1981 Survey Mix

This is the ninth in my series of 1980s survey mixes, which are moving backwards in time from 1989 to the start of the decade. These compilations are designed to give more context to the music of the ‘80s, and give a sense of how various niches and trends overlapped in this cultural moment.

At this point we’re so early in the ’80s that most of the music will still have a distinct ’70s vibe to it, and the songs with strong ’80s aesthetics are totally fresh and forward-thinking in the moment. “Bette Davis Eyes” is a great example of this – it was written and originally recorded in the ’70s and you can hear that in the melody and sentiment, but the synth-heavy arrangement of the Kim Carnes version defines a very particular early ’80s vibe. I’ve never given that song a lot of thought until I realized it came much earlier in the ’80s than I had assumed, and now it strikes me a major turning point in pop music.

Thanks to Paul Cox, Chris Conroy, and Rob Sheffield for their help in compiling this survey. All of the previous mixes in this series can be found on this page. The 1980 survey – the final of this series! – should be ready around the first week of August.

DOWNLOAD DISC 1

Phil Collins “In the Air Tonight” / The Clash “The Magnificent Seven” / Blondie “Rapture” / Tom Tom Club “Genius of Love” / Rick James “Super Freak” / Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes” / Soft Cell “Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go?” / Depeche Mode “Just Can’t Get Enough” / The Go-Go’s “Our Lips Are Sealed” / Daryl Hall & John Oates “Kiss On My List” / Squeeze “Tempted” / Rod Stewart “Young Turks” / Olivia Newton-John “Physical” / Prince “Controversy” / Funky Four Plus One “That’s the Joint” / Grandmaster Flash “Adventures on the Wheels of Steel” / Disco Daddy & Captain Rapp “Gigolo Rapp” / The Waitresses “Christmas Wrapping” / ESG “Moody” / Vivien Goldman “Lauderette” / The Specials “Ghost Town”

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Queen & David Bowie “Under Pressure” / Ian Dury & The Seven Seas Players “Spasticus Autisticus” / Bill Withers & Grover Washington Jr “Just the Two of Us” / Boogie Boys with Kool Ski, Kid Delight, and Disco Dave “Rappin’ Ain’t No Thang” / Stars on 45 “Stars on 45 Medley” / Stevie Nicks and Don Henley “Leather and Lace” / The Cars “Shake It Up” / Dead Kennedys “We’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now” / The Gun Club “For the Love of Ivy” / Elvis Costello “Clubland” / Wynton Marsalis “Sister Cheryl” / Muhal Richard Abrams “Du King” / Singers & Players “Devious Woman” / Brian Eno & David Byrne “The Jezebel Spirit” / Steve Winwood “Arc of a Diver” / Genesis “Abacab” / Gang of Four “To Hell with Poverty” / The Police “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” / Kool and the Gang “Take My Heart” / Merles Haggard “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink”

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New Order “Ceremony” / Siouxsie and the Banshees “Spellbound” / The Cure “Primary” / U2 “Gloria” / Echo and the Bunnymen “A Promise” / The Pretenders “Talk of the Town” / Sheena Easton “9 to 5 (Morning Train)” / Kid Creole and the Coconuts “Table Manners” / Fela Kuti “Coffin for Head of State” / Afrika Bambaataa “Jazzy Sensation (Bronx Version)” / Diana Ross “Work That Body” / Yoko Ono “Walking On Thin Ice (Re-Edit)” / King Crimson “Elephant Talk” / DNA “Blonde Red Head” / Glenn Branca “Lesson No. 2” / Penguin Cafe Orchestra “Telephone and Rubber Band” / Lindsey Buckingham “Trouble” / Joe Walsh “A Life of Illusion”

DOWNLOAD DISC 4

R.E.M. “Radio Free Europe” / The Au Pairs “We’re So Cool” / The B-52’s “Private Idaho (Party Mix)” / Black Uhuru “Sponji Reggae” / Maximum Joy “Stretch” / Teena Marie “Square Biz” / Donald Byrd “Love Has Come Around” / Patrick Crowley “Menergy” / Pete Shelley “Homosapien” / Van Halen “Unchained” / Mötley Crüe “Live Wire” / The Blasters “Marie Marie” / Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “The Waiting” / Billy Idol “Dancing with Myself” / The Ramones “The KKK Took My Baby Away” / Minor Threat “Minor Threat” / Black Flag “Rise Above” / Mission of Burma “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver” / Stripsearch & Emily XYZ “Hey Kid” / The Minutemen “Search” / Taana Gardner “Heartbeat” / Bee Gees “Paradise” / Juice Newton “Angel of the Morning”

