New Gold Dreams: Post Punk & New Romantic '79-'83

This is a good, but uneven, compilation of why Virgin was such an important label. Finding these records in the US on import was quite the task in the old days. Even in a city the size of Pittsburgh the import shops would only get a few copies, and you had to be quick. So it was tape swapping with friends or oddball radio that even had a lot of these songs. When these acts finally had a US release it would be long after the fact that it was important.

In 2013 Virgin Records released five 3CD digipak sets celebrating it's 40th year, beginning with " Losing Our Virginity: The First 4 Years '73-'77 " and ending with " Fascinating Rhythms: Sound Systems & Dancefloor ." This set is basically a companion and continuation of the one previous, " Never Trust a Hippy: Punk & New Wave '76-'79 ." That set documents the evolution, growth and commercialization of the punk revolution and the "new wave" of inspired, and in some cases insipid, bands that it birthed. As I stated in my reviews of the two previous sets, Virgin Records began as a small mostly progressive-rock label that were able to greatly expand after the huge success of their very first album release, Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells." Although their roster featured many adventurous and influential groups, like HENRY COW, GONG,  FAUST  and TANGERINE DREAM the label was really a niche player until owner/guru Richard Branson rolled the dice and signed the controversial SEX PISTOLS. The PISTOLS were the forebearers of the British punk movement, maybe not the first or the best, but they became the standard bearer for the avalanche that followed. That avalanche was helped along by the blooming of dozens of independent labels, many formed to support just one band, with some like Stiff and Rough Trade that became major players, albeit for a short time. The major labels, lulled into complacency by their rosters of "supergroups" and singer-songwriters were unprepared for the onslaught, and in most cases, didn't understand it as well. Their solution was to throw money at whatever was the flavour of the month hoping it would stick to the charts. Although Virgin had a few questionable signings, it had better taste that most, with many of it's artists becoming mega-successful ( THE HUMAN LEAGUE , SIMPLE MINDS , CULTURE CLUB), influential ( MAGAZINE , JAPAN ) and in some cases legendary ( PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. ). It didn't hurt either that the explosion of these groups coincided with the breakout of MTV, whose influence and impact during those heady days cannot be ignored......The set's track list covers the era well, you could niggle about what songs by what bands could've been different but the compilers have done a decent job mixing the hits with the rarities. The remastering sounds good and like all the other sets the CD labels correspond with the eras in which they were used. During this era they used a red on one side, green on the other scheme, here they use the red version. On the next set, " Methods of Dance: Electronica & Leftfield '73-'87 " which covers the more dance oriented tracks during the eras covered on the two preceding, they use the green labels. The booklet is similar to the previous set, a brief history, three randomly chosen album covers taking up a whole page each and two pages with nine photos of picture sleeves each. All the sets are good value and can be found quite reasonable at this time. If nothing else they show length and breadth of Virgin's catalog to be the envy of others form this era......CD#1:from 1979:1. Public Image Limited - Death Disco 12" Version2. Magazine - Permafrost3. Fingerprintz - Dancing With Myself4. Essential Logic - Wake Up5. The Men - I Don't Depend On You6. Jah Wobble - Dan McArthur (Disco Dummy)7. OMD - Electricity8. The Human League - Empire State Human9. Public Image Limited - Careering10. The Flying Lizards - TVfrom 1980:11. Magazine - A Song From Under The Floorboards12. Another Pretty Face- Whatever Happened To The West?13. Martha And The Muffins - Echo BeachCD#2:from 1980:14. The Ruts - Staring At The Rudeboys15. Jah Wobble - Betrayal16. The Ruts - West One (Shine On Me)17. The Professionals - 1-2-318. Fingerprintz - Houdini Love19. OMD - Enola Gay20. Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroidsfrom 1981:21. Public Image Limited - Flowers Of Romance22. Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing23. British Electric Foundation - The Decline Of The West24. Simple Minds - The American25. The Human League - Love Action (I Believe In Love)26. Rip Rig And Panic - Go, Go, Go! (This Is It)CD#3:from 1881:27. Simple Minds - Love Songfrom 1982:28. Japan - Ghosts29. Culture Club - White Boy30. Tina Turner/British Electric Foundation - Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)31. Rip Rig And Panic - You're My Kind Of Climate32. Mick Karn - Sensitive33. David Sylvian/Ryuichi Sakamoto - Bamboo Houses34. Culture Club - Do You Really Want To Hurt Mefrom 1983:35. China Crisis - Christian36. Heaven 17 - Temptation37. Howard Devoto - Rainy Season38. David Sylvian/Ryuichi Sakamoto - Forbidden Colours39. The Flying Pickets - Only You40. China Crisis - Wishful Thinking

