In September 1983, a young man from Southampton made his first appearance on Top of The Pops. Armed with a then state of the art synthesiser, huge pineapple shaped haircut and a visual aid in the form of a bendy mime artist, he requested we “throw off our mental chains” and made an instant impression with many teenagers watching. That man was Howard Jones. His debut hit single ‘New Song’ was at the cutting edge of the synth pop movement and his gift for a catchy chorus quickly set him apart from hundreds of other potential electronic pop stars. With the help of subsequent hits ‘What Is Love’ and ‘Pearl In The Shell’, Jones became one of the biggest stars of the following year.
Tag Archives: 80s
ALCATRAZZ – The Official Bootleg Box Set 1983-1986
Following in the footsteps of various archive solo releases by Graham Bonnet – ranging from his unreleased solo debut to a three disc anthology of unreleased recordings from his time in Australia – this six disc box set from Hear No Evil Records gives Bonnet’s fans another reason to celebrate. ‘The Official Bootleg Box Set 1983-1986’ does exactly what it says on the tin. It presents three different live shows from Texas on the ‘No Parole From Rock ‘N’ Roll’ tour – featuring Yngwie Malmsteen on guitar – alongside three discs’ worth of rehearsals and demos culled from a four year period.
Marillion ‘Clutching At Straws’ box set due in November
Following the success of the Steven Wilson remixed ‘Brave’ and accompanying box set earlier in 2018, the Marillion reissue campaign continues with an expanded ‘Clutching At Straws’ this November.
Although not as commercially successful as its predecessor ‘Misplaced Childhood’, the 1987 album reached the UK top ten, spawned hit singles and remains a firm favourite with long-time fans.
Howard Jones: ‘Human’s Lib’ & ‘Dream Into Action’ box sets coming in November!
For a year or so now, there have been rumours that Howard Jones would be releasing his 1984 debut LP ‘Human’s Lib’ as a super deluxe box set. It has now been confirmed that will be released in November, along with a similar box set for the follow up ‘Dream Into Action’.
A full press release from Cherry Red follows.
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SAXON – Destiny
The landscape of hard rock music in 1988 looked very different, in comparison, to that of a decade earlier. When Saxon began their recording career in the late 70s, rock and metal were solely the reserves of the readers of Sounds magazine, the devotees of the Radio One Friday Rock Show and festival goers. By the late 80s, it was no longer considered such a niche genre: bands like Europe and Poison had scored chart success on both sides of the Atlantic; Def Leppard‘s ‘Hysteria’ was one of the biggest selling albums of the era and Guns N’ Roses were on their way to becoming a worldwide, stadium filling phenomenon. Whitesnake‘s ‘1987’ was selling by the bucketload to a broad demographic and even Metallica – a band that only a couple of years earlier seemed entirely marginal – were on the cusp of UK singles chart success, and yet Saxon, in terms of commercial success, appeared to be floundering.