Title:	Classic MTV: Class of 1983
Label:	Rhino
TTime:	Disc 1-62:12
      	Disc 2-59:21
Notes:	None
Paid :	17.99
Rank : 4 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-

Disc 1
-=-=-
She Blinded Me With Science            Thomas Dolby
Come On Eileen                         Dexy's Midnight Runners
Always Something There to Remind Me    Naked Eyes
Mirror Man                             Human League
Cool Places                            Sparks &Jane Wiedlin
Love My Way                            Psychedelic Furs
China Girl                             David Bowie
Twilight Zone                          Golden Earring
Rock This Town                         Stray Cats
The Walls Came Down                    The Call
Lies                                   Thompson Twins
True                                   Spandau Ballet
Mexican Radio                          Wall of Voodoo
Why Me?                                Planet P
I Melt With You                        Modern English

Disc 2
-=-=-

Our House                              Madness
Too Shy                                Kajagoogoo
Burning Down the House                 Talking Heads
Back on the Chain Gang                 The Pretenders
Strip                                  Adam Ant
One Thing Leads to Another             The Fixx
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?         Culture Club
In a Big Country                       Big Country
Working Girl                           The Members
Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime)       The Flirts
I Eat Cannibals                        Total Coelo
Reap the Wild Wind                     Ultravox
Talking In Your Sleep                  Romantics
Goodbye to You                         Scandal
Rock-It                                Herbie Hancock

Comments:
-=-=-=-=-
Pretty much what it sounds like, a collection of songs that played as
videos in 1983 (a few are originally form 1982 but got heavy play in 1983).
Like many of you, I believe that 1983 represented the high water mark of
80's music in general and certainly for MTV. Prior to this, much "New Wave"
wasn't accessible if you didn't get MTV or a good college rock station and
after 1983 the hard edge of post-punk pretty much faded away into the
commercial pop sound of the late 80's. We got MTV in 1982, so most of these
songs/videos I can remember hearing a lot of in the following year. These
two discs have something for everyone. While many will be all too familiar
to fans of VH-1's "The Big 80's" (like the ubiquitous Culture Club, Golden
Earring, and The Romantics) others represent the earlier sounds of college
rock New Wave (Wall of Voodoo and Planet P). There is the consumate
"techno" of Herbie Hancock, the rockabilly of the Stray Cats, and the "hard
core" new wave of the Psychedelic Furs. Although it is billed as an MTV
collection, this collection includes some fairly obscure titles that can't
even remember the videos for like Ultravox's "Reap the Wild Wind" and
"Mirror Man" by the Human League (given all their MTV "hits, this was an
especially interesting choice by Rhino/MTV). If MTV ever played some of
these as videos, it must have been at a later hour than I was watching. I
was especially attracted by Scandal's "Goodbye to You," which came off
their original album which has never been issued in CD format (tape only).
I know of only two other CD compilations with this track. Although some
songs may be hard to find, all of these are available elsewhere. The real
beauty of this album is finding them all in the same place at a reasonable
price. If you are looking for a great "survey" album for the greatest year
in 80's music, I strongly recommend this one, especially as it has double
or triple the tracks of most 1983 collections like Billboard's or CMJ's.
NOTE: MTV may also have agreed that this was their best year since there
are no other versions of this collection such as a "Class of 1982" or "1984."

Compilation Review Listings:
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