Original subtitles

The 1980s - the decade that gave us homegirls, fly guys,

and new tech was in full effect.

And no pop master worth their muster would pass up the chance

to make that most '80s of artefact - the mix tape.

So, the mix tape would be about 60 to 90 minutes

of your favourite tracks.

So we've asked some '80s icons to pull together the tracks

that define for them the ultimate '80s sound.

This programme contains strong language.

# Drop that ghetto blaster... #

The records that sum up the '80s and have to be on my mix tape....

Hmm. It's the greatest record, probably pop record ever.

Hello, she is the '80s.

That is a record that brings everybody together.

What a song. You know, cannot be denied.

But which tracks will make it onto our metaphysical mix tape?

I mean, it would be such a mishmash of stuff.

Bring on the next time-travelling hour, which triumphantly sounds

like the '80s.

No better place to start than 1980,

and the synth sounds swirling around London's clubland, a scene

dubbed New Romantic, that attracted the soon-to-be-famous scenesters

Steve Strange, Boy George,

the boys that became Spandau Ballet,

and Rich Kids' band members Rusty Egan and Midge Ure.

It was a vibrant little scene, you know, for a short period of time.

Everyone was experimenting with synthesisers as a reaction

to punk, and all these people had been into punk before, and punk

had kind of gone up a cul-de-sac with, like, three chords and

everyone had to look the same and look a certain way.

And this was rebelling against that whole thing.

Synthesisers, drum machines, technology, home recording

all kind of happened in the early '80s.

The Japanese manufacturers came along and they weren't nearly

as horrifically expensive as they used

to be up until that point.

But to find an instrument that's as limited as your imagination

was a revolution. You could think, "I want to make something weird.

"I want to make something atmospheric.

"I want to make this all haunting and glossy and shimmery."

And this instrument, with your imagination, could do that.

That was unheard of.

It was stuff that you saw on Tomorrow's World, you know,

on a Thursday night, prior to Top Of The Pops. It was black magic

to us, and the ultimate tool.

# Devenir gris

# Devenir gris

# One man on a lonely platform

# One case sitting by his side... #

I adored Steve Strange, and I adored Fade To Grey.

He took the New Romantics into the mainstream.

# Ah, ah

# We fade to grey... #

Visage was born out of a desire to make music.

Rusty and I were still in the Rich Kids.

I'd bought a synthesiser to bring it into the Rich Kids, with a view

to integrating this thing into traditional rock instruments.

And half the band hated it.

So half the band who liked it, that was Rusty and I,

we said, "Well, let's put a band together with all our favourite musicians."

And that was, you know, the guys from the band Magazine

and Billy Currie from Ultravox.

And I said, "Well, we need a singer."

He said, "Well, my mate Steve, he used to be in a band.

"He'll do it."

So Steve was the last one involved, I think.

We went, "You'll do. Come on, let's go."

# Ah, ah

# We fade to grey... #

When it came out, it did not disappoint.

It just sounded like the perfect extension

of what we'd been listening to.

And it felt futuristic, it felt fresh, it felt modern, and it felt

like, yeah, things are going to change.

Rusty's Belgian girlfriend was in the studio that day,

and I said, "Oh, would you read these lyrics in French?"

# Sortant de derriere d'un poster

# Esperant que la vie ne fut aussi longue... #

They had Princess Julia appear in the video, miming

to the French vocals.

She's actually a Cockney girl, so she would never

have sounded like that.

# We fade to grey Fade to grey... #

It brought synthesiser music into the mainstream, paved the way

for Spandau Ballet, paved the way for Marc Almond, paved the way

for Duran Duran.

People were hungry for more.

Fade To Grey was an eternally brilliant song.

I think in 100 years' time, people will still love that song.

Synthpop was intellectual, engaged, future-facing, but an equally

effective way to embrace the '80s was to dance your cares away.

You see, my sound, I wasn't into sort of

the synthesised sound or anything. I was just real pop.

Even now I'm just pop, you know, disposable pop.

