What’s New On Qobuz – HiFiAudio.Guru Top Ten Songs for December

By: Gary Alan Barker

December 29th, 2022

Well, December is here at last and another year is done. Last year I did my list of Christmas songs so this year I figured I would end the year with Love Songs of the ’80s.

1. “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (7″ Single Version)” (“Non Stop Erotic Cabaret (Deluxe Edition)” – Soft Cell – 16-bit/44.1kHz – Qobuz) While not their most well-known tune, it is one of those songs that gives me chills every time I hear it. The 12″ extended mix version has some very tasty oboe at the beginning and end of the song, but the delayed payoff sucks out the emotion of the piece so I stuck with the original 7″ Single Version (the original album version).

2. “All Of My Heart” (“The Lexicon Of Love (Deluxe Edition)” – ABC – 16-bit/44.1kHz – Qobuz) As much as I love “The Lexicon Of Love” it has always stood as the one album I would love to remix to remove the mechanical percussion that pervades most of the otherwise brilliant songs, and the demo and live versions available on the Deluxe Edition only reinforce this belief, that being said, “All Of My Heart” still yanks at the heartstrings and remains one of my favorite tunes of the era.

3. “True” (“True (Special Edition)” – Spandau Ballet – 16-bit/44.1kHz – Qobuz) Ok, if you know Spandau Ballet, you probably know them for this song, but I still think of these three songs as a set so it goes on the list.

4. “A Slow Song” (“Night And Day (Deluxe Edition)” – Joe Jackson – 16-bit/44.1kHz – Qobuz) Probably the most underrated modern composer, Joe Jackson created albums touching on everything from Punk to Jazz to Classical but one song stands above the rest for me and that is “A Slow Song”.

5. “Sister Europe” (“The Psychedelic Furs” – The Psychedelic Furs – 16-bit/44.1kHz – Qobuz) There is nothing like the pulsating beat and velvety vocals of the Furs to put you in the mood.

6. “Vienna” (“Vienna (Remastered Definitive Edition” – Ultravox – 16-bit/44.1kHz – Qobuz) In my book the most intense song of the ’80s, so unique and different, I fell in love with it instantly after hearing the opening bars.

7. “Hold Me Now” (“Into The Gap” – Thompson Twins – 16-bit/44.1kHz – Qobuz) Ok, another fairly well-known pop song, but a truly intense ’80s ballad.

8. “Somebody” (“Some Great Reward” – Depeche Mode – 16-bit/44.1kHz – Qobuz) Simply my favorite Depeche Mode song from my favorite Depeche Mode album, and completely not what you think of when you think Depeche Mode.

9. “I Believe” (“Songs From The Big Chair” – Tears For Fears – 16-bit/44.1kHz – Qobuz) Thinking of “Somebody” immediately brings “I Believe” to mind, two songs very similar and very different.

10. “Pleasure And Pain” (“Mercy” – Steve Jones – 16-bit/44.1kHz – Qobuz) What can I say, even punks can love.

There are two songs that would have been on this list but for the fact that they never saw digital and therefore are not on Qobuz, so I thought I would include links to them on YouTube. The first is “Lost Weekend” by Wall of Voodoo from “Call of the West” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLNBcSHVVvw, what I think of as Stan Ridgeway’s best effort. The second is a little more obscure but is absolutely brilliant, that is Jamie Sheriff’s “Waitress In A Diner” from “No Heroes” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCriA9fIs4Q.

That concludes my list for the month and the year. This will also be my last music review for a while as other duties take precedence, so until next time remember It’s all about the music.

Reference System:

LSA VT-70 Tube Integrated Amp with Gold Lion KT88s, Audio-gd R2R-1 DAC, Black Dragon Cables, Core Power Technologies A/V Equi=Core 1000, Dan Clark Audio EXPANSE Headphones