The 80's: Now & Then

21/11/2025

Album Anniversary: Duran Duran's third album Seven And The Ragged Tiger was released November 21, 1983 on EMI/Capitol Records.
Co-produced by Alex Sadkin, Ian Little and the band, recording sessions took place in France, the Caribbean and Australia.
The album featured three singles, "Union of the Snake" ( #3), New Moon on Monday" ( #10), and "The Reflex" ( #1).

The album art was designed by Malcolm Garrett with photography by Rebecca Blake.

What's your favorite song from the album and which was your favorite video?

24/10/2025

Music Anniversary: Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Relax” was released as a single on October 24, 1983 and was one of the most explosive debuts in pop history!
Produced by Trevor Horn, on January 28, 1984, the track claimed the No. 1 spot, knocking Paul McCartney’s “Pipes of Peace" out of the top spot.
Controversial, euphoric, and unmistakably daring, “Relax” became one of the 1980s’ most iconic and commercially successful singles, selling around two million copies in the UK alone and spending 37 consecutive weeks in the Top 40 — even as the BBC banned it for its explicitly sexual lyrics.
The frenzy only grew with the release of “Two Tribes” in mid-1984, when Frankie Goes to Hollywood achieved the rare feat of holding both the No. 1 and No. 2 positions on the UK chart simultaneously — a distinction previously shared only by The Beatles and John Lennon.
Bolstered by multiple 12-inch remixes and the unforgettable “Frankie Say Relax” T-shirt craze, the single became a cultural flashpoint — a mix of provocation, pop perfection, and sheer hedonism.
It re-entered the charts in 1985 and again in 1993, proving its enduring pulse on British pop culture.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood "Relax" ZTT/Island Records
Country -- Peak Position (83-85)
Australia -- 5
Austria -- 4
Belgium -- 2
Canada -- 11
Denmark -- 5
Europe -- 1
Finland -- 1
France -- 1
Greece -- 1
Hong Kong -- 9
Iceland -- 2
Italy -- 1
Netherlands -- 5
New Zealand -- 10
Norway -- 2
Poland -- 18
Portugal -- 18
Spain -- 1
Sweden -- 4
Switzerland -- 1
Thailand -- 1
UK Singles -- 1
US Billboard Hot 100 -- 10
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard) -- 20
West Germany -- 1

25/06/2025

Album Anniversary - June 25, 1984: David Sylvian - Brilliant Trees
David Sylvian (frontman in the UK band Japan) released his first solo album “Brilliant Trees” on Virgin Records. It featured the singles “Red Guitar" “The Ink In The Well" and “Pulling Punches"
It peaked at #4 on the UK Albums Chart. Former Japan members Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri both appear on the album along with Holger Czukay (Can), Mark Isham, Phil Palmer and Ryuichi Sakamoto (Yellow Magic Orchestra / YMO).

20/06/2025

Album Anniversary: June 20, 1985
Mr. Mister - Welcome to the Real World -- the second studio album released on RCA Records. Two singles from the album, "Broken Wings" and "Kyrie", topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, while "Is It Love" peaked at number eight. Welcome to the Real World topped the Billboard 200 in March 1986.

19/05/2025

Album Anniversary: May 19, 1986
Peter Gabriel: SO
I have a hard time deciding if this is my favorite PG album since I also really love PG IV (Security), but it's definitely one of my favorite albums of all time. This album has so many great songs on it... Red Rain, Sledgehammer, Big Time, In Your Eyes, plus the great duets with Kate Bush (Don't Give Up) and Laurie Anderson (This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds)).
So many great musicians playing on this record I won't even begin to name them all.
At the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards Gabriel won the Video Vanguard Award and "Sledgehammer" won an additional nine awards including Video of the Year, a record still. Sledgehammer is the most played music video in the history of MTV. See the video in the comments...

10/05/2025

Happy Anniversary to Duran Duran RIO, released worldwide May 10, 1982.
So many great songs on this album! It peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 album chart in the US on 12 March 1983, and remained on the chart for 129 weeks.
• #1 CMJ Magazine "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1982"
• #98 Q magazine "100 Greatest British Albums"
• #24 HMV/Q Poll "Best British album of all time"
• #65 NME "100 Greatest Albums of All Time"
• #95 Pitchfork "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s"
• #3 BBC Radio 2's "Top 100 Favourite Albums of All Time"
• Pitchfork "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die"

18/02/2025

February 17, 1984: Into the Gap, the fourth studio album by the British pop group Thompson Twins was released on Arista Records (worldwide). The album was recorded during 1983 at Compass Point Studios, in Nassau, Bahamas, and was again produced by Alex Sadkin who had produced the band's previous album.

Into The Gap became the band's most commercially successful album, peaking at number one on the UK Albums Chart (for 3 weeks), and number ten on the US Billboard 200.
"Hold Me Now", "Doctor! Doctor!", "You Take Me Up", "The Gap", and "Sister of Mercy" were all released as singles.

The album has a new 40th Anniversary Edition and it is the most comprehensive reissue of this album ever, remastered at Abbey Road Studios and compiled with the full blessing of all three band members from the classic line-up. It is a deluxe 3-CD set includes 30 bonus tracks, 12 of which are previously unreleased. Featuring digitally restored artwork and a 24-page booklet with new liner notes written by John Earls and contributions from all three band members.
You can Order It Here: https://amzn.to/42UriyZ
(This is the cheapest price I've found.)

16/02/2025

February 16, 1988: Australian band The Church released their fifth studio album “Starfish” featuring singles “Under the Milky Way", “Reptile", “Destination", and “Antenna".
The first single, "Under the Milky Way", charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #24, and at #2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. In Australia "Under the Milky Way" climbed to #22, and Starfish reached #11 on the album charts.

22/12/2024

Here's an awesome playlist with three Christmas Specials I've done over the years. They're totally jam packed with 80s artists! Happy Holidays!!
https://www.mixcloud.com/Brians_World/playlists/80s-now-then-christmas/

10/12/2024

New Song From Simple Minds...
Today, Simple Minds release their new single ‘Your Name in Lights’, taken from the soundtrack to their documentary ‘Everything Is Possible’.

Written in collaboration with writer and producer Paul Statham, Simple Minds set out to match the film’s ambience whilst recapturing the innocent spirit of their early days; "when we were ‘wee boys’ playing around with our synthesisers,” says the band’s Jim Kerr, “proudly wearing our Kraftwerk and Brian Eno influences on our sleeve."

The resultant track mirrors a style that Simple Minds previously produced on their 1979 Reel To Real Cacophony album, with an accompanying lyric which, as Kerr puts it, “conjures up a ‘Dreamer’s conversation with a distant Muse’ – that Muse being Aretha Franklin as sung by Sarah Brown.”

Official Site: https://www.simpleminds.com/Latest Tour Dates: https://www.simpleminds.com/tour/Latest Releases: https://www.simpleminds.com/category/news/rel...

30/10/2024

Happy Birthday to Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome, first released on October 29, 1984 by ZTT Records.
It featured the singles "Relax", "Two Tribes", "The Power Of Love", and "Welcome To The Pleasuredome"). It was produced by Trevor Horn and the production team included Steve Lipton and also members of The Art Of Noise.
It reached the Top 10 in 12 countries, but only #33 in the US. In 1984, Frankie Goes to Hollywood were the only act apart from the Beatles and John Lennon to concurrently occupy the top two positions on the chart with "Relax" and "Two Tribes".