Shakin' Stevens - Because I Love You (Epic)

Remember last year? [Yuletide number one "Merry Christmas Everyone"] Not a whisper from Shaky for twelve months, word gets around there's only 50 shopping days to Christmas, and before you can say 'Elvis died ten years ago' up pops Shaky with a little jiver guaranteed to grace many a Christmas list. Well, apart from the fact that you can't jive to this monotonous ballad and there are no sleigh bells in the background... 1/5 (Mark Booker, No 1, October 25, 1986)

Depeche Mode - Stripped (Mute)

Depeche Mode must rate as one of the most consistent if not one of the best pop bands of the '80s. They have a distinctive sound, but not so much so that each release sounds like the last one. Their lyrics actually mean something without being pretentious and over the top. Yet they never seem to get the adulation that their competitors get. Strange that. Let's hope that the haunting stillness of "Stripped" puts them up where they belong, before Frankie and Spandau reappear. (Mark Booker, No 1, February 22, 1986)

Depeche Mode were becoming very predictable but this is the best thing they've done in ages. 'Let me see you stripped,' sings Dave Gahan and bang goes their appearance on Saturday Superstore. Actually, I think it's all about going back to nature and 'discovering yourself'. Slow and atmospheric, even when you can't work out what he's going on about. (Simon Braithwaite, Smash Hits, February 12, 1986)

Laudable B-Side: The flip is "But Not Tonight", surely one of the Mode's most elegant compositions.

The The - Heartland (CBS)

The The have been around for a few years now, but unfortunately they're one of those bands who deserve more than they've ever had but will probably never get it. It's a shame that Radio One have banned this for including the word 'piss', we could have seen them on Top Of the Pops in a few weeks' time. 4/5 (Mark Booker, No 1, August 2, 1986)

Well, well. Second time around for former cult figure Matt Johnson (as The The is known to his mum). I always used to find his stuff a bit cold and mechanical, but this stunning, stringy, singalong state-of-the-nation ballad is something else again. What a terrible mess we are in, he seems to be saying, and of course he's right. This year's "Ghost Town" and Single Of The Fortnight. (Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, July 30, 1986)

Yello - Goldrush (Mercury)

Yello are Swiss and utterly bonkers. They make dance records that you can't dance to, full of lyrics that make absolutely no sense at all. This is probably deliberate. Often they also have lots of wiggy chanting and funny noises, just like this one (helped out, incidentally, by Billy Mackenzie who used to be [in] The Associates). Damn good, actually. (Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, July 30, 1986)

If any of you read the penpals section of No. 1, you'll probably have noticed that Yello are very popular in Australia. For once I actually agree with the generally awful taste of the Australians. With their breathy vocals, Queen-type harmonies and strange noises all incorporated into a highly danceable rhythm, it's hard to see why Yello aren't massive over here. This could and should be the one. 5/5 (Mark Booker, No 1, August 2, 1986)

Dexy's Midnight Runners - This Is What She's Like (Mercury)

Super. Sexy. Scintillating. Dexys are set to soar up the charts again with their first single for two years.
Yes, after the customary void, the Runners are back with an absolute gem. First came the power and soul of "Geno", then a break, then the Irish tinge of the Too Rye Aye album and "Come On Eileen", another break, and now, a hybrid of the two with Kevin Rowland's distinctive wail over the top. If this doesn't hit number one I'll eat my words. (Mark Booker, No 1, November 9, 1985)

Kevin Rowland's in this pub with this bloke called Bill who keeps saying, "Tell me what she's like" to him, right? "I'm trying, Bill, I'm trying", Kevin replies - trouble is there's this half baked Irish showband with a doddery old fiddle player blaring away in the corner so Kevin can hardly hear himself think. And anyway he's getting quite drunk and so keeps losing himself in the middle of sentences and howling along with the showband but not quite getting the words right or the tune for that matter. Bill never does find out what she's like (whoever "she" might be) and Kevin wakes up next morning with a massive hangover and the awful, dawning realisation that last night he made this simply ludicrous pop disc... (Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, November 6, 1985)

Prefixed "An Extract From...", this is the single Kevin vowed would never be. But since the massed ranks of the lost soul rebels and intense emotion circle devotees have been conspicuous by their absence in supporting the Don't Stand Me Down LP - here it is. It's deftly edited from the full track and consists of a barrage of barbed poison arrows aimed at easy targets, while attempting to describe the love of his life. It's a curious and stodgy updating of Van Morrison's Caledonian soul vision of over a decade ago, but it has charm. It's the sort of thing you'll adore for five minutes and hate equally soon after. (Mike Gardner, Record Mirror, November 9, 1985)

Simply Red - Holding Back The Years (Elektra)

Without doubt the best thing to hit the charts this year, Simply Red release a third single from the Picture Book album and I think it's the best. Admittedly a voice like Mick Hucknall's can do little wrong but this searing ballad even outpoints "Money's Too Tight" in the soul stakes. My Only Fear is that a band with this much talent will become disillusioned with their lot and go the way of Level 42. (Mark Booker, No 1, November 9, 1985)

This has an uncanny resemblance to one of those two-chord ‘songs’ you had to endure between the hits on a Barry White album or on the B-Side of an Ace single. It starts and then finishes, with nothing of consequence between. (Mike Gardner, Record Mirror, November 9, 1985)

The two most admirable things about Simply Red are (1) Mick Hucknall's two-fingered attitude and (2) the white soul passion they inject. This plaintive, atmospheric little lament is quite touching but, alas, you can't whistle an attitude nor hum a passion whilst going about your business, so if they wish to move on up, Simply Red will have to learn to write some real tunes that stand up on their own. (Ian Cranna, Smash Hits, May 7, 1986)

Glenn Frey - You Belong To The City (MCA)

Another track from the Starsky And Hutch (or was it Miami Vice?) soundtrack, and to be honest I've had enough. "The Heat Is On" was definitely off, "Smuggler's Blues" should have been quarantined, and as for "You Belong To The City", well I'm defecting! (Mark Booker, No 1, November 9, 1985)