In 2013 Virgin Records released five 3CD digipak sets celebrating it's 40th year, beginning with " Losing Our Virginity: The First 4 Years '73-'77 " and ending with " Fascinating Rhythms: Sound Systems & Dancefloor ." This set is basically a companion and continuation of the one previous, " Never Trust a Hippy: Punk & New Wave '76-'79 ." That set documents the evolution, growth and commercialization of the punk revolution and the "new wave" of inspired, and in some cases insipid, bands that it birthed. As I stated in my reviews of the two previous sets, Virgin Records began as a small mostly progressive-rock label that were able to greatly expand after the huge success of their very first album release, Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells." Although their roster featured many adventurous and influential groups, like HENRY COW, GONG,  FAUST  and TANGERINE DREAM the label was really a niche player until owner/guru Richard Branson rolled the dice and signed the controversial SEX PISTOLS. The PISTOLS were the forebearers of the British punk movement, maybe not the first or the best, but they became the standard bearer for the avalanche that followed. That avalanche was helped along by the blooming of dozens of independent labels, many formed to support just one band, with some like Stiff and Rough Trade that became major players, albeit for a short time. The major labels, lulled into complacency by their rosters of "supergroups" and singer-songwriters were unprepared for the onslaught, and in most cases, didn't understand it as well. Their solution was to throw money at whatever was the flavour of the month hoping it would stick to the charts. Although Virgin had a few questionable signings, it had better taste that most, with many of it's artists becoming mega-successful ( THE HUMAN LEAGUE , SIMPLE MINDS , CULTURE CLUB), influential ( MAGAZINE , JAPAN ) and in some cases legendary ( PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. ). It didn't hurt either that the explosion of these groups coincided with the breakout of MTV, whose influence and impact during those heady days cannot be ignored......The set's track list covers the era well, you could niggle about what songs by what bands could've been different but the compilers have done a decent job mixing the hits with the rarities. The remastering sounds good and like all the other sets the CD labels correspond with the eras in which they were used. During this era they used a red on one side, green on the other scheme, here they use the red version. On the next set, " Methods of Dance: Electronica & Leftfield '73-'87 " which covers the more dance oriented tracks during the eras covered on the two preceding, they use the green labels. The booklet is similar to the previous set, a brief history, three randomly chosen album covers taking up a whole page each and two pages with nine photos of picture sleeves each. All the sets are good value and can be found quite reasonable at this time. If nothing else they show length and breadth of Virgin's catalog to be the envy of others form this era......CD#1:from 1979:1. Public Image Limited - Death Disco 12" Version2. Magazine - Permafrost3. Fingerprintz - Dancing With Myself4. Essential Logic - Wake Up5. The Men - I Don't Depend On You6. Jah Wobble - Dan McArthur (Disco Dummy)7. OMD - Electricity8. The Human League - Empire State Human9. Public Image Limited - Careering10. The Flying Lizards - TVfrom 1980:11. Magazine - A Song From Under The Floorboards12. Another Pretty Face- Whatever Happened To The West?13. Martha And The Muffins - Echo BeachCD#2:from 1980:14. The Ruts - Staring At The Rudeboys15. Jah Wobble - Betrayal16. The Ruts - West One (Shine On Me)17. The Professionals - 1-2-318. Fingerprintz - Houdini Love19. OMD - Enola Gay20. Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroidsfrom 1981:21. Public Image Limited - Flowers Of Romance22. Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing23. British Electric Foundation - The Decline Of The West24. Simple Minds - The American25. The Human League - Love Action (I Believe In Love)26. Rip Rig And Panic - Go, Go, Go! (This Is It)CD#3:from 1881:27. Simple Minds - Love Songfrom 1982:28. Japan - Ghosts29. Culture Club - White Boy30. Tina Turner/British Electric Foundation - Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)31. Rip Rig And Panic - You're My Kind Of Climate32. Mick Karn - Sensitive33. David Sylvian/Ryuichi Sakamoto - Bamboo Houses34. Culture Club - Do You Really Want To Hurt Mefrom 1983:35. China Crisis - Christian36. Heaven 17 - Temptation37. Howard Devoto - Rainy Season38. David Sylvian/Ryuichi Sakamoto - Forbidden Colours39. The Flying Pickets - Only You40. China Crisis - Wishful Thinking

3 cds packed with cool new wave stuff from 1979-83 that most of us probably have. My real interest was in disc 3 which has Mick Karn's "Senstive" and Sakamoto/Sylvian's " Bamboo Houses" both making their 7" version debut on cd.

Great stuff...but I suppose Virgin can't omit tracks I don;'t like! horrendous to admit I now have something by Culture Club and Phil Collins after avoiding them for so long...

Was soll man noch zu dieser Compilation sagen? Besser geht es kaum. Bekannte Hits mischen sich hier mit Geheimtipps der 80er Jahre. Die Soundqualität ist wirklich gut. Man hat hier teilweise auf Remasterings zurück gegriffen, was sich vor allem bei den sauberen Höhen bemerkbar macht. Früher klang das alles entweder schrill oder total basslastig. Hier wurde fast alles richtig gemacht. Und wenn hier etwas nicht so toll klingt, liegt es meist an den Synthesizern die damals arg gequält wurden. Zum Beispiel bei Empire State Human von Human League. Auch Heaven17 und B.E.F. stehen Human League in Punkto kratzige Töne um nichts nach. Die Zusammenstellung ist einfach klasse. Auch Methods Of Dance aus der Virgin Reihe kann ich wärmstens empfehlen. Gibt es auch bei Amazon. Diese beiden 3CD Sets ergänzen sich einfach bestens. Als Elektronic Fan bin ich total begeistert von der CD Box. Die Verpackung ist sehr gut. Wäre schön gewesen, wenn auch Devos Going under und Fad Gadgets Ricky's Hand mit drauf wären. Aber das ist meckern auf hohem Niveau. Klare Kaufempfehlung für alle New Wave Fans. Bleibt gesund.

The first 75% of this triple combines the iconic with the countless acts Virgin invested in (or not) as it desperately searched for the next big thing. By the early '80s, thanks to Culture Club, Japan, Simple Minds and, er, The Flying Pickets, paydirt was well and truly hit, although the most interesting music fell by the wayside. Highlights include OMD's 'Electricity', Magazine's "A Song From Under The Floorboards' and Fingerprintz' 'Houdini Love'.

Diamonds and Pearls of a Punk a New Wave... Rare and beautiful, Rare and Ugly, Rare and Extraordinary!!! Buy it now

Pure nostalgia. Not only was it great to hear some of the classics from that era but also to discover some other gems that I missed out on first time around!Also good service and prompt delivery.