Nice, happy-go-lucky.

Oh, I could dance to this type of music.

Without a doubt, I'd say that Haircut 100 would be right

up there in my... Probably the first five songs that I'd have on.

See, I didn't call it a mix tape. I called it a compilation cassette.

# Where does it go from here?

# Is it down to the lake I fear?

# Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay

# Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay

# Then I call

# Ring, ring, ring, ring

# La, la, love plus one... #

So '80s. They were very sort of clean, they were fresh,

they were innocent.

But there was this, like, positive glow about them.

They were a cool little set of guys who, you know, they were very

well-coiffed.

Haircut 100 sort of suited where I came from, you know, my brand,

which was sort of middle class.

So I tended to go for sort of nothing too risque, you know,

everything was very take-home-to-mother.

They were take-home-to-mother boys.

# Where does it go from here?... #

The only poster I ever had on my bedroom wall was a Nick Heyward.

The only one ever in my youth.

# Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay... #

Nick Heyward from Haircut 100.

Is that bad?

Meanwhile, Birmingham brought a different beat to the mix.

# This generation

# Rules the nation... #

I am going to pick Musical Youth's Pass The Dutchie.

# With version... #

Pass The Dutchie is like a big cultural totem for many people.

# Music happens to be the food of love

# Sounds to really make you rub and scrub... #

I go to Birmingham to see these kids in a club

that shouldn't have been in this club,

by the way. They were about 13 or 14.

# I say

# Pass the Dutchie 'pon the left-hand side... #

I came up with the idea of recording the boys in Birmingham.

Absolutely natural.

We then brought in some serious musicians on top.

So we kept the reggae exactly. We didn't touch that.

# How does it feel when you got no food?... #

What's really funny about that song is it was originally done

by the Mighty Diamonds and it was called Pass The Kouchie,

which is a herb pipe that you smoke weed in.

But obviously you couldn't have little black kids

from Birmingham that were yay high singing about smoking weed.

So the only rhyme they could find with Kouchie was the word Dutchie.

# Pass the Dutchie 'pon the left-hand side... #

Which in Jamaica is a cooking pot.

Pun intended.

# Give me the music, make me jump and prance

# It a go dung

# Give me the music, make me rockin' at the dance... #

I directed the video for that in 1982, at a time when being black

and British was a very confusing concept, believe me.

My vision for that video is that by this time, MTV was in

part of the mix, and I imagined how the rest of the world would see

this music video.

To me, it was like a postcard from the UK, you know, to show

that this is what the UK is about, not changing of the guards

outside Buckingham Palace.

It's red, gold and green sound systems and bass.

# Pass the Dutchie 'pon the left-hand side

# Pass the Dutchie 'pon the left-hand side

# Give me the music, make me dance and prance

# Give me the music, make me rockin' at the dance

# Me say listen to the drummer... #

It came out and sold something ridiculous, and it made

the 10 o'clock news.

Well, pop records didn't make the news in them days.

The pop chart has a new number one this week.

The record Pass The Dutchie by Musical Youth has shot from number

26 to the top slot.

This thing blew up and was, like, number one around the world.

And in fact, it was the very first all black video to be shown on MTV.

Before Michael Jackson's Billie Jean.

# On the left-hand side... #

You're suddenly having lunch with Michael Jackson or Mr T

or Diana Ross.

They all just wanted to meet Musical Youth.

# Me say east, say west, say north and south

# This is gonna really make us jump and shout... #

Coming up, every mix of beats you could wish for.

And it all sounds like the '80s.

There was a poll and it asked 1,000 DJs what was the track

that they put on to rescue a night when it's all going wrong.

Let's load up another track and keep our '80s mix tape turning.

How about we kick off again at a canter?

# Stand and deliver... #

At the beginning of the '80s, I was 14 years old and I absolutely

loved Adam and the Ants. And I had all of their lyrics written

on my rough book at school.

