EIGHTIES AOR HITS [2016]

Lifelong music fan and University of Arizona alumnus John W. Edwards started Renaissance Records in 1993 in Nashville. The re-issue label ("Preserving great music from the vaults of time") brought dozens upon dozens of out of print rock and country albums to compact disc. Eventually, the label began signing current artists in addition to putting out back-catalog product and evolved into RDEG in 2011 before going all digital soon after and starting yet another label (or division?) with Enterprise Music and Distribution.

I've only purchased a dozen or so Renaissance discs - some second-hand and some directly from the label itself - and they've all been crucial additions to my collection, including discs from Tony Carey, Planet P Project, Spider, Spys, Night, Russ Ballard and a couple of the Heard It On The Radio compilations which I previously featured HERE though I still need to feature Vols. 5-7 to complete the series.

While searching for refrigerator water filters on Amazon last fall, I somehow came across seven digital-only compilations from Enterprise that were apparently released in June and July 2016. Since then, some of those playlists, as well as a few individual tracks have found their way into semi-regular rotation here at The Hideaway so I thought I would share them with you. But first, a little more looking back.

Some of the songs on the series of Eighties AOR Hits from 2016 can be found on earlier releases from RDEG such as the Heard It On The Radio series or digital-only releases like New Wave Classics, More New Wave Classics and Canada Rocks. I bet you will find at least one song or maybe more that you haven't heard in quite some time by listening to the playlists below. Volumes 2-5 and 7 are my favorites. I like about half of the songs on the Canada disc and would have liked to see a proper UK or even an all-Australia disc but the live disc does nothing for me. 

These should also be available for streaming or download wherever you do such things. Unless you're a Tidal user.