These five splendid albums celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2021…

– HEAVEN UP HERE – ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN

Released: 30 May 1981 – second LP
Pitchfork says: “‘Heaven Up Here’ ranges more widely, and makes motions toward the slightly funkier band that turned up on Porcupine, while also stretching out their theatrical side.”

Stream here…

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– DARE – HUMAN LEAGUE

Released: 16 October 1981 – second LP
NME said: “Already the first Human League greatest hits collection … Much more than ABBA or whoever you like, the Human League signify that deliciously serious, sincerely disposable MOR music can possess style, quality and sophistication.”

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– RED MECCA – CABARET VOLTAIRE

Released: September 1981
AllMusic wrote: “Unlike a fair portion of CV’s studio output, ‘Red Mecca’ features no failed experiments or anything that could be merely cast off as ‘interesting.’ It’s a taught [sic], dense, horrific slab lacking a lull.”

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– PLAYING WITH A DIFFERENT SEX – AU PAIRS

Released: May 1981 – debut LP
AllMusic: “This debut record is a stunner… An unflinching look at the world.
‘Playing with a Different Sex’ is one of the great, and perhaps forgotten,
post-punk records.”

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– NIGHTCLUBBING – GRACE JONES

Released: 11 May 1981 – fifth LP
NME wrote: “I spent an otherwise-miserable weekend afternoon with the sound of Grace swirling around my little earphones, grooving on songs effortlessly sung but put together with
a jeweller’s eye for detail… The musicians combine to etch out a shifting, soulful surface, an exotic ice-water backdrop for Grace’s vocal veneer.”

Stream here…

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