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Pump up the volume! No single phrase captures the sound of the 1980s better. Big, loud, bold, and brash – even the ballads had power! The ’80s were the last golden era of Top 40 radio. This was a magic time when the best music was also the music that filled America’s airwaves. Artists like Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, U2 and Prince were at the absolute zenith of their commercial careers, but that was only half the story.
What made radio in the ’80s so irresistible were the unexpected, out-of-nowhere hits of every conceivable stripe. We heard it all, back-to-back: hair-sprayed heavy metal, glammed-up dance grooves, artsy folk, funky hip hop, bass-heavy reggae, angry punk, and brightly painted pop. Now, Eric Records has bottled that lightning in the second of the first two new volumes of our flagship series in four years: Hard To Find 45s on CD, Volume 16: MORE ’80s Essentials & Beyond. Filled with rare songs and scarce single versions, this disc will transport you to a time when greed was good and MTV actually played music videos!
On MORE ’80s Essentials & Beyond we present exactly that sort of eclectic mix to the max – sharply remastered and smartly sequenced for the ultimate ’80s experience! Only in that biggest of decades could you hear George Thorogood’s blistering blues “Bad To The Bone” (presented for the first time on CD in its single version) next to Soft Cell’s synthesizer-soul medley “Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go” (heard here in its super-rare radio edit). Your head will spin as you jump from Roxette’s power ballad “Listen To Your Heart” to Modern English’s new wave anthem “I Melt With You” (the stereo single debut) to Inner Circle’s “Bad Boys,” which became one of TV’s most recognizable themes thanks to the show COPS. And, we’ve collected both of Suzanne Vega’s biggest hits – the D.N.A. remix of “Tom’s Diner” and perhaps the only #3 hit about child abuse, “Luka.”
Those are just a few of the 20 hot tracks (13 Top 20 hits, three #1s – 79 minutes of music) that make this a totally tubular ’80s adventure. Just like we’ve previously done with the ’60s and ’70s, Hard To Find 45s on CD, Vol. 16 brings you the best of the ’80s and early ’90s in audiophile-quality sound and original radio-hit versions. On MORE ’80s Essentials & Beyond, the sound quality for these classic singles is the best you’ll ever hear (just check out the SOUND SAMPLES below). Where’s the beef? Right here!
Includes a 12-page booklet with complete song-by-song annotation and liner notes by Greg Adams.
ALL TRACKS TRUE STEREO / ORIGINAL 45 RPM SINGLE VERSIONS
DIGITALLY REMASTERED FOR HIGHEST QUALITY SOUND |
| Listen |
Track |
Title |
Artist |
Chart |
Date |
| play |
1. |
RADIO MIX CD DEBUTLISTEN TO YOUR HEART |
Roxette |
#1 |
11/89 |
| play |
2. |
SINGLE VERSION DEBUTBAD TO THE BONE |
George Thorogood & The Destroyers |
N/A |
10/82 |
| play |
3. |
DANCING WITH MYSELF |
Billy Idol & Gen X |
#102 |
10/83 |
| play |
4. |
RARE SINGLE VERSIONI’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT YOU |
Londonbeat |
#1 |
4/91 |
| play |
5. |
RARE SINGLE VERSIONONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK |
Murray Head |
#3 |
5/85 |
| play |
6. |
TOM’S DINER |
D.N.A. Featuring Suzanne Vega |
#5 |
12/90 |
| play |
7. |
LUKA |
Suzanne Vega |
#3 |
8/87 |
| play |
8. |
RARE RADIO EDITTAINTED LOVE/WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO |
Soft Cell |
#8 |
7/82 |
| play |
9. |
STEREO SINGLE DEBUTI MELT WITH YOU |
Modern English |
#78 |
4/83 |
| play |
10. |
RARE SINGLE VERSIONI DON’T LIKE MONDAYS |
The Boomtown Rats |
#73 |
2/80 |
| play |
11. |
VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR |
The Buggles |
#40 |
12/79 |
| play |
12. |
RARE SINGLE VERSIONMAJOR TOM (Coming Home) |
Peter Schilling |
#14 |
12/83 |
| play |
13. |
RARE SINGLE VERSIONMR. ROBOTO |
Styx |
#3 |
4/83 |
| play |
14. |
RARE ON CDLIVE IS LIFE |
Opus |
#32 |
3/86 |
| play |
15. |
SEND ME AN ANGEL ’89 |
Real Life |
#26 |
7/89 |
| play |
16. |
HANDS TO HEAVEN |
Breathe |
#2 |
8/88 |
| play |
17. |
SADENESS (Part 1) |
Enigma |
#5 |
4/91 |
| play |
18. |
CLOSE TO YOU |
Maxi Priest |
#1 |
10/90 |
| play |
19. |
PUMP UP THE VOLUME |
M/A/R/R/S |
#13 |
2/88 |
| play |
20. |
RARE ON CDBAD BOYS (Theme From Cops) |
Inner Circle |
#8 |
6/93 |
Chart positions taken from Joel Whitburn’s Record Research series of Billboard chart books.
