Stock Aitken Waterman – Roadblock (1987)

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I heard this track yesterday for the first time in years. The pop songwriting team Stock Aitken Waterman were everywhere in the late 1980s. They had already been successful with the production of Dead Or Alive’s ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’, but it was not until their single ‘Roadblock’ and best selling work with Rick Astley in 1987 that they entered into the public consciousness. I forget how catchy and breezy this single was… within a couple of years, it was easy to argue that the proliferation of their music had damaged pop music. Have a great weekend.

Prince – Sign O’ The Times (1987)

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The title track of Prince’ s LP Sign “O” The Times is not only one of the best of 1987, but also it opens one of the most ambitious albums recorded by any pop star, period. Have a great day.

The Night Writers ‎- Let The Music (Use You) (1987)

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For fans of early house music, I have a treat in store tomorrow. In the meantime, there is a glaring omission in this blog’s back catalogue. In 1987, Chicago house artists Riley Evans (aka Henry Watson) and Jere McAllister (aka Alan Walker) collaborated with house-music legend Frankie Knuckles to create ‘Let The Music (Use You)’. Ricky Dillard provided the vocal track and the result was dance-floor bomb. Have a great weekend.

U2 – Where The Streets Have No Name (1987)

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I spent Friday night having a great time courtesy of a U2 cover band. Needless to say, the shimmering guitar that kicks off U2’s celebrated album Joshua Tree is a little difficult to imitate. Lead guitarist The Edge came up with the original idea for ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, but by the end, producer Brian Eno reckoned that half the time recording the album was spent on the one song. Its iconic video was a nod to The Beatles’ final rooftop performance. Have a great week.

Joyce Simms – Come Into My Life (1987)

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Sleeping Bag Records were an indie dance music label founded by the visionary Arthur Russell together with William Socolov and Juggy Gales. Kurtis Mantronik acted as the label’s A&R executive for a while, when he wasn’t recording his own sounds. In 1987, he put down an extended mix of Joyce Simms’ ‘Come Into My Life’. It was a huge dance floor hit for Sleeping Bag – and on both sides of the Atlantic.

Frankie Knuckles ‎- Your Love (1987)

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I mentioned ‘Your Love’ earlier this week. American DJ Francis Nicholls (aka Frankie Knuckles) had been a DJ at the Warehouse nightclub in Chicago from 1977 to 1982. By the early 1980s, the Warehouse had become the research laboratory for early house music, a genre to which the club gave its name. While its finished form was still to take shape, Knuckles’ style of DJing and production was central to the development of house music. The Godfather of House Music’s pioneering was no better exemplified by the work he did on Jamie Principle’s ‘Your Love’. Originally released a couple of years earlier, Knuckles’ punchier 1987 “remix” set a template, including the arpeggiated synth line that the Animal Collective lifted.

T-Coy – Cariño (1987)

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I had a great night last weekend at a private party at which Nicky Holloway was DJ’ing. Holloway (with Paul Oakenfold, Johnny Walker and Danny Rampling) was one of the “Ibiza four” who travelled to the island in 1987 and were inspired to bring its sound to London. His weekend’s set of classic house and pop tracks had echoes of his Balearic heyday. One of his faves from that time is from the Manchester-based house project Take Care Of Yourself. T-Coy was an early vehicle for M People’s Mike Pickering, a man of many talents. When Pickering wasn’t producing his ‘Cariño’ take on the Chicago House sound, he was DJ’ing at Manchester’s Haçienda club or booking The Smiths for their first Manchester gig, and/or signing both James and the Happy Mondays in his role as Factory’s A&R representative.

Dinosaur Jr. – In A Jar (1987)

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You’re Living All Over Me was the second studio album by alt rock heroes Dinosaur Jr. In fact, it was the second release by Dinosaur, but shortly thereafter the band had been sued by the largely forgotten group the Dinosaurs, which prompted the amusing addition of “Jr.”. Such was the record’s influence on the alt rock scene that followed, listening to ‘In a Jar’, it’s remarkable that this was a sound of 1987.

Depeche Mode – Never Let Me Down Again (1987)

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Sticking with 1987, the album Music for the Masses turned Depeche Mode from quirky synth-pop band into stadium fillers. The LP kicks off with ‘Never Let Me Down Again’. The video was directed by Anton Corbijn. I watch and listen and feel very young again.

