Forgotten 80s: September 2018

Sunday, 30 September 2018

SHOW #278 - "Give up the ghost that's haunting you now, shout it out, don't let it stay inside and eat you alive..."

Terence Trent D'Arby "Dance Little Sister"
Chas & Dave "Rabbit"

Erasure "Drama!"
Yarbrough & Peoples "Don't Stop The Music"

Duran Duran "Skin Trade"
Jellybean featuring Elisa Fiorillo "Who Found Who"

Police "Invisible Sun"
Eurythmics "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)"

JOURNEYS TO GLORY:
Wet Wet Wet "East Of The River"

Smiths "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side"
Queen "Who Wants to Live Forever"

Oliver Cheatham "Get Down Saturday Night"
Japan "Quiet Life"

Kinks "Come Dancing"
Chanelle "One Man"

Cyndi Lauper "I Drove All Night"
Roxy Music "Over You"

Spandau Ballet "Communication"
Beautiful South "I'll Sail This Ship Alone"

Madonna "Cherish"
UB40 "If It Happens Again"

JOURNEYS TO GLORY:
Tina Turner "You Know Who (Is Doing You Know What)"

LAST ORDERS SEQUENCE:
Visage "The Damned Don't Cry"
Living In A Box "Love Is The Art"
Talk Talk "Life's What You Make It"
All three artists had eponymous Top 40 hits.

Sunday, 23 September 2018

SHOW #277 - "Need some more to restore all the feeling that I get from you..."

Bad Manners "Special Brew"
Kylie Minogue "The Loco-Motion"

PhD "I Won't Let You Down"
Echo and the Bunnymen "Bring On The Dancing Horses"

Bananarama "Shy Boy"
Kim Wilde "Say You Really Want Me"

Def Leppard "Armageddon It"
Change "Searching"

JOURNEYS TO GLORY:
David Bowie "Scream Like A Baby"

Bryan Adams and Tina Turner "It's Only Love"
Bangles "If She Knew What She Wants"

Natalie Cole "Pink Cadillac"
Squeeze "Another Nail In My Heart"

Depeche Mode "Shake The Disease"
Linx "You're Lying"

Rick Astley "She Wants To Dance With Me"
Anita Baker "Sweet Love"

Christians "Forgotten Town"
Cock Robin "The Promise You Made"

Adam And The Ants "Young Parisians"
A-Ha "Stay On These Roads"

JOURNEYS TO GLORY:
Kate Bush "There Goes A Tenner"

LAST ORDERS SEQUENCE:
Smiley Culture "Police Officer"
REM "Radio Free Europe"
Technotronic "Pump Up The Jam"
All three songs feature No.1 acts of the 80s in the titles.

Sunday, 16 September 2018

SHOW #276 - "She's got a dime all of the time, stays out at night moving through time..."

ZZ Top "Legs"
Rod Stewart "Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me)"

Jaki Graham "Breaking Away"
Morrissey "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys"

Temptations "Treat Her Like A Lady"
Glenn Goldsmith "Dreaming"

Prefab Sprout "When Love Breaks Down"
Erasure "Ship Of Fools"

JOURNEYS TO GLORY:
Ultravox "Rage In Eden"

Whitney Houston "Love Will Save The Day"
Red Box "For America"

Bucks Fizz "London Town"
Billy Idol "Sweet Sixteen"

John Lennon "Woman"
A Flock Of Seagulls "Transfer Affection"

Michael Jackson "Dirty Diana"
Tom Petty "I Won't Back Down"

UB40 "Many Rivers To Cross"
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions "Cut Me Down"

Wah! "Story Of The Blues"
Steve Arrington "Feel So Real"

JOURNEYS TO GLORY:
Pet Shop Boys "Shopping"

LAST ORDERS SEQUENCE:
Selecter "Three Minute Hero"
Kids From Fame "Life Is A Celebration"
Haywoode "Roses"
All three song titles include a brand of assorted chocolates.

Sunday, 9 September 2018

SHOW #275 - "It's loud and tasteless and I've heard it before, you shout it while you're dancing on the whole dancefloor..."

David Bowie "Fashion"
Gary Numan "I Can't Stop"

OMD "Forever Live And Die"
David Lee Roth "Just Like Paradise"

Elvis Costello "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down"
Debbie Gibson "Lost In Your Eyes"

Nu Shooz "I Can't Wait"
U2 featuring BB King "When Love Comes To Town"

JOURNEYS TO GLORY:
Paul Simon "Graceland"

PiL "Rise"
Cliff Richard "A Little In Love"

Motley Crue "Girls Girls Girls"
Quincy Jones "Ai No Corrida"

Rolling Stones "Undercover Of The Night"
Bananarama "I Heard A Rumour"

Tears For Fears "Woman In Chains"
Tom Browne "Funkin' For Jamaica"

Pat Benatar "We Belong"
Marillion "Punch And Judy"

Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush "Don't Give Up"
Was (Not Was) "Walk The Dinosaur"

JOURNEYS TO GLORY:
Adeva "Treat Me Right"

LAST ORDERS SEQUENCE:
Miami Sound Machine "Dr Beat"
Deacon Blue "Chocolate Girl"
Ashford & Simpson "Solid"
All three acts are, or include, married couples.

