Oto's 'Purge an Urge' Reissued on Desire Records

Formed in the early 80's in Lorraine in France it took the band few years to finally release some recording material. This happened in 1984 with their debut "Anyway" which I discovered on an 80's compilation. After this release, a three-piece band, played a few gigs before entering the studio to record their one and only album 'Purge An Urge'. Produced by Vincent Hachet from French industrial duo Geinst Naït, 'Purge An Urge' was supposed to contain 9 tracks but the final release saw only 6 tracks. Cécile from fellow Nancy’s band Candidate even did some backing vocals. The record was originally released in 1986 on Divine and it has been reissued for a very first time through Desire. For more info check the link below. 

http://www.desirerecords.com/release/dsr097

Retrovision: Barbie Wilde- Phantom Lady

Barbie Wilde known as Canadian-born British actress and writer was also a member of the rock/mime burlesque music group Shock in the early 80's who used to tour with Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Gary Numan and other great artist. Everything she did related to music was somehow connected to Tik & Tok and Shock. This video is small evidence of something she recorded under her own name of course produced by (Burgess, Walters, Wilde). The video was released in 1984 and was directed by David Rose.

 

Best of 1984 - Top 50 Singles List

The growing popularity of Michael Jackson which started in 1983 also set foot in 1984 especially after the video for "Thriller" was released. Even though the content of the video was controversial at that time, it was also groundbreaking and it revolutionized the music industry and the world of pop by breaking down the racial barriers and transforming the music video into a work of art.

Even at the other end of the Atlantic the 1983 started with a small scandal which involved Frankie Goes To Hollywood who got banned by BBC for almost a year due to the explicit lyrics in the and provocative video for their biggest hit "Relax". Despite this fact, the band managed  to have major success around the world with their debut album "Welcome to the Pleasuredome". This was also the first big success for ZTT Records and three times platinum in the UK. Towards the end of the year the Frankie Goes to Hollywood ban was slowly lifted and "Relax" was the ultimate anthem of 1984 introducing the Frankie Says Relax trend. 

With the growing popularity of MTV, in 1984 the first MTV Music Awards were given away at the  Radio City Music Hall in New York. Among the winners were Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Herbie Hancock. Madonna has not been up for awards, but manged to make prominence and shake the pop world with her performance at the VMA's. 

Just ahead of Christmas when 1984 was in the fade out, a group of musicians headed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure got together for a good cause forming Band Aid. This was a group of musicians who recorded a song to raise awareness and funds for the Ethiopian famine in 1983–1985. It included more than 40 musicians and it sold over two million copies around the globe and raised more than $24 million. 

 Towards the end of the year New Gold Dream which could easily be translated as the golden era of new Wave slowly began to vanish and became clear that the new musical term was Pop.

 The following Top 50 represents the result of the 'Best of 1984 - The Album list' from 2014 together with our in-house votes.

 

Updated: 08/2020

01. Bronski Beat- Small Town Boy 

02. Echo & The Bunnymen- The Killing Moon 

03. Talk Talk- It’s My Life 

04. Prince- When Doves Cry 

05. Billy Idol- Eyes Without a Face 

06. Cyndi Lauper- Time After Time  

07. Leonard Cohen- Dance Me to the End of Love  

08. Dead or Alive- You Spin Me Around 

09. Duran Duran- New Moon on Monday 

10. Alphaville - Big in Japan 

11. A-ha- Take on Me

12. Prince and the Revolution- Purple Rain

13. Madonna - Borderline

14. Pet Shop Boys- West End Girls '84

15. Gary Numan- Berserker

16. Siouxsie and The Banshees- Dazzle

17. Eurythmics- Here Comes the Rain Again 

18. Frankie Goes To Hollywood- Two Tribes

19. The Smiths- What Difference Does it Make  

20. The Style Council- Shout to the Top

Reissue: Soma Holiday- Shake Your Molecules

In April this year Minimal Wave released a remastered reissue of Soma Holiday‘s cult classic, "Shake Your Molecules". Soma Holiday was a Franco-American duo consisting of Jean-Marc Vallod (FR) and Jane Honicker (US), based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn back in the early 1980s. They recorded “Shake Your Molecules” along with “Too Many People” and “Art Dimension” in 1984, at Unique Studios in Manhattan. The studio was known for being the first NYC studio with MIDI capabilities. 