# I'm the dandy highwayman you're too scared to mention

# I spent my cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention

# The devil take your stereo... #

My favourite Adam and the Ants song - Stand And Deliver!

# Stand and deliver

# Money or your life... # Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Oh!

# Try and use a mirror

# No bullet or a knife... #

It was always a joy to see Adam and the Ants.

The whole look of the band, of the Vivienne Westwood outfit.

The sound of it. The whole, you know, that Burundi, the double drum

of the big Burundi. Badoom!

And it was never overly serious.

# Stand and deliver

# Your money or your life... #

His kind of hero behaviour.

I mean, come on, let's face it. What Johnny Depp did later,

Adam did it first.

# Even though you fool your soul

# Your conscience will be mine... #

He was like the true pirate of the Caribbean.

It was massively successful.

He was over the top. He was theatrical.

He was camp. And I really loved him.

# We're the dandy highwaymen so tired of excuses

# Of deep-meaning philosophies where only showbiz loses... #

That's what also makes '80s music, was the videos. You know, suddenly

videos were really important.

# Stand and deliver

# Your money or your life... #

It's like a little theatrical, three-minute performance.

Some people say that Stand And Deliver was a bit pantomime,

but it just wasn't. It was a working-class message.

Stand and deliver, your money or your life.

You know, this is... This happened.

And it was kind of cute that you had this punk rocker

singing about it.

The working class robbing the upper classes.

High drama to rouse the rabble.

Let's take the tempo down again.

In the '80s, you've got the poppy escapist thing going on.

And for me, as a young black man, there was no escape.

You can't spend your life on the dance floor.

Eventually the music's going to stop and you'll have to go out

and face reality. And guess what?

There's some great tunes for that, too.

# This town Town

# Is coming like a ghost town... #

Oh, it's got to be Ghost Town.

You'd have to be living under a rock if you didn't know The Specials,

because they were huge.

# This place Town

# Is coming like a ghost town... #

I'm putting Ghost Town because that really summed

up that moment in the '80s when it just felt like the whole

of the United Kingdom was falling apart.

# La, la-la, la-la

# La-la, la-la, la-la, la-la

# La-la

# La, la, la, la, la, la

# La, la-la, la-la... #

What I loved about ska was that it had the danceability

of reggae and the energy of punk rock, and it mashed them

up, and they were the kind of natural sons. They were the bastard

children of the whole punky reggae party.

# Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town?

# We danced and sing and the music played in a de boomtown... #

You showed your serious side and your political side

by following, certainly The Specials.

They were definitely wanting to change politics.

But then by the weekend, you were completely hedonistic

and it was like, "Fuck politics, let's just dance."

# Ah, ah,

# Ah, ah... #

I didn't have to think about this,

David Bowie's Let's Dance, because it's the greatest record,

probably pop record ever.

The guitar starts and it's relentlessly brilliant.

It's dance. It just doesn't stop.

It holds the song up.

# Let's dance

# Put on your red shoes and dance the blues

# Let's dance

# To the song they're playing on the radio... #

Let's Dance was produced by master of disco Nile Rodgers of '70s

funksters Chic, who put all the latest '80s technology

into the hands of master musicians to create an era-defining classic.

# Sway through the crowd to an empty space

It was reinvented by Nile Rodgers, because Nile heard the original demo

and said, "Come on, white man. You know, let's

"make this dance."

Because, you know, Bowie presented him with something

that sounded like a folk song.

And Nile Rodgers put the groove in.

# Because my love for you

# Would break my heart in two... #

So Bowie can talk in Bowie-esque ways with strange visual lyrics.

# Tremble like a flower... #

And it will still carry as one of the best pop songs of the 1980s,

because it's holding that dance groove in the mix,

almost above the vocal.

# Let's dance... #

When you first heard Let's Dance, that...

You go, "How have they got that sound?"

# Let's Dance

# For fear tonight is all... #

You add rock, drama

and dance together. It had all the R&B elements, all the glamour

that I'd loved from David Bowie previous.

But it then went further.

