Thompson Twins - Lay Your Hands On Me (Arista)

WOW! A new single from THE TWINS! HEY! CRITICAL! FABEROONI! etc. The Thompson Twins find themselves in the almost enviable position of having invented their own clichés - and very marketable ones they are too. This perfectly constructed, sort of spiritual, swingalong cliché of a future hit is as pleasant (i.e. rather boring) and unassuming (i.e. rather bland) as its precursors. Pass the lentil bake, I feel a song coming on . . .  (Lesley White, Smash Hits, December 6, 1984)

This group get better all the time. They made the top five unexpectedly last Christmas with "Hold Me Now". This year, it'll be no surprise if they come out right on top. "Lay Your Hands On Me" is deceptively good. Is it Tom Bailey's ever-maturing singing, so deft and full of nuances. . Or the clever melody that tugs at so many pop memories. . . Or the lush production and the way the instruments seem to swell in and out of the mix.. Whatever it is that makes great pop, The Thompson Twins have got it. (Phil McNeill, No1, December 1, 1984)

Rod Stewart - Trouble (WEA)

Lovable old hack or LA creep? He annoys me a lot less since he's started wearing a suit instead of those cellulite-sausage lycra leggings, actually. "Some Guys", whilst unable to hold a candle to Robert Palmer's version, showed that of big nose still knew how to pick 'em. But this self-written slowie is undistinguished, to put it kindly. (Sunie, No1, November 24, 1984)

In which everyone-over-40's favourite Jack-the-lad takes a breather from the endless round of ditching old blondes, finding young ones and wearing scoop-neck t-shirts to reflect on the sorry fate of the ageing Romeo. A palatable miss-you-babyee effort, this, which merits some success. Trouble is, I remember Rod before he got a full time post at the Ministry Of Music - well 'ard, 'e was. (Lesley White, Smash Hits, December 6, 1984)

Five Star - Crazy (Tent)

Say hi to the New Edition! Five Star are a family of five black Brits, including three Crolla-clad girls with lightened hair and a pretty good Michael Jackson clone. Someone in the Five Star camp knows a hook when he hears one. They should give him a raise and sack their stylist. (Sunie, No1, November 24, 1984)

Paul Young - Everything Must Change (CBS)

A slow and stately self-penned ballad that's more like "Wherever I Lay My Hat" than anything else Paul has done. Takes its time to sink in, as good ballads often do. Should do the business. (Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, November 22, 1984)

After the post-Frankie heavy metal soul of "Playhouse", Paul veers towards country on his first self-written release since the hits started coming. The country-style guitar freshens up his familiar bass 'n' synth sound, and the song's pretty creditable too. It gives away his '70s rock origins, but then he's never been at great pains to disguise those. I look forward to seeing him clutching his mikestand on TOTP as soon as poss - that much won't change. (Sunie, No1, November 24, 1984)

Virgin Dance - Are You Ready (For That Feeling) (Spartan)

Songs don't come easy to Virgin Dance. Like its predecessor "The Dream Is Over", "Are You Ready" is sketched painstakingly over a shimmering backdrop of guitars and heavenly choirs. Sheer single-minded excellence. One day they'll be as big as The Bunnymen. (Martin Townsend, No1, November 3, 1984)

A-ha - Take On Me (WEA)

Gold star too for A-ha, a Norwegian trio. "Take On Me" and "And You Tell Me" are fresher that a freezing gust up the fjord and highlight the singer's incredible vocal range. Essential purchases both. (Martin Townsend, No1, November 3, 1984)

Alphaville - Forever Young (WEA)

"Big In Japan" was a real horror. Sickeningly twee but a big enough hit to be played into infinity