Australian new wave rockers known best for their '80s hits "Crazy" and "Electric Blue." Collection includes: Flowers (1980); Primitive Man (1982); Sidewalk (1984); Measure For Measure (1986); Man Of Colours (1987); Code Blue (1990); Big Wheel (1993).

ROCKPALAST is a legendary ‘live’ music TV show hosted in Germany by the WDR channel. It first broadcast in 1974 and has become a pan-European television institution. It has its own fan club and online forum, and in almost four decades, it has become a trademark of quality viewing and listening. PERFORMANCE DATE: Markthalle Hamburg, 22 February 1985 The Fixx was something of an anomaly on the British music scene as the 1970s gave way to the 1980s – as they were a ‘New Wave’ quintet that enjoyed far more success in the USA and continental Europe than they did back home in the UK. The Fixx wrote and recorded melodic, concise New Wave Rock, led by the powerful and emotive vocals of Cy Curnin, with the strong guitar work of Jamie West-Oram and keyboards of Rupert Greenall offering contrasting musical depth and texture.

Haircut 100's debut album, Pelican West is a widely uneven concoction of lite funk and jazzy new wave pop. Although the group's music was frequently so light it virtually disappeared, they did record a pair of classic new wave singles with the effervescent "Love Plus One" and "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)." Although much of the record lacks the hooks of those two tracks, there's a handful of enjoyably breezy pop songs on Pelican West, such as "Fantastic Day" and "Snow Girl," that makes it worth investigating for new wave fetishists. Still, there's no denying that Haircut 100's material was often inadequate – a situation only emphasized on the American edition of the album, which places the singles at the front – and that the record sounded like a period piece just a few years after its release. [This edition features three B-sides and two 12" mixes as bonus tracks.]

After languishing for ten years in the rock wilderness, the Scottish stadium-shakers are back with Black And White 050505, which has been trumpeted by manyas a mighty return to form. And yes, Jim Kerr's vocals are still tremulously emotive, Charlie Burchill is as stirring as ever on his jangling, soaring guitar and the songwriting errs, as always, on the side of supersize anthem. But this spanking new effort, while powerful, boasts a distinctly ethereal quality, softening the stomping stridency of the Simple Minds we knew in the 1980s. Opening track "Home" flirts with an intriguing new sound, haunting yet uplifting with Kerr at his dramatic best, while "Sparkle In The Rain" shimmers with chiming glory. Packed with potential crowd-pleasers, Simple Minds may have stuck wisely with their winning New Gold Dream formula, but they've brought it rocketing up to date. Fans will be gleefully punching the air within minutes. Dissenters, well, they might just be converted.

Chart-topping rock band who blend shimmering electronic pop with Shirley Manson's emotive vocals. Collection includes: Garbage (1995); Version 2.0 (1998); Beautiful Garbage (2001); Bleed Like Me (2005).

Eurythmics were one of the most successful duos to emerge in the early '80s. Where most of their British synth pop contemporaries disappeared from the charts as soon as new wave faded away in 1984, Eurythmics continued to have hits until the end of the decade, making vocalist Annie Lennox a star in her own right, as well as establishing instrumentalist Dave Stewart as a successful, savvy producer and songwriter. Originally, the duo channelled the eerily detached sound of electronic synthesizer music into pop songs driven by robotic beats. By the mid-'80s, singles like "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and "Here Comes the Rain Again" had made the group into international stars, and the group had begun to experiment with their sound, delving into soul and R&B. Collection includes: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (1983); Touch (1983); 1984 (For The Love Of Big Brother) (1984); Be Yourself Tonight (1985); Revenge (1986); Savage (1987); We Too Are One (1989).

The Uplift Mofo Party Plan is the third studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 29, 1987 on EMI Records. Due to prior obligations resulting in temporary personnel changes following the band's formation in 1983, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan is the only studio album to feature all four founding members of the band on every single track: vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, guitarist Hillel Slovak, and drummer Jack Irons. The record features the band's signature funk rock musical style, but also draws influences from reggae and heavy metal.

Digitally re-mastered and expanded two CD edition of this 1983 album from the Manchester quartet, one of the most successful and consistent bands of the '80s and beyond. After the suicide of vocalist, Ian Curtis, the three surviving members of Joy Division regrouped under the band name New Order, adding Gillian Gilbert on keyboards. The rest, as they say, is history. Disc One in this package contains the original album in it's digitally re-mastered glory. Disc Two is filled with eight non-album singles, B-sides and remixes. This is as great as it gets! The album was as included in the top 100 albums of the 1980s lists in both Rolling Stone and Pitchfork Media.

Rare 1991 French-only 12-CD set, comprising all their albums from Three Imaginary Boys to Disintegration in individual card wallet picture sleeves, plus 68-page deluxe illustrated booklet [all text in French], housed in a picture box with pull-out tray and die-cut band logo section with rotating wheel insert!

