djnyc’s Totally Awesome Underplayed ‘80s Songs

In a recent post introducing the Monroes’ song “What Do All the People Know,” I mentioned that due to about a decade-and-a-half of ’80s nights at dance clubs, as well as “flashback lunch” radio programs being commonplace now for about ten years, it seems harder and harder to hear a song from the ’80s that you loved to dance to but truly forgot about since.

Well, we’ve dug around on iTunes and put together a mix of 25 songs from the ’80s that we’ll bet many of you haven’t heard since you owned the song’s 12″ or cassingle (now there’s a word for those of you who remember the late ’80s!). And even if you have heard some of these since their heyday, we’ll bet that you’ll think they’re still fresh, and that you haven’t heard many of these songs on the radio during your lunch break, or even at the typical ‘80s club night.

Included here are mostly underplayed mainstream songs from the decade, with a nod to freestyle (Noel’s “Silent Morning”), hi-energy (Company B’s “Fascinated”) and R & B (Oran Juice Jones’ “The Rain,” Ready for the World’s “Oh Sheila”). Mixes of underplayed songs from other ’80s genres, like rap/hip-hop, hard rock/heavy metal, and alternative/underground pop, may be forthcoming but here we concentrated on mostly radio hits and dance club pop.

Some standout tunes on this iMix include the bright, faux-jazzy charm of “Breakout” by Swing Out Sister (the single’s cover is pictured); the sublime Motown-esque groove of “Town Called Malice” by The Jam; and, doing their best New Order imitation, Kon Kan with “I Beg Your Pardon” – a song that will surely give you that exhilarating shot of first-time nostalgia for it, as it was huge on the dance floors at the end of the ’80s, yet it has been undeservedly all but forgotten since.

Go here to listen to the mix.

One-Hit Wonders, Synthpop, Totally Awesome Underplayed '80s Songs