 This new remastered 12" edition features four tracks by Soma Holiday, the original “Shake Your Molecules” mix, the unreleased dub version and two other unreleased outtakes of “Too Many People” and “Art Dimension”, all from their 1984 studio recordings at Unique Recording Studios. Soma Holiday’s Shake Your Molecules EP is pressed on 180 gram oxblood vinyl and limited to 999 copies. Full color gloss sleeve with two sided insert featuring photograph of Soma Holiday in front of their home in Brooklyn and full liner notes with text by Jean-Marc Vallod. Release date: April 30th, 2014.

http://minimalwave.com/releases/release/shake-your-molecules

Retrovision: The Chills- Pink Frost

Thirty years ago The Chills released the haunting and atmospheric "Pink Frost". One somewhere said "Creepy beauty from the far south" and I think this is the right sentence to describe this lo-fi, post-punk, goth feel tune. Their biggest and probably most essential hit was recorded in 1982 and this is also where it belongs. This might be the song that defines the band and gives the absolute high water mark in New Zealand's jangle pop history.

Best of 1984- The Album List

The growing popularity of Michael Jackson which started in 1983 also set foot in 1984 especially after the video for "Thriller" was released. Even though the content of the video was controversial at that time, it was also groundbreaking and it revolutionized the music industry and the world of pop by breaking down the racial barriers and transforming the music video into a work of art.

Even at the other end of the Atlantic the 1983 started with a small scandal which involved Frankie Goes To Hollywood who got banned by BBC for almost a year due to the explicit lyrics in the and provocative video for their biggest hit "Relax". Despite this fact, the band managed to have major success around the world with their debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. This was also the first big success for ZTT Records and three times platinum in the UK. Towards the end of the year the Frankie Goes to Hollywood ban was slowly lifted and "Relax" was the ultimate anthem of 1984 introducing the Frankie Says Relax trend. 

With the growing popularity of MTV, in 1984 the first MTV Music Awards were given away at the  Radio City Music Hall in New York. Among the winners were Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Herbie Hancock. Madonna was not up for awards, but manged to make prominence and shake the pop world with her performance at the VMA's. 

Just ahead of Christmas when 1984 was in the fade out, a group of musicians headed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure got together for a good cause forming Band Aid. This was a group of musicians who recorded a song to raise awareness and funds for the Ethiopian famine in 1983–1985. It included more than 40 musicians and it sold over two million copies around the globe and raised more than $24 million. 

Towards the end of the year New Gold Dream which could easily be translated as the golden era of new Wave slowly began to vanish and became clear that the new musical term was Pop.

 

Retrovision: China Crisis- Wishful Thinking

Thirty years ago, China Crisis released "Wishful Thinking" and the song reached #9 in the UK. This remained their best selling single and their only top ten hit. The song was taken from the album 'Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two'. To this date the song appeared on several compilations including 'Ultimate Crisis' in 2012.

Section 25's 30th Anniversary Edition of From The Hip Announced for 2014

In 2014 Factory Benelux will mark the 30th anniversary of classic Section 25 album 'From The Hip' with an expanded double disc CD edition housed in a deluxe 6 panel digi pack. The bonus disc will feature several original album demos from 1983 as well as their BBC radio session (David Jensen) from 1984, along with remixes and a new group recording of Reflection. Reflection will also appear as a limited edition 7" single (500 copies only, 7 FBN 53) for Record Store Day in April 2014. 

As well as the original Fact 90 artwork by Peter Saville and Trevor Key, the anniversary edition will come with a 12 page booklet including unseen photos, and text by Jon Savage, Vin Cassidy and others. 

news.factorybenelux.com/2013/11/from-hip

Paul Haig to Release A Singles Compilation plus Previously Unreleased Material

'At Twilight' is a new 2CD compilation of singles and album tracks recorded by Paul Haig for Les Disques du Crépuscule which were variously produced by Alan Rankine, Cabaret Voltaire, Bernard Sumner, Mantronik, Lil Louis, Alex Sadkin and Man Parrish. 

The second CD includes all nine tracks from the lost Alan Rankine-produced second studio album from 1984 which has never before been released in its complete form. Plus it also includes 'The Executioner', the unreleased collaboration between Cabaret Voltaire and Paul Haig which was originally planned for release on Factory Benelux (FBN 47/48).

 It all comes packaged with a cover portrait by Charles Van Hoorick and the liner booklet includes archive images and track-by-track commentary by Paul Haig. 

The compilation will be out via Crépuscule on 20 January 2014. And don't forget that the brand new studio album by Paul Haig is out now.

Ultravox' - Ultra Box Set Announced for Late October

Chrysalis Records have announced the release of a new Ultravox box set. 'The Albums 1980-2012' is a nine-CD collection featuring the six Midge Ure era studio albums – 'Vienna' (1980), 'Rage in Eden' (1981), 'Quartet' (1982), 'Lament' (1984) and 'U-Vox' (1986) – as well as live records 'Monument' (1983) and 'Return to Eden' (2009). The story is brought right back up to date with the inclusion of 'Brilliant', last year’s studio album featuring the classic line-up after a recording hiatus of almost three decades. All the LPs from the 1980s have been newly remastered by Steve Rooke at Abbey Road Studios. 

