Mr Kinski's Music Shack

Heaven Sent – The Rise Of New Pop 1979-1983 is a 4 CD compilation from Cherry Red, released on 26 July 2024. “New Pop” was a term associated with NME journalist Paul Morley, ‘New Pop’ came to describe any forward-thinking British music of the early 1980s which wasn’t ‘rockist’ or overtly punky and anti-establishment in outlook.

Opening with the “Full length disco mix” of M’s Pop Music, featuring Wally Badarou (Level 42) on keyboards, and vocals from Robin Scott, the song has aged well, and remains a staple of 70s / 80s themed radio stations. The low-fi charm of The Flying Lizards Money gives way to a pop titan as the 70s gave way to the 80s with Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes Buggles and their biggest hit, Video Killed The Radio Star.

Godley And Creme’s An Englishman in New York from their 1979 album Freeze Frame, highlights the duos more experimental side, as compared to their later success with Wedding Bells and Cry.

“They boggle at menus in Olde English verse
“Ode to a burger” by Keats at his worst
The hissing of omelets the breaking of legs
Don’t shoot till you see the whites of their eggs”

Young ‘n’ Russian from The Korgis preceded their biggest hits (If I Had You and the classic Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime), and is an often overlooked part of their legacy. Living By Numbers from Tony Mansfield’s New Musik is, like The Buggles, a sneak peak into the sound that would soon come to define the next decade. Living By Numbers has a charming naivety that holds fast, even after all these years.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Red Frame / White Light is the Liverpool band mixing their early experimentalism with a snappy chorus. Toyah’s Bird in Flight sees the band starting to move away from their new wave roots, displayed on the excellent Sheep Farming in Barnet album, into the more electronic sound that would give them success in the early 80s with Ieya and It’s A Mystery.

One of the highlights of the collection is Dream Sequence from Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls. This classic electronic single from 1980 is a lost gem, from the timeless Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls album, that was produced by Martin Hannett. Following the split of Pauline’s previous band, Penetration (Come Into The Open remains a favourite new wave single), Pauline and Penetration bassist Robert Blamire were joined by a cast including Vini Reilly, the Buzzcocks John Maher, Wayne Hussey and New Order’s Bernard Sumner on an album that is a must listen from the early 80s.

The Clash offer Hitsville UK from their fourth album Sandinista!, featuring vocals from Mick Jones and US singer Ellen Foley (check out her Strummer/Jones heavy Spirit of St. Louis album from 1981). The Passions I’m In Love With A German Film Star is a staple on new wave compilations, but deserves to be championed and sounds better with age.

“I’m in love with a German film star, I once saw in a bar
Sitting in a corner in imperfect clothes
Trying not to pose, for the cameras and the girls
It’s a glamorous world”

African And White (Inevitable Version) from China Crisis is another sign that Liverpool was one of the strongest regions for late 70s and early 80s music. Is Vic There? was the only hit from Department S, and works so well due to its iconic guitar riff and propulsive beat. The Art Of Parties from Japan was an insistently catchy single highlighting all band members musical strengths. Altered Images are represented with A Day’s Wait, a Siouxsie and the Banshees influenced song, produced by the Banshees bassist Steve Severin.

The early Heaven 17 single I’m Your Money shows the influence they had on the burgeoning electronic music of the decade. Disc one ends with The Associates Q Quarters and its encouraging to hear a less obvious track from the duo. The Situation Two single from 1981 is a dark, brooding piece, with a restrained vocal from Billy Mackenzie. I still cannot believe we have lost Mackenzie and Alan Rankine, both are huge losses to music.

Disc two opens with Eurythmics and Never Gonna Cry Again, produced by Conny Plank, and from the era just before the massive success that followed from Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) onwards. Like a lot of Eurythmics material, time has been kind to Never Gonna Cry Again. Thomas Dolby’s debut single Urges is a more lo-fi release, compared to his majestic later material such as The Flat Earth, but highlights Dolby’s knack for adding layer upon layer of hooks to his songs.