# Under the moonlight This serious moonlight... #

This was a complete departure for Bowie,

switching to an '80s ideology.

It was art for art's sake, hits for funk's sake.

David Bowie suddenly realised he wasn't as wealthy as all the other

rock stars, so he addressed it.

And Let's Dance was him going into arenas

and putting some money in the bank.

# If you should fall

# Into my arms

# And tremble like a flower... #

It was one of those records that just was so good

that the minute you heard that dun-dun,

everybody ran for the dance floor.

And, you know, it's like there are very few records

that are that great.

# Let's dance

# Put on your red shoes and dance the blues... #

It was a light-bulb moment.

# Let's sway... #

It changed everything.

# This serious moonlight... #

Well, if we're doing ultimate dance tunes...

New Order - Blue Monday's seminal track,

and a great example of how technology changed

what was happening in the '80s.

Our manager was very keen to be innovative at any cost.

I was the bit of the stick in the mud here and I was going,

"Can't we just play? Can't we just play?

"We're so good at playing.

"Why are we doing this?"

Ohhh!

But I was seduced, as well.

Blue Monday in particular was a sort of blind luck

and also a lack of knowledge

about the instruments you were using,

the drum machine and the sequencers.

You were making a lot of mistakes, but ironically,

those mistakes that you made actually gave the songs

their unique feel.

# How does it feel

# To treat me like you do?

# When you've laid your hands upon me

# And told me who you are

# I thought I was mistaken... #

Bernard built himself a sequencer that came free with a kit

every month in Electronics Monthly, I believe.

And then we had the syndrums.

And then we had the synthesiser.

# Those who came before me

# Lived through their vocations

# From the past until completion

# They'll turn away no more... #

We were listening to Ennio Morricone a lot in the studio just for fun,

and I'd heard the spaghetti western

dun, diddle diddle diddle diddle diddle diddle, dun, dun, dun,

and I thought, "My God, it sounds like that'd fit."

But I used a six-string bass.

A lot of the incidental sounds on Blue Monday were recorded

with an Emulator 1.

We'd go outside, smash a piece of glass,

record it, put it in, put it on the track,

record a plane going over.

You know, treat it a little as you were able to then

with the machine,

because it wasn't really very adaptable.

So, yeah, we had fun, actually.

# But if it wasn't for your misfortune

# I'd be a heavenly person today... #

But the thing was is that we did it so that the machines would play it

at the end of the set and we'd go off and get drunk.

So that was the idea of Blue Monday,

and we kept that idea going

right the way through the recording process.

Interestingly, as the song built in the studio,

it just sounded more like it should be a song

and should be treated as such

and not a ridiculous idea that four dickheads had come up with.

# I thought I told you to leave me

# While I walk down to the beach... #

My greatest compliment with Blue Monday

was that there was a poll in Mixmag

and it asked 1,000 DJs what was the track

that they put on to rescue a night when it's all going wrong,

and the overwhelming winner was Blue Monday,

which was done by us idiots in 1982

without a bloody clue of what we were doing.

I'm very, very proud of it.

That's the end of our epic side A.

But what will be added to the inlay on the B-side?

Our '80s meta mix tape turns over

and we need a belting track to bring the swagger.

For me, the 1980s is Billy Idol

and Billy Idol turned pop music on its head.

# Last night a little dancer

# Came dancing to my door

# Last night, that little angel

# Came pumping on my floor... #

And I just would have to choose Billy Idol's Rebel Yell

as an absolute example of '80s rock.

# And if it expires

# I pray help from above

# Because

# In the midnight hour

# She cried more, more, more

# With a rebel yell

# She cried more, more, more

# Ow! #

Billy Idol reinvented himself from punk

with this exceptionally high quality LA rock style.

# More, more, more! #

It took us all by surprise.

The reinvented voice, the kind of...the deep rock voice,

the quivering lip, the fantastically sexualised videos.

He became what we all wanted to be.

We all wanted to dress like him.

We wanted to behave like him.

