1984 Golden Earring roar back

Life - and music -seemed to have moved on a long way since Golden Earring had a share of my listening time. Yet suddenly, from nowhere they were back with a powerful album, the old themes of fast cars and treacherous women now augmented by a richer stadium sound, doubtless influenced by their US success. It was a lesson that these guys at least were not going to be just distant memories in my musical life. "Twilight Zone" was their "Radar Love" for the 80's, another perfect vehicle for one of the best rock rhythm sections in the business. The follow up album "News" in 1984 was not quite as strong as Cut, but included another timeless single "When the Lady Smiles"

1982 New Romantics

Chris and I, both seasoned rockers, could not quite believe how we fell for "Dare" the album chock full of single hits from the Human League. But fall we did, whacking it on to the turntable for months on end. Duran Duran and ABC, and later Heaven 17 also captivated us, even though the lyrics in particular often seemed laughable. 

But in fact we were not the only ones. "Dare" was one of those rare albums where every track was there on merit; indeed the track Phil Oakey himself thought the weakest, "Don't you want me baby" was the biggest hit of the lot, and was heard adapted as a football chant at The Valley in 2014. Critics have dubbed it one of the most influential rock albums of all time. This track "Seconds" rumbled out of Radio 1 on a dance DJ's morning show a while a go, and stopped me in my tracks all over again