Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits Of The '80s, Vol. 1

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It seems like only yesterday that MTV signed on with the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star." But it's been long enough to inspire a comprehensive collection on Rhino Records recalling the tunes that got us through the Reagan years. The first five volumes of Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the '80s compile songs ranging from influential ("Pop Muzak" by M and "Money" by the Flying Lizards), to dumb fun ("I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow and "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors), to shoulda-stayed-forgotten ("I Ran (So Far Away)" by Flock of Seagulls and "Love Plus One" by Haircut 100). The weird thing is how current it all sounds. In no time at all, we'll be listening to We're All Losers, Baby: Alternative Rock Wonders of the '90s, featuring similar throwaways by Radiohead, Blind Melon, Beck, and Crash Test Dummies. --Jim DeRogatis

Poll Results

OptionVotes
2. Warm Leatherette - The Normal 19
1. Ca Plane Pour Moi - Plastic Bertrand 16
11. Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles 12
5. Cruel To Be Kind - Nick Lowe 10
9. My Sharona - The Knack 8
3. One Way Or Another - Blondie 8
10. Girls Talk - Dave Edmunds 7
16. Money (That's What I Want) - The Flying Lizards 4
8. Rock 'N' Roll High School - Ramones 3
15. Gidget Goes To Hell - Suburban Lawns 3
4. Hey, St. Peter - Flash And The Pan 1
7. Local Girls - Graham Parker 1
6. Too Young To Date - D-Day 1
12. I Do The Rock - Tim Curry 0
13. Dirty Water - The Inmates 0
14. I'm A Believer - Tin Huey 0


Bee OK, Thursday, 20 March 2014 01:51 (ten years ago) link

i think i'm voting for "Ca Plane Pour Mo" because of Ruby Sparks but going to give it a few days.

Bee OK, Thursday, 20 March 2014 01:53 (ten years ago) link

Most of these hits of the 80s actually seem to be from the 70s

Zelda Zonk, Thursday, 20 March 2014 01:56 (ten years ago) link

to shoulda-stayed-forgotten ("I Ran (So Far Away)" by Flock of Seagulls and "Love Plus One" by Haircut 100)

man this guy was never right, was he?

Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 20 March 2014 01:57 (ten years ago) link

yeah i see that as well, according to Wikipedia it's saying: "Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the '80s is a series of compilations issued by Rhino Records, on both CD and audio cassette, featuring various artists from the New Wave era 1979–1985."

Bee OK, Thursday, 20 March 2014 01:58 (ten years ago) link

nope, both songs are good especially "Love Plus One." though i don't need to hear either again.

xpost

Bee OK, Thursday, 20 March 2014 02:00 (ten years ago) link

"Ca Plane Pour Moi." This is easily the worst entry in the series.

Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 20 March 2014 02:05 (ten years ago) link

Having just googled them not a single one of those songs was released in the 80s! I guess New Wave straddled the decades but still...

Zelda Zonk, Thursday, 20 March 2014 02:07 (ten years ago) link

New Wave introduced in '78 or so by record execs trying to market Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, and the Knack.

Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 20 March 2014 02:08 (ten years ago) link

calling songs from 78-79 "hits of the '80s" is a little funny but not as absurd as a band like Alien Ant Farm having a 20th Century Masters comp

da croupier, Thursday, 20 March 2014 02:31 (ten years ago) link

(Alien Ant Farm's first album coming in 2001, in case you've forgotten their brief cultural moment)

da croupier, Thursday, 20 March 2014 02:32 (ten years ago) link

voted one guy from rockpile over the other guy from rockpile

da croupier, Thursday, 20 March 2014 02:33 (ten years ago) link

The '70s thing is brought up in the liner notes. Iirc, they say this volume chronicles the new wave 'year zero' by collecting all the '78-9 stuff and getting them all out of the way in one swoop.

