Blancmange - The Day Before You Came (London)

The beginning is great but then .... It sounds almost comical and I like Neil Arthur's sense of humour, but it sounds a bit stupid in the music. It's an Abba song but it doesn't sound like one. I don't like the vocal but obviously it'll be a hit. Strange! (Andy Taylor [Duran Duran], Record Mirror, July 14, 1984)

A dismal re-working of the old Abba hit, this also sound uncannily like the Thompson Twins. Bongos and banjos work at a furious pace in the background, but it's Neil Arthur's voice which spoils the whole package. For some reason he sounds as if he's singing with a hot potato in his mouth. Strange. (Linda Duff, Smash Hits, July 5, 1984)

Sparks - Change (London)

Giant studio panarama from one of the precursors of electro-pop. Simply trashes the other rockish releases this week with a rare impudence and a desire to go for those massive, massive instrumental statements. Thundered synths, thunder clapped drums, jagged guitars, moments of quiet menace and yes, those thoroughly distinctive vocals. (Jim Reid, Record Mirror, July 20, 1985)

Bananarama - Shy Boy (London)

A brand new song crisply written and produced by Imagination's production team. Sunny and singalong - when you hear it blaring from hordes of transistor radios on a hot day at your favourite seaside resort you'll forget about the sand in your sandwiches. (Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, June 24, 1982)

The Bluebells - All I Am (Is Loving You) (London)

You know that power chord in the Stones"Start Me Up"? Well, The Bluebells have revived it to great effect in a song which should stop those accusations of wimpiness. There's even a hint of Thin Lizzy (circa "Whisky In The Jar") plus a chorus so catchy you couldn't forget it if you wanted to. An unusual choice for a single, but a good one all the same, and there's a bonus for dedicated No.1 readers. . . play hunt Paul 'Young At Heart' Simper in the video (clue: he's the one bell-ringing at the front). (Karen Swayne, No 1, February 2, 1985)

The best youth club rock band in Glasgow, the beefed up Bay City Rollers, crack back with an intro nicked from the Stones' "Start Me Up", rhyme 'city' and 'pretty', then rock some more. Top 10 I'd warrant. (Jim Reid, Record Mirror, February 2, 1985)

Over And Out: A one off single following on from their 1984 LP Sisters, it would be their last single, although a revival of "Young At Heart" due to an ad campaign renewed interest in the band in the nineties. This single has never been released on CD.

Voice Of The Beehive - Just A City (Food/London)

This crew - two Californian girls and three British blokes - actually manage to capture the true adventurous spirit of the '60s and blend it with the spangling guitars and dense choruses of prime period Cocteau Twins. The song itself sways and swirls attractively enough BUT! flip over the 12 inch and they get stuck right into - corky o'rorky! - a biting pop version of rock dinosaurs Led Zeppelin's elderly reggae spoof "D'Yer Maker" (Jamaica - geddit?)!! The result, played (relatively) straight, turns into a completely bur-rrrilliant teenage "don't go" love song and would be a HUGE hit, so utterly utterly catchy is it. 'B'-side of the century (at least) and almost Single Of The Fortnight... (Ian Cranna, Smash Hits, May 8, 1987)

Blancmange - I Can See It (London)

Hardly an obvious hit for Blancmange, especially after the way that their last single "Lose Your Love" failed to set the world alight. This newie is quite an anonymous offering by comparison. In fact, without knowing who the artist was beforehand you'd be hard pushed to guess correctly - until the Indian noises start creeping in towards the end. That's not to say it's an awful record, just stunningly average. (Dave Ling, No 1, April 26, 1986)

Blancmange - That's Love, That It Is (London)

Thankfully we are calm enough now to evaluate this record with some sense of hygiene. I like the song. So do the panel. The production, however, is a little bit 'standard contemporary'. (Jools Holland and The Panel, Smash Hits, November 24, 1983)

The dynamic duo return with a belter of a song which should quickly re-establish them at the top of the synthetic tree just in time for Christmas. With Tears For Fears also about to charge back into the scene, we can safely assume that we've seen the last of those nasty guitar bands for a while. (Paul Bursche, No 1, November 19, 1983)

Win - Shampoo Tears (London)

