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 such an explosion of creativity back then 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. 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.

Early/mid 1980's

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
Gary Numan - MUSIC FOR CHAMELEONS
Soft Cell - TAINTED LOVE
Howard Jones - HIDE & SEEK
Colin Blunstone & Dave Stewart - WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN HEARTED?
Godley & Creme - UNDER YOUR THUMB
The Cars - DRIVE
Propaganda - DUEL
Grace Jones - SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM
Blondie - RAPTURE
Talking Heads - ONCE IN A LIFETIME
Prince - HOT THING
Imagination - JUST AN ILLUSION
Helen - WITCH
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
Heaven 17 - COME LIVE WITH ME
Spandau Ballet - GOLD
Duran Duran - THE CHAUFFEUR
Arcadia - ELECTION DAY
Japan - GHOSTS
David Sylvian - RED GUITAR
The Police - SPIRITS IN THE MATERIAL WORLD
Ian Dury and The Blockheads - HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK
The Stranglers - GOLDEN BROWN
Stu Phillips - THEME FROM KNIGHT RIDER

1970's

David Bowie - HEROES
Queen - BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Elton John - SONG FOR GUY
10cc - I'M NOT IN LOVE
Nick Lowe - I LOVE THE SOUND OF BREAKING GLASS
Streetband - TOAST (aka Paul Young!)
The Tourists - I ONLY WANT TO BE WITH YOU
Public Image Limited - THE SUIT
Joy Division - LOVE WILL TEAR US APART
Tubeway Army - ARE 'FRIENDS' ELECTRIC?
Blondie - UNION CITY BLUE
Kate Bush - THE MAN WITH THE CHILD IN HIS EYES
Sally Oldfield - MIRRORS
Abba - FERNANDO / EAGLE
Marcia Griffiths - THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE [The Greatest Reggae Song Of All Time!]
Gil Scott Heron - THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
Barry White - I'M GONNA LOVE YOU JUST A LITTLE MORE BABY
The Three Degrees - WHEN WILL I SEE YOU AGAIN
Donna Summer - I FEEL LOVE
Chic - LE FREAK
Michael Jackson - DON'T STOP TIL YOU GET ENOUGH
The Saint Orchestra - THEME FROM RETURN OF THE SAINT !!! :-)
Space - MAGIC FLY
Kraftwerk - THE MODEL
Jean-Michel Jarre - EQUINOXE 5
Delia Derbyshire - DOCTOR WHO THEME

...not forgetting these Guilty Pleasures:
Starland Vocal Band - AFTERNOON DELIGHT
Demis Roussos - FOREVER AND EVER
Julio Iglesias - BEGIN THE BEGUINE
Andrew Gold - NEVER LET HER SLIP AWAY
Cliff Richard - WE DON'T TALK ANYMORE
Dennis Waterman - I COULD BE SO GOOD FOR YOU

...and some Power Ballads to die for...!
Dan Hill - SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH
Air Supply - ALL OUT OF LOVE
Eric Carmen - ALL BY MYSELF
Harry Nilsson - WITHOUT YOU
Rod Stewart - SAILING
Les Dawson - FEELINGS

Classic pop songs from recent years which should have been Number One hits

Stereolab - PACK YR ROMANTIC MIND (1993)
Weyes Blood - DO YOU NEED MY LOVE (2016)

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