Friday Nite Retro

Welcome to Friday Nite Retro - The 80's Oddities Edition!

Taking their name from a fictional pop group mentioned in the novel "A Clockwork Orange" (where 'The Heaven Seventeen' are at number 4 in the charts with "Inside") , Heaven 17 formed when Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware split from their earlier group The Human League:

Heaven 17 - "Let Me Go"


Animotion formed in 1983 from the remnants of a retro science-fiction band called Red Zone:

Animotion - "Obsession"


The song "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" was released in 1985. With it's deadpan humor and kitschy references, the song has been described as the perfect musical realization of a spaghetti western movie:

Boys Don't Cry - "I Wanna Be a Cowboy"


"White Horse" was an anti-drug abuse themed track about people who were lured into the drug culture/lifestyle ("White Horse" was another word for cocaine) that was commonplace in the 1980s, with its famous lyrics, "If you want to ride...don't ride the white horse", and, "If you want to be rich, you've got to be a bitch":

Laid Back - "White Horse"


After the Fire scored with their English-language cover of Austrian musician Falco's song, "Der Kommissar", which rocketed in to the U.S. top ten in 1983:

After The Fire - "Der Kommissar"


Thomas Dolby's main fame comes from this odd song and video. But Dolby also served as the keyboard player on Def Leppard's 1983 Pyromania album (Dolby appeared on Pyromania using the alias Booker T. Boffin). He also contributed the signature synthesizer sound on the track "Urgent" on Foreigner's 1981 album 4. On the same album he played the atmospheric synth intro to the mega-hit "Waiting For A Girl Like You":

Thomas Dolby - "She Blinded Me With Science"


Taco gained international stardom in 1982 when he recorded a distinctive cover record of the old Fred Astaire favorite, "Puttin' on the Ritz" in Germany, which hit #4 on the US charts:

Taco - "Puttin' on the Ritz"


You likely know them for their song "Tainted Love", but this was another smash hit from Marc Almond and the band:

Soft Cell - "Sex Dwarf"


That's a wrap for tonight's FNR - Have an excellent weekend!