He was ultimate cool.

# What set you free?

# I need you here by me

# Because

# In the midnight hour

# She cried more, more, more... #

What Billy Idol did with rock

was to take it out of the dark and dingy rock clubs

and move it into the arena space.

From blistering post-punk to bouncing funk

and one of the most sampled '80s masterpieces.

# What you gonna do when you get out of jail?

# I'm gonna have some fun... #

Genius of Love by the Tom Tom Club,

I don't know how you could not dance to it.

But it was a different kind of dancing.

I think the young 'uns would call it chugging nowadays.

It's that kind of slow but irresistible...

# I'm in heaven... #

Tom Tom Club were interesting,

cos they were kind of being informed

by the whole hip-hop explosion.

# Clinton's musicians such as Bootsy Collins... #

Just the intelligence in it, fusing black dance music

and white electronic music and guitars together.

# No-one can sing

# Quite like Smokey, Smokey Robinson... #

This is white people recognising the importance of black music.

# Reggae's expanding with Sly and Robbie... #

Which we did, but we didn't say it enough.

It kind of seemed to sum up what I was into.

# Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon... #

Brilliant. Especially with my culture clash mentality.

You know, there was something, you know, in the rock, in the beats,

in the guitars and, you know, in the ambient,

in the dance music, in the reggae.

It was all there.

# James Brown, James Brown... #

That is a record that brings everybody together.

But it's also one that's not overplayed and that's important.

It flies under the radar wonderfully,

but when you air it for people, they just love it,

whether they've heard it before or not.

Better not kill the groove.

Let's stay with the dance tunes.

I was very much into underground music.

So listening to a lot of pirate stations,

soul, funk pirate stations.

You had your finger on the pulse before the tracks came out,

so, like, six months later, the tracks would come out

that you already knew.

# You gotta get up, you gotta get on

# You gotta get down, girl... #

I loved Indeep - Last Night A DJ Saved My Life,

because I'd been listening to it on pirate radio

and very rarely what you listen to on pirate radio

made it into the mainstream.

# Called you on the phone... #

And I remember that one making it into the mainstream,

being played on Radio 1,

and then eventually making its way to Top Of The Pops.

That was a huge moment.

# Last night a DJ saved my life

# Last night a DJ saved my life from a broken heart... #

Brilliant track. And of course, you've got the guitar

that goes through the whole track

and, you know, and then you've got the kind of very soft

rap that comes.

# There's not a problem that I can't fix

# Cos I can do it in the mix

# And if your man gives you trouble, just you move out on the double

# And you don't let it trouble your brain

# Cos away goes troubles down the drain... #

Also, the sentiment.

Last night a DJ saved my life.

I mean, it was just genius.

# Last night a DJ saved my life

# Last night a DJ saved my life from a broken heart... #

And it was huge for anyone that was into soul music

and was kind of listening to pirate radio

because it gave you hope that you thought,

OK, there is an opening on the mainstream for this kind of music.

That was a big wow moment, actually.

And it's still a classic today, isn't it?

# Last night a DJ saved my life... #

Oh, so classic

it was sampled for this '80s dance floor triumph.

What could I say about Chaka Khan?

# Chaka, Chaka, Chaka, Chaka Khan... #

Chaka Khan.

Chaka... Chaka...

# Chaka Khan, let me rock you... #

Oh, my gosh, Chaka Khan.

Hello. She is the '80s.

I Feel For You was written by Prince in 1979,

but it wasn't a hit until five years later

when transformed by Chaka Khan.

She's still living inspiration

for a lot of the vocalists

that I actually worked with and continue to work with.

That woman, her vocals,

she was the one who got me on the dance floor,

even when I was underage

and I went to the hippodrome when I was about, like, 14.

Sorry, Mum.

# Baby, baby, when I look at you

# I get a warm feeling inside

# There's something 'bout the things you do

# That keeps me satisfied... #

I've been in Chaka's presence on many occasions.

Yeah, she's very fierce.

