Since coming together in 1982, Norwegian pop trio a-ha have established a personal and artistic chemistry that can accommodate three strong personalities. There was a long hiatus after 1993's Memorial Beach and a formal reunion for 2000's Minor Earth Major Sky, followed by two more studio outings. They split again in 2010 to pursue solo careers, but reunited for 2015's Cast in Steel. In 2021, the documentary a-ha: The Movie toured global film festivals. The band's 11th studio album, True North, and its accompanying documentary film appear during their 40th anniversary year. The trio recorded and filmed over three weeks in a studio some 55 miles above the Arctic Circle in Bodø, with the Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Anders Eljas. Filming was done by Stian Andersen. Half of these 12 tracks were composed by guitarist Pal Waaktaar-Savoy, with the other half by keyboardist Magne Furuholmen. Each man produced his own work.

Norwegian pop trio A-ha has had their catalog revamped and repackaged a number of times since their inception in the 1980s, but 2016's Time and Again: The Ultimate A-ha brings their canon of hits up to date with the inclusion of material from each of their ten studio albums. The first disc of this set is generally concerned with their hits, beginning, appropriately, with the sunny synths of "Take on Me" and winding chronologically through the years to the sweeping orchestral ballad "Under the Makeup" from their 2015 LP Cast in Steel. The expected tracks like "Touchy!," "The Living Daylights," and their lush cover of the Everly Brothers' "Crying in the Rain" are all included alongside later-era cuts like 2000's "Summer Moved On," which was a number one hit in their home country. The second disc in the set is dedicated entirely to alternate mixes and remixes of their hits, some of which hold some historical value like Jellybean's previously unreleased 1986 remix of "Cry Wolf" and Justin Strauss' rare dub mix of "You Are the One."

THE FLIRTS are a female trio from NEW YORK that had several dance hits and music videos in MTV in the early 80’s. The group was created by American producer BOBBY ORLANDO. They are best known for their high energy tunes "Passion", "Danger", "Helpless", and "Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime)". "Jukebox" received significant airplay on MTV and is featured on the popular 80’s New Wave compilation VALLEY GIRL film soundtrack. The Flirts released six studio albums from 1982–1992 and numerous singles and completed several international tours. In 1985, The Flirts had a number one U.S. dance track, "You and Me". Their songs continue to receive radio airplay and are included in various CD compilations.

Pet Shop Boys resume their exceptional late-period run with Hotspot, their third in a series of high quality collaborations with producer/engineer Stuart Price. Recorded at Berlin's legendary Hansa Studios, the acclaimed duo's 14th album finds them firmly in their element, delivering crisp electro-pop invocations, wry dance bangers, and melodic gems both sunny and stormy. Still more or less in the self-described "electronic purist" mode of 2013's Electric and 2016's Super, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe make a few allowances here, particularly on the melancholic standout, "Beneath the Heather," which features some crafty psych-inspired guitar work from Suede guitarist Bernard Butler.

Music That You Can Dance To is the fourteenth studio album by American pop band Sparks. It was originally released in September 1986, on the label MCA in the US and Consolidated Allied in the UK, two years after their previous album, Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat. Music That You Can Dance To released 1986 was the band's most dance music inspired album since 1979's No. 1 in Heaven. The overall sound of the album was dominated by synthesizers and sequencers like the 1979 album but it differed from that release by the inclusion of the heavily distorted bass guitar of Leslie Bohem, and the emphasis on discordant sound effects. "Music That You Can Dance To", "Fingertips" and "The Scene" represent some of Sparks' most Hi-NRG dance music leanings.

A thrilling return to the Techno-Pop sound that he helped to define with electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk between 1974's 'Autobahn' and 1986's 'Electric Café'An all new electronic album, 'Magazine 1', that has been crafted by Wolfgang Flür alongside some of the most famous names of synth-pop and electronic dance, past and present. Featuring Midge Ure (Ultravox), Peter Hook (New Order) and Claudia Brücken (Propaganda), alongside the legendary Techno DJ's Juan Atkins and Carl Cox and Electro-Pop titans U96, plus appearances by celebrated alternative electronic artists and composers Ramón Amezcua (AKA Bostich), MAPS and Anushka, adding just a frisson of deft contemporary nuance to the proceedings!Wolfgang Flür is the only surviving member of that classic Kraftwerk line-up who is currently making and releasing new music! No-one currently making Techno-pop records has Wolfgang Flür's career longevity and revered stature and, perhaps, no-one has ever made electronic records with such a warm and radical lyrical humanism. Songs that musically draw on a readily identifiable retro-electro palate, but which lyrically speak to us of our times, of our shared 'here and now' with a campaigning humanism that reflects on the challenges, disorientations and uncertainties of this unprecedented time of change.

