27 October 1984 Or if you like, Freedom '84. This is a peculiar track. On the surface it's even more jaunty and colourful than 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go', upsizing from a few partying go-gos to lines of almost jubilant doo-doo-doos. Yet the song within all this day-glo doo-doo is quite sour and sexist: … Continue reading Wham! – ‘Freedom’ →

13 October 1984 'The War Song' because its makers felt that, of all songs about war, this was the definite article? Or 'The War Song' because even its makers felt too self-conscious and embarrassed by it to give it a proper title? Oh, definitely the latter. Even by the standards of trite '80s issue songs—that … Continue reading Culture Club – ‘The War Song’ →

8 September 1984 Another downside of an '80s pop childhood: first encountering a '60s or '70s icon in their terrible later phase. It took me years to get around to listening to Stevie Wonder's classic period, almost entirely because of 'Ebony And Ivory' and this atrocious single. I seriously thought I'd be laughed out of … Continue reading Stevie Wonder – ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ →

18 August 1984 Like a "want-away" striker issuing a "come and get me" plea during the football transfer window, releasing a solo single while still in a group was a pretty clear statement of George Michael's intent. In one way, the pained balladry of 'Careless Whisper' wouldn't have been a good fit with the randy-lads … Continue reading George Michael – ‘Careless Whisper’ →

28 July 1984 Another number one that I don't know, so as per my usual process I will listen to it LIVE as I write. Before that, some context: I'm aware that Neil was a character in The Young Ones, that British sitcom featuring a lot of Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson hitting each other … Continue reading Neil – ‘Hole In My Shoe’ →

23 June 1984 The only one of Frankie's three big 1984 singles to get to number one here in Ireland, 'Two Tribes' certainly fits in with that year's fashion for songs about nuclear war. However, where '99 Red Balloons' laments our self-destruction and lost civilisation, this is a slightly different take: nuclear war may indeed … Continue reading Frankie Goes To Hollywood – ‘Two Tribes’ →

9 June 1984 You may have aspirations to create timeless pop epics and personal artistic statements, but if the other fifty per cent of your group is Andrew Ridgeley, plus your group's name includes an exclamation mark, then you need to cut your cloth to measure. Even to my small child brain at the time, … Continue reading Wham! – ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ →

26 May 1984 Post-disco, R n' B-originating, Prince-influenced synth-pop: that's what it is. As for why it is, I'm less certain. 'Automatic' feels less a song than a keyboard setting; the lyrics even lean gleefully into the whole circuitry-systems conceit. Ruth Pointer's contralto is an interesting lead vocal choice, and in truth the only item … Continue reading The Pointer Sisters – ‘Automatic’ →

12 May 1984 I have a lot of time for Duran Duran, and I think most '80s kids and pop fans do too. At their best they made brilliant singles like 'Planet Earth', 'Girls On Film', 'Hungry Like The Wolf', 'Notorious', and 'A View To A Kill': over the top and fairly daft, for sure, … Continue reading Duran Duran – ‘The Reflex’ →

28 April 1984 I've not seen the movie Against All Odds, but I assume from the title song that it's about a woman who finally has enough of her man's middle-aged, passive-aggressive, cry-baby sulking, and leaves him to his Ford Mondeo and his Top Gear DVDs and his Phil Collins CDs. Later cover versions will … Continue reading Phil Collins – ‘Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)’ →