Life is so hard needlessly, no fairy tales tell me I'm history....

Ahh, the things you find in the import clearance bin. Music Of The Year: 1987 is a hodgepodge in a series of apparently K-tel supermarketlike 80s throwback collections in the UK. Put together with odds and sods singles from 1987, not exactly the greatest year musicwise, it intrigued me in it's weird choice of songs enough to buy the sucker.

In its 19 songs are mostly skewed towards moderately successful English singles, a lot which never got any play here in the states. Thus you can find UK top 10ers like the Style Council's totally non-Style Council-y "It Doesn't Matter", troubadour Black's "Wonderful Life", as well as Swing Out Sister's amazingly excellent single "Surrender". There is a smattering of crossover hits, most prominently Jody Watley's "Looking For A New Love", but also ABC's saccharin "When Smokey Sings", The Jet's bubbly "Crush On You", and the hard-to-find fun romp of Was (Not Was)' "Walk The Dinosaur". There's even inexplicably a non-hit (but not bad) version of "Living In A Box" done by soul crooner Bobby Womack.

The cream of this crop is Watley, Swing Out Sister, Squeeze's deserved comeback "Hourglass", an awesome version of the great Love song "Alone Again Or" done by the band The Damned, and beyond all the delightfully cheesiest of all, the ex-Wham! backups Pepsi & Shirlie's "Heartache" (a song I was SOOO in love with in 1987). But these songs are mixed with some real drivel, not the least being the totally awful (and one of my worst songs of all time) version of "Wipeout" done by the Fat Boys and The Beach Boys. Ugh. Not even campy good. More like they needed the coke money bad. Also Kim Wilde is represented by a dated sub-par duet "Another Step", and Sly & Robbie put in "Boops (Here To Go)", proving they were better producing for other people.

This isn't exactly a CD you're gonna find everyday. You'll find a few good finds on it, but as a whole listen, it's kinda skittish.

Grade: C
Best Cuts: "Looking For A New Love", "Heartache", "Surrender"
Weakest Links: "Wipeout", "Another Step", "Boops (Here To Go)"

Music Of The Year:1987 contains...
Black's "Wonderful Life" hit #8 in the UK.
ABC's "When Smokey Sings" hit #5 pop, #1 dance club, #2 Adult Contemporary, and #11 in the UK.
Curiosity Killed The Cat's "Misfit" hit #42 pop, #43 dance club, & #7 in the UK.
Pepsi & Shirlie's "Heartache" made #78 pop, #2 dance club, & #2 in the UK.
The Christians' "Forgotten Town" made #22 in the UK.
Level 42's "Running In The Family" hit #83 pop, and #6 in the UK.
Was (Not Was)' "Walk The Dinosaur" hit #7 pop, #11 dance club, #30 Modern Rock, and #10 in the UK.
The Style Council's "It Doesn't Matter" made #9 in the UK.
Kim Wilde & Junior's "Another Step" made #6 in the UK.
Jody Watley's "Looking For A New Love" hit #2 pop, #1 Dance club & R&B, and #13 in the UK.
Swing Out Sister's "Surrender" made #22 dance and #7 in the UK.
Squeeze's "Hourglass" made #15 pop, #22 rock, and #16 in the UK.
The Damned's "Alone Again Or" hit #27 in the UK.
Zodiac Mindwarp's "Prime Mover" hit #18 in the UK.
The Jets' "Crush On You" made #3 pop, #4 both dance club and R&B, and #5 in the UK.
The Fat Boys/Beach Boys "Wipeout" made #12 pop, #42 dance club, #10 R&B, & #2 in the UK.
Cameo's "Back And Forth" hit #50 pop, #6 dance club, #3 R&B, & #11 in the UK.
Sly & Robbie's "Boops (Here To Go)" hit #22 dance club, #12 in the UK.

To commemorate the loss of the great Arthur Lee, click here to get the Damned's version of the Love song (not love song) "Alone Again Or"(right click to bring new window)

And on the other hand, as much as I love the slap-happy silliness of Pepsi & Shirlie's "Heartache", the video rank as one of the horribly funniest of all time. Watch as Pepsi shows no soul, and Shirlie is having some sort of seizure apparently.