"No Parlez" is the debut solo studio album by English singer Paul Young. Released in 1983, it reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart (for a non-consecutive total of 5 weeks) and remained in the UK Top 100 for 119 weeks. The album has been certified quadruple Platinum by the BPI for UK sales in excess of 1.2 million copies. Initially, the first two singles, "Iron Out the Rough Spots" and a remake of "Love of the Common People", had no success, but the third, a cover of the Marvin Gaye classic "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)", was #1 in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in July and August 1983, and the first of Young's 14 British Top 40 singles. Similar success followed in continental Europe. In the UK, the follow-up single "Come Back and Stay" reached #4, and the re-release of "Love of the Common People" made it to #2 in late 1983. The CD edition of "No Parlez" featured one extra track ("Behind Your Smile") not on the vinyl release. Additionally, five of the other 11 tracks were extended versions compared to the vinyl edition.

Secret Service is a Swedish pop band formed in Stockholm in 1979. In 1979, Ola Håkansson, former vocalist of Ola & the Janglers and then a publishing manager at Sonet Records, teamed up with Tim Norell and Ulf Wahlberg as Ola+3 to perform at the 1979 Melodifestivalen, a contest which is the Swedish qualification to the Eurovision Song Contest. Ola+3 did not win but the members decided to continue working together and recorded an LP as Ola+3. Besides Ola Håkansson (vocals), Tim Norell and Ulf Wahlberg (keyboards), the original lineup also included Tonny Lindberg (guitars), Leif Paulsen (bass) and Leif Johansson (drums). Norell, who along with lyricist Björn Håkanson penned most songs of the band, did not however appear with them on stage or on the band photos.

"Manilow" is the self-titled album released in 1985 by singer-songwriter Barry Manilow. The album had little impact on the charts. The album features 1980s style rock n' roll/ synthesizers. He was lured away from Arista Records, but as cited by Manilow in an interview, the executives who brought him over were no longer there when the album was released. This may have led to poor record sales, as well as the album sound being primarily a modern uptempo and synthesized release sharply different from Manilow's renowned piano ballads.

Duran Duran came back out of nowhere in early 1993 with a new album and a huge hit, "Ordinary World." The group sounds more relaxed and mature than it did during their glory days, but not all that much has changed; instead of personifying the days of early-'80s synthesized dance-pop, the music is smooth dance pop for the '90s. Taken on its own terms, Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) works every bit as well as Duran Duran, Rio, or Seven and the Ragged Tiger. "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone" are wonderful pop singles that sit between some passable album tracks and the occasional embarrassment, namely the wretched cover of the Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale." In other words, Duran Duran are back and as good as they ever were.

The 10-track release is the band’s 18th studio album and follows World Be Gone from 2017. Written and produced by Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, the new The Neon is described as “uplifting and optimistic synth-pop”. The first single is ‘Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling)’. The Neon offers us warmth and a brilliant brightness in its sound in our strange, silent times. It connects us to our pasts and our futures as it glistens with hope. It creates beautiful places where our imaginations can roam, bringing us together, twinkling and beaming. The Neon puts us in the real world again, now and forever, lit up and alive.

Undeniably unique and inspirational to generations of DJs and producers, Swiss electronic pioneers Yello return with their 14th studio album, POINT. Musically, POINT takes the classic Yello sound of records like Stella, One Second and Flag and twists it into something ultra-modern. It’s part spy film, part Dali-painting, part strobe lit dance floor, part 4D car chase and part deep space torch song. It’s Yello, absolutely on point.

Songs of Faith and Devotion is the eighth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was first released on 22 March 1993 in the United Kingdom by Mute Records and a day later in the United States by Sire Records and Reprise Records. The album incorporated a more aggressive, darker rock-oriented tone than its predecessor Violator (1990), largely influenced by the emerging alternative rock and grunge scenes in the United States. Upon its release, Songs of Faith and Devotion reached number one in several countries, and became the first Depeche Mode album to debut atop the charts in both the UK and the US.

Freddie Mercury Remixes - 6-track CD includes Living On My Own [Extended Mix and Roger S Mix], Time [Nile Rodgers 1992 Remix], Love Kills [Wolf Euro Mix], The Great Pretender [Malouf Mix] & My Love Is Dangerous [Lord-Alge Mix].

This 2013 anthology of the British synth pop group Visage is essentially an expanded edition of 1983's Fade to Grey: The Singles Collection. In 1993, it was rebranded under its current title Fade to Grey: The Best of Visage with the addition of two more tracks ("Love Glove" and "Fade to Grey [Bassheads 7" edit]"), both of which have been jettisoned from the 2013 version, along with the fantastic new romantic album cover and a handful of other tracks. So what makes the updated set noteworthy? Well, there are a couple of BBC versions of "The Anvil" and "Can You Hear Me?" and dance mixes of the sleek "Mind of a Toy," the guitar-heavy "We Move," and their early post-disco single "Frequency 7."