Amazulu - Excitable (Island)

Amazulu have a brilliant and colourful image but so far that image has been more memorable than their music. Well hopefully that'll all change now with this energetic toe tapper of a summer single. The strength of this bouncy tropical pop song actually lies in the fact that it's so deliciously simple and repetitive. (Debbi Voller, No 1, July 6, 1985)

I must be going mad, because I was sure there were six members of Amazulu. And on this super-shiny pop reggae it sure sounds like more than one woman making all those noises. Must have been mistaken, because if there were six of them, they wouldn't show the prettiest member - the most "marketable" one - on the cover and publicity shots now, would they? No, of course not. (Eleanor Levy, Record Mirror, July 29, 1985)

Could these reggae gals be the new Bananarama? No. Even the "rams" never came this close to sounding like a Coco Pops commerical. (Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, July 3, 1985)

Amazulu - Things The Lonely Do (Island)

If Amazulu's last single was an embarrassing attempt at doing Mrs Mills in a reggae stylee, this is another nail in the coffin of a once promising band. Even a lazy, hypnotic sax solo fails to save this slow, pretty but empty-headed song. One day, there'll be a female group who won't be made to look stupid by the men they sign their careers away to. (Eleanor Levy, Record Mirror, March 8, 1986)

A bouncy, mellow reggae ballad that shows off vocalist Anne-Marie's rich and husky voice to the full. It's much lazier than "Excitable" but lacks none of the bite and I predict a hit. Good to see some female bands back in the charts again - oops! Sorry Nardo - Amazulu do of course have one male member. 3/5 (Debbi Voller, No 1, March 8, 1986)