Obsession: The Best of Animotion contains all of the greatest hits in the Animotion catalog. From the possesive "I Want You" and "Obsession" which hit the top ten in 1985 to the eerie and peculiar "Strange Behavior". This also contains the later Animotion hits "Room to Move"- a Lightwieght song seen in 'My Stepmother is an Alien'. Animotion boasts great instrumentals on the synthesiezer as well as guitars and drums, plus great vocals done by Bill Wadhams and Astrid Plane. As for the reviews below, Obsession: The Best of Animotion DOES contain "I Engineer" plus the "I Engineer [12" Remix]! The 12" remixes add new flavor to the first four songs. These remixes arent only rare, they're great! You get CD quality remixes, in which you would have had to buy old used (and probably poor sound quality) 12" records. This CD is highly recommended for anyone who's heard "Obsession" or is into 80's Synth Pop.

Alphaville's 2010 comeback album sets the time at defiance, playing as if the last two decades never existed, but the band's return to its prime form is so flawless the record sounds almost timeless. Thirteen years since their last commercial studio album, they pick up where synth pop left off: midtempo beats impossible not to tap to, romantic and nervous keyboard textures that take that space ambience of Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream and put it to work, and dramatic vocals with a weepy edge, like Erasure is still the hottest new thing in town. This is supposed to sound plastic, but it doesn't, the hooks are too good, the melodies too convincing, and the mood is pinned down perfectly, as if the band spent all the time since 1997's Salvation working full-time to polish their stuff (though, as Axl Rose demonstrated, that's not necessarily a good thing). Besides, good dance-pop music hasn't really changed much since Alphaville's heyday, and there's since been plenty of synth pop aficionados keeping the flame alive and making Catching Rays on Giant relevant, but even if the style had been buried and forgotten after "Forever Young," this record would still shine through simply on the strength of its songwriting.

To celebrate the 21st anniversary of their debut release, Blur s break-through album Parklife has now been remastered from the original tapes by Frank Arkwright (The Smiths, Arcade Fire, New Order, Joy Division), with the remastering overseen by legendary original producer, Stephen Street. The first of five No 1 albums for the band, the four times platinum selling Parklife transformed Blur into the biggest band in the country and the Parklife Special Edition certainly doesn t fall short of that status. The accompanying bonus disc begins by collecting together all b-sides from all formats of the Girls And Boys, To The End, Parklife and End Of A Century singles, which contain - among many lesser-known Blur tracks - a Pet Shop Boys remix of Girls And Boys, a rendition of To The End with Damon singing in French, Graham s take on Country and Western in Red Necks and a rare appearance of a track written by Alex on, Alex s Song. Also included are previously unreleased acoustic versions of Jubilee and Parklife recorded for a BBC Radio 1 session in 1994 and the previously unreleased Cadena 40 Principales Acoustic Version of End Of A Century, which featured on a Spanish-only promo for the single.

2006 digitally remastered reissue of the debut album from this Sheffield synthpop trio, originally released in 1981. Features four bonus tracks: 'Are Everything' (12 Inch Version), 'I'm Your Money' (12 Inch Version), 'Decline Of The West' and 'Honeymoon In New York'. Penthouse And Pavement included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Sing When You're Winning is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. It was released on 28 August 2000 in the United Kingdom by Chrysalis Records and in the United States by Capitol Records. Following the critical and commercial success of I've Been Expecting You (1998), the North American release of The Ego Has Landed (1999) and the subsequent promotional tours for both albums, Williams reteamed with producers Guy Chambers and Steve Powers to create new material for his next record. Whereas I've Been Expecting You used the Britpop genre for its overall sound, Sing When You're Winning incorporates a more post-millennial dance-pop approach while utilizing classic British rock elements. The album garnered positive reviews from critics. Sing When You're Winning debuted at number one in the UK, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand, as well as the top 10 in countries like Australia, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. It spawned six singles: "Rock DJ", "Kids" (with Kylie Minogue), "Supreme", "Let Love Be Your Energy", "Eternity / The Road to Mandalay" and "Better Man".

This aptly titled release from '80s art rockers and Talking Heads side project Tom Tom Club is indeed good, bad, and funky. Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz have explored a stunning amount of musical styles within the confines of this album, with every song sounding like it was produced by a different group. The use of a variety of vocalists, including Weymouth, who at times sounds like a 16-year-old Japanese girl instead of her more mature self, as well as Mystic Bowie and Charles Pettigrew only seems to heighten the variety of sounds offered. The lyrics are simple, yet clever, and laid over a variety of sampled tracks, scratching, and other turntablism and live instrumentation. The resulting sound ranges from dub to dance-pop to spacy funk. The variety does allow for some unevenness, however, though duds like the repetitive and spare "Time to Bounce" are more than balanced by gems like "Happiness Can't Buy Money" and the instrumental cleverness of "Lesbians by the Lake," among others.