Mike Scott of The Waterboys once tweeted “The 80s were so rubbish that I invented my own”. Others consider the 80s to be the best decade in pop, and only the brave or the young, would argue. It was a decade full of tunes - whether those tunes came from teenagers who had just unboxed a Casio MT-68 synth a few days earlier and bashed out one-finger lines, or heavy metal bands (with better musicians) who’s songs frequently troubled the charts. It was the only decade you could wear a cravat around your wrist and look cool. And Micheal Stipe had hair.

It’s the decade that governments turned the people into consumers (well Maggie and Ronnie did anyway) and in our spare time between recording shows from the TV using something called a video recorder (it took more time to programme the device than it did to watch the show) we’d still play whole albums. At least until the CD came along and the dreaded skip button too.

Musically speaking, the 80s is a bit of a conundrum. It will be forever associated with a very British blend of electronic pop. Nothing wrong with that. But there was more, much more. So we explore that notion right here on The Song Sommelier. Our ‘decades’ pages had to begin with the 80s - but not in the obvious place. Jules Gray for one, was a Brit who largely eschewed the Linn-drum heavy electronic scene for more exotic sounds (like raw guitars, real drums) across the water in the USA. So that’s where we go first - into the American Import Record Racks of the Birmingham (England) record shops in which Jules spent a considerable part of his 80s rummaging. The irony is, as he was doing so, our American friends were doing everything they could to get hold of the latest British Electronica - and American clubs could not get enough - literally. So, standby…that’s where we go next…

Speaking of conundrums, compiling the first six 80s playlist posts made me relate to another puzzle that was all the rage in the 80s. The Rubik’s Cube was an 80s icon (even though, like a lot of 80s music, it was invented in the previous decade).

And what happened to the Rubik’s cube? Well, like much of our beloved 80s tunes, it never went away. Indeed, the cube has come back into vogue very recently. The puzzle shipped a record 18 million units last year, according to its independent owner Rubik’s Brand (based in London’s Notting Hill). Quite refreshing in the digital world - though the kids use algorithms to solve the puzzle in seconds these days, so there you go, everything changes.

It’s not the only 80s icon to be thriving into this new decade. As we stretch across nearly half a century, 80s culture is alive & well, Stranger Things has seen to that! Perhaps that’s why The Face - the pop culture magazine of the decade (born in 1980 in London) was brought back to life just last year.

Music from the 80s decade accounts for nearly one in every 10 streams in the UK - and growing each and every year. Why? It’s the tunes, stupid! So, to celebrate the 80s (and the resurgence of the Rubik’s Cube), we’ve made our own ‘Rubik’s six-sided’ music playlist, with six playlists (and accompanying memoirs) you won’t find on any streaming service. It’ll take you to the 80s in a way you’ve never experienced before, and we thoroughly recommend playing the Rubik’s as you listen. We start with the American Import Record Rack (side orange, if you will) - though we went for the bald Michael Stipe on the cover. He just looks better that way.

Oh yes, serious fun. And not the least bit rubbish.