Digging Your Scene – New Pop And All That Jazz 1982-1987 is a 4CD sequel to Heaven Sent The Rise Of New Pop 1979-1983, with this compilation documenting the influence of jazz and 50s/60s music on modern pop in the UK between 1982 and 1987.
Digging Your Scene… celebrates an era when jazz inspired many pop acts, from bossa nova beats to mainstream covers of the classics; from Latin-fuelled club favourites to torch ballads and acid jazz grooves. Oh how I yearn for the days of the 12″ extended jazz versions of newly released singles, and so this compilation scratches that itch in a few instances.
Digging Your Scene.. features 80s titans such as Everything But The Girl, Robert Wyatt, Working Week, Joe Jackson, Blue Rondo A La Turk, Matt Bianco, Carmel, Fine Young Cannibals, The Blow Monkeys, The Style Council and Swing Out Sister alongside lesser known acts from this fine period.
Everything But The Girl open disc one, with their sparse cover of Cole Porters Night And Day from March of 1982. EBTG are at this point a world away from the widescreen dance orientated act that gave the world the stunning Missing in the 90s, so this is a fascinating reminder of the duo’s early work.
It’s just a rumour that was spread around town
Shipbuilding, from Soft Machine vocalist Robert Wyatt, was written by Elvis Costello and Clive Langer, and was inspired by the Falklands War. Described by Costello as a “warning sign, not a protest song”, Shipbuilding is a poignant reminder of the huge cost to individuals and communities by touched by war. War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing as Edwin Starr told us (in the 70s), with Bruce Springsteen and Frankie Goes To Hollywood also spreading this message (in the 80s).
Scritti Politti deliver the jazz tinged, still slightly post-punk flavoured Rock-A-Boy Blue, with an amazing double bass line, whilst Pick Up The Rhythm by the short-lived Scottish band The French Impressionists is one of the songs I did not hear at the time of release, and remains very much of its time.
Joe Jackson, one of the most musically adept artists rising out of the UK New Wave scene, was at this point moving away from his earlier stylings, with the perfect piano driven, late night pop of Steppin’ Out from October 1982. It still sounds delicious in 2026. Blue Rondo A La Turk were all over the early 80s music press but were on the radio less. The Method features interesting percussion and a nagging baseline, with a sound perfect for dark, smoky nightclubs. The band fractured into two separate outfits after their debut, losing “A La Turk” for one half, and the rest becoming Matt Bianco. More of them later in this compilation.
Weekend were another band who featured heavily in the music press during this golden era for pop music. Featuring singer / bassist Alison Stratton (ex Young Marble Giants) and guitarists Simon Booth and Spike, Weekend Stroll is a sax and guitar led instrumental. Former Josef K vocalist Paul Haig (who in the 90s worked with The Associates Billy Mackenzie) offers a crooning cover of The Song Is You.
The mood switches to funk with The Higsons single Run Me Down from 1983. I love the arrangement, especially the clipped guitar and percussion, and this is my favourite “hidden gem” on this collection. Furniture contribute the 1983 album track Why Are We In Love, three years before their breakthrough hit Brilliant Mind. Why Are We In Love has aged particularly well, with a lovely melancholic clarinet line, and a mature arrangement that includes some stunning piano, organ and guitar interplay. I feel the need to investigate the bands catalogue after hearing this excellent track, and surely that is one of the main reasons for putting together era based compilations such as this\/
Former Sex Pistol’s manager Malcolm McLaren is included here with Merengue from the Duck Rock album, released in 1983. As well as McLaren on vocals, the track features Trevor Horn as producer and co-writer, engineer Gary Langan, plus on keyboards / synth Anne Dudley & J.J. Jeczalik, who formed Art Of Noise shortly after working on Duck Rock.
The Latin flavoured The Republic, featuring Sarah Jane Morris, deliver My Spies, with a rich arrangement, including a rare accordion appearance in this era. As with many tracks from this time, the sax and trumpets are prominent. A live performance of Why Don’t You Do Right? from JoBoxers is followed by a live in the studio cut of Bad Day from Carmel, which gave the Manchester band a UK top 20 hit single.
Snake Charmer by Jah Wobble / U2’s The Edge & Can’s Holger Czukay is a Linn drum driven collaboration from October 1983, produced by Francois Kevorkian (known for his remixes of Yazoo & Sharon Redd and production on Thomas Dolby’s influential Dolby’s Cube).
Manchester’s Kalima contribute a cover of Sarah Vaughan’s The Smiling Hour, followed by the tongue in cheek Glamourpuss, the b-side to the third Mari Wilson single, Beat The Beat. Mari’s firth single was her big hit, Just What I Always Wanted.
