Belinda Carlisle – Heaven on Earth Audio Cassette (1987)

For some reason, the solo career of ex-Go-Gos singer Belinda Carlisle always made me think of Feargal Sharkey – the ex-Undertones singer whose solo work had taken off slightly earlier in the decade. They were both characters from the late ’70s alternative (punk-orientated) rock scene, with a similar rapid vibrato in their voices, who turned to the mainstream in the middle of the 1980s and stormed the UK charts in major fashion.

It Bites – The Big Lad In The Windmill Audio Cassette

When I first heard talk of the ‘eighties band It Bites in 1986, the associated phrase ‘prog rock’ prompted me to steer as great a distance clear as I could. I was one of the kids who’d fully supported all attempts by the punk and new wave movement to completely wipe ‘70s prog rock off the map of musical history. I couldn’t stand endlessly long songs, self-indulgent guitar and drum solos, or technique for the sake of technique, and since those were the features I associated with prog rock, any band billed into that category would be a band for me to avoid.

The Style Council – Home & Abroad Audio Cassette

What a fantastic album this was. The Style Council was the natural progression for Paul Weller after the split of The Jam at the end of 1982, shedding the punk rock feel, but retaining much else of what The Jam had encompassed in their final phase. The Jam’s Beat Surrender, for example, is easy to imagine as a Style Council track, just as The Style Council’s Walls Come Tumbling Down (featured on this album), is easy to imagine as a Jam track.