The CDs will be in card sleeves and housed in a clamshell box. The Albums 1980-2012 is released on 28 October 2013.

Source:

http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/

Naked Eyes' Fuel For The Fire Reissue Announced for Late August

A much requested reissue of synth-pop pioneers Naked Eyes' 2nd album 'Fuel For The Fire' plus bonus tracks. This comes after our well received reissue of the band's debut album 'Burning Bridges' that was released late 2012. 'Fuel For The Fire' was released in 1984 and featured 1 single "(What) In The Name Of Love" that reached the top 40 in both the U.S. Hot 100 and U.S. Dance charts. This special edition contains ten tracks from the original album plus seven essential bonus tracks which appear on CD for the first time in the UK. 

Available 26/08/2013

More Info

Reissue: Nuvo West- Nuvo West

The Italian record label Synthetic Shadows has reissued the rare and obscure debut album by the American group Nuvo West. Their debut album 'Scary' was originally released in 1983 through West Records Inc. This new compilations features the remastered edition of 'Scary' plus their unreleased Cassette 'Twankin'' from 1984. The release is out today and it is available in 500 copies.   

Reissue: Paul Nova- Trees Without Leaves

The German record label Vinyl on Demand (VOD Records) has reissued Paul Nova's debut album "Trees Without Leaves". The albums is considered as one of the Holy Grails of Minimal/Synth/80’s-Cold Wave music and it was originally released in 1984 his own label Exhibit One Records. The reissue also features the singles "Famous Boys" and "Julie-Ann", unreleased tracks as well as demos which were released on the same label. It is out as a limited edition of 500 copies. Click the link for more info.

 www.vinyl-on-demand.com/releases
 

Instant Hit: The Monochrome Set- The Ruling Class

"The Ruling Class" was a big hit for The Monochrome Set in 1984. A year before this song appeared on a compilation Volume, Contrast, Brilliance... (Sessions & Singles Vol. 1) with several other Monochrome Set hits. In the recent years the band mostly released compilations including Early Recordings: 1975-1977 "White Noise released last year. 

Instant Hit: Valerie Dore- The Night

Italian star Valerie Dore had her debut in 1984 with the melancholic synth-pop tune "The Night" which also became her biggest hit in Europe. The song was produced by Lino Nicolosi and Roberto Gasparini and it was released as both 7" and 12" inch record. Between 1984 and and today it has been released seven times on several different record labels. It also remained as one of the influential Italo-disco tracks which has been covered and remixed ever since the original release. 

The Smiths Deluxe Remaster Boxset Available on Pre-Order

Rhino Records UK is proud to present ‘Complete’, eight albums by The Smiths lovingly reworked by Johnny Marr and Rhino UK and packaged together for the first time - the ultimate The Smiths remasters collection.

 The collection includes all four of the band's studio albums – ‘The Smiths’ (1984), ‘Meat Is Murder’ (1985), ‘The Queen Is Dead’ (1986), ‘Strangeways, Here We Come’ (1987) and their sole live album ‘Rank’ (1988) as well as firm fan favourite compilations ‘Hatful Of Hollow’ (1984), ‘The World Won’t Listen’ (1987) and ‘Louder Than Bombs’ (1987). Each has been taken back to original tape sources and remastered by Johnny Marr and Frank Arkwright at the world famous Metropolis Studios in London. 

  http://www.rhino.co.uk/the-smiths-complete-deluxe-collectors-boxset

Instant Hit: Dhuo- Walkin'

Italian producer Bruno Bergonzi and Mike Logan recorded several songs and one album under the name Dhuo in the first half of the 80's. "Walking" was the first single which was released from their only album Overflow in 1984. The band released two more singles in 1985 before disbanding.

Instant Hit: End of Data- Sahrah

The minimal/ post punk outfit End of Data from France released two albums during their Brief existence. Their first LP Sahrah was released in 1984 through Divine record label and their second album followed the year after. This gothadelic tune perfectly represents the sound of the first album.
End of Data never officially released any singles and, sadly their albums never got reissued.

Instant Hit: Cyber People- Polaris

"Polaris" was the first single release for Cyber People in 1984, the same year as the project was formed. It proved to be only a minor hit, as it was only released in Italy, and later in Germany on ZYX Records. The songs features space synths, italo disco style with great melody line and vocoder inputs and in the internet era it has grown into a electronic italo-disco classic.

Instant Hit: Cristina- Ticket to the Tropics

"Ticket to the Tropics" was the last song by Cristina which she released during the 80's era. The song appeared on her second album Sleep it off released in 1984. The single was released through Mercury Records with "What's A Girl To Do" as a b-side.