My fantasy Top 40 pop songs

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There's something wonderful about the larger-than-life epic pop music of the late Seventies and early/mid Eighties before things went largely downhill circa 1984 until house music happened. Perhaps they were just my formative years, but there was an explosion of creativity in using synths to explore new sonic worlds and the whole New Romantic movement embraced this with decadent abandon. In this pioneering spirit, one day I may just write a killer pop song that will take the nation by surprise...

So here is a chart rundown of my favourite pop tunes, in no particular order other than by association, and with no consideration for their popularity, just sheer quality. As a child of the early Eighties, most songs are from that era. Some surreal entries are included to keep out The Birdie Song and Wham! Many of these tunes are included on DJ Spock's extraordinary megamixes "Class of '81" and "Class of '81 In The House" (unreleased due to obvious copyright issues). Some you'll already know, some may come as a pleasant surprise evoking distant memories. Since people nowadays are getting prosecuted just for linking, I'll leave it up to you to Google the YouTube vids and then prosecute Google. Or just come round and listen to the records.

Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark - MAID OF ORLEANS
Visage - FADE TO GREY
Freur - DOOT DOOT
Ultravox - VIENNA
Talk Talk - SUCH A SHAME
Eurythmics - LOVE IS A STRANGER
Human League - OPEN YOUR HEART
Tubeway Army - ARE 'FRIENDS' ELECTRIC?
Gary Numan - MUSIC FOR CHAMELEONS
Kraftwerk - THE MODEL
Soft Cell - TAINTED LOVE
Howard Jones - PEARL IN THE SHELL
Colin Blunstone and Dave Stewart - WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN HEARTED?
Godley and Creme - UNDER YOUR THUMB
10cc - I'M NOT IN LOVE
The Cars - DRIVE
Propaganda - DUEL
Grace Jones - SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM
Talking Heads - ONCE IN A LIFETIME
Prince - HOT THING
M - POP MUZIK
Freur - I.O.U.
New Order - BLUE MONDAY
Was (Not Was) - WHEEL ME OUT
Moodswings - SPIRITUAL HIGH
The Art Of Noise - MOMENTS IN LOVE
Thomas Dolby - WINDPOWER
Blancmange - WAVES
Prefab Sprout - WHEN LOVE BREAKS DOWN
Stephen 'Tintin' Duffy - KISS ME
Spandau Ballet - GOLD
Duran Duran - THE CHAUFFEUR
Arcadia - ELECTION DAY
Japan - GHOSTS
David Sylvian - RED GUITAR
The Police - SPIRITS IN THE MATERIAL WORLD
The Stranglers - GOLDEN BROWN
Stereolab - PACK YR ROMANTIC MIND
The Saint Orchestra - THEME FROM RETURN OF THE SAINT !!! :-)
Stu Phillips - THEME FROM KNIGHT RIDER

Honourable mentions from earlier years:

David Bowie - HEROES
Nick Lowe - I LOVE THE SOUND OF BREAKING GLASS
Streetband - TOAST (aka Paul Young!)
Ian Dury and The Blockheads - HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK
Public Image Limited - THE SUIT
Joy Division - LOVE WILL TEAR US APART
Kate Bush - THE MAN WITH THE CHILD IN HIS EYES
Sally Oldfield - MIRRORS
Abba - FERNANDO / EAGLE
Demis Roussos - FOREVER AND EVER
Barry White - I'M GONNA LOVE YOU JUST A LITTLE MORE BABY
Julio Iglesias - BEGIN THE BEGUINE
Donna Summer - I FEEL LOVE
Blondie - RAPTURE
Chic - LE FREAK
Michael Jackson - DON'T STOP TIL YOU GET ENOUGH
Imagination - JUST AN ILLUSION
Space - MAGIC FLY
Jean-Michel Jarre - EQUINOXE 5
Delia Derbyshire - DOCTOR WHO THEME

I don't just like pop music; you also may like to see my lists of recommended records and Desert Island Discs.