in Xmas 1983. I was so impressed by her choice.

And it was a great album too. Compilation albums back then sort of sucked. They were typically called something like "HITS TREK!" and there would be women in science fiction outfits on the front. Or "MONSTER HITS!" and there would be pictures of women being menaced by Frankenstein.

And then you'd look at the listing and there would be maybe two songs you knew on there. The rest would be shite that didn't even make it into the top 20. 

OR - worse still was those albums you bought that had LOADS of hits! And then you got it home and realised it was a "Music for Pleasure" album and all the hits were instrumental covers. My sister bought one like that called "The Beat of Wings" because she was a big Paul McCartney fan. She was SO annoyed.

But THIS was something new. It was full of ACTUAL hits by the ACTUAL people! I remember the album notes were good too. They said that "Victims" by Culture Club is "almost certainly the Christmas number one by the time you get this album". Oh well, you can't get everything right*.

Other songs on here included:

Is There Something I Should Know? - Duran Duran
They Don't Know - Tracey Ullman
New Song - Howard Jones
That's All - Genesis
The Sun and The Rain - Madness
(Keep Feeling) Fascination - The Human League
Love Cats - The Cure

There was also Kissing With Confidence by Will Powers. Do you remember that? 

80's music could be so goofy.

I'm told that it was albums like these that sort of killed off the singles market and ended the careers of most of the people on this album. Of course, this makes me a little bit sad because this was MY era, and my walls were covered with posters of Depeche Mode, Heaven 17 and The Police out of Look-In. 

After this came Stock, Aitken and Waterman and I thought they were shite**. I didn't really start following the charts again until the 90's.

Looking at this album yesterday, I was very tempted to buy it. But then I remembered I do not have a record player. Maybe I'll make a playlist instead. 

And soon I will be kissing with confidence.

S.

* And besides. Who could have foreseen The Flying Pickets?
** Apart from "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" by Dead or Alive and "Respectable" by Mel and Kim.