Moonlight Shadow
Mike Oldfield
Ethereal Celtic synth, possibly about Lennon · 3:38
Celtic synth-pop, 1983, Maggie Reilly, ethereal
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Bonnie Tyler
Steinman’s Wagnerian seven-minute aria · 6:58
maximalist rock ballad, 1983, gated drums, Steinman
Gloria
Laura Branigan
Umberto Tozzi’s Italian original, Americanized · 4:55
Italo-to-US, 1982, driving, Tozzi
Self Control
Raf
The Italian original, charted against Branigan’s cover · 3:58
Italo, 1984, the original, sun-and-shadow
4:00 A.M.
Taeko Onuki
Sugar Babe alumna, Sakamoto-arranged city pop · 5:37
city pop, 1978, Sakamoto, nocturnal
Heaven Is a Place on Earth
Belinda Carlisle
Rick Nowels’ cascading synth maximalism · 4:07
synth maximalism, 1987, gated reverb, Nowels/Shipley
Maria Magdalena
Sandra
Cretu’s glossy Euro synth-pop · 4:00
Euro synth-pop, 1985, Cretu, glossy
Eisbär
Grauzone
Swiss coldwave in German, an unlikely hit · 4:48
Swiss coldwave, 1981, German, NDW
Dr. Mabuse
Propaganda
Düsseldorf’s ZTT-produced industrial art-pop · 6:35
ZTT art-pop, 1984, Düsseldorf, industrial
Bostich
Yello
Swiss manic electronica before “Oh Yeah” · 4:35
Swiss electronica, 1980, manic, minimal
Collapsing New People
Fad Gadget
Frank Tovey’s underrated Mute synth-punk · 4:23
Mute synth-punk, 1984, Frank Tovey, underrated
Ghosts
Japan
David Sylvian’s whispered art-pop, no guitars · 4:37
art-pop, 1982, no guitars, whispered
Temptation
Heaven 17
Proto-house that still kills dancefloors · 4:39
Sheffield synth-soul, 1983, proto-house, dancefloor
Smalltown Boy
Bronski Beat
Jimmy Somerville’s autobiographical falsetto · 5:02
Hi-NRG, 1984, falsetto, runaway
Living on the Ceiling
Blancmange
Criminally underappreciated Sheffield synth-pop · 4:02
synth-pop, 1982, marimba, underrated
No Tengo Dinero
Righeira
Italian absurdist Italo disco · 3:25
Italo disco, 1983, absurdist, “no money”
Der Mussolini
D.A.F.
Electronic Body Music provocation from Düsseldorf · 3:55
EBM, 1981, Düsseldorf, provocation
Love System
The Twins
German synth-pop’s naive summer optimism · 3:59
German synth-pop, 1983, summery, naive
Incubus Succubus
Xmal Deutschland
Hamburg’s all-female post-punk · 5:20
post-punk, 1982, Hamburg, all-female
Major Tom (Coming Home)
Peter Schilling
The German Bowie answer, bigger there than the original · 4:10
German new wave, 1983, cold-war, Bowie answer
ЭКРАН ’84 (Ekran ’84)
Dmitri Volkov
Schwermut in neon uniform — the label’s Soviet screen · 4:48
synthpop, 1984, Soviet, тoска, the label’s own
I’m Falling
Ministry
Al Jourgensen’s synth-pop era, before industrial · 4:25
Wax Trax synth-pop, 1981, pre-industrial, Jourgensen
It’s My Life
Talk Talk
Mark Hollis before the drift into silence · 3:52
art-pop, 1984, Mark Hollis, restless
Vienna
Ultravox
The #2 that should have been #1 · 4:54
symphonic new wave, 1981, Midge Ure, romantic
Underpass
John Foxx
Post-Ultravox solo debut, proto-coldwave · 3:57
coldwave, 1980, minimal synth, Metamatic