Sunday, 2 September 2018

SHOW #274 - "Oh the night is my world, city lights, painted girl, in the day nothing matters, it's the night time that flatters..."

Laura Branigan "Self Control"
A-Ha "Hunting High And Low"

Electronic "Getting Away With It"
Mai Tai "Body And Soul"

Belle Stars "Sign Of The Times"
Duran Duran "All She Wants Is"

Janet Jackson "Rhythm Nation"
Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead Or Alive"

JOURNEYS TO GLORY:
The Cult "Spiritwalker" (from Dreamtime)

James Ingram and Michael McDonald "Yah Mo B There"
Boomtown Rats "Someone's Looking At You"

Billy Griffin "Hold Me Tighter In The Rain"
Style Council "Have You Ever Had It Blue"

Status Quo "In The Army Now"
China Crisis "Christian"

Abba "One Of Us"
Tina Turner "Let's Stay Together"

Thomas Dolby "Hyperactive"
Chic "My Feet Keep Dancing"

Erasure "The Circus"
Fat Larry's Band "Zoom"

JOURNEYS TO GLORY:
Mica Paris "Don't Give Me Up"

LAST ORDERS SEQUENCE:
Culture Club "Church Of The Poison Mind"
Fiction Factory "Ghost Of Love"
Animotion "Obsession"
All three songs contain the names of perfumes in the title.

Forgotten 80s

This show is the successor to Q The 80s, which was a cult programme I was privileged to host on Q Radio across the UK from September 2010 to May 2013. When the radio station was discontinued by its parent company, I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to continue the programme as Forgotten 80s by Absolute 80s, and the first edition aired on Sunday 26th May 2013. It's a two-hour show and we start at 9pm.

The show features the underplayed and the almost completely forgotten hits of the 80s, with the intention of rehabilitating the music of a decade that too many people are quick to scorn. Naturally, on a radio station that plays 80s music 24 hours a day, one is preaching somewhat to the converted, but nevertheless we do like to go that little step further. At least half of the songs on each edition of the show are requested by the audience.

The purpose of this blog is to act as a no-frills archive for the show's weekly setlists for people to visit after broadcast. No other material will appear on it. Below you will also find links to archives on Spotify of Flaunt The Imperfection, Calling America, Journeys To Glory, Didn't We Almost Have It All, When Will I Be Famous and The Nobody's Diary; the six features we have run on the show that have allowed us to play thousands of songs from outside the UK Top 40, as well as album tracks. A feature began in 2024 called Song For Whoever, focusing on cover versions of the 1980s, and there is an active archive running on Spotify.

In October 2017, we introduced the Last Orders Sequence to end the programme each week, which featured three tracks that hold some kind of connection, and were always taken from audience submissions. This ended in December 2021 and was replaced in January 2022 by The Edge Of Heaven, which features three singles that peaked on the chart outside the UK Top 40, all chosen by the audience.

Absolute 80s is available on DAB+ nationwide in stereo; on the Rayo app downloadable for free from your app store; on your smart speaker ("play Absolute 80s"); and via the Listen Live button on the official website. It has 1,700,000 listeners a week (RAJAR Q3 2024).

From Sunday 5th February 2017, we introduced a Listen Again facility for the show via a Forgotten 80s section on the free Absolute Radio app for smartphone and tablet. New editions of the show will appear on the app shortly after broadcast.

On Sunday 13th September 2015, during the 121st edition of the show, our hashtag - #forgotten80s - trended on Twitter for the first time at a ranking of 8. On Sunday 15th January 2017, during the 190th edition of the show, the hashtag was at number 1 in the trending charts across the UK for the first time. It went on to trend at number 1 for four consecutive weeks. The show trends in at least the Top 20 on Twitter every Sunday evening.

In December 2019, a special edition of the show helped commemorate Absolute 80s' tenth birthday.

On the 5th April 2020, following the imposition of Covid restrictions, the show deviated from its "one request per two songs" format to become an All Request show, and remained so even after Covid restrictions were eased.

In January 2023 the show reached its 500th edition, and the show celebrated its 10th anniversary on 28th May 2023, building up to the occasion with ten special shows that each featured music from just one different year of the 80s.

On August 1st 2023, a non-stop Forgotten 80s radio station was launched by Absolute Radio as part of its Premium portfolio, allowing subscribers to listen 24 hours a day commercial-free, and with the facility to skip songs. All information is on the Absolute 80s website (link further down this column), including terms and conditions.