# It's mainly a physical thing... #

What a force she was.

What a humongous talent.

Such an energy and such a power.

# I feel for you

# I think I love you

# I feel for you

# I think I love you... #

You know, for girls like me,

it gave me a fire in my belly.

# Let me rock you, Chaka Khan

# Let me rock you, that's all I wanna do

# Chaka Khan, let me rock you Let me rock you, Chaka Khan... #

I wasn't really connected with what was going on in my hormones

or whatever, but I was like, "Oh! I've got to dance."

I just wanted to play it over and over again.

That was the song.

# Baby, baby, when I lay with you

# There's no place I'd rather be... #

Chaka Khan, she was kind of like a graduation from the tweeness,

no offence, of Whitney, you know.

That was very Disney princess to me.

Very lovely and very danceable, too.

But Chaka Khan, she just took it up a notch to,

"Right, girls, we know who we are,

"we know what we want

"and we know how to dance on the dance floor.

"This is the '80s.

"Make your mark."

Nobody does it like Chaka.

# I feel for you... #

Totally stands alone.

# I think I love you... #

Don't stop now.

Let's get some high energy thumping through.

Pete Burns, I loved him as a human being.

He was funny.

He was acerbic.

He could be really vicious, but he was a great pop star.

# If I

# I get to know your name... #

They played me this one song that they'd written that weekend,

and I remember thinking, "Oh, my God, that's a song."

# All I know is that to me

# You look like you're lots of fun

# Open up your lovin' arms

# I want some, want some... #

It isn't my kind of music,

but this was an absolute masterpiece.

# And no-one else will do

# And I... #

I suppose it was like eating fast food.

You just wanted more.

You wanted more of him and more of that song.

He was fabulous and such the right person to do that particular song.

# Watch out, here I come

# You spin me right round, baby, right round

# Like a record, baby, right round, round, round... #

When You Spin Me Round came out,

I remember playing it at all my clubs

and it was an underground hit for what seemed like months.

I just kept playing it and everyone would run on the dance floor,

but it wouldn't get in the top 30 for some reason.

# I... #

CBS rang me and they said, "We need something to give it

"a real boost over Christmas.

"Can you do another 12-inch mix?"

And I think we were on about the fifth mix

and there's only so many mixes

you can do of diddle diddle diddle diddle diddle diddle diddle diddly.

And so we went and got a BBC library record,

and it was animal sounds,

so I thought we could sample

some real animals on this track, you see.

# You spin me right round, baby... #

And I'm reading the sleeve

and it was classic,

two dogs having intercourse.

And it was like... HE WOOFS

So I thought, "Fantastic.

"We'll sample this and we'll play it on the keyboard."

DOGS BARK

But it sounded great.

It was only at the end that we realised,

how do we tell Pete Burns

that the sound was two dogs...? BARKING

We certainly couldn't tell the record company.

# All I know is that to me

# You look like you're lots of fun... #

So Pete came and he loved it. He went nuts.

He said to me, "What's it called?" I said, "The TDF mix."

"Well, what does TDF stand for?"

"Uh... Tour De Force mix."

# You spin me right round, baby... #

Well, it went out a week before Christmas

and it just ripped through the clubs.

# You spin me right... #

Finally it got to number one and that was it.

Pete was just, like, this huge star after that.

He was always a star in his own head,

but now it was real.

# Like a record, baby, right round... #

You Spin Me Round is one of those records that is a signature tune

of the '80s, but sounds as good today as it did then.

# Right round, right round

# You spin me... #

Coming up, more must-have '80 sounds

and building to the essential big finish.

It's a bit like Blade Runner.

You couldn't tell whether it was set in the past or the future.

It was a bit both.

It's the final few tracks handpicked by our celebrated selectors

for a mix tape that undeniably sounds like the '80s.

Press play and cue the music.

Another seminal track that kicked off the '80s,

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five -

The Message.

# It's like a jungle sometimes

# It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under

# It's like a jungle sometimes

# It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under... #

The '80s was all about lots of different underground movements

suddenly becoming massive.

