Forgotten 80s: January 2021

Sunday, 31 January 2021

SHOW #399 - "I've been a fool before, wouldn't like to get my love caught in a slamming door, how about some information please?"

Paula Abdul "Straight Up"
Nick Berry "Every Loser Wins"

Ian Dury and the Blockheads "I Want To Be Straight"
Break Machine "Are You Ready"

Saxon "747 (Strangers In The Night)"
Human League "The Lebanon"

Hot Chocolate "Are You Getting Enough Of What Makes You Happy"
Tiffany "Could've Been"

CALLING AMERICA:
Madleen Kane "You Can"

Motorhead featuring Girlschool "Please Don't Touch"
Donna Summer "Dinner With Gershwin"

Spandau Ballet "Only When You Leave"
Department S "Is Vic There"

Janet Jackson "Nasty"
Nick Heyward "Blue Hat For A Blue Day"

Echo and the Bunnymen "Seven Seas"
Desireless "Voyage Voyage"

Orange Juice "Rip It Up"
Womack and Womack "Celebrate The World"

The Mission "Stay With Me"
Christians "Words"

CALLING AMERICA:
Billy Vera and the Beaters "At This Moment"

LAST ORDERS SEQUENCE:
Siouxsie and the Banshees "Christine"
Ramones "Pet Sematary"
Eurythmics "Revival"

All three songs share their titles with Stephen King novels.

Sunday, 24 January 2021

SHOW #398 - "Dry your eyes, sink or swim, you surmise you can't win..."

ABC "Tears Are Not Enough"
Lobo "Caribbean Disco Show"

Propaganda "Dr Mabuse"
Level 42 "Take Care Of Yourself"

Freddie Mercury "I Was Born To Love You"
Funk Masters "It's Over"

David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto "Bamboo Houses"
Madness "Grey Day"

CALLING AMERICA:
Manfred Mann's Earth Band "Runner"

Phil Fearon "I Can Prove It"
Iron Maiden "Aces High"

Tight Fit "Fantasy Island"
Belouis Some "Some People"

Lisa Stansfield "This Is The Right Time"
Marc Almond "Stories of Johnny"

Rockers Revenge "The Harder They Come"
Cliff Richard "A Little In Love"

Bangles "If She Knew What She Wants"
New Order "Ceremony"

Five Star "The Slightest Touch"
Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin "Separate Lives"

CALLING AMERICA:
The Time "Jungle Love"

LAST ORDERS SEQUENCE:
Happy Mondays "Hallelujah"
Madonna "Everybody"
Thompson Twins "Hold Me Now"

All three songs share their titles with songs that won Eurovision.

Sunday, 17 January 2021

SHOW #397 - "Drive, I'm yours to keep, do what you want, I'm going cheap, tonight..."

Depeche Mode "Behind The Wheel"
Bob Marley and the Wailers "Buffalo Soldier"

Adam and the Ants "Dog Eat Dog"
Dollar "Hand Held In Black And White"

Starlight "Numero Uno"
Kiss "Reason To Live"

Diana Ross "Work That Body"
OMD "Talking Loud And Clear"

CALLING AMERICA:
Rufus and Chaka Khan "Do You Love What You Feel"

Red Box "For America"
The Selecter "The Whisper"

Kool and the Gang "Jones Vs Jones"
Climie Fisher "Love Like A River"

Waterboys "Fisherman's Blues"
Boney M "We Kill The World (Don't Kill The World)"

Fleetwood Mac "Oh Diane"
Bros "I Quit"

Ultravox "The Thin Wall"
Beggar & Co "Somebody Help Me Out"

Rosie Vela "Magic Smile"
Jon & Vangelis "I Hear You Now"

CALLING AMERICA:
Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers "If We Never Meet Again"

LAST ORDERS SEQUENCE:
Kirsty MacColl "Free World"
The Fall "Hit The North"
Stranglers "Nice In Nice"

All three acts had Top 40 hits in the 1980s with cover versions of songs by the Kinks.

Sunday, 10 January 2021

SHOW #396 - "And now it's over, he's got a heart made out of stone; I learned my lesson, the day I found myself alone..."

Mai Tai "History"
Thin Lizzy "Killer On The Loose"

Sam Brown "Can I Get A Witness"
Heaven 17 "This Is Mine"

Jermaine Jackson "Let's Get Serious"
Sisters Of Mercy "This Corrosion"

Nik Kershaw "Wide Boy"
Hi-Gloss "You'll Never Know"

CALLING AMERICA:
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "You Got Lucky"

Bobby Brown "On Our Own"
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions "Cut Me Down"

A-Ha "Touchy!"
Ozzy Osbourne "So Tired"

Hazel O'Connor "Eighth Day"
Coldcut & Junior Reid "Stop This Crazy Thing"

Monsoon "Ever So Lonely"
Big Country "King Of Emotion"

Toyah "Don't Fall In Love (I Said)"
Junior "Too Late"

Morrissey "Last Of The Famous International Playboys"
Queen "Las Palabras De Amor"

CALLING AMERICA:
Alisha "Baby Talk"

LAST ORDERS SEQUENCE:
Elvis Costello "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down"
Yello and Shirley Bassey "The Rhythm Divine"
Yazoo "Situation"

All three song titles contain a word or words that can precede the word 'comedy'.

Sunday, 3 January 2021

SHOW #395 - "She gave him her look that would have worked on any other man in sight..."

Daryl Hall and John Oates "Family Man"
Viola Wills "Dare To Dream"

Bow Wow Wow "Go Wild In The Country"
Shakin' Stevens "Breaking Up My Heart"

Pete Wylie "Sinful"
Buggles "The Plastic Age"

Narada "Divine Emotions"
China Crisis "Wishful Thinking"

CALLING AMERICA:
Babys "Turn And Walk Away"

Elkie Brooks "Fool If You Think It's Over"
Matchbox "Midnite Dynamoes"

H20 "Just Outside Of Heaven"
Siouxsie and the Banshees "Dazzle"

Adventures "Broken Land"
Kate Bush "Sat In Your Lap"

Kim Wilde "Never Trust A Stranger"
Godley & Creme "Wedding Bells"

Iron Maiden "Run To The Hills"
JoBoxers "Johnny Friendly"

Odyssey "Inside Out"
Barry Manilow "I Made It Through The Rain"

CALLING AMERICA:
Exposé "Seasons Change"

LAST ORDERS SEQUENCE:
Stevie Wonder "Part Time Lover"
UB40 "Riddle Me"
Carly Simon "Coming Around Again"

All three songs contain the phrase "play the game" in the lyrics.

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