Sonic Youth – Schizophrenia (1987)

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10 years after Suicide were exciting the crowds of Europe, another band was having an influential impact from the US underground scene. ‘Schizophrenia’ opens with a motif backbeat from Sonic Youth’s drummer Steve Shelley. What follows would provide the lead cut off the band’s fourth studio album, Sister. Melodies and harmonies combined with noise and chaos – the song encapsulates what Sonic Youth were about in 1987.

The Cure – Just Like Heaven (1987)

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I am not the first to compare the works of The Cure to bottles of fine wine. They were popular in their heyday, but listening to them now, they should have been more popular. Released in October 1987, ‘Just Like Heaven’ was the third single from their 1987 album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. The song was finished and recorded in the south of France at Studio Miraval. It had had a previous life as an instrumental theme tune to the French TV show ‘Les Enfants Du Rock’. The producers were fans, like most of France, and had asked the band to contribute. Robert Smith was at his disposal. Have a good weekend.

9 of the best – sounds of 1987

Another bank holiday and some recent nostalgia about Public Enemy…  it doesn’t take much for me to start curating. These are my favourite sounds of 1987, in no particular order (save a desire to kick off with ‘Bring The Noise’!).

Public Enemy – Bring The Noise

Chris Rea – Josephine (La Version Française)

Phuture – Acid Tracks

Prince – If I Was Your Girlfriend

U2 – Where The Streets Have No Name

Eric B. And Rakim – I Know You Got Soul

Rhythim Is Rhythim – Strings of Life

New Order – True Faith

Fleetwood Mac – Big Love

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Honourable mentions also go to: Ce Ce Rogers for ‘Someday‘; Frankie Knuckles & Jamie Principle for ‘Your Love‘; The Cure for ‘Just Like Heaven’; Sugarcubes for ‘Birthday’; R.E.M. ‎for ‘Its The End Of The World As We Know It’; Aztec Camera for ‘Somewhere In My Heart‘; INXS for ‘Need You Tonight‘; Deacon Blue ‎for ‘Dignity‘; Depeche Mode for ‘Behind The Wheel‘ and ‘Never Let Me Down Again‘; Stone Roses for ‘Sally Cinnamon‘; Terence Trent D’Arby for ‘Sign Your Name‘; Sonic Youth for ‘Schizophrenia‘; U2 for ‘With Or Without You’; Eric B. And Rakim for ‘Paid In Full‘ and ‘I Ain’t No Joke‘, Public Enemy ‎for ‘Rebel Without A Pause‘; Prince for ‘Sign O’ The Times‘; and Pet Shop Boys ‘What Have I Done To Deserve This?‘.

Aztec Camera – Somewhere In My Heart (1987)

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I wasn’t all Samuel-cool in 1987. To prove the point, let’s switch from Public Enemy to Aztec Camera. I bloody loved this song – and to these ears, ‘Somewhere In My Heart’ still delivers the perfect 1980s pop sound. It features on Love, the band’s third studio album.

Public Enemy ‎- Rebel Without A Pause (1987)

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In the late autumn of 1987, I experienced a concert forever etched on my mind. I went with a friend to see LL Cool J, Public Enemy and Erik B & Rakim at the Hammersmith Odeon. It is a memory that no one can rob from me – a visual and aural bombardment. I could go on about the chutzpah of Cool James and the sound of Erik B & Rakim, but even those memories fade compared to the sight of Chuck D and Flavor Flav flanked by its crew, Security of the First World (or the S1Ws), all dressed in paramilitary kit and armed with simulation Uzis. ‘Rebel Without A Pause’ had been released as the B-side to their preceding single, ‘You Gonna Get Yours/Mi Uzi Weighs A Ton’. The song would be one of the many highlights their album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, released the following year. The album would open with an introduction from the MC Dave Pearce from that night: “Hammersmith Odeon are you ready for the Def Jam Tour? Let me hear you make some noise!” The event became immortal.

Nitzer Ebb ‎- Join In The Chant (1987)

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Formed in Essex when friends Douglas McCarthy (vocals) and Bon Harris (drums and programming) were just 15, Nitzer Ebb was doing EDM while fellow Essex boy Liam Howlett was still breakdancing. Nitzer Ebb enjoyed a number of club hits on Mute Records, but none more impactful than ‘Join In The Chant’, which became a set standard in London’s Balearic beat and acid house venues. The song originally featured on their 1987 album That Total Age, but would find its zenith with a remix by pop producer Phil Harding.