1. Pop Musik â M

This one just manages to sum up the eighties for me. Perfect pop.

2. Living it Up â Level 42

I used to hate this band when this was released. Some pasty faced blokes trying to reinvent white soul music in the UK. That said Iâve revised my thinking considerably. Itâs great.

3. Owner of a Lonely Heart â Yes

A great rock-pop crossover at the time. The production is great. The sound is set in a distinct time and place, a place that Yes never really managed to revisit. Pity.

4. Teardrops â Womack & Womack

The girls always loved this one. Thatâs enough reason to merit its inclusion.

5. Dancehall Days â Wang Chung

This reminds me of MT USA. Iâm sorry that I didnât include the Safety Dance by Men without Hats. I always associate the two songs together for some reason. Donât know why.

6. All Night Long â Lionel Richie

The original soul-glo star of the eighties, Lionel really had it going on for a while. He had a succession of huge hits like that âHelloâ tune. In the video the chick made a hilarious bust of Lionel out of clay. It was a toss-up to include this tune or Dancing on the Ceiling but this one won out on account of it being just cheesey and great. But so is the other one you say!

7. I canât go for that â Hall & Oates

Iâm not sure how this one snuck onto the podcast but I decided to leave it in. I was never a huge fan of these chaps. The blonde one always reminded me of a mulleted mate and the little one always reminded me of one of the guys from Cannon & Ball. That doesnât quite paint a delightful picture in the mind but the tune is good in a typical eighties kind of way. We were satisfied with less in those days.

8. State of Independence â Donna Summer

This tune really owes everything to the Quincy Jones production on it. The guy was on fire back in the eighties producing stuff like this as well as the Thriller album by Michael Jackson. Itâs not really fast enough to get a dancefloor rocking but it still deserves its place in pop history.

9. Joe Le Taxi â Vanessa Paradis

Vanessa appeared on Top of the Pops singing this and I was smitten. I harboured thoughts of marrying her for several years but when youâre vying against Lenny Kravitz and Johnny Depp you realise youâve got to give the game up. I learnt all the lyrics to this and its only recently I translated them. As it turns out its brilliantly nonsensical.

10. Sledgehammer â Peter Gabriel

Although Peter Gabriel put out an unholy amount of shite back in the eighties he did manage to release this piece of genuine brilliance. It was accompanied by a groundbreaking video that was the toast of MTV for a long time. Iâve never really wondered what the lyrics are about so I must give them a proper listen one of these days. Or else someone else might want to listen and leave a quick synopsis in the comment box.

Coming up on this podcast is a quickfire round of seven inches that Iâve purchased recently. I canât remember exactly which order I put them in but Iâll do my best to guess. Theyâre all pretty recent acquisitions to the collection. Itâs a multi genre affair but it will appeal to most of you with a wide palate. Suck it and see. If you donât like the music, donât blame me, I didnât make it. If you do like the music then go and buy some more stuff by the artists that you hear.

1. The first tune on the podcast is a new release from Lykke Li on the Moshi Moshi label called Little Bit. Itâs a very simple and sparse affair with a sound all the through it that sounds like a Trinidadian steel drum. I love it.

2. Next up is the latest single from Yeasayer called Wait for the Summer. Now Iâm not one for making comparisons but it sounds a bit Crosby, Stills & Nash which is by no means a bad thing. At one point it sounds like Mick Jagger busts in on their session but soon gets back to the harmony laden vocal. The more I listen to it the more I like it. I hope itâs the same for you.

3. Olan and the All City crew have just released the first in a series of seven, seven inches. The first one is by Snowman but Iâve gotten my hands on a promo copy of the second release by Irish beat producer, Mike Slott. I know nothing about this guy but I like the sound of this. Itâs called âKnock Knockâ.

4. âWe are Rock Starsâ by Does it Offend You Yeah? sounds a bit like Hawkwind meets Daft Punk down a back alley and they have a go at each other with flick knives. I do like the vocoder bit though. I have a penchant for the vocoder that stems from my love of âVideo killed the radio starâ by Buggles.

5. Enfant Terrible by Sonny J was mentioned in a recent post and I even linked to their freaky video for the tune. It sounds like they sampled the guitar riff from âNow I wanna be your dogâ but it somehow seems to work. I can see drunk people going mad for this one. Sensory impairment makes it sound better.

6. The penultimate tune is by Born Ruffians and was released on the Warp label. Itâs good old fashioned guitar rock and its called âHummingbirdâ. For any Grizzly Bear fans out there, thereâs a cover of âKnifeâ on the b-side of the single.

7. The Guillemots appear to have got their hands on a new producer. In this instance Ruadhri Cushnan helps them out with their latest release âGet Over Itâ. Cushnan has worked on a wide variety of stuff over the years including work with Primal Scream, U2 and even George Michael. Thereâs certainly a pop feel to the production values on this one. Theyâve tried their hand at a pop epic. Listen for yourself to hear the results.

Astronaut â Yila feat. Scroobius Pip

Negative Thinking â The Death Set

Ordinary Song â The Little Ones (X-Press 2 Mix)

Animal Sounds â Grand National (Fear of Theydon Remix)

Blind â Hercules & Love Affair

Time to Pretend - MGMT

Wooden Ships â Chris Harwood â Finders Keepers - 2008

Suedehead â Morrissey â EMI â 1988

Jigsaw/Falling into Place â Radiohead â XL Recordings 2008

Three Days (Elmore Judd & Louis Slippers Remix) â Hardkandy â Catskills Records â 2005

Ready for the Floor (Radio Edit) â Hot Chip â EMI â 2008

Darling (Jape Remix) â Sons & Daughters â Domino Records â 2008

Hey Mr D.J. (CSS Remix) â Tiny Masters of Today â Mute Records â 2007

Seasick Steve â Its all good

The Editors â Smokers outside the hospital doors

Jimmy Behan â Side Parting

The Bird & the Bee - Birds and the Bees

Fujiya & Miyagi â Uh!

The Go Team â The Wrath of Marcie

Gershon Kingsley - Popcorn