Various Artists - Living In Oblivion: The 80's Greatest Hits, Volume 5 (1995)

The fifth of five volumes from EMI Records Group. I didn't buy any discs in this series upon release but now they're appearing in the used CD stores I frequent - I've come across three volumes within the past year. 12 of the 20 tracks are new to my CD shelves - including 3 or 4 that I would have sworn I already had - making this a worthwhile acquisition.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks, with both US and UK chart peaks and links to previous appearances on this blog:

Song	Artist	Year	US	UK	Prev.
Major Tom (Coming Home)	Peter Schilling	1984	14	42	1
Hyperactive	Thomas Dolby	1984	62	17	1, 2, 3
Promises, Promises	Naked Eyes	1983	11	-	1
The Promise	When In Rome	1988	11	58
Vienna	Ultravox	1981	-	2	1, 2, 3
Enola Gay	OMD	1980	-	8	1
King In A Catholic Style (Wake Up)	China Crisis	1985	-	8
Steady	Jules Shear	1985	57	-
Our Lips Are Sealed	Fun Boy Three	1983	-	7	1, 2
Pleasure And Pain	Divinyls	1986	76	-
Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream)	Icicle Works	1984	37	53	1
The Honeythief	Hipsway	1987	19	17
Souvenir	Rubber Rodeo	1986	-	-
I Wanna Be A Cowboy	Boys Don't Cry	1986	12	-
The Captain Of Her Heart	Double	1986	16	8
When Your Heart Is Weak	Cock Robin	1985	35	-
Love Changes (Everything)	Climie Fisher	1988	23	2
More Than Physical	Bananarama	1986	73	41
Vanity Kills	ABC	1986	91	70
We Close Our Eyes	Go West	1985	41	5	1

Here's my thoughts on those 12 first-timers:

• The Promise: While my sons are more familiar with this song's inclusion in the movie Napoleon Dynamite, I'll always associate it with the Summer of '88. It's highly danceable, catchy as hell, and I liked it from the get-go. It was almost enough to make me pick up a copy of the group's self-titled album, but I thought I'd wait until the second single hit. It didn't, I didn't, and there ya go. But I was surprised I didn't have this on another compilation somewhere.
• King In A Catholic Style (Wake Up): New to me here and you coulda knocked me over with a feather when I discovered this track was produced by Steely Dan's Walter Becker. If I'd heard the thing in '85, I would have loved it. Classic New Wave sounds: bouncy synths, choppy phrasing, peppy style that belies the lyrics, etc. Not sure if the songwriters meant 'catholic style' with a lower-case c, but that's the way I'm interpreting it.
• Steady: Co-written with Cyndi Lauper, this thing just sort of steadily plods along, punctuated with synth horns and gated snare. It's not all bad, though, I like how it builds to the brief chorus.
• Pleasure And Pain: Written by Michael Chapman and Holly Knight, and while I usually enjoy their work, this bland piece really ignores the group's more aggressive traits. They've got many other songs more fitting of the title "pleasure and pain."
• The Honeythief: Sounds like Jim Kerr of Simple Minds singing an unabashed pop cut, so of course I dig it (is it a coincidence both bands are from Glasgow?). I had completely forgotten this track over the past 30+ years, but it's got me up and dancing today. Maybe it's the chord progression, maybe the bass line, but for some reason, it is reminding me of Madonna's Express Yourself.
• Souvenir: Not terrible, but I won't remember it five minutes from now. I like the band's Western New Wave hybrid gimmick - very '80s.
• I Wanna Be A Cowboy: My mind always groups this track with Timbuk 3's The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades, another novelty-ish song from '86. Harmless fun, but doesn't bear repeated listening.
• The Captain Of Heart: This little bit of smooth sophistipop has hooks for days and, like The Promise, I dug it from the get-go. Very happy to have a copy now. Unlike The Promise, however, I did buy the full album on this one and was quickly disappointed that all the tracks weren't as good. Ah well. Just recently discovered that the group used the French pronunciation of their name (doo-BLAY), but I'm not sure I'll ever switch over to that - old dogs, new tricks and whatnot.
• When Your Heart Is Weak: Yawn.
• Love Changes (Everything): Man-oh-man this is a fantastic pop single. This description from Allmusic is better than anything I could possibly write:

  "The U.S. hit single 'Love Changes (Everything)' is saccharine enough to have been an Archies song; nevertheless, in limited doses it's as tasty as a chocolate sundae. But be forewarned: 'Love Changes (Everything)' has a chorus that adheres to the brain like glue."

  Consider it adhered to my brain for the rest of the day.
• More Than Physical: New to me here but very characteristic of Bananarama's period of collaboration with the Stock Aitken Waterman team. As such, I'm currently trying to type these words while manically dancing around the room.
• Vanity Kills: You would have thought a single that hit the Hot 100 would have been included on the Absolutely greatest hits compilation, but you'd be incorrect. It's very repetitive but catchy enough; I'd complain about the over-production, but it was '86 so it's just the sound of the time. Bonus points for the trumpet solo.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but here's to finding the remaining two volumes.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Volume 1 (1993)
Volume 4 (1994)