Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 85 - The Adventures - Broken Land

Broken Land by The Adventure is a song that really should have done much better when it was released on the 14th March 1988.  Despite being such an incredible song, it only managed to peak at 20 in the UK charts, back at the same time when that crap Harry Enfield song Loadsamoney (Doin' Up The House) managed to reach number 4.  Criminal!

An interesting fact according to Wikipedia is that the song was actually the most played song on BBC Radio 1.

I've always loved this song which is why I am including it in my list of favourite music. 

Enjoy.

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 84 - Depeche Mode - Everything Counts

This is a great song by Depeche Mode, released back in July 1983 from their third studio album "Construction Time Again".  

It entered the UK charts at number 41 before peaking at number 6 just four weeks later.  It's one of my favourite DM tunes after Vince Clarke left the band a few years earlier, with this song being written by Martin Gore.  

Personally, I will always prefer the more upbeat, pop/disco songs from their first album Speak and Spell, but then I'm a sucker for anything written by Vince Clarke and his electronic wizardry with analogue synthesizers.  Still, this song along with a few others (People are People, See You, and Enjoy the Silence) proved that Depeche Mode could still pump out some memorable and catchy tunes without VC.

Enjoy...

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 83 - Pet Shop Boys - I'm With Stupid

I've always liked this great track by the Pet Shop Boys.  It was released as a single from their ninth studio album, Fundamental back in 2006, and it peaked at number 8 in the UK charts.

The accompanying music video features Little Britain stars David Walliams and Matt Lucas pretending to be the Pet Shop Boys, with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe bound to their seats and forced to watch.

A great tune.

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 78 - Jean Michel Jarre - Chronologie Part 4

I've always loved Jarre's music, but I was completely oblivious to Chronologie when it came out back in 1993.  Hey, my excuse is/was that it was during a time before the internet.  I was never aware of when one of my favourite artists or groups released a new single or album, and I never really paid much attention to new releases or music in general during the 90s.  For Chronologie, I only found out about it after my friend Dan lent me his copy on tape.  

Anyway, Chronologie (which is/was his eleventh studio album) is great, and I definitely rate it as one of my favourites by Jarre, but the single that was released from it is mind-blowingly fantastic.  Chronologie Part 4 - a full-on, synth-party/pop dance track that really leaves a happy feeling inside me whenever I hear it.  If only the musicians of today had the talent to produce such catchy and infectious tunes like this.

The video that accompanies the song is your typical 90s nonsense with lots of randomness including the occasional glamour-head-turn of the maestro himself, but then with Jarre it's more about the music and his incredible live performances than anything else!

Sit back and listen to a great track, and make sure you've got the volume set high at 1:02

Oh, and thanks Dan English for introducing it to me earlier than I would have on my own.

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 77 - The Human League - Don't You Want Me

Here's another banger from the 1980s, Don't You Want Me was a chart-topping hit for The Human League back in 1981.  Released on the 27th of November of that year, it entered the charts at number eight before shooting to number one for the following five weeks, thus becoming the Official UK Christmas Number One of 1981.  It also became the biggest-selling hit of the year too, and possibly their best-known track.  Crazy considering lead singer Phil Oakey wasn't particularly pleased with it and had the song as the last track on side two of the album it came from - Dare.

It's a true electronic-synth classic and one of the early 1980s' most defining songs.  It definitely makes it on my list of favourite tracks.

Enjoy!

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 76 - Fiction Factory - (Feels Like) Heaven

(Feels Like) Heaven was a one-hit-wonder for Scottish new-wave band Fiction Factory back at the tail end of 1983.  It always surprised me that the band didn't go on to better things but their other releases were either flops or just not popular enough to get anywhere in the charts.  Such a shame because they were more than capable of producing good songs, and (Feels Like) Heaven proves it.  

It only managed to reach number 6 in the UK Top 40 on the 14th of January 1984, but I include it here in my list of favourite songs because it really is a great 1980s synth-pop track that deserved much more recognition than it received.