DOWNLOAD DISC 5

Duran Duran “Girls on Film” / Lene Lovich “New Toy” / Lizzy Mercier Descloux “Lady O K’Pele” / August Darnell “Christmas On Riverside Drive” / Miles Davis “Shout” / Esther Williams “I’ll Be Your Pleasure (Larry Levan Mix)” / Frankie Smith “Double Dutch Bus” / Marvin Gaye “Heavy Love Affair” / Luther Vandross “Never Too Much” / Lionel Richie & Diana Ross “Endless Love” / Christopher Cross “Arthur’s Theme” / Air Supply “The One That You Love” / John Lennon “Woman” / Rickie Lee Jones “We Belong Together” / Al Jarreau “We’re In This Love Together” / Joan Armatrading “No Love” / The Psychedelic Furs “Pretty In Pink” / Split Enz “History Never Repeats” / Eurythmics “Never Gonna Cry Again” / Jandek “Feathered Drums” / Emmylou Harris “Evangeline” / Rodney Crowell “Shame on the Moon” / Willie Nelson “Angel Flying Too Close To the Ground” / Bob Dylan “The Groom’s Still Waiting At The Altar” / Shakin’ Stevens “This Ole House” / Def Leppard “Bringing On The Heartbreak” / Loverboy “Working for the Weekend”

DOWNLOAD DISC 6

The Rolling Stones “Start Me Up” / Rick Springfield “Jessie’s Girl” / Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” / Quarterflash “Harden My Heart” / Smokey Robinson “Being with You” / James ‘Blood’ Umer “Where Did All the Girls Come From?” / The Commodores “Lady” / Quincy Jones “Ai No Corrida” / Meat Loaf featuring Cher “Dead Ringer for Love” / Stiff Little Fingers “Go For It” / Adam and the Ants “Stand and Deliver” / The dBs “She’s Not Worried” / Gary U.S. Bonds “This Little Girl” / X “The Once Over Twice” / Neil Young & Crazy Horse “Shots” / Wipers “Youth of America” / Romeo Void “Myself to Myself” / The Adicts “Hurt” /The Adolescents “Amoeba” / Aneka “Japanese Boy” / Altered Images “Happy Birthday” / Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark “Souvenir” / Pointer Sisters “Slow Hand”

DOWNLOAD DISC 7

Laurie Anderson “O Superman (For Massenet)” / Kraftwerk “Computer Love” / Cybotron “Alleys of Your Mind” / Earth, Wind, and Fire “Let’s Groove” / Funkadelic “The Electric Spanking of War Babies” / Grace Jones “Pull Up to the Bumper” / Kool Kyle “It’s Rockin’ Time” / Material featuring Nona Hendryx “Bustin’ Out” / Electric Light Orchestra “Hold On Tight” / Was (Not Was) “Out Come the Freaks” / Minimal Compact “Statik Dancin’” / Heaven 17 “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang” / Bruce Cockburn “Fascist Architecture” / Rosanne Cash “Seven Year Ache” / Tom Verlaine “There’s A Reason” / Patti Austin “Symphony of Love” / The Blue Nile “I Love This Life” / Comateens “Nightmare” / The Jam “Funeral Pyre” / Joe Dolce “Shaddup You Face”

DOWNLOAD DISC 8

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts “Bad Reputation” / The Replacements “Takin’ A Ride” / Agent Orange “Too Young to Die” / The Lyres “Buried Alive” / The English Beat “Doors of Your Heart” / Eddie Rabbitt “Step by Step” / Alvin Stardust “Pretend” / The Neville Brothers “Fire on the Bayou” / Coati Mundi “Me No Pop I” / Yarbough & Peoples “Don’t Stop the Music” / The Jacksons “Can You Feel It” / Spandau Ballet “Chant No. 1” / The Moody Blues “Gemini Dream” / Klaus Nomi “Total Eclipse” / Central Line “Walking Into Sunshine (Larry Levan mix)” / Dinosaur L “Go Bang!” / Billy Bang Quintet “New York After Dark” / The Manhattan Transfer “Boy From New York City” / David Byrne “What A Day That Was” / TSOL “Silent Scream” / Carl Wilson “What You Gonna Do About Me” / Deniece Williams “Silly”