Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the '80s series - RANKED!

One day in the late summer of 1994, I was browsing through CDs at the Sound Warehouse location at the corner of Hwy 281 & Bitters in San Antonio (that space is currently a Mexican restaurant, El Jarro de Arturo).

I had recently attended my ten-year high school reunion and music from the early '80s was running through my head a lot. So when the teenage kids behind the counter played "867-5309/Jenny" followed by "Vacation" by the Go-Go's and Zappa's "Valley Girl," it naturally caught my ear, so I walked over and asked what they were playing. After a heavy sigh and an eyeroll, the salesgirl smacked her gum and directed me to this series, of which the first five volumes had recently been released. I bought Volume 5 and that started my love affair with this series. I eventually picked up all the discs and even though you didn't ask, here's how I rank the 15 volumes, in countdown fashion. Included with each selection is a link to my track-by-track breakdown of that volume plus what I consider to be the top three tracks on the compilation, in alphabetical order:

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Volume 14

"Close (To the Edit)" - The Art of Noise
"Tenderness" - General Public
"Voices Carry" - 'Til Tuesday

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Volume 4

"Generals and Majors" - XTC
"Tainted Love" - Soft Cell
"Up All Night" - Boomtown Rats

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Volume 15

"Head Over Heels" - The Go-Go's
"It's a Mistake" - Men at Work
"Perfect Way" - Scritti Politti

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Volume 11

"Change" - Tears for Fears
"In a Big Country" - Big Country
"True" - Spandau Ballet

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Volume 2

"I Got You" - Split Enz
"Pop Muzik" - M
"Vienna" - Ultravox

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Volume 1

"Cruel to be Kind" - Nick Lowe
"My Sharona" - The Knack
"Video Killed the Radio Star" - Buggles

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Volume 12

"Oblivious" - Aztec Camera
"Our Lips are Sealed" - Fun Boy Three
"They Don't Know" - Tracey Ullman

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Volume 6

"Never Say Never" - Romeo Void
"Talk Talk" - Talk Talk
"Who Can It Be Now" - Men at Work

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Volume 5

"Love Plus One" - Haircut 100
"Someday, Someway" - Marshall Crenshaw
"A Town Called Malice" - The Jam

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Volume 9

"Rio" - Duran Duran
"Save It for Later" - The English Beat
"Too Shy" - Kajagoogoo

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Volume 3

"Looking for Clues" - Robert Palmer
"New Toy" - Lene Lovich
"Tempted" - Squeeze

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Volume 7

"Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" - Haircut 100
"Flaming Desire" - Bill Nelson
"O Superman (For Massenet)" - Laurie Anderson

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Volume 10

"(Keep Feeling) Fascination" - Human League
"Promises, Promises" - Naked Eyes
"Whistle Down the Wind" - Nick Heyward

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Volume 13

"Dance Hall Days" - Wang Chung
"Hero Takes a Fall" - The Bangles
"Wouldn't It Be Good" - Nik Kershaw

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Volume 8

"Kiss Me" - Tintin
"She Blinded Me with Science" - Thomas Dolby
"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" - Heaven 17

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Note: the series also included three auxiliary compilations: New Wave Women, New Wave Dance Hits, and New Wave Halloween.

CD Longbox #24

The Disco Years, Vol. 1: Turn the Beat Around

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Exclusive photo courtesy of Dirk Digglinator of the Hambonian Archives.

For more information on the brief life of the CD longbox, go visit The Legend of the Longbox.

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Track listing:
Title	Artist	Year
The Hustle	Van McCoy	1975
Shame, Shame, Shame	Shirley & Company	1974
Never Can Say Goodbye	Gloria Gaynor	1974
That's the Way (I Like It)	KC & The Sunshine Band	1975
Car Wash	Rose Royce	1976
More, More, More	Andrea True Connection	1976
Disco Inferno	The Trammps	1976
(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty	KC & The Sunshine Band	1976
Love Hangover	Diana Ross	1976
Don't Leave Me This Way	Thelma Houston	1976
Turn the Beat Around	Vicki Sue Robinson	1976
Boogie Oogie Oogie	A Taste of Honey	1978
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)	Sylvester	1978
Dance With Me	Peter Brown	1978
Miss Broadway	Belle Epoque	1977
Shake Your Groove Thing	Peaches & Herb	1978

CD Longbox #8

The Disco Years, Vol. 3: Boogie Fever

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Exclusive photo courtesy of the Hambonian Archives.

CD Longbox #7

Billboard Top Dance Hits 1978

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Exclusive photo courtesy of the Hambonian Archives.

Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the '80s series

One day in the late summer of 1994, I was browsing through CDs at the Sound Warehouse location at the corner of Hwy 281 & Bitters in San Antonio. I had recently attended my ten-year high school reunion and music from the early '80s was running through my head a lot. So when the teenage kids behind the counter played "867-5309/Jenny" followed by "Vacation" by the Go-Go's and Zappa's "Valley Girl," it naturally caught my ear, so I walked over and asked what they were playing. After a heavy sigh and an eyeroll, the salesgirl smacked her gum and directed me to this series, of which the first five volumes had recently been released. I bought Volume 5 (pictured above) and that started my love affair with this series. I eventually picked up all the discs; for my thoughts on every song on every compilation in the series, check out my posts over at The CD Project. The compilation CDs are out of print these days, so if you see a copy in a used bin, be sure to pick it up. I heartily endorse the whole series.

I sure do miss this place

Anyhoo, even thought the series is first-rate, I've always questioned the title that Rhino chose:

• The 1981 Depeche Mode song "Just Can't Get Enough" is nowhere to be found on any compilation,
• Not all songs are New Wave (e.g., Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night," Murray Head singing the show tune "One Night in Bangkok," Musical Youth's "Pass the Dutchie," etc.),
• Not all songs are from the '80s (that one doesn't bother me much - New Wave music didn't suddenly start January 1, 1980. I usually think of New Wave starting in 1978. If you need a more specific date, I offer up June 6, 1978 - the release date of the Cars' self-titled debut album.)
• Not all of the songs are what I would consider "hits" and that's what I wanted to take a closer look at today.

Each of the 15 volumes contained 16 tracks for a total of 240 tracks. Of those 240, how many made the Top 40 in the US? In other words, how many of these tracks would have appeared on Casey Kasem's AT40 show? For those of you that are more inclusive, I'll also include numbers from the the US Hot 100. (Disclaimer: the author acknowledges that a song's US chart position is not directly relational to its quality.)

Volume	Years	Hot 100	Top 40
1	1978-1979	10	4
2	1979-1981	6	3
3	1980-1980	6	1
4	1980-1983	6	3
5	1981-1982	10	8
6	1980-1983	6	4
7	1981-1983	3	2
8	1982-1983	11	6
9	1982-1983	10	3
10	1982-1983	12	5
11	1981-1983	10	7
12	1982-1985	9	7
13	1983-1984	8	6
14	1983-1985	8	5
15	1983-1985	11	10
	Totals	126	74

So, of the 240 singles presented in the series, 53% appeared in the US Hot 100, and 31% cracked the Top 40. New Wave "Hits"? Draw your own conclusion. As one might guess, the UK chart numbers would be much higher - maybe we'll look at those another time.

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