Compilation: 1987 Into The Groove
Released: 1987 – EMI
Number of tracks: 18
Number one singles: 2 — "Funky Town" by Pseudo Echo and "Walk Like An Egyptian" by The Bangles
Other top ten singles: 6
Best track: "Walk Like An Egyptian" by The Bangles
Hidden gem: "She's The One" by The Cockroaches
I think I've found the earliest compilation album on CD that I will ever see. From what I've been able to find, compilation albums first started coming out on the CD format in Australia in 1987. I'm not sure which one was the first, but this one must be one of the first. What a find! Whoever owned this for the last 31 years took care of it, I note. Thanks for donating it to the Mount Waverley Salvo's, whoever you are!
I should point out that this is one of the few compilation albums in my collection to include a sleeve design credit (to A&L Barnum), but possibly the only one to credit the person who did the track sequencing! One Damon Wynters, to be precise. Interesting. Well, I think so, and if you don't, that's too bad. So, good work, Mr. Wynters!
Enough talk – let's rok!!!!
Pseudo Echo's cover of Lipps Inc.'s "Funky Town" (they made the title two words instead of one) topped the Australian charts for seven weeks, and it kicks off this collection of tunes. Not a bad start, and it sets the frenetic pace for at least five more songs. Good on yer, you mulleted so-and-so's!
Billy Idol comes next, with "Don't Need A Gun". Some nice synths on this one. It doesn't sound one bit like "Rok da cradle of lurve...yeah da cradle of lurve don't rok ezy, it's true", like I was expecting, which was to come in three years' time.
After this comes the song every watcher of Rage is familiar with. Iggy Pop's "Real Wild Child" was, and still is, used for the 'breakers' and intro music of the show. Whoever chose it for the show must have picked a then-current song, but all these years later, it proved to be a good choice. That drawl of "I'm a rool wild one" has become, dare I say it, iconic.
"We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" by The Angels is instantly recognizable in Australia due to its ubiquity, and to someone my age it's mostly known for being the backing music in any number of home insurance commercials. Then it's The Cockroaches – surely not the most attractive name for a band, I grant you – but "She's The One" is a great little song. Then it's everyone's favourite rock n' roll granny (to be fair, she was in her late 40s at this point) doing "What You Get Is What You See". The first six tracks on here are solid!
"Walk Like An Egyptian" by The Bangles is probably my favourite song of the '80s and I'm surprised the compilers made us wait until track 10 for it. To be fair though, it probably kicked off Side 2 on the vinyl release (I just checked Discogs – it does). Just a damn fine pop single that somehow captures all the exuberance of '80s youth, especially the line "All the school kids so sick of books". It ended up as the year-end number 7 song in Australia, but it only spent two non-consecutive weeks at number 1, knocked from the top spot, twice, by Kim Wilde.
If you see this anywhere, grab it and crank it up. Loud!
Rating: 7/10
