131
Not sure if we first heard "Runner" on a film soundtrack or on the radio; either way the song found its way to us and we remain grateful to have heard it. Don't think the unique U.S. configuration of the Somewhere In Afrika album has been released on CD. (If it has, it escaped our purview.) It's a quietly inspiring cover song with a strong vocal performance from Chris Thompson and a signature guitar solo from Yes's Trevor Rabin. Ideally, a top-notch vinyl transfer of Somewhere In Afrika with the 4:40 album version would sound amazing but both digital versions (1,2) in the HERChives run 3:45 and sound like they are from the same master (only the former comp lists the track as the 7"), and sound pretty good. I think the album version has a longer intro among other things.
180
While we prefer our Pretenders rockers packed with maximum sass and attitude, we don't mind when Chrissie & Co. lace that same sass and attitude into their slower stuff like "Show Me". The thing that she does with her voice, stretching single syllable words out to multiple syllables, like on the line Welcome to the human ray-e-ace and all the follow-up lines that end with words that rhyme with "race". Admittedly, this song's pretty melody hides lyrics that somehow grow darker with each listen, which might explain "Show Me" way down here at number 180. We were tempted to say that our favorite-sounding version of the song is found on the 2012 MFSL SACD, one of our favorite Super Audio Compact Discs, but further studied and concentrated listening for this post turned up the purple target U.S. pressing as sounding a little better to our ears on multiple listening systems.
195
Did you have a friend you split record or CD buying with to maximize each other's collections? If they bought one, they'd lend it to you or if you purchased one, you'd lend it to them and you remained in communication so as not to duplicate your purchases? I had such a friend but only as it applied to music by R.E.M. or Pink Floyd so it was kind of a selfish relationship; he'd buy them and I'd borrow them. Stephen was a much much bigger fan of the two bands and he bought everything they put out - singles, imports, box sets, all of it - so I never bothered. Then he moved away in 1990 and we realized we were severely deficient in the Pink Floyd and R.E.M. sections of our music collection. Eponymous (1988) was the first R.E.M. compact disc we picked up and it remains a solid favorite for both track selection and quality of sound. It is where our favorite-sounding recording of "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" can be found.
17
Van Halen's 1984 proved to be a gift that kept on giving as we spent countless hours listening to it throughout the second half of the Eighties. We loved "Jump" then we loved "I'll Wait" then we obsessed over "Hot for Teacher" and played "Panama" on repeat enough times to actually travel to the Central American country and back a few times. The song starts off in high gear and shifts even higher for a spell before downshifting for one of David Lee Roth's signature spoken asides before revving back up and finally stopping cold. As with "Hot For Teacher", our favorite mastering of "Panama" can be found on either of the target discs from Japan or the U.S.
67
One of the greatest-sounding headphone songs of all time is "Prepare To Energize". Actually, the track sounds great on any decent system and probably even on some not-so-decent systems. The uptempo synthpop track features several sounds that were new to us in 1984 and still sound fresh today. The parent album Wish Thing has never been officially released in the digital realm; there is a rip from the vinyl posted on YouTube. The best-sounding version of "Prepare To Energize" we have on hand is DJPaulT's 2017 archival rip of the U.S. 12" vinyl single. Ben Liebrand did turn up a couple of good masters of "Prepare To Energize" for his 2012 compilation Grand 12-Inches 9.
194
My girl heard this song and bought the 12" single that same night. Don't know whatever happened to that record but it did not come with her when we tied the knot and merged our collections in 1987. By that time, we had seen Orchestral Manœuvres In The Dark open shows for Power Station in July 1985 and Thompson Twins in January 1986. "Locomotion" is her other favorite 1984 song from O.M.D. so it will probably show up during this countdown. Our favorite-sounding master of "Tesla Girls" is from the 1988 compilation The Best Of OMD.
57
Nothing dominated 1984 like Prince, Purple Rain, and all the acts in his orbit. Sheila E. was one of the acts in Prince's orbit though the two of them had been mutual admirers before becoming fast friends when they met at one of his concerts in 1978. Though he had written and recorded "The Glamorous Life" in December 1983 for the Apollonia 6 album, he soon convinced Escovedo to record some percussion over his demo and, later, lay her vocal in place of his. He also convinced her to go by Sheila E. Loved "The Glamorous Life" from the first time we heard it and immediately picked up the 45 in May 1984. Then we scored the "The Glamorous Life" 12" single and finally the album Sheila E. In The Glamorous Life shortly after high school graduation in June 1984. These days our favorite-sounding nine-minute album version of "The Glamorous Life" can be found on the Steve Hoffman mastered compilation Cosmopolitan Volume 1 while the best-sounding 3:41 single edit is on the compilation Only Rock'n'Roll 1980-1984: 20 Pop Hits.
76
She liked Wham! before I did. They were the last of her teenage crushes aside from Rick Springfield and, well, me, I guess. She had a poster of Andrew and George on her wall before she bought the Make It Big album. We listened to the album repeatedly, and she loved every track. Two other tracks from the album will appear on the 1984 Hideaway 200 before it is all over but right now at number 76 we have the insanely catchy earworm that is "Everything She Wants". There are subtly different mixes of the song but here are our three favorite-sounding versions:
5:03 album version > Make It Big Japan
6:30 remix version > Make it Big SDE Blu-Ray audio
5:29 7" remix edit > Last Christmas soundtrack
53
The Wilder Than Wild Boys extended remix of Duran Duran's "The Wild Boys" upped the song's tribal drum intensity for this listener. We couldn't get "The Wild Boys" out of our head for a few days after our first listen and when we saw the 12" single in the record store bin, we made it ours. There are a few elements of the remix we don't care for like the monstrous growling effect that pops up throughout the track or Simon's painful yelping on the chorus. But those drums and that bass so make it up to us. Our favorite-sounding version of the extended remix, the one with the most punch and bottom end, comes courtesy of DJPaulT and his 2016 archival rip of the Japanese 12" single. The best-sounding version of the Wilder Than Wild Boys remix we've heard on Compact Disc is from the group's 1999 remix compilation Strange Behaviour.
113
Even as a big fan of John Lennon's music, we had low expectations for the 1984 posthumous release Milk and Honey so we ignored it upon its release in January 1984. But then we heard the first single "Nobody Told Me" on KLPX and we thought it was the hardest John had rocked in some time. He sounded like he was having fun singing it which made all the difference in the world. We picked up the 45 soon after we heard it while still ignoring Milk and Honey for more than twenty years. The first CD we got with "Nobody Told Me" on it was 1997's Lennon Legend (The Very Best Of John Lennon). Our favorite-sounding version of "Nobody Told Me" is the 2020 freshening known as the Ultimate Mix found on the GIMME SOME TRUTH. collection.
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We're now 10% into our unorthodox countdown of the 1984 Hideaway 200. Join us in a few days when we'll roll out another ten tracks. For those of you playing along at home, check your cards below.
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