A Few More Prime Choons From 1988 and 1989... Standing In A Buffalo Stance - Finding Voodoo Ray And A Tower Of Strength - And Not Scared At All...

 

I was going to leave 1988 and 1989 and make my way back to 1987 and 1986, but then I realised there were several top choons I couldn't leave out of my absolute 88/89 faves round-up. Sorry. Please indulge me.

First is the mighty Neneh Cherry, doing her (then) trendy Buffalo Stance in 1988. Fabulous. I wasn't too keen on the Manchild follow-up - I can't bear womansplaining - but the Stance was the biz.

It's so good it can't be left out. Under any circumstances.

In '89, Betty Boo and the Beatmasters couldn't dance to that music many middle of the road radio stations were pumping out. Don't blame them. Go, Betty! Love the revolting 1982 phone in the vid. By 1989, we had better taste (ahem).

Next the ice cool Eighth Wonder with the Pet Shop Boys-penned I'm Not Scared, again from 1988. Haunting, electronic, sinister, beautiful. As a little girl, of course, Patsy Kensit had been the 'Fresh As The Moment When The Pod Went Pop' girl. She'd come a long way.

'88 again: The Mission - Tower of Strength. 'It would tear me apart. To feel no one ever cared. For MEEEE'. 'Nuff said. Got 'em here on Top of the Pops.

Down on the dance floor for Inner City and Good Life. Left or right? Yuppie or protester? C'mon, after the long lean years, didn't most of us fancy a bit of the good life in the 1980s?

Yazz and the Plastic Population - The Only Way Is Up. An anthem from '88 I'll never forget. 

A Guy Called Gerald and the legend that is Voodoo Ray. Need I say more? Acid House at its best. Excuse me, I wanna move...

Next up are 1987 and 1986 - where we meet Boops (with his arms open wide) and discover that New York looks like an apple core... Stay chooned.

Chugging Out Some More Choons From 1988 And 1989... Felly Had Blue Lipstick - But Wasn't Singing... And We Were Pumping Up The Jam, Being Pure, Singing About History, Thrashing Around To Accieed and Getting Back To Life...

 

Felly of Technotronic - her with the blue lipstick on the original album cover. She didn't wanna place to stay, but you could get your booty on the floor tonight and make her day. However, it wasn't really Felly singing. No, Ya Kid K was the one! This was all over the charts and the dancefloors in September/October 1989. I bought the Technotronic album, which contained this and their next few hits towards the end of the year, and was bowled over.

And I still love Felly's lipstick.

And Ya Kid K, of course.

ACCEEED! Love this. The Acid House  scene of 1988 really rattled the establishment and that's never a bad thing, and this vid and song always do my head in. Especially the bit where the bloke's head judders about.

RIGHT ON ONE, MATEY!

This 1988 hit by Breathe is one of my favourite love songs. And the video's so yuppie, but with a splash of delicious working class humour at the end. Gorgeous.

Back To Life... the mighty Soul II Soul in 1989. So beautiful and classic and wonderful and innovative and downright marvellous I actually passed my ciggies around.

1989 - and I was gobsmacked by the transformation of Siobhan Fahey - from Bananarama chorus girl to purring sophisti-cat. This is stunning - Shakespear's Sister, History.

Pure, the Lightening Seeds. One of my themes to the summer of 1989. Released on 8 July, it spent ten weeks on the chart. I was, of course, romantically involved - and this is terribly evocative. Ah, those golden days in Saffron Walden!

We'll carry on our trawl of (just) some 1980s pop brilliance soon. We've started with 1989 and 1988 and next we'll take a peek at 1987 and 1986. We're heading all the way back to 1980 in time. Keep it chooned.