The Slits Earthbeat (7” Version) (featuring future Banshees drummer Budgie) is a welcome addition as one of the post-punk highlights on this collection. Hazel O’Connor was at her best for me with the Breaking Glass album, but this is a respectful cover of the early Stranglers classic. Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call was a wonderful period in Simple Mind’s back catalogue, giving us the majestic The American and the track on this compilation, Sweat in Bullet. The band seem to be having a bit of a critical renaissance at the moment, and about time too.

Bedsitter is one of Soft Cell’s finest early singles and so another excellent addition. Chas Jankel contributes Questionnaire, and brings with him some of the pure, undistilled funk of The Blockheads, with lyrics from Ian Dury. The percussion from Charley Charles is out of this world.

Mad Eyed Screamer brings us back to Budgie and Siouxsie Sioux, and their first hit. Who needs a band when you have Budgie and Siouxsie Sioux at their creative peak (JuJu was also released in 1981). Tears for Fears debut single Suffer The Children is scheduled next to Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) from Haircut 100. Disc two shows a shift away from post-punk into a more dance / Latin infused era for pop music.

Tiny Children remains one of the highlights from the too short career of Liverpool’s Teardrop Explodes. Mari Wilson seemed to disappear from the charts almost as soon as she arrived, but the 50’s musical influenced Beat The Beat is a good, nostalgic pop single. The Day My Pad Went Mad from John Cooper Clarke is filled with JCC’s typically witty wordplay, delivered in his trademark Salford drawl.

Disc three opens with the mighty ABC, and their Trevor Horn produced single Poison Arrow. It still sounds sumptuous all those years later. The De Harriss led version of Fashiøn contribute their influential electronic single Streetplayer (Mechanik). How this Birmingham band were not global megastars is a mystery to me. If you ever come across their 1982 album Fabrique, I can heartily recommend it. All killer….

Culture Club are represented with the percussion heavy White Boy (Extended Mix), here in all its 6 minute plus glory. Scritti Politti offer the seemingly plastic soul / Young Americans Bowie influenced Faithless, a fine single, but the band really hit their peak for me with the glossy pop of Cupid & Psyche 85 three years later. Swamp Children and Taste What’s Rhythm is one of the tracks I was not familiar with from Heaven Sent – The Rise Of New Pop 1979-1983, and is performed on top of a delicious percussive backing.

Iron Out The Rough Spots was one of the few singles on Paul Young’s No Parlez that did not chart. I went to a recent Dolby Atmos playback of the album, organised by Super Deluxe Edition, and the Dolby Atmos mix adds a fresh excitement to this familiar album. Any compilation that highlights the finest band to come out of Sheffield, The Comsat Angels, is an instant friend of mine. After The Rain (single remix) showcases the band as they were shifting on their axis, from heavy post-punk towards a more commercial mid-80s rock / pop sound. After The Rain is a classic single. I miss the band so much, I wish we had more material from them.

Pale Fountains and Thank You is up there with Wah’s The Story of the Blues as one of the great Liverpool singles. The Pale Fountains released two fantastic albums over the next few years, with Thank You being a radio hit, but the commercial breakthrough never materialised, but the beautiful music remains. Glasgow’s Set The Tone and Dance Sucker still sounds as funky as hell. Beat Surrender ‘b’ side Shopping is an interesting inclusion from The Jam, with Weller’s horizon widening as The Style Council loomed ever nearer.

The final disc is the most “commercial” in this compendium of musical delights, with Lets Go To Bed, one of my favourite singles from The Cure. The 12″ version (not included here) is a delight. The Stranglers and their acoustic meets electronica period from the Feline album, with lead single European Female, fits the new pop aesthetic perfectly. The barracuda bass and jagged guitar replaced by a more sophisticated 80s palette.

Tracie Young delivered some warm pop / funk, and 1983’s The House That Jack Built was a slice of breezy pop that still sounds so optimistic. Paul Weller appears again with The Style Council’s Headstart For Happiness, an acoustic and Hammond driven pop song. County Durham’s Kane Gang have their 1983 single Brother Brother included, a song I missed on its original release, but one that I would have bought if I had been aware of it. A wonderful piece of UK funk / pop with a lovely refrain towards the end of the song.