Nostalgia burns in the hearts of the strongest
The second disc opens with Matt’s Mood (Extended Version) from Matt Bianco, who emerged from the split of Blue Rondo A La Turk. May 1984 saw the release of Sneaking Out The Back Door, the bands second single that featured this fine extended instrumental on the 12″ b-side. Hearing this for the first time since the 1980s sends me spinning back in time. If only I could sneak back my youth, hair and 28 inch waistline in the time machine. Nowadays I’m lucky if I can get out of my lazy bed in the morning.
The Pale Fountains are one of the greatest bands to emerge from Liverpool in the early 80s, and Southbound Excursion is a highlight from their first album Pacific Street from 1984. A fairly recent Cherry Red reissue of their Virgin recordings is still available and I heartily recommend investigating The Pale Fountains if you love music from this era.
L’Esqualita is from Soft Cell’s third studio album This Last Night in Sodom, and is a world away from the synth led dance-floor orientated twisted pop of their first album. The darkness remains, as does the lyrical storytelling that epitomises their best work.
“We could go out to dinner, but we’re always on drugs”
Each And Every One is the second track on this compilation from Everything But The Girl, with a Robin Millar production and a cutting lyric from Tracey Thorn that gives this timeless bossa nova pop song added bite. Venceremos – We Will Win (Jazz Dance Special 12” Version) is from Working Week, who arose out of the band Weekend, and features guest vocalists Tracey Thorn, Robert Wyatt and Claudia Figueroa on this politically charged song that has stood the test of time.
The Ink In The Well from David Sylvian’s Brilliant Trees (one of my favourite and most played albums of all time) and features a stellar cast joining Sylvian – Danny Thompson on double bass, guitarist Phil Palmer, Kenny Wheeler adding flugelhorn and Steve Jansen on drums. It is unusual to hear the track outside of the confines of the host album, but it fits in well as part of this collection.
(I Love You) When You Sleep, an Elvis Costello song, is a Rhodes adorned ballad and the opening track to Tracie’s excellent debut album Far From The Hurting Kind, that shows a different side to Tracie’s joyous debut single The House That Jack Built.
Thank You For Being An Angel from Friends Again is a perfect encapsulation of the sound of 1984, and is a lyrically strong new wave / pop hybrid. James Grant went on to form Love and Money and has had a successful solo career. My Father’s Coat from Grant’s 2009 album Strange Flowers is a moving tale of losing a parent and the overwhelming power of grief and letting go. Vocalist Chris Thomson formed The Bathers, who are still touring and releasing wonderful albums, including their delicious Marina Records trilogy and in 2023, their most recent studio album Sirenesque. You cannot go wrong with The Bathers.
Pleasure Ground were a short-lived trio that included ex The Associates multi-instrumentalist Alan Rankine, and Life Of Jade is a light pop song that is a world away from Club Country. Seven Days is a mid-paced song from one of my favourite Level 42 albums, 1984’s True Colours, and finds Mark King sharing vocals with bandmate Mark Lindup.
It Ain’t Necessarily So is a Bronski Beat cover of the Porgy and Bess song, and features Richard Coles on saxophone, with whom vocalist Jimmy Sommerville would later collaborate as The Communards. A Certain Ratio contribute There’s Only This from 1984. Hints of post-punk filter through this discordant jazz piece, with some excellent delayed guitar and fluid bass. The band are still active, with their 2023 album 1982 a particular favourite of mine.
County Durham’s The Kane Gang are represented by Giving Up, the b-side to their 3rd single Gun Law, a torch-song that differs from their usual smooth pop sound, and features a lovely guitar line. The Kane Gang have just released a new studio album on the Last Night From Glasgow label. Castles In The Air (a mostly instrumental version) from the sadly missed Terry Hall’s The Colourfield closes disc two, with castanets a go-go!
A little bit of politics
The third Digging Your Scene... disc is ushered in by former Subway Sect vocalist Vic Godard, with Holiday Hymn. Godard hosted Club Left, a jazz club at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go (later The Wag) in Soho rom 1981 to 1982. Holiday Hymn is a JoBoxers like pop / swing song. That Ole Devil Called Love from Alison Moyet is a lush cover of a song first recorded by Billie Holiday, and was a massive hit for Moyet in 1985, and offered us an early opportunity to hear Alison’s vocals outside of an electronic setting.
Black Man Ray by Liverpool’s China Crisis was from their Walter Becker (Steely Dan) produced Flaunt The Imperfection album from 1985. China Crisis wrote and recorded so many classic songs, and I always find myself returning to the album prior to this, Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two, my favourite album from the band.