# Don't push me cos I'm close to the edge

# I'm trying not to lose my head

# Ha-ha-ha-ha! #

There was the whole rise of hip-hop.

I think all the non-believers

were hoping that it would just go away.

It's novelty.

In six months it would be dead.

And in a way it felt like that for a while,

but it was all these white artists suddenly picked up on it

and you had Blondie doing Rapture.

# Fab Five Freddy told me everybody's fly

# DJ spinnin', I said, "My my"

# Flash is fast, Flash is cool

# Francois c'est pas, Flash ain't no dude

# And you don't stop... #

You had Malcolm McLaren doing Buffalo Gals in 1982.

# First buffalo gal go around the outside

# Round the outside, round the outside... #

It opened up this whole culture that was going on in America

and people were suddenly got very interested in breakdancing,

rapping, hip-hop music, graffiti and DJ scratching.

And they were doing their version of rap.

And this kind of paved the way for the real deal

to come through, things like Grandmaster Flash.

# Crazy lady, livin' in a bag

# Eatin' outta garbage pails, used to be... #

What I loved about it was you'd go to New York

and everyone would know the words to it,

because people would walk around with these giant boom boxes

playing it out loud.

So even little old ladies in the street

who had no interest in hip-hop

would know all the words to it.

# Don't push me cos I'm close to the edge

# I'm trying not to lose my head

# Ha-ha-ha-ha! #

You know, the kind of decade starts with that and ends

with Public Enemy.

# 1989, the number

# Another summer Get down

# Sound of the funky drummer

# Music hitting your heart

# Cos I know you got a soul Brothers and sisters, hey... #

Fight the Power would be on my mix tape.

It was the new punk.

Public Enemy were the new punk with a social message

and an attitude.

And it came from the underground

and it was reaching people.

It was telling the news stories that weren't reported in the news.

# Listen if you're missing y'all

# Swinging while I'm singing

# Giving whatcha getting

# Knowing what I know

# While the black bands sweating

# And the rhythm rhymes rolling... #

I mean, you ain't going to get a better rally cry

than Fight The Power.

# Fight the power

# We've got to fight the powers that be... #

The messages that were coming out of hip-hop, at least to me,

said that music still had a possibility to change things

and not just reflect change.

You know, I'm very much part of that ethos that, yeah,

music can make the world a better place, you know.

I know it sounds a bit naive even to me, but hey, you know.

# Don't Worry Be Happy was a number one jam

# Damn if I say it you can slap me right here

# Get it, let's get this party started right

# Right on, c'mon

# What we got to say?

# Power to the people, no delay

# Make everybody see

# In order to fight the powers that be... #

I'm not really hearing anything that tough in the 21st century.

Not this week, anyway.

Staying with tracks that caused maximum impact,

there's this groundbreaking, ball-busting jaw-dropper.

# Mi-i-n-e

# Give it to me one time now... #

What's got to be the all-time is Frankie Goes To Hollywood,

because it went past just being number one.

It became a phenomenon.

Frankie were great.

It was a breath of fresh air.

What a song.

You know, cannot be denied.

# Relax, don't do it

# When you wanna go do it

# Relax, don't do it

# When you wanna come

# Relax, don't do it

# When you wanna suck it, chew it

# Relax, don't do it

# When you wanna come... #

It's aggressive, but it's great rhythmically.

# When you wanna come... #

Wow. You know, I mean, the production of that

along with that video was incendiary when it happened.

Producer Trevor Horn sent Relax overeasy

with high end synths,

samplers and drum machines, all at pitch perfection.

You were looking at the most sophisticated, in my opinion,

use of those machines.

The sound that Trevor Horn got we would listen to with envy.

Sampling had become really, really important.

We can do anything with sound.

DISTORTED: We can do anything with sound...with sound...

..with sound.

# But shoot it in the right direction... #

What Trevor was doing in the '80s was pushing the whole idea

of what sonically you could do.