I am 51 and have been on the radio since 1990. You can email me via the Absolute 80s website and follow me on Twitter.

Thanks for visiting the blog!
Matthew Rudd
#forgotten80s

Forgotten 80s on Spotify!

There are seven principal archives on Spotify which all feature music played on Forgotten 80s. Song For Whoever is a feature which we ran on Forgotten 80s from January to December 2024. Here we played cover versions, released in the 1980s, of high profile songs. Both tracks were selected by an individual listener each week. The archive for Song For Whoever is on Spotify. We endeavoured to add both featured tracks each week, subject to availability. Flaunt The Imperfection is a feature which ran on Forgotten 80s from January 2022 to December 2023. Here we played album tracks of studio or soundtrack albums of the 1980s that were not released as singles in the UK. Both tracks were selected by an individual listener each week. The archive for Flaunt The Imperfection is on Spotify. We endeavoured to add both featured tracks each week, subject to availability. Two album tracks by Freeez in succession were featured when founder and lead singer John Rocca appeared as a guest contributor. The Blogger widget will only display a maximum of 100 songs; further songs are being added to the archive on Spotify itself after this limit was reached in January 2023. Calling America was a feature which we ran on Forgotten 80s from January 2020 to December 2021. Here we played tracks which were entering or climbing the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the USA in the week of broadcast from two different years of the 1980s. We pledged to not play any track that made the Top 40 in the UK, nor any which has been on the show previously in any preceding feature below. The archive for Calling America is on Spotify. We endeavoured to add both featured tracks each week, subject to availability. The Blogger widget will only display a maximum of 100 songs; further songs were added to the archive on Spotify itself once this limit was reached in December 2020. Journeys To Glory was a feature that ran on Forgotten 80s from January 2018 to December 2019. Here we played tracks from albums of the 1980s on the anniversary of their entering the UK album chart. We considered studio and soundtrack albums only, as they contained material original at the time. We played either non-Top 40 single releases or tracks only released as part of the album. The archive for Journeys To Glory, is also on Spotify. We endeavoured to add both featured tracks each week, subject to availability. The Blogger widget will only display a maximum of 100 songs; further songs were added each week once this limit was reached in January 2019. Didn't We Almost Have It All? was a feature that ran on Forgotten 80s from May 2015 to December 2017. Here we featured songs from the charts counted down on the show prior to Forgotten 80s, the Absolute 80s Chart, which would never get higher than 41. Every song played was chosen by the audience. The archive for Didn't We Almost Have It All?, is also on Spotify. The Blogger widget will only display a maximum of 100 songs; further songs were added to the archive on Spotify itself since this limit was reached in the summer of 2017. When Will I Be Famous? was a feature that ran on Forgotten 80s from August 2014 to May 2015. Here we featured unsuccessful early releases by artists who would later go on to stardom. Every song played was chosen by the audience. The archive for When Will I Be Famous?, is also on Spotify. The Nobody's Diary was a feature of Forgotten 80s from the show's inception in May 2013 to August 2014. Here we featured artists who would never make the UK Top 40, despite attaining a lower position in the charts at least once. Every song played was chosen by the audience. The archive for The Nobody's Diary, is also on Spotify. Via these seven features, we have played on the show more than 1,500 tracks that were not Top 40 hits in the UK. We have further associate archive playlists, collating as many of the songs as possible that reached a certain chart position in the 80s, relating to birthday editions of either the show or the radio station. To explore these archived lists further, search for matthewjrudd on Spotify.

Forgotten 80s requests

Requests can be sent via the official Absolute 80s Facebook page, using the thread opened shortly before the beginning of each show; using the hashtag #forgotten80s via Bluesky and/or the social media formerly called Twitter; or via matthew.rudd@absoluteradio.co.uk. Messages via the website or Rayo app will also appear in my email inbox.
Guidelines for your requests:

- no act from the previous week can be repeated (but a solo artist from a featured group can - eg, if Ultravox were on last week, a Midge Ure solo record is eligible for the next week) - this rule is often relaxed for special editions

- a track must have had a 30-show gap before it can be played again (you can use the search function on this blog to assist you) - this rule is often relaxed for special editions

- all regular requests must be for Top 40 hits of the 80s, with a peak chart position attained between January 1st 1980 and December 31st 1989 (the link above for the Official Chart Archive can assist you with this)

To request for Song For Whoever, you must send by email four choices of cover versions recorded in the 80s, from which two will be selected, and to request for The Edge Of Heaven, you must send by email four choices of singles of the 80s that peaked on the chart outside the Top 40, from which three will be selected (the link above for the Official Chart Archive can assist you with this). Only emailed submissions will be considered