Swedish singer-songwriter Virna Lindt was an artist that was new to me on first listening to this compilation. Whistle Wind starts off as a slow-paced Ultravox meets the yet to be conceived Twin Peaks sounding song, before the drum machine ups the tempo by about 30 BPM and a saxophone and breathy vocal driven electronic pop song emerges. Whistle Wind is a charming and totally unexpected treat.
Sting, now free from the new-wave shackles of The Police, contributes the Interview With The Vampire inspired Moon Over Bourbon Street from his debut solo album The Dream Of The Blue Turtles, featuring a haunting performance from Branford Marsalis, and a tasteful use of late night evoking strings. Former Wham! and at time of release, The Style Council member Dee C. Lee adds her self-penned top 3 hit See The Day, a beautiful and timeless ballad that still soars, 41 years after its first release.
A cover of James Brown’s It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World (The Trans Global Mix) by Brilliant, a post Killing Joke project from Youth with future KLF founder Jimmy Cauty, is rooted in the mid-80s Stock, Aitken and Waterman production sound, recorded at the beginning of the SAW Hit factory era of huge chart success. The tightly sequenced electronic production is a delight on this extended version.
The political Blue from Fine Young Cannibals is sequenced next to the equally critical of Thatcher track Breadline Britain from The Communards.
“My hometown is falling down, I’m mad about that”
Another new to me track is The Style Council influenced extended version of Window Shopping by Scarborough’s The Friday Club, a 2 Tone release that deserved to be heard by a wider audience. The Specials drummer John Bradbury’s J.B.’s Allstars were a Northern Soul inspired project, with their edgy and experimental instrumental Al. Arm from 1986 included here. The inspiration for this compilations title is included here in the form of the US mix of Digging Your Scene. The song has aged particularly well, with Dr. Roberts powerful, unique vocal and compassionate lyrics looking at the cruel devastation caused by HIV / Aids still hitting hard. The Blow Monkeys would continue to mix politics, pop and eventually house music as the 80s morphed into the 90s.
“I just got your message baby
So sad to see you fade away”
Have You Ever Had It Blue? (Uncut Version) is a Gil Evans arranged jazz pop titan that was included on the Absolute Beginners soundtrack, and remains my favourite Style Council song in this extended version. The early to mid 80s were a wonderful period for percussion on pop songs, and this is one of the finest examples. The build-up to the songs explosive ending remains an absolute joy.
“Have you ever woke to find the morning didn’t come
Undelivered with the paper stolen by someone
Found the new moon bound and gagged and the shackles ’round the sun
And the holder of the keys turns out to be the one
The girl you had your heart set on”
Debonair lullabies in melodies revealed
The 4th and final Digging Your Scene… disc opens with Swing Out Sister’s Breakout, here as an extended “A New Rockin’ Version”. The bands It’s Better To Travel was one of the first albums I bought on the new fangled CD format, with Twilight World remaining a highlight of the era. The Foolish Thing To Do from Heaven 17 featuring Jimmy Ruffin was a non-album single from 1986, and so is a bit of a rarity. The CD version on the album Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho features Glenn Gregory on lead vocals. The other guest musicians joining H17 on the A & B side of the single are some of the eras finest players, including Camelle Hinds on bass, drummer Preston Heyman and Nick Plytas on piano. This version is more BEF than H17, and is perfectly sequenced on this compilation.
Mondo Kané and their extended version of New York Afternoon is an early Stock Aitken Waterman bossa nova flavoured production, featuring guest vocalist Georgie Fame. New York Afternoon is a bright, breezy summer song. Like Nobody Do from the French musician Louis Philippe perfectly encapsulates the sound of 1986. The RAH Band had a massive hit in 1977 with the electronic The Crunch, and Take Some Thyme is a 1987 go-go beat driven more organic song from the 12″ RCA single of Across The Bay.
Eighth Wonder contribute the extended mix of Having It All, a song that appeared, in shorter form, on the Absolute Beginners soundtrack album. This version is given the opportunity to breathe fully, with a slinky bassline and a full armoury of percussion lines. The delightfully light Whisper Not by The Florentines features Scottish vocalist Louise Rutkowski, who went on to feature prominently on the hugely influential This Mortal Coil’s Filigree & Shadow and Blood albums, and then appeared on another 4AD project The Hope Blister, before recording with Craig Armstrong and releasing several solo albums.
Freeze Thaw from Basia is from the 1987 Portrait Records album Time and Tide. Polish vocalist Basia Trzetrzelewska and keyboardist Danny White left Matt Bianco after their first album and launched Basia’s successful solo career. When Smokey Sings (The Detroit Mix) from ABC is a tribute to Smokey Robinson from 1987, included here in the form of an excellent Julian Mendelsohn extended remix.