He was breaking every rule.

# Hit me Hit me

# Hit me Hit me

# Hit me with those laser beams... #

He seemed to get a sound

that you would literally dream of, a clarity.

Now, yeah, I mean, I still don't know

and I've met him a couple of times, and I'm always like that.

"Should I ask? Dare I ask?"

# Relax... #

Frankie themselves were a force to be reckoned with.

The video was slapped with a ban,

but as a record, Relax was irresistible,

even for those spooked by its edgy lyrics.

Why did you ban it? I didn't actually ban it.

I just said I wasn't going to play it.

Everyone else had already played it.

Top of the Pops had already played it, and I just had the 12-inch

in the studio and I looked at the lyrics

and I looked at the picture on the back and I thought,

"I can't, in all fairness, be a face on children's TV and play this.

"So I just said that I wasn't going to play it.

"I said it was a great disco record,

"which I think it is a fabulous record."

Huh!

The band were fantastic.

It was like this out gay kind of like we don't give a damn.

It was amazing.

# Oh oh oh oh

# Get it up

# The scene of love

# Oh feel it, relax... #

Relax said, "We're gay.

"We don't care about your opinion.

"This is it.

"This is what it is.

"Grow up, accept it

"and mind your own sodding business."

And it worked.

# Relax

# One time, one time, one time Hey! #

It was fantastic.

It was progress.

# Come! #

Every mix tape needs a grand finale

and they don't come more epic or more '80s than this.

Ultravox would have played a major role

in my mix tape, as well.

I kind of described Ultravox as a bit like Blade Runner.

You couldn't tell whether it was set in the past or the future.

It was a bit of both,

and that's what we ended up doing with technology.

# We walked in the cold air... #

So you would make a bass sound, it would go dug,

and then you would put an echo on it

so it would go dug, dug.

And then you would do it again.

Dug-dug, dug-dug-dug-dug.

RHYTHM PLAYS

You know.

And there's a piano and there's a viola

and there's a string machine and there's very little else.

So it's really quite sparse when it comes to the instrumentation.

But it's the grandeur of the song.

# A man in the dark in a picture frame

# So mystic and soulful... #

Most songs as you're going along in a verse,

you rise up from the verse up to the chorus to give it a lift,

and Vienna does the opposite.

Down...

It goes down and then I go up with the vocal.

# The feeling has gone, only you and I

# It means nothing to me

# This means nothing to me

# Oh, Vienna

And that creates a drama

and it's not something we actually anticipated it happening.

We didn't sit down and plan that to happen.

Vienna, everyone fell in love with Vienna

and everyone fell in love with Midge Ure.

The best brokenhearted song ever.

# Haunting notes, pizzicato strings

# The rhythm is calling... #

What makes a band a band is that nothing's bang in time.

There's a looseness to it.

# Brings a cool, empty silence... #

And that's exactly what we did.

We used electronics, but it was played manually.

# The warmth of your hand and a cold grey sky

# It fades to the distance... #

But also working with very famous German record producer Conny Plank,

having him on board was a major boon,

because he thought in sound.

He spoke to you in sound.

He said, "I see an empty ballroom with an old man at a piano.

"And the man's very tired and he's played the same melody

"for 40 years."

And we went, "Oh, OK."

And then when we recorded it,

that was exactly the sound that he got on the piano.

He got this sad, mournful thing, and it was just incredible.

It's always hard to keep things really simple

and I think Ultravox were one of those bands

that were able to do that.

And within that simplicity there was a depth.

And then this runaway theme

that comes towards the end of the song.

Just so beautiful and very confident,

but also accessible at the same time.

# This means nothing to me

# This means nothing to me... #

Vienna is just a masterful song.

# Oh, Vienna. #

Time to hit stop on our boom box.

Our mix tape is complete,

from iconic tracks to hidden gems.

Which tunes made your mix tape then?

Which tracks would make it now?

The options are endless,

but every combination still sounds like the '80s.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media