VV.AA.
One Shot 1980

It's difficult to explain why I decided to review, from today, the series "One Shot Year-by-Year" launched at the beginning of 2005 with "One Shot 1980". Maybe it's due to a great passion for the music of the eighties, a musically fundamental decade (especially for modern pop and current dance music), a decade that witnessed (for a while?) the death of seventies rock and the metamorphosis of punk into New Romantic and New Wave, a decade that saw the demise of disco and the birth of pop, New Jack Swing, Hip-hop, and house music.

Ten years dominated by music, perhaps the last to leave a true mark on the art of sound. But that doesn't mean I should snub other musical periods, always fascinating from many perspectives. In this case, I will take and propose this collection of hits, gems, and fleeting artists united by the year of release of their creations, 1980. Let me give you a brief overview: the seventies were (musically speaking) quite over. The Disco genre that defined the second half of that decade was showing the first signs of fatigue (though it was still thriving in Europe), at New York's gigantic venue "Saint" raised the Hi-NRG genre, which made artists like Sylvester or Patrick Cowley, or even Miquel Brown famous. Electronic music was making strides thanks to the technical innovation of electronic instruments and lessons taught by Kraftwerk, and punk was a distant memory. Something had to happen sooner or later. And indeed, at the end of 1979, an electropop group called The Buggles released the hit "Video killed the radio stars", emblematic and symbolic (perhaps only equal to Billie Jean) of the new decade about to begin. The video was the first broadcast by MTV, and the single (today, 27 years later) is still popular and hummed. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg which will fully unfold in the following years. For now, I'll give you a track-by-track review, and then you can comment.

DISC ONE 1) The Buggles - Video killed the radio stars. As I mentioned before, this track made history. But The Buggles, after this single, were scarcely heard of (the leader, however, went on to help create MTV); 2) OMD - Enola gay. This is also a symbolic song of eighties electronic music. Danceable and catchy. Certainly enjoyable, with beautiful lyrics. The group was led by avante-garde guru McCluskey; 3) Blondie - Call me. A hugely successful single used on the soundtrack of the film (starring Richard Gere) "American Gigolo". Composed alongside Giorgio Moroder, a sacred monster of electronics, second only to Kraftwerk. Blondie, to those familiar with New Wave, need no introduction; 4) Pretenders - Brass in pocket. The Pretenders, too, need no introduction for those passionate about classy Rock/Pop. Definitely an OK track, from their debut album of the same name; 5) Air supply - All out of love. A somewhat easy track by a rather distinguished group. Nothing to say, nothing special; 6) Daryl Hall & John Oates - Kiss on my list. Personally, I find this song the most beautiful of the illustrious career of this AOR/White Soul duo, who got the success they deserved. From the beautiful album "Voices"; 7) Cliff Richard - We don't talk anymore. A sacred monster of the Adult Oriented Rock (AOR) genre, Cliff Richards indulges more in electronic sounds in this sophisticated pop song that is hard to forget; 8) Kate Bush - Babooshka. Sophistication: Kate Bush, in simpler words. No change in sound from the last album (Lionheart) but nonetheless, this single is a bomb. And her voice, mmmhhmm...; 9) Visage - Fade to grey. Considered among the founding fathers along with Roxy Music and David Bowie of the New Romantic genre, Visage crafted a debut self-titled album of workmanship and quality that is hard to match, and this tormented almost entirely synthetic single (forgive the pun) clearly demonstrates it. To anyone who loves avant-garde with a touch of pop, I recommend purchasing the whole album, available (although rare) on CD; 10) The Cure - A forest. Tell me if they're not geniuses. Listen to the album from which this track is taken (Seventeen Seconds) to understand that sometimes perfection does exist. The Cure are considered the fathers of the Dark-Gothic genre. "A forest" is one of the most glaring examples; 11) Devo - Girl U want. Devo was a band that moved between punk-pop, new wave, and rock. Yet this track is more tinged with funk. Somewhat anonymous...; 12) Kano - Another day. Probably some confused it with another big success of the Kano project from 1980, "I'm ready". In fact, "Another day" will be released only in 1983. Nevertheless, the track is astonishing, composed by one of the pioneers of the Italo disco scene, Stefano Pulga, who proposed a piece that was immediately (rightfully so) a hit; 13) Lio - Amoureux solitaires. The candid French girl "Lio", a 100% fleeting star, jumps into the saturated Disco music world, however proposing a rather catchy and cute little song. Nothing more; 14) Donna Summer - The wanderer. Have you ever seen the album cover? She looks like a hooker. But Donna Summer, as we know, is the undisputed queen of both Disco music and sex (it's proven by the fake orgasms in the track "Love to love you baby", 17 minutes of pure sex on LP). This time however (still with the previously mentioned producer Moroder) she leans more towards rock rhythms. It's labeled Disco music but is hard to dance to; 15) Robert Palmer - Johnny and Mary. Even old Palmer adjusts his AOR to synthetic sounds. Hybrid result, cute but quite anonymous; 16) The whispers - And the beat goes on. Ah, this is pure R&B, of undeniable value. An auxiliary of the SOLAR label from Los Angeles (like also the Shalamar, for the connoisseurs), the group of "whispers" was one of the most important of the post-disco scene. "And the beat goes on" is one of their best tracks. 17) Spargo - You and me. A Dutch ephemeral group that made several tracks, all in the easy-disco music European style. But this song is truly a gem; 18) Leon Haywood - Don't push it, don't force it. Listening to this song makes it seem like you're listening to Quincy Jones. Same style, similar voice, same groove. And that's not a bad thing. Just listen to "Off the wall" by Michael Jackson to get an idea; 19) Rodney Franklin - The groove. The title says it all. This song manages to transport a person to places they never imagined. Too bad there's so little about Franklin online because I really like this Jazz-Disco song. From what I know, he did several TV themes later on. But he plays the piano damn well; 20) Syreeta - With you I'm born again. From a Motown product, nothing less than excellence was to be expected. This song, subtle as can be, borders on perfection. Syreeta's voice is something out of this world;