The King Of Luxembourg and Something For Sophia Loren wins then title for the jazziest song title on this compilation. The James Taylor Quartet and the instrumental Alfie (the theme to the 1966 Michel Caine film) is a Hammond organ piece that brings us into the home straight for this compilation. Stock Aitken Waterman’s Roadblock has aged surprisingly well, unlike some of their SAW late 80s productions.
Martyn Bates (former Eyeless in Gaza member) contributes an interesting, unique cover of the Bacharach and David standard The Look Of Love. Digging Your Scene – New Pop And All That Jazz 1982-1987 ends with Night Trains Open Channel D, a white label 12″ release inspired by The Man From Uncle, the much-loved 1960s TV show.
The sleeve notes for the compilation give a fascinating historical background to the era covered by Digging Your Scene – New Pop And All That Jazz 1982-1987, with details of every track featured. Pop on your old zoot suit and head back in time to the era of The Wag and The Face magazine, with this 4 CD set acting as the perfect soundtrack to an energetic and inspiring era.
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DISC ONE
Everything But The Girl – Night And Day
Robert Wyatt – Shipbuilding
Scritti Politti – Rock-A-Boy Blue
The French Impressionists – Pick Up The Rhythm
Joe Jackson – Steppin’ Out
Blue Rondo A La Turk – The Method
Weekend – Weekend Stroll
Paul Haig – The Song Is You
The Higsons – Run Me Down
Furniture – Why Are We In Love
Jah Wobble – Sunshine
Malcolm McLaren – Merengue
The Republic – My Spies
JoBoxers – Why Don’t You Do Right? (Live At The Phoenix Theatre)
Carmel – Bad Day (Live In The Studio)
Swallow Tongue – Saari
Jah Wobble / The Edge / Holger Czukay – Snake Charmer
Kalima – The Smiling Hour
Mari Wilson – Glamourpuss
DISC TWO
Matt Bianco – Matt’s Mood (Extended Version)
The Pale Fountains – Southbound Excursion
Soft Cell – L’Esqualita
Everything But The Girl – Each And Every One
Working Week – Venceremos – We Will Win (Jazz Dance Special 12” Version)
Madness – One Better Day
The Special AKA – Housebound
David Sylvian – The Ink In The Well
Tracie – (I Love You) When You Sleep
Friends Again – Thank You For Being An Angel
Pleasure Ground – Life Of Jade
Level 42 – Seven Days
Bronski Beat – It Ain’t Necessarily So
A Certain Ratio – There’s Only This
In Embrace- Chocolates For Breakfast
The Kane Gang – Giving Up
The Colourfield – Castles In The Air (Instrumental Version)
DISC THREE
Vic Godard – Holiday Hymn
Alison Moyet – That Ole Devil Called Love
China Crisis – Black Man Ray
Virna Lindt – Whistle Wind
The Sound Barrier – Mornington Crescent NW1
Sting – Moon Over Bourbon Street
Pressure Point – Mellow Moods
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Listen To This
Dislocation Dance – He’s The Man
Dee C. Lee – See The Day
Brilliant – It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World (The Trans Global Mix)
Fine Young Cannibals – Blue
The Communards – Breadline Britain
The Friday Club – Window Shopping (Extended Version)
J.B.’s Allstars – Al. Arm
The Blow Monkeys – Digging Your Scene (U.S. Mix)
Anthony Adverse – T-R-O-U-B-L-E
The Style Council – Have You Ever Had It Blue? (Uncut Version)
Makin’ Time – Walk A Thin Line
DISC FOUR
Swing Out Sister – Breakout (A New Rockin’ Version)
Heaven 17 Featuring Jimmy Ruffin – The Foolish Thing To Do (Version 1)
Mondo Kané and Guest Star Georgie Fame – New York Afternoon (Extended Version)
Louis Philippe – Like Nobody Do
Kid Montana – Spooky
Marden Hill – Curtain
RAH Band – Take Some Thyme
Eighth Wonder – Having It All (Extended Mix)
Stan Campbell – Crawfish (Extended Version)
The Florentines – Whisper Not
Basia – Freeze Thaw
ABC – When Smokey Sings (The Detroit Mix)
The King Of Luxembourg – Something For Sophia Loren
The James Taylor Quartet – Alfie
Stock Aitken Waterman – Roadblock
Martyn Bates – The Look Of Love
Biting Tongues – Compressor
Night Trains – Open Channel D
Buy Digging Your Scene – New Pop And All That Jazz 1982-1987 on CD from Amazon
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