It’s been a bit of a movingtheriver obsession over the past few weeks as summer finally kicks in and the album format makes a seasonal comeback.
You’re enjoying the music, hailing a ‘classic’ record and then…damn. It’s the track you always skip, the runt of the collection, the song that tarnishes a perfectly good album.
Maybe the band was ‘letting their hair down’ after a few pints in the pub down the road. Maybe it was the drummer/producer/bass player’s vanity track. Maybe it’s the overplayed hit. Maybe the album sequencing isn’t quite right. To be honest, often it’s just something irrational that you can’t quite put your finger on.
For whatever reason, here are movingtheriver’s almost perfect 1980s ‘pop’ albums, and the tracks that just don’t quite sit right:
Scritti Politti: Provision (skipped track: ‘Boom! There She Was’)
Prefab Sprout: Steve McQueen (skipped track: ‘Horsin’ Around’)
Prefab Sprout: Protest Songs (skipped track: ‘Tiffany’s’)
Prefab Sprout: From Langley Park To Memphis (skipped track: ‘I Remember That’)
Talking Heads: Remain In Light (skipped track: ‘The Overload’)
Phil Collins: Face Value (skipped track: ‘I’m Not Moving’)
Propaganda: A Secret Wish (skipped track: ‘Jewel’)
Wendy & Lisa: Fruit At The Bottom (skipped track: ‘Tears Of Joy’)
China Crisis: Diary Of A Hollow Horse (skipped track: ‘Age Old Need’)
Danny Wilson: Meet Danny Wilson (skipped track: ‘Nothing Ever Goes To Plan’)
Danny Wilson: Bebop Moptop (skipped track: ‘NYC Shanty’)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Liverpool (skipped track: ‘Watching The Wildlife’)
David Bowie: Let’s Dance (skipped track: ‘Cat People’)
Kate Bush: Hounds Of Love (skipped track: ‘Running Up That Hill’)
The Police: Synchronicity (skipped track: ‘Every Breath You Take’, and sometimes ‘Mother’ too…)
Joni Mitchell: Wild Things Run Fast (skipped track: ‘Solid Love’)
Roxy Music: Avalon (skipped track: ‘Take A Chance With Me’, but I love the intro…)
Hue and Cry: Remote (skipped track: the title track)
Prince: Batman (skipped track: ‘Arms Of Orion’)
Swing Out Sister: It’s Better To Travel (skipped track: ‘Breakout’)
Thomas Dolby: The Golden Age Of Wireless (skipped track: ‘Windpower’)
(In the name of balance, I’ve listed my all-thriller/no-filler 1980s albums here. )
Do chime in with the tracks that, for you, muck up otherwise excellent 1980s albums.
movingtheriver.com 
Wow!!! I just have to disagree with Overload – it’s not a nice song, but it’s the fitting end to one of the greatest albums ever. But having said that, aesthetically yes, but, but, you are darn right. I do always skip that track!!!
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That’s a good way of putting it – hard to like but kind of a natural ending to the album.
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There are times when I’m actually in the mood for it – I find it quite hypnotic, and very atmospheric. Not often, but it happens.
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That’s a controversial Kate Bush choice, and I will rep for I Remember That. Mother would be one of my picks, but also Walking in your Footsteps. Homeless from Graceland.
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Good call on Graceland. ‘Mother’ is a definite contender, I love ‘Walking’ though, even if it is pretty inconsequential. ‘Running Up That Hill’ – obviously a great single but I find it infinitely less interesting than the rest of Hounds.
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Mother Stands for Comfort is the song I’d drop from Hounds of Love. Obviously don’t want to mess with the second side.
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Huh. ‘Mother Stands For’ is somewhat of a side-one standout for me.
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Sorry!
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I’m gonna say Joe Jackson’s “Night and Day” and throw away “A Slow Song.” It really is slow, overlong, and feels like an Elton John cover. It doesn’t seem to fit the rest of this set.
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Thanks, I don’t know the album at all apart from ‘Stepping Out’ – am going to listen…
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Very relevant concept. I’d be interested in knowing whether yourself and commenters indulge in skipping the specified songs when listening on vinyl (or even cassette) – it’s obviously much easier with digital formats and CD. My suggestion is one which leapt into my mind as soon as I read the title of this post!
Genesis: Abacab (skipped track: ‘Who Dunnit’ – total shocker, worst track they ever made)
Fans of the Peter Gabriel years that reject the whole Collins era will obviously consider the whole album to be a duffer, but I think it’s otherwise a really strong pop rock album
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Great call re. Abacab. Yes, it’s interesting, in the old days we would just ‘tolerate’ stuff like ‘Mother’ on vinyl or cassette, in a way it all added to the listening experience…
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Seamus off Pink Floyd’s Meddle springs to mind.
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The corny blues with a whining dog? Yep, that definitely qualifies…
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Yep that’s the one. Dreadful, spoils an otherwise fabulous LP
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Not from the 1980s though… Similar problems with Floyd’s 1980s albums? I don’t know them.
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