Engaging themselves in producing a frothy little follow-up to their 100th re-release of "You've Got The Power" (which should have been a hit, but wasn't), these bubbly Scotsmen continue to sparkle with yet another addictive vinyl performance. Here, la la las swirl mesmerizingly between a chugging bass-line and pleasing vocals, and lathers up into a snappy pop song. Their recent support on the Fine Young Cannibals tour could only have done them good, and assuming that the timing is right, Win could yet come up grasping the trump card. (Anna Martin, No 1, May 10, 1986)

Win have been lurking about for a while now without actually achieving anything, but this should change all that - a massive, thunderous beat coupled with an outrageously catchy singalong "hook". The only drawback is the muttered (but unmistakeably anti-American) oblique lyrics about star-striped fears causing shampoo tears, but this Scottish lot will get there sooner rather than later. (Ian Cranna, Smash Hits, May 7, 1986) 

Try, Try Again: Championed right across the music press, Win released and re-released several singles and an album over a couple of years, and yet never caught a chart break. A nominee for the unluckiest band in pop.

Then Jericho - The Motive (London)

The fact that most of the members of Then Jerico would look better wearing buckets over their heads is keeping the band out of the mass knicker-wetting market. Tough little blighters though they are, it seems TJ have been sniffing around for far too long to get a major slice of the action over here. "The Motive" starts off with some good intentions but runs out of puff. But they'll always be big in Japan! (Robin Smith, Record Mirror, June 27, 1987)

Margo Buchanan - Keep On (London)

A beeeautiful, lush ballad oozing conviction, character and not a trace of Jennifer Rush-like sickliness. Margo Buchanan is clearly a woman with a story (childhood in care, heroin, jail), not to mention a husky voice tailor-made to melt hardened hearts. (Lesley O'Toole, Record Mirror, January 10, 1987)

Then Jericho - Prairie Rose (London)

I have but one judgement to pass on this: never a good song in the first place, and how dare they!! (Nancy Culp, Record Mirror, April 11, 1987)

What a surprise - another cover version. It's obviously a great (Bryan Ferry) song to begin with, but then so are most of them currently flooding the charts. This is definitely a good radio record with a strong sound but I don't think it will be the one to give them their first hit. I haven't heard the LP, but if this track is representative of it I'll certainly be playing a few tracks from it on my show. A band with a healthy future for sure. (Simon Mayo, No 1, April 11, 1987)

Bananarama - Cruel Summer (London)

It must be said, the quality of Bananarama records seems to depend a lot on who's working with them. Here they're back with Swain and Jolley, the chaps who made "Shy Boy" the great single it was, and this is certainly their best single since then. Includes a great dub version and, for some inscrutable reason, lots of jokes about trucking and CB radio with the girls all dressed up in scruffy overalls and toting monkey wrenches. Can't see it catching on, somehow. (Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, July 7, 1983)

It won't bother them a jot but I've always found them to have the flattest, dullest, least committed voices of anyone currently parading pop. "Cruel Summer" thuds unconvincingly away with a variety of some five notes to choose from and if they were singing for their lives, they'd never have been around to make the pesky record. (Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, July 2, 1983)

Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling (London)

Blancmange once more come up with an interesting rhythmic idea and throw it away on an indifferent song. (David Hepworth, Smash Hits, October 28, 1982)

Stunningly similar to Simple Minds circa "I Travel", which is to say it sounds a lot better than the eyeliner kids do today. Meaty, beaty and only slightly Gumbie-ish, but there's a 'bloody' in the first line that the radio people won't like much. (Sunie, Record Mirror, October 23, 1982)

Martin Stephenson And The Daintees - Crocodile Cryer (Kitchenware)

This originally came out a while ago when the band were simply known as The Daintees. Singer Martin Stephenson has obviously been promoted since - maybe due to his songwriting talents which border on brilliance. the Newcastle band have a little gem in this song - acoustic guitars give it a folky feel and the effect is mournful without being depressing. Fab. 4/5 (Karen Swayne, No. 1, July 5, 1986)

Bananarama - Rough Justice (London)

"Rough Justice" succeeds in establishing a longer-lasting appeal than the bright poppy disposability of "Robert De Niro". What they lose in immediacy, they gain in endurance. Should be interesting to see how you pop-pickers respond to change. (Pedro, Record Mirror, May 19, 1984)