Jess Harvell's Now That's What I Call New Pop! [Pitchfork 2005]

In his 2006 book Rip It Up and Start Again, Simon Reynolds wrote about the British pop music scene as it crawled from the wreckage of the punk revolution. Written by a fan for fans of this golden age of pop that launched a second British Invasion of America AND led to one last resurgence of the pop single as the preferred medium of hit music, the wide-ranging scene played out weekly in the pages of the UK music tabloids and on BBC's Top of the Pops show. Referred to as post-punk (post punk? postpunk? There ought to be a manual, people) or new pop in the press, this music is generally what music fans refer to when they say they like the music of the Eighties. There was music after this new pop in the mid to late Eighties (I heard it and I bought it) but I'm fawning over this particular strain from 1979-1983 (no typo, just a tighter focus) today.

Jess Harvell wrote about this period in pop history with a September 2005 listicle for Pitchfork titled Now That's What I Call New Pop! Before he begins listing the songs below, he passes on this advice to his readers:

If my canonical but still highly subjective overview whets your appetite, you can read 500 more pages of new pop (and post-punk) history in Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up and Start Again.

Here's Jess Harvell's 40-song playlist for the imaginary Now That's What I Call New Pop! album. Notably, a few of these songs have already appeared on Now That's What I Call Music! compilations. Well, not so notably that I'm going to look it up and let you in on which ones. If you know, you know. #nowforever

rank	title	artist	year	UK
40	Give Me Back My Heart	Dollar	1982	4
39	Enola Gay	OMD	1980	8
38	Time (Clock Of The Heart)	Culture Club	1982	3
37	Promised You A Miracle	Simple Minds	1982	13
36	I Will Follow	U2	1980	*
35	Wham! Rap	Wham!	1983	8
34	Burning Car	John Foxx	1980	35
33	Just Can't Get Enough	Depeche Mode	1981	8
32	A Promise	Echo & The Bunnymen	1981	49
31	Reward	The Teardrop Explodes	1981	6

30	Fade To Grey	Visage	1980	8
29	Moments In Love	The Art Of Noise	1984	51
28	Confusion	New Order	1983	12
27	It's Kinda Funny	Josef K	1980	*
26	Relax	Frankie Goes To Hollywood	1983	1
25	Love Action (I Believe In Love)	The Human League	1981	3
24	Club Country	Associates	1982	13
23	Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)	Scritti Politti	1984	10
22	Happy Birthday	Altered Images	1981	2
21	Dr. Mabuse	Propaganda	1984	27

20	Rio	Duran Duran	1982	9
19	Buffalo Gals	Malcolm McLaren	1982	9
18	Our House	Madness	1982	5
17	Geno	Dexys Midnight Runners	1980	1
16	Poison Arrow	ABC	1982	6
15	C30 C60 C90 Go!	Bow Wow Wow	1980	34
14	(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing	Heaven 17	1981	45
13	Dog Eat Dog	Adam & the Ants	1980	4
12	Say Hello, Wave Goodbye	Soft Cell	1982	3
11	Cars	Gary Numan	1979	1

10	Blue Boy	Orange Juice	1980	*
09	Ghosts	Japan	1982	5
08	Beat Box	The Art Of Noise	1984	51
07	Blue Monday	New Order	1983	9
06	Ghost Town	The Specials	1981	1
05	Don't You Want Me	The Human League	1981	1
04	Two Tribes	Frankie Goes To Hollywood	1984	1
03	The 'Sweetest' Girl	Scritti Politti	1981	*
02	Party Fears Two	Associates	1982	9
01	All Of My Heart	ABC	1982	5