The jangly guitar pop of Friends Again and State Of Art features two artists whose later work moved me greatly, James Grant and Chris Thomson, whose band The Bathers have released album after album of high quality, orchestral soulful pop. State of Art is very much of its time, but still a quality song. The final tracks on the compilation highlight the alternative indie-pop of Furniture and the sample heavy Colourbox and the still haunting Moments in Love from Art of Noise, with the technological advances of the 80s now in full effect.

Heaven Sent – The Rise Of New Pop 1979-1983 is a fascinating snapshot of an interesting period in the UK’s musical history. Fans of the late 70s and early 80s will find plenty to love in this expertly compiled collection.

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TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE
M – Pop Musik (Full Length Disco Mix)
The Flying Lizards – Money
The Buggles – Video Killed The Radio Star
Godley And Creme – An Englishman In New York (Single Version)
The Korgis – Young & Russian
New Musik – Living By Numbers
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Red Frame/ White Light
Toyah – Bird In Flight
Grace Jones – She’s Lost Control
Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls – Dream Sequence (One)
The Clash – Hitsville U.K.
The Passions – I’m In Love With A German Film Star
The Human League – Boys And Girls
China Crisis – African And White (Inevitable Version)
Fad Gadget – Make Room
Department S – Is Vic There?
Japan – The Art Of Parties
Altered Images – A Day’s Wait
Heaven 17 – I’m Your Money
Thomas Leer – Letter From America
The Associates – Q Quarters

DISC TWO

Eurythmics – Never Gonna Cry Again
Thomas Dolby – Urges
The Slits – Earthbeat (7” Version)
Monsoon – Ever So Lonely (Indipop version)
Hazel O’Connor – Hanging Around
Anthony More – World Service (Single Version)
A Flock Of Seagulls – Telecommunication
Simple Minds – Sweat In Bullet
Soft Cell – Bedsitter
Chas Jankel – Questionnaire
The Creatures – Mad Eyed Screamer
Tears For Fears – Suffer The Children
Haircut One Hundred – Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Liars A To E (Single Version)
The Teardrop Explodes – Tiny Children
Rip Rig And Panic – Bob Hope Takes Risks
Mari Wilson – Beat The Beat
TV21 With The Cannizarro Strings – All Join Hands
The Undertones – Beautiful Friend
Blue Rondo A La Turk – Klactoveesedstein
John Cooper Clarke – The Day My Pad Went Mad

DISC THREE

ABC – Poison Arrow
Fashion – Streetplayer-Mechanik
The Fun Boy Three – The Telephone Always Rings
Culture Club – White Boy (Extended Mix)
Scritti Politti – Faithless
Elvis Costello & The Attractions – You Little Fool
Haysi Fantayzee – John Wayne Is Big Leggy
The Apollinaires – The Feeling’s Gone
Weekend – Past Meets Present
King Trigger – River
Swamp Children – Taste What’s Rhythm
Dead Or Alive – The Stranger
Paul Young – Iron Out The Rough Spots
Wide Boy Awake – Chicken Outlaw
Comsat Angels – After The Rain (Single Remix)
The Higsons – Tear The Whole Thing Down
The Pale Fountains – Thank You
Set The Tone – Dance Sucker
The Jam – Shopping

DISC FOUR

The Cure – Lets Go To Bed
Malcolm McLaren And The World’s Famous Supreme Team – Buffalo Gals
The Stranglers – European Female
Madness – Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day)
Tracie – The House That Jack Built
Hey! Elastica – Suck A Little Honey
Paul Haig – Heaven Sent
Eyeless In Gaza – New Risen
The Style Council – Headstart For Happiness (Single Version)
JoBoxers – Johnny Friendly
The Kane Gang – Brother Brother
The Special AKA – Bright Lights
Dislocation Dance – Show Me
Friends Again – State Of Art
Ian Dury – Really Glad You Came
Colour Box – Shotgun
Furniture – Robert Nightman’s Story
Swallow Tongue – Animation
The Art Of Noise – Moments in Love