THE CONTRIBUTORS

John Earls has spent an inordinate

YESTERDAY’S MEN TOMORROW’S WOMEN 1985

THE FIRST HALF OF THE DECADE HAD PLAYED OUT A TECH REVOLUTION, ALTERING THE LANDSCAPE OF POP MUSIC FOR GOOD. AS 1985 ROLLED AROUND, A CAST OF PHENOMENAL ARTISTS AND BANDS WERE POISED FOR A TAKEOVER, FROM GLOBAL NO.1 HITS TO THE SPECTACLE OF LIVE AID.

RUNNING FREE

FROM BEING DESCRIBED BY NEIL TENNANT AS “VERY WEIRD” IN SMASH HITS, TO FASHIONING THE MOST UNIQUE OF CLASSIC POP MASTERPIECES JUST A FEW YEARS LATER, KATE BUSH WAS UNLIKE ANY OTHER ARTIST AT THE TIME – AND HOUNDS OF LOVE IS, FOR MANY, HER CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT

TRACK BY TRACK

1 RUNNING UP THAT HILL (A DEAL WITH

FIVE ARTISTS INFLUENCED BY HOUNDS OF LOVE

© Getty BJÖRK Björk has exerted a similar

SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR

TEARS FOR FEARS

THE PLAYERS

ROLAND ORZABAL Tears For Fears’ principal songwriter, he

THE SONGS

1 SHOUT Shout was one of the

THE VIDEOS

MOTHERS TALK After the band were unhappy

LIVE AID

AFTER BAND AID, POP COULD NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. HOWEVER, AS ITS KEY PLAYERS EXPLAIN IN THIS ARCHIVE INTERVIEW, IT WAS ONLY BLUFF, BLUSTER AND BOB THAT COULD POSSIBLY HAVE MADE LIVE AID HAPPEN…

HOW IT HAPPENED

13 JULY 1985, WEMBLEY STADIUM 12.02pm: After The

STILL HUNTING

A-HA’S HUNTING HIGH AND LOW IS ONE OF THE FINEST SYNTH-POP ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, AND ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL DEBUTS EVER. IN 2019, CLASSIC POP SPOKE TO THE BAND’S PRINCIPLE SONGWRITER PAUL WAAKTAAR-SAVOY ABOUT THE RECORD’S NOT-SO-EASY INCEPTION AND HOW THE ARROGANCE OF YOUTH LED TO ITS RECORDING…

“WEREN’T THEY WE ALL GREAT DAYS BEFORE DISAPPEARED UP OUR OWN ARSES?”

IN THIS ARCHIVE INTERVIEW FROM 2022, CLASSIC POP CAUGHT UP WITH FORMER NEW ORDER BASSIST PETER HOOK TO REVISIT THE MAKING OF LOW-LIFE, ONE OF THE BAND’S MOST CONSISTENT – AND RANDY – RECORDS

POP ART

IN 1985, MANY OF THE MUSICAL ARTISTS THAT WE’D GROWN TO LOVE WORKED ALONGSIDE THE CREAM OF CREATIVE TALENT TO EMBRACE VARIED CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES FROM THE ART WORLD INTO THEIR ALBUM’S SLEEVE DESIGNS. HERE, WE DIVE INTO A DOZEN OF THE YEAR’S BEST.

AMAZING GRACE

GRACE JONES’ JOURNEY FROM MODEL TO MUSICAL SUPERSTAR BEGAN IN THE 70S, BUT WITH THE HELP OF TREVOR HORN’S PRODUCTION NOUS AND NOT ONE BUT TWO ALBUMS, PLUS A CLUTCH OF CLASSIC SONGS, 1985 WAS TO BE THE YEAR THAT TRANSFORMED HER INTO AN ICON

SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM TRACK-BY-TRACK

1 JONES THE RHYTHM Featuring an undoubtedly grandiose

ISLAND LIFE TRACK-BY-TRACK

1 LA VIE EN ROSE Grace Jones’ 1977

STEVE MCQUEEN PREFAB SPROUT

TWO BROTHERS WITH MICHAEL JACKSON-SIZED AMBITIONS AND A SYNTH-POP PIONEER AT THE CONTROLS – THESE WERE THE INGREDIENTS NECESSARY TO FORGE PREFAB SPROUT’S MID-80S SOPHISTI-POP CLASSIC…

THE SONGS

© Getty 1 FARON YOUNG “Antiques!” proclaims Paddy

THE VIDEOS

WHEN LOVE BREAKS DOWN Shot in London with

YOUTHQUAKE DEAD OR ALIVE

STOCK AITKEN WATERMAN MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH SAFE, KID-FRIENDLY CHART POP, BUT IN DEAD OR ALIVE’S SECOND ALBUM THEY HELPED CREATE AN EDGY POP RECORD THAT GAVE THE PRODUCERS THEIR FIRST UK NO.1

1985 TOP 40 SINGLES

AN EXPANSIVE YEAR FOR POP MUSIC, WITH ROCK, FUNK, SOUL, FOLK, PLENTY OF FAIRLIGHT AND THE USUAL SERVING OF SYNTHESIZERS ALL SOUNDTRACKING THE HIT PARADE’S EVER-CHANGING DOMAIN. THE UK CHARTS HAD NEVER LOOKED QUITE SO TECHNICOLOUR…

ONCE UPON A TIME SIMPLE MINDS

DESCRIBED BY JIM KERR HIMSELF AS THEIR MOST COMPLETE WORK, THIS IS THE STORY OF THE MAKING OF SIMPLE MINDS’ SEVENTH ALBUM, THE MULTI-MILLION-SELLER THAT LAUNCHED THEM ONTO THE WORLD STAGE…

THE SONGS

© Getty 1 ONCE UPON A TIME

THE PL AYERS

JIM KERR “I was probably turning into a

THE VIDEOS

ALIVE AND KICKING Polish director Zbigniew Rybczynski

LITTLE CREATURES TALKING HEADS

CONTAINING TWO OF THE BAND’S BEST-LOVED SINGLES, THE NEW YORKERS’ ARTFUL SIXTH LP WOULD HOLD HIGH THE SPIRIT OF POP AND BECOME THEIR BEST-SELLING ALBUM AT THE TIME, SHIFTING OVER TWO MILLION COPIES

THE SONGS

© Alamy 1 AND SHE WAS Byrne’s tale

THE VIDEOS

ROAD TO NOWHERE An array of surreal images

DO YOU WANT TO KNOWA SECRET?

WHILE FRANKIE WERE WOWING THE WORLD IN 1983 AND 1984, ANOTHER ZTT BAND WA S PRODUCING A RECORD TO RIVAL PLEASUREDOME IN THE LONG RUN.CLASSIC POP TRACES THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF PROPAGANDA’S 1985 DEBUT, A SECRET WISH, A PERFECTLY INDULGENT ALBUM T H AT, DESPITE NEARLY DESTROYING THE BAND, IS STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE TODAY…

HOWE DID THAT HAPPEN?

STEPHEN LIPSON FILLS IN THE STORY OF HOW HE GOT THAT STEVE HOWE GUITAR SOLO ON THE MURDER OF LOVE...

AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION

PRINCE’S SECOND ALBUM WITH THE REVOLUTION SAW A SHIFT FROM THE COMMERCIAL SOUND OF 1984’S PURPLE RAIN AND INTO PSYCHEDELIC CLIMES THAT SUPPORTED A PALETTE OF RICH AND VIBRANT NEW TEXTURES…

THE HEAD ON THE DOOR THE CURE

THE CONSUMMATE CURE ALBUM – THEIR SIXTH – IS AN ECLECTIC BREW THAT SECURED THEIR TRANSITION FROM POST-PUNK DOOM-MONGERS TO BONA FIDE POP STARS AND STADIUM FILLERS

THE SONGS

© Getty 1 IN BETWEEN DAYS One of

THE VIDEOS

CLOSE TO ME Directed by Tim Pope,

OUR FAVOURITE SHOP THE STYLE COUNCIL

AFTER SUCCESS WITH THEIR DEBUT LP, AND IN THE COMPANY OF SOME TALENTED GUESTS, THE STYLE COUNCIL’S SOULFUL SECOND ALBUM WAS A STEP UP, AS POLITICISED AS IT WAS JUBILANT…

VIEWS TO A THRILL

IT WAS A YEAR IN WHICH POP MUSIC MADE THE MOST OF THE DARK AS THE LIGHTS DIMMED IN MOVIE THEATRES. WITH MADONNA, SIMPLE MINDS AND DURAN DURAN AMONGST THEM, THESE ACTS WOULD TRANSFORM 1985 INTO A GOLDEN YEAR FOR THE SYNERGY OF POP SONGS AND CINEMA…

ODD ONES OUT

Further curios, oddities and misfires…

ABC -How to Be A… Zillionaire!

ABC’S COLOURFUL THIRD STUDIO EFFORT, HOW TO BE A …ZILLIONAIRE! STRUCK A CHORD WITH AMERICAN AUDIENCES BUT WAS PRETTY MUCH IGNORED IN THE EVER-CHANGING GROUP’S HOMELAND. FOUR DECADES ON FROM ITS RELEASE, JON O’BRIEN LOOKS AT WHICH SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC GOT IT RIGHT.

CUPID & PSYCHE 85 SCRITTI POLITTI

GREEN GARTSIDE TURNED HIS BACK ON POST-PUNK TO FORGE A NEW PATH FOR HIMSELF WITH THE “SWEETEST GIRL” IN 1981, AND BY THE MID-80S SCRITTI POLITTI WERE TAKING THEIR BRAND OF LITERATE POP TO NEW HEIGHTS

THE SONGS

© Getty 1 THE WORD GIRL The Lovers

THE VIDEOS

WOOD BEEZ Directed by John Scarlett-Davis, the

Q+A PERFECT IMPERFECTION

CHINA CRISIS’ THIRD ALBUM FLAUNT THE IMPERFECTION WAS ONE OF 1985’S HIGHLIGHTS, BOTH IN TERMS OF SALES AND CREATIVELY FOR THE BAND’S GARY DALY AND EDDIE LUNDON. HERE THEY TELL CLASSIC POP ABOUT THE ALBUM’S METEORIC SUCCESS, ITS STEELY DAN INPUT, AND THEIR PLANS TO MARK ITS 40TH ANNIVERSARY.

MEAT IS MURDER THE SMITHS

AFTER THEIR TROUBLED DEBUT ALBUM, THE SMITHS WERE DETERMINED TO TAKE CONTROL TO GET THEIR UNDILUTED MESSAGE OUT TO THE WORLD. MEAT IS MURDER IS WHERE THEY COALESCED INTO THEIR PUREST, ANGRIEST VISION.

Black Book Recordings

WITH DOZENS OF UNRELEASED TRACKS AND RARE GLIMPSES INTO THEIR STUDIO PROCESS, COMPREHENSIVE NEW BOXSET 1985 CELEBRATES HOW THE WATERBOYS REALISED THEIR ‘BIG MUSIC’ VISION ON THIRD ALBUM THIS IS THE SEA. CLASSIC POP MET THE BAND’S FRONTMAN AND SONGWRITER MIKE SCOTT TO FIND OUT MORE…

1985 THE BEST OF THE REST

WITH SUCH A BUMPER YEAR OF EXCEEDINGLY GOOD POP TO WRAP OUR EARS AROUND, THERE ARE INEVITABLY GOING TO BE ALBUMS THAT DON’T GET ENOUGH COLUMN INCHES. HERE’S OUR PICK OF SOME OF THE OTHER GREAT LPS OF 1985, FROM UNDERGROUND DREAM POP TO THE BIGGEST UNIT-SHIFTERS OF THE YEAR…

WE ARE THE WORLD RELEASED

7 MARCH 1985

WELCOME

@ClassicPopMag 1985 was a huge year for yours