80: 80's 6: Eighth Wonder

The 1980's was a great decade for artists covering songs and making them their own and was also a time when pop stars wrote or produced songs for other acts. One such classic of pop was I'm Not Scared by Eighth Wonder. It was written by the Pet Shop Boys and the song was a number 7 UK hit in 1988. It got to number 14 here in Ireland and was a hit in several other European countries. It was also a number one hit in Italy which made perfect sense as it mirrored the dance direction Italian music was heading by in the end of the decade. Patsy Kensit was the singer in the four piece band and she was a great pop star, I remember Smash Hits! loving her a lot at the time. The single cover featured her on her own as well, I think the photo above is gorgeous too. I'm Not Scared was later recorded by the Pet Shop Boys themselves. I love the song for several reasons but especially because of the opening line; 'take these dogs away from me' and also the fact that the b-side J'ai Pas Peur, was completely sung in French. From 1988, here's Eighth Wonder and the wonderful original version of I'm Not Scared.

 

80: 80's 5: Martha & The Muffins

Echo Beach by Martha & The Muffins is one of my earliest memories of being interested in pop music. Released in 1980 the song was the band's only major hit internationally. Up until today I always thought that the band were from the UK but they are Canadian where they were successful for several years. I think seeing songs performed on Top of the Pops in the early 80's made me think that almost all pop music came from Britain or America. The line 'my job is very boring, I'm an office clerk' often applied to jobs I've worked in and it's what still makes it relavant lyrically. Echo Beach has that timeless and slightly angry quality while still being of the time it was released. Toyah Wilcox did a version of Echo Beach in 1987 and Gabriella Cilmi also recorded the song as the theme for the soap opera of the same name which only lasted for a 12 week run. The original version is still the best. I know this is a song that David of David's Daily Dramas likes so this one
is for you.

80: 80s 4: Breathe

Why aren't there more ballads in the charts these days? How old do I sound when I say that! There was a time when there was always a 'slow song' or two in the top ten singles chart. Some were very lovely such as Hands to Heaven by Breathe. The song was a number 4 singles chart hit in the UK in 1988 and it did even better in the US where it got to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. The band were fronted by vocalist David Glasper who is pictured above looking very wistful indeed. Breathe did much better in the US than in the UK where they had another top 3 hit with How Can I Fail also in 1988 and Don't tell Me Lies which got to number 10 in 1989. There were 5 singles released from their debut album All That Jazz.

Here's Hands to Heaven.