Pure 80's Love: The #1 Hits

Love this cd! Brings back great memories. Highly recommend!

Who knew there were so many great romantic ballads in the 80s? Apparently there were more than I thought, and a good many of them found their way onto this CD. It all began when I was searching for one song...ironically "The Search Is Over" by Survivor. I found it on this CD. However, as the infomercials typically say, "But wait...there's more!" Not only did I find this tune, but I also found several others that I had been...or should have been...searching for, like "Broken Wings", "Died In Your Arms Tonight", "True", "Holding Back The Years", and "I Want To Know What Love Is" to name a few. Most of the songs on this 18-track compilation are gems...some diamonds in the rough. Oh, I could quibble that this song or that should have either been included on or left off this CD, but that's more a matter of personal taste, and according to the liner notes, most of those included topped the charts at one time or another.I can't complain about the sonic quality of this disc either...it is excellent. My only quibble there is that there is an abrupt fade-out on "Died In Your Arms Tonight". Otherwise, I can't find any fault with the quality of these recordings. If you're into 80's love ballads...or think you might be...then this is the disc for you.

I have played this disc and ‘Oh Boy’ what memories come forth!! This disc has made me look back with Sadness and Joy!! This ,to me, shows how music brings the SOUL to new heights in emotion!! WOW!! I am glad to buy such a collection of moving music in one disc!!Another THANKS to AMAZON for listing this collection of music in your inventory!!! KUDOS!!!

I wanted some music to avoid the constant holiday music on the radio. I hesitate to buy cds sometimes since I bought one that featured “original artists” and that was the name of the band. This one features the actual original artists.

Pure 80’s Love is the mellow volume of the series, though being the 80’s some of the love songs are power ballads. In fact the collection begins and ends with the bigger, uptempo numbers while having a very soft center. The Pure 80’s series is a multi-label project so the producers could pick just about any song from the decade, which is why it is such a good series. In the past, every label would have put out their own collection and included too much filler. Like the other volumes it tends mostly toward the middle of the decade.The first six songs seem to be pairs. First two power ballads, then two female singers, then two R&B balladeers. It opens with Broken Wing, a masterpiece of synth/guitar pop with an unexpectedly soaring ending. It’s not the usual love song but one which hopes to rekindle a lost love. The hit video, which featured singer Richard Page driving a Thunderbird while being shadowed by a hawk seemed less hopeful than the song’s lyrics. Cutting Crew sounded like an American rock band but were from London and was promoted by a humorous video that switched between black & white and color.That Cyndi Lauper became a big star of the 80’s and then a force on Broadway should be no surprise. Her enormous talent was well on display on her debut album, She’s So Unusual, one of the most significant albums of the decade. Time After Time was written by Lauper and Rob Hyman of the Hooters and is one of the best love songs from any decade. Tiffany was only sixteen when she first hit #1 with I Think We’re Alone Now and followed it up with the plaintive ballad, Could’ve Been which also went to #1.Lionel Richie started his supremely successful solo career away from the Commodores with Truly. Richie was especially good with ballads like Easy or Three Times a Lady and would be almost constantly on the radio throughout the 80’s. His mellow, tenor voice and sincere delivery were always unmistakeable. Billy Ocean had already had hits in Britain before he caught on in America with Carribean Queen, though he had almost made top 20 in 1976 only to disappear. He was an artist with a melodic, expressive voice. Not the usual love song, he notes the effect of a song on the girl he loves, reminding her of a love past, but hopes they will have their own songs together.The next group of songs come from artists as comfortable on the listening charts as the Hot 100.. Several come from the very beginning of the decade when the era was more pop oriented and artists like Toto, Olivia Newton-John. Bette Midler and Kenny Rogers dominated the airwaves - the 80’s before MTV. Never Gonna Let You Go was a surprise hit in 1983 for Sergio Mendes, who had first appeared with Brasil ‘66 in ‘66. He played keyboards. The song was by old Brill Building hands Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil. The singing was done by Joe Pizzulo and Leeza Miller. Pizzulo’s voice reminded me a lot of James Ingram. (Which reminds me, why isn’t Baby Come To Me on this collection? It’s surely one of the best love songs of the 80’s).Both Longer and Sailing were released in 1979 but were hits in 1980. Dan Fogelberg came out of the country rock scene and called Longer, “The song that put me on the elevators.” That’s true, but it also introduced his name to a lot of people who had never heard of him before and prepared the way for the huge success of The Innocent Age in late ‘81. The guitar and strings arrangement sound anything but 80’s but do make the song timeless. I suppose Sailing sounds like a love song and I guess that’s why it’s here. Christopher Cross himself said it was about sailing in the Gulf in the summer. But it’s a beautiful song with a perfect arrangement and it fits in with all the actual love songs because of its warmth and inspired feeling. Between them is Air Supply’s All Out of Love.Two duets follow. Up Where We Belong won an Oscar for its use in An Officer and a Gentleman, and combined the sweet voice of Jennifer Warnes with the rough sound of Joe Cocker. Paramount execs hated it and wanted it out of the film but fortunately it was too late to find a new song. The combination of Patti Labelle and Michael Macdonald was another surprise that worked. On My Own, with its video that showed each singer on a different coast, is one of the sadder songs here.Three of the final five groups are British ( Bad English and Foreigner had American members). For its final section the disc begins with the quietest love songs and then goes for a power ending. What can you say about True? It’s one of the biggest songs of the 80’s and still receives tremendous airplay. Spandau Ballet had ten Top 10 U.K. hits but remained a one-hit-wonder in America. Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall had one of the great blue-eyed soul voices and Holding Back the Years is the song that introduced him. It’s probably the saddest song on the album, dealing s it does with the abandonment of his family by his mother, with a video all about his yearning for her.I couldn’t believe it the first time I saw John Waite with big hair. He had last appeared very razor-cut in his Missing You days. But times had changed since 1984 and the late 80’s were full of glam bands. Bad English was a mix of members of his old group, The Babys, and Journey. When I See You Smile is a celebration of being in love, with Waite sounding so inspired with “I can do anything” that you can’t help but feel good yourself.Canadian group Sheriff didn’t even exist anymore when When I’m With You was a #1 hit in 1988. It had been released in 1983 to no interest. It was one of those not uncommon stories where a DJ starts playing a song he likes and there is a sudden big response from the radio audience. Two former members tried to get the band back together but the breakup had left bad feelings and the other members stayed with their current band, Frozen Ghost.The disc ends with two big 80’s standards. Foreigner was a hard rock 70’s band. But this ballad from 1983 was their biggest song ever and included the New Jersey Mass Choir, who appeared in the video. Chicago group Survivor was founded by Jim Peterik, who had been lead singer in the Ides of March (Vehicle). Their career spanned the decade after the 1980 success of Eye of the Tiger. This power ballad, sung by Jimi Jamison, is a fitting way to end Pure 80’s Love.

The songs"Sailing"and "Never Gonna Let You Go"are worth the price of the entire album itself!!I listen to"Sailing"and nearly fall asleep,just envisioning,spending an entire summer,escaping lifes' hardships'sailing peacefully,through the Great Lakes,watching the sun glistening,off the waters' surface...."Never Gonna Let You Go"is a beautifully INTENSE and heartfelt love song!!Sergio actually takes a backseat(in my eyes)to whoever that husky/sexy-voiced woman is that he's singing with/to!!! This song is so"alive"with sincere passion,that I routinely play it at LEAST 7 times each day!!Actually the ENTIRE album is WONDROUS,so,I simply expounded on my two FAVORITES!!Everybody should own this disc!!When you get it,you can basically break of the "forward"button on your disc player,while you're playing this gem,cause it's HIT after HIT from the first track to the last!!

I am very much fond of 70, 80 songs. I love to listen to those songs. Music is my heartbeat. I breadth music, I walk with music, I work with music, I cook music, and I also sing music. As a professional singer, I was not born in States, I am from Aden, S. Yemen and being indian, but since I came to this country in 70s, I started listening and those songs are in my archive memory, anytime, I hear, it reminds me of those beautiful days.

case cracked really bad