In 1981, the Dutch band Urban Heroes record and release their second album: 'The age of Urban Heroes'. The track 'Habadaba riwikidi' is released as a single and reaches number 21 in the Dutch Top 40. It remains their biggest hit.
In 1979, Gerry Rafferty had to come up with a follow-up to his very successful debut solo album 'City to city' (1978), which featured his best known hit 'Baker Street'. The result was 'Night owl', released in June 1979.
Hot Chocolate's 1976 single 'Man to man' was remarkable for its lyric: it's about a man who confronts the new lover of his wife and mother of their two children, asking him to 'love her' and 'love our children too'. It's a remarkable thing to do, especially for men at that time.
Patty Pravo was born on April 9, 1948 in Venice, Italy as Nicoletta Strambelli. She studied at the conservatory institute of Benedetto Marcello. At the age of fifteen, she left home to live in London and then Rome where she began her career singing in the Piper Club. In 1966 she made her first single, 'Ragazzo triste' ('Sad Boy'), an Italian version of the song 'But you're mine' by Sonny & Cher.
One of the synthpop bands of the early Eighties was Heaven 17, formed by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig-Marsh and Martyn Ware, after the latter two had left Human League.
The song 'Just one cornetto' started out as an adaptation of the Italian traditional 'O sole mio' in this television advert. It was slightly rewritten and recorded by the Brighton retro/busker band Pookiesnackenburger, released as a single on Stiff records in 1982.
Contrary to all the R&B and hiphop dross they make today, black artists used to actually come up with good songs every once in a while, back in the Eighties. Alexander O'Neal's 'Criticize' is a good example: a catchy tune with aggressively delivered vocals. The track was produced by Jellybean, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, which makes it sound almost like a Janet Jackson track.