Compilation: Hits Ride On
Released: 1989 – Concept
Number of tracks: 17
Number one singles: 2 — "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals, "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" by New Kids On The Block
Other top ten singles: 5
Best track: "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals
Hidden gem: "Nobody's Perfect" by Mike & The Mechanics
Happy birthday to me! And here's my present, arrived in the mail today. Hits Ride On is the first compilation in my collection from the 1980s (though no copyright year is given on it), issued by Concept Records – again, a rarity, as I don't think they released many of these. I like how the artwork shows a record player even though this is clearly a CD release. Just as well. Making variations of it would be pretty naff.
Guess what? In my twenties, I was pretty much averse to pop music from 1989. The little of it I'd heard was pretty forgettable, for the most part. It wasn't until much later I realized there was some ace stuff put out that year. Such as "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals, a song I heard back in 1989 and loved it, and still do now. One of the best songs of the '80s!
Another track on here is "Chained To The Wheel" by The Black Sorrows. This song always reminds me of doing aerobics on the lower playground in primary school. In 1990, when I was in Year 7, the Year 4 teacher Mr. Jennings would get the whole school to do exercises for just under ten minutes. He'd always choose the same two songs to exercise to, and this was one of them. (The other one was "Opposites Attract" by Paula Abdul, and I always expect that song to follow.)
I like Kate Ceberano's number 2 hit "Bedroom Eyes" now, but didn't think much of it at the time. Ditto "Baby I Don't Care" by Transvision Vamp, but it's a total "Wild Thing" rip-off, ain't it? On this CD they've faded it out at least a minute before the end (probably something done for space limitations on Side 1 of the vinyl release I'd guess). "Wait" by Gyan is also pretty solid, even if the lyrics read like a romance novel.
How on earth did New Kids On The Block get to number 1? Their music was bloody awful – they weren't much cop as singers, the lyrics were puerile, and the music was the same overproduced drum-machine crap. I guess the girls in my Year 6 class really did dictate the charts back then.
Speaking of those who aren't much cop as singers, Collette is on here with "Ring My Bell"! How she got a record deal, much less got to number 5 with this dreck is beyond me. The music video is worth watching just for the 'aesthetics' alone. My friend Jonathan's younger sister had Collette's album – on vinyl no less! We still give her shit about it today. Just kidding. I haven't seen her since 1992 or so.
Right at the end there's some stuff I'd never heard – "Touch The Fire" by Icehouse is one. Haha, those high notes are...really something. It also has a sax solo. Noice. Also, it doesn't have a fade ending. That's going against the '80s trend there. I'd no idea who Will To Power or Thirty Eight Special were, but I remember their names from an issue of Smash Hits. Will To Power do "Baby I Love Your Way", soon to be a reggae hit for Big Mountain in a few years.
Ride on, dude!
Rating: 7/10
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