Interior. Ibiza Bar (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 20 March 2014 02:52 (ten years ago) link

Funniest thing here is DeRogatis' review that "I Ran" is worthless. Oh, okay. Otherwise I voted for the Knack.

jetfan, Thursday, 20 March 2014 03:39 (ten years ago) link

"Ça Plane Pour Moi", "Warm Leatherette", or "Money". Can't decide.

LeRooLeRoo, Thursday, 20 March 2014 04:06 (ten years ago) link

seymour stein came up w/ new wave when america rejected punk. jim derogatis RONG per usual. 'love plus one' is one of my dogs' favorite songs and singing it w/ her when she was a puppy as i drove to my parents house on xmas morning is a cherished memory. voted for nick lowe over the normal.

balls, Thursday, 20 March 2014 05:42 (ten years ago) link

I don't know how many polls there would be where I wouldn't vote for "Cruel to Be Kind," but going with the Buggles here.

timellison, Thursday, 20 March 2014 05:47 (ten years ago) link

All of these are great. Voting Warm Leatherette because it's one of my top 10 songs of all time (most of the time). It was actually released 1978 not the 80s though.

Moka, Thursday, 20 March 2014 06:47 (ten years ago) link

voted buggles; a lot of these songs are great but "video killed the radio star" is transcendent.

mary-kate and ashley's roachclip (get bent), Thursday, 20 March 2014 06:58 (ten years ago) link

have to go with money, if tvod or hanging on the telephone were included it would have been alnowt impossible

olly, Thursday, 20 March 2014 07:07 (ten years ago) link

You like tvod better than warm leatherette?

Moka, Thursday, 20 March 2014 07:15 (ten years ago) link

Did Warm Leth have a video? If not, how did it get onto MTV?

Mark G, Thursday, 20 March 2014 07:21 (ten years ago) link

finally a poll the white guys can win

pings can only get wetter (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 20 March 2014 07:30 (ten years ago) link

Well if you vote Money you're indirectly voting for Barrett Strong so it almost counts as a black win.

Moka, Thursday, 20 March 2014 07:39 (ten years ago) link

Which is the only important question one should ask in any music poll. Is this a white win or a black win?

Moka, Thursday, 20 March 2014 07:40 (ten years ago) link

Warm Leatherette is an indirect Grace Jones vote

slathered in smuckers (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 20 March 2014 09:56 (ten years ago) link

Buggles.

1 pONO 3v3Ry+h1n G!!!1 (dog latin), Thursday, 20 March 2014 10:06 (ten years ago) link

Love Plus One is a tune!

1 pONO 3v3Ry+h1n G!!!1 (dog latin), Thursday, 20 March 2014 10:08 (ten years ago) link

ca plane pour moi moi moi moi moi
ca plane pour moi

paolo, Thursday, 20 March 2014 10:43 (ten years ago) link

I'm voting Flying Lizards!!

I am Sporadicus! (I M Losted), Thursday, 20 March 2014 19:22 (ten years ago) link

The '70s thing is brought up in the liner notes. Iirc, they say this volume chronicles the new wave 'year zero' by collecting all the '78-9 stuff and getting them all out of the way in one swoop.

I think it's fair to say that the first bands with an "80s" sound started to appear around '78 or so, so that's fair. There will still bands with an '80s sound as late as '90 or '91 until killed off by combination of hip hop and grunge.

o. nate, Thursday, 20 March 2014 19:26 (ten years ago) link

"My Sharona" over "Cruel To Be Kind."

coops all on coops tbh (crüt), Thursday, 20 March 2014 19:31 (ten years ago) link

I picked "Cruel to be Kind" though I never thought of that as New Wave. Always felt like a 50's tribute to me!

frogbs, Thursday, 20 March 2014 19:35 (ten years ago) link

expected this to be more difficult given the title of the comp, however, it has to be the normal as even now that track sounds unique.

mark e, Thursday, 20 March 2014 19:37 (ten years ago) link

I feel kind of bad passing up what be my only chance to vote for Tin Huey in an ilx poll, but I have pick Gidget Goes To Hell

soref, Thursday, 20 March 2014 19:38 (ten years ago) link

I picked "Cruel to be Kind" though I never thought of that as New Wave. Always felt like a 50's tribute to me!

― frogbs,

like a lot of New Wave!

Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 20 March 2014 19:39 (ten years ago) link

i know what you mean, but the lowe song doesn't fit at all imo. ca plane for me, but buggles are close.

a nation filled with lead (Hunt3r), Thursday, 20 March 2014 19:41 (ten years ago) link

for me, buggles overplayed ..

mark e, Thursday, 20 March 2014 20:04 (ten years ago) link

I feel kind of bad passing up what be my only chance to vote for Tin Huey in an ilx poll, but I have pick Gidget Goes To Hell

"Puppet Wipes" by The Hueys, or "Janitor" by The Lawns would have made this harder for me, but "Ca Plane Pour Moi."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYNO2Kow2ho

A Perfect Ratio of Choogle to Jam (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 20 March 2014 20:18 (ten years ago) link

And I have no recollection of "Too Young To Date" whatsoever.

A Perfect Ratio of Choogle to Jam (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 20 March 2014 20:22 (ten years ago) link

^^Texas band. Not a hit. One of the band members used to be in Bubble Puppy.

Interior. Ibiza Bar (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 20 March 2014 20:30 (ten years ago) link

Was gonna vote "Warm Leatherette" but that Ramones song has more hooks than most of these songs put together.

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 20 March 2014 21:14 (ten years ago) link

1. Video Killed the Radio Star
2. Warm Leatherette
3. Girls Talk

Gavin, Leeds, Thursday, 20 March 2014 21:16 (ten years ago) link

If the Suburban Lawns track was 'Janitor', I'd be sorely tempted by that. As it is, 'Warm Leatherette'.

emil.y, Thursday, 20 March 2014 21:33 (ten years ago) link

One Way or Another. Haven't heard of many of these

LimbsKing, Thursday, 20 March 2014 23:28 (ten years ago) link

I wish Tim Curry could have made a career of his fake John Cale/Warren Zevonisms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXPCsaO_55o

(or if you must, "data") (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 20 March 2014 23:46 (ten years ago) link

looking now to see how much of this stuff is on Spotify.

Bee OK, Saturday, 22 March 2014 00:55 (ten years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Monday, 24 March 2014 00:01 (ten years ago) link

WARM LEATHERETTE

Toni Braxton-Hicks (Turrican), Monday, 24 March 2014 00:22 (ten years ago) link

Yeah, "Warm Leatherette" over "Rock N Roll High School." Great comp, though!

Are you gonna poll the whole series, Bee?

Inside Lewellyn Sinclair (cryptosicko), Monday, 24 March 2014 00:32 (ten years ago) link

yeah, i think so.

Bee OK, Monday, 24 March 2014 01:11 (ten years ago) link

i'm going to do the first five in a row, then i will have to pause for the Acclaimed Music stuff. then i will pick this up at some point after that.

Bee OK, Monday, 24 March 2014 01:13 (ten years ago) link

Warm Leatherette cos I love the album version of Money too much to vote for it here

sonic thedgehod (albvivertine), Monday, 24 March 2014 01:23 (ten years ago) link

Had totally forgotten about Hey, St Peter. Great tune. I see from YouTube even recorded a jokey low-fi video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz48dyXTFpQ

that's not my post, Monday, 24 March 2014 05:41 (ten years ago) link

voting for Blondie though...

that's not my post, Monday, 24 March 2014 05:42 (ten years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Tuesday, 25 March 2014 00:01 (ten years ago) link

wow, that's a lot of votes and expected winner.

Bee OK, Tuesday, 25 March 2014 00:58 (ten years ago) link


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