The Housemartins sing “Are You Ready?” from 1986. It’s lovely, if burdened by the director (?) struggling with finding something for the boys to do. It was probably the biggest curse of 80s videos in which the musicians were expected to match their actions to lyrics written months or years earlier.
This most sparkling video from 1985 for the recently reunited Spandau Ballet shows just exactly why the New Romantic subset of New Wave has the most lasting appeal. “Listening to Marvin all night long. . .”
Hard to believe that a woman of Elliott’s size could be a pop star, but it’s actually what helped her get there. Of course, it also helped her leave this world, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Here is a great pop tune, an ode to 70’s style go-it-alone-ism.
Evelyn “Champagne” King sings one of the most infectious of the R & B singles of the early 1980s that was also a huge crossover hit. Sort of disco, kind of pop, it is a fun and charming number.