As promised, this week for 80s Thursday, we will look at a handful of female singers from the UK. Enjoy!
Album: Kaleidoscope by Siouxsie and The Banshees
I'm not really familiar with the group except Hong Kong Garden and a couple of other hits. It's been noted that the sound quality here is lighter and much clearer than on previous releases and that Siouxsie's singing shows noticeable improvement. Kaleidoscope is often ranked among their best.
Listen to:
Happy House
Christine
Paradise Place
Hybrid
Non-album single:
Israel
Album: Never For Ever by Kate Bush
I'm a fan of her unique artpop style. Breathing is about a foetus, aware of what is going on outside the womb and frightened by nuclear fallout. Army Dreamers deals with a mother who grieves for her young adult son, who was killed on military manoeuvres.
On Babooshka, one of her biggest hits, she goes full out pop while also making that word her own. According to a 1980 interview, the song chronicles a wife's desire to test her husband's loyalty.
Listen to:
Army Dreamers
Breathing
Delius (Song of Summer)
Babooshka
The Wedding List
Non-album Christmas single:
December Will Be Magic Again
Album: Your Cassette Pet by Bow Wow Wow
I prefer the Kevin Shields remix from the Marie Antoinette soundtrack. It's interesting to hear the uptempo 1980 version. The song was a hit for Ricky Nelson in 1962.
Listen to:
Fools Rush In
The Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals from the 80s provided amazing songs and this album has two of those classics.
Listen to:
Listen to:
Twilight Café by Susan Fassbender (single)
She is considered a one hit wonder. An obscurity waiting to be discovered.
Best songs of 1980 (part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6) (part 7) (part 8) (part 9) (part 10) (part 11) (part 12) (part 13)
I'll take a break from 80s Thursday for the rest of December. The series will return in early 2016.
I would add Elizabeth Fraser as the most interesting British female voice of the eighties. I had the pleasure of hearing her live in Roskilde in 96, but all her best work was in the eighties.
ReplyDelete@TSorensen: I’m only including music from the year 1980, but I agree Elisabeth Fraser is an important female vocalist from the UK. Cocteau Twins are a decade defining act which I will blog about when I get to 1982.
DeleteI'm so lost, here. However, you have made me incredibly curious about that Kate Bush album.
ReplyDelete@Wendell: If you don’t have time for the entirety of Never For Ever, you could just listen to the Christmas single, which is beautiful.
DeleteI like Siouxsie and The Banshees' track from Batman Returns, but I've never listened to any of their other stuff. Maybe I'll start with Kaleidoscope.
ReplyDelete@Josh: That’s a good song from Batman Returns. Kaleidoscope is a strong album although I’m not able to compare with the group’s other studio releases. If I were you, I would start with Siouxsie and The Banshees greatest hits collection.
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