#87. "Pump Up The Jam" - Technotronic (1989)

And what a jam it was! 

Part hip-hop, part house, "Pump Up The Jam" filled the floors at all the clubs on Argyle Street (The Dome, Rosa's, Bogart's) every weekend in the fall of '89. 

It was also a sneak preview of what was to come. 

We may not have quite realized it at the time but this little eurodance floor stomper became the template for the 90s dance music revolution featuring the likes of C & C Music Factory, Black Box... 

It didn't matter what you listened while at home or in the car, this tune demanded your attention at the club. And if you weren't getting busy on the floor, you were most definitely watching the proceedings.

I'll never forget the cool hippie who used to set up shop along the perimeter of Bogart's sunken dance floor and grooved on the spot shaking her booty and tambourine for hours to jams like this: the very epitome of 'dance like no one is watching.' 

#88. "Desire" - Gene Loves Jezebel (1986)

Gene Loves Jezebel has been classified as 'Goth' but they are also most definitely new wave. Another term I've seen bandied around: Rockwave. Whatever.

One thing's for sure: their signature song "Desire" is a great groove. The high vocals are off the charts and drive the tune. Also a decent guitar solo. 

In the video, the twin brothers that form the core look as if David Lee Roth hooked up with Platinum Blonde for a festival gig. 

I don't remember "Desire" charting when it was released in the mid-80s in Nova Scotia but I used to hear it in the clubs when I moved to Vancouver in the early 90s. 

Unmistakenly 80s, it's a fun trip with some nice production worthy of a spin every once in a while.  

#89. "Love Like Blood" - Killing Joke (1985)

"Love Like Blood" by Killing Joke sounded more like the future than an 80s song, heavily influencing the early 90s 'Nirvana' sound. It could also be what you'd expect to get from a jam between The Cure and Motley Crue.  

The tune is so tight: the driving bass and powerful drumming lead the way with an intense rhythm supported by sparse guitars and synth to produce a moody, industrial vibe. 

This is not background music and must be cranked to fully appreciate. A great track for your playlist for a road trip at night.

#90. "To Live and Die in L.A." - Wang Chung (1985)

The only band I'm aware of that has a verb named to honour it, you wouldn't expect a synth-pop outfit like Wang Chung to produce the title track to the gritty crime film "To Live and Die in L.A.". 

Turns out to be a perfect fit: Wang Chung perfectly captures the icy cool atmosphere with an under the radar tune to go with an equally underrated movie. 

Fave lyric: "I wonder why we waste our lives here. When we could run away to paradise".

Bonus video #1:

Everybody Have Fun Tonight" is a light-hearted slice of sprinkles and rainbows and a must play at 80s retro parties. Be careful not too stare too long at the seizure-inducing video or your night may become curtailed. 

Fun flashback: "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" was playing on the video screen when I sneaked underage into Bogart's on Argyle St. and ordered my first rum and coke. It's also when I learned about the concept of tipping: after having pocketed the four quarters I got back as change. What a noob!

Bonus video #2:

Wang Chung's first single and new wave classic "Dance Hall Days" from 1983 almost made my top 100. I only later discovered years later after a Google search that I'd been singing the lyric "We were cool and crazed" incorrectly. In actuality it is the even more ridiculous: "We were cool and cries"... and probably why the tune was scuttled off the list altogether...

#91. "Hold Me Now" - Thompson Twins (1984)

The first single from the 1983 Into the Gap album,"Hold Me Now" has an incredible melody. 

The track features a unique array of instruments: a piano, a xylophone and a plethora of cool percussion (check out the setup of noise-makers behind Alanah Currie: cymbals, bells, rattles and tomtookas!). 

The final chorus drives it home with some really nice vocal harmonies. 

"Hold Me Now" is also the first of six from the epic The Wedding Singer soundtrack to appear on this chart.

The Thompson Twins were no stranger to movie soundtracks. Soon after "Hold Me Now" hit the charts in North America, the ballad "If You Were Here" from Sixteen Candles solidified their standing as household names in the mid-80s.