Taking off in 1979 with huge tunes like The Buggles’ ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ and the evergreen ‘Pop Musik’ by M (featured here in its excellent 12” version), ‘New Pop’ was a term coined by NME journalist (and soon to be ZTT key player) Paul Morley to describe the literate, generally not guitar based, pop music that was springing up in the wake of punk and new wave. This lavish 4CD set covers the scene’s heyday, from 1979 to 1983 and as ever, Cherry Red have absolutely nailed the ingredients of a great compilation: mainly avoiding the obvious picks by the more well-known artists, throwing in a few nuggets by artists that undeservedly went (relatively) under the radar and then topping it off with a handful of timeless hits, because let’s not pretend that some of these acts were (or are) huge. And who is ever going to complain about hearing the sparkling intro of ABC’s ‘Poison Arrow’ emanating from their speakers or headphones?
The set begins with the aforementioned 1979 uber-hits by The Buggles and M sandwiching another highly successful ‘79 single in the shape of The Flying Lizards’ uniquely odd take on Motown banger ‘Money’ (originally by Barrett Strong but the subject of high-profile covers by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones) – it’s hard to imagine now how ubiquitous their version was at the time, it might struggle to get to the Radio 1 A-list these days! There’s the quirky ‘An Englishman In New York’ (not related to the later Sting track) by Godley and Creme and a leftfield choice of ‘Young and Russian’ from The Korgis – a song that eschews the lush wonderment of their two big hits in favour of a kind of Squeeze through a blender with that angelic / rough vocal coupling and an eccentric lyric and indeed melody.
The set also acts as a pointer to a handful of artists who have been the subject of their own excellent box sets on the label in recent times: New Musik’s wonderful ‘Living By Numbers’ (their expanded compilation was a real treat), Tracie’s excellent earworm ‘The House That Jack Built’ and Mari Wilson’s ‘Beat The Beat’ which is one of the greatest singles you could ever wish to hear.
There are such an embarrassment of riches here that it’s impossible to list them all, but top marks for the selections by big hitters Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (the early synthpop classic and best song ever about a Liverpool telephone box, ‘Red Frame / White Light’), Heaven 17 (early non-album single ‘I’m Your Money’) and Simple Minds (‘Sweat In Bullet’ is an inspired choice). And how about The Associates? Let’s have the bleak 1981 single ‘Q-Quarters’! There are similarly hard-to-predict choices from the likes of Human League, Scritti Politti and Culture Club, the latter with their first single, the rarely heard ‘White Boy’, resplendent in its 12” version.
We have some interesting choices from artists who had perhaps better-known alternative careers: cult favourites Josef K singer Paul Haig is here with his polished take on his former band’s far more lo-fi ’Heaven Sent’ (is it ok to prefer this ‘new’ version?), and Ian Dury’s right hand man Chas Jankel appears with a fun number called ‘Questionnaire’ which in truth owes more to the wine bar stylings of Matt Bianco than The Blockheads, despite it featuring possibly the World’s best bass player, Norman Watt-Roy, from Ian’s band. And Rip Rig and Panic (here with the interestingly titled ‘Bob Hope Takes Risks’) showed little sign of what was in store for their singer Neneh Cherry in the same way that the Colourbox selection here, the excellent ‘Shotgun’, hardly signposts the way to their involvement in the smash hit M/A/R/R/S single ‘Pump Up The Volume’. It might be pushing this concept to claim that Thomas Leer was more famous in his short-lived (but absolutely fantastic) project Act (alongside Claudia Brücken), but either way, his brilliant ‘Letter From America’ (the sound being not a million miles away from his namesake Thomas Dolby, also here with his classic debut single ‘Urges’) is a welcome inclusion.
Of the lesser-known acts, highlights include Anthony More’s ‘World Service’ (a bonus point for rhyming “malaria” with “scarier”), the understated elegance of Swamp Children with ‘Taste What’s Rhythm’ (their sound more like early Everything But The Girl or even The Marine Girls even if their name doesn’t suggest that) and Dislocation Dance with their lovely ‘Show Me’.
Of the big hits here, Soft Cell’s ‘Bedsitter’ and Haircut 100’s ‘Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)’ are very popular, while one wonders when was the last time Madness were asked for permission to use their prison life mini-drama ‘Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day)’ on a compilation? Nice to see The Stranglers’ ‘European Female’ get an outing too, from that underrated, quite gently melodic period they had in the early 80s. Quick mentions for The Clash, Dexys Midnight Runners, Scritti Politti, Ian Dury, both The Jam and The Style Council, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Tears For Fears and China Crisis and we are still nowhere near a comprehensive rundown of this extensive set.
Heaven Sent… is an excellent retrospective of this most fertile period in pop music, a really well-curated document of this fascinating era.
Heaven Sent: The Rise Of New Pop 1979 – 1983 is released on Cherry Red Records as a 4CD box set on 26th July 2024.