DISC TWO 1) Sugarhill gang - Rapper's delight. A song marking the official start of Hip hop as mass music and at the same time one of the most astonishing cases of plagiarism from other songs (did you notice the bassline is the same as "Good Times" by "Chic"?). Anyone wanting to understand Hip hop must first listen to "Rapper's delight" and read the lyrics carefully. At least, that's what I did; 2) The Clash - The magnificent 7. I don't love punk, but I admire the Clash for their extreme versatility and boldness. When they released Sandinista! (a legendary double album), the first track was "The magnificent 7", the first-ever example of a Hip-hop experiment in a white context. Who expected rap from a punk band?; 3) The Korgis - Everybody's got to learn sometimes. Do you know what really irritates me? That an inept boor like Zucchero made a horrible cover with a stupid text of this song not too long ago, almost completely overshadowing this track, which was so beautiful that even though it wasn't danceable, it was played a lot even in disco clubs. As for me, I love it; 4) REO Speedwagon- Keep on loving you. A very relevant track of the AOR genre, which reached peaks of success in the early eighties (as groups like Journey, Styx, Squeeze, Toto, Foreigner later did). The piece is very beautiful; 5) ELO - Confusion. From the album "Discovery", the track "Confusion" carries the legacy of the catchiness of "Electric light orchestra", with an additional synthetic and more Disco music touch. Nice and fun; 6) Sheila & B. Devotion - Spacer. Perhaps one of the dance classics of the eighties most remembered (considering the cover the group "Alcazar" did in 2000, i.e., "Crying at the discoteque"). Catchy, danceable, rather well-arranged, it has everything. And how could it be otherwise, given that the authors are Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, the leaders of "Chic"; 7) Diana Ross - Upside down. The magical touch of Rodgers and Edwards also reaches Ross's already marked career, which with a compelling (and well-known) single like "Upside Down", gets relaunched to the top of the hit-parade. The rest is history; 8) Stephanie Mills - Never knew love like this before. This track sounds a bit Motown, even if it isn't. Classic romantic Disco music song, a launchpad also for John Mtume (author) who will later become an icon of the post-disco/electro hybrid; 9) The Alan Parson project - Time. Anyone who knows the Pink Floyd knows also Alan Parson, who in 1980 released a concept album about gambling, called "The turn of a friendly card". Time is a slow track with undeniable charm and lightness; 10) Gary Numan - Cars. He is Gary Numan, lord of the eighties New Wave. And "Cars", from the album "The pleasure principle" is his musical manifesto; 11) Spandau Ballet - To cut a long story short. How could the Spandau be missing? The one proposed here was their first successful single. As a song, it's not bad, but it's rather repetitive and over time becomes tiring; 12) Miguel Bosé - Olympic games. Today Papito. Yesterday eternal Peter Pan, Miguel Bosé, along with Cutugno wins at Sanremo in '80 with this fast and catchy song; 13) Jerry Knight - Overnight sensation. This is a quality funk. It's a shame that, as with Rodney Franklin, there's little about this truly talented artist around. But the piece is beautiful; 14) Yarbrough & peoples - Don't stop the music. A married couple making electronic dance music. With "Don't stop the music", it's also fairly soaked in funk. A good result, we'll see them again at the beginning of the nineties; 15) Kool & the gang - Celebration. A group that is a guarantee, Kool & the gang have made the history of black music and this single is what it says: celebration; 16) Brothers Johnson - Stomp!. Two brothers caught between the fusion-jazz scene and that of high-quality Disco music. The track in question, I would never have dated to 1980...rather 1976, in the middle of the Philly sound. But surprises please me, as does the song; 17) Lipps inc. - How long. They were the subject of my first review on DeBaser and I adore this song. To know more, click on my review on Lipps inc. It's worth it; 18) Styx - Babe. We're at the end. A very famous AOR track both for the group that made it and for the characteristic presence of the Fender Rhodes electric piano. Rather beautiful.

And now, you brave souls who managed to read this far, dish out your comments.