One hit in the 80s and that's yer lot

Which is a shame, because this lot had another few in them. First up is:

Scarlet Fantastic - No Memory
No. 24 October 1987
Borne from the trio Swans Way (their biggest hit was Soul Train) Maggie De Monde and Rick P. Jones were the classic 80s duo: charismatic singer with moody musician. The video below cut old footage of London with the updated 1987 version; a much better concept than the "We're so wild we're caged up in this (pretend) jail".




Desireless - Voyage Voyage
No. 5 May 1988
A synth classic complete with an iconic-looking singer. So why didn't Desireless catch on? The flop follow-up John was OK, but not great. But really, there's only so many French language songs the UK charts can handle.




Housemaster Boyz - House Nation
No. 8 Sep 1987
After Steve 'Silk' Hurley's Jack Your Body hit number 1 at the beginning of the year, 1987, house music dominated the charts. The videos were annoying and some of the arrangements don't hold up to scrutiny in 2010, but this one does well on both counts. I loved this track. The video does away with the crappy twenties flappers footage. I remember it being as dark as the track itself. It's the kind of record you'd find dancing to itself in the shadowy recesses of a club by the ciggie machine totally oblivious to anyone else.




Big Sound Authority - This House (Is Where Your Love Stands)
No. 21 Jan 1985
Formed with the guiding hand of Paul Weller, who matched girl singer with band, Big Sound Authority had this one great hit. If only they'd kept going, they could have been the blueprint for rousing bands and kept the likes of Deacon Blue away.




The Passions - I'm In Love With a German Film Star
No. 25 Jan 1981
In my 11 year old head, I used to get The Passions mixed up with Altered Images because the singers looked so similar. Little did I know I wasn't far off. One singer is Gogan and the other is Grogan. Oh, and watch this to forget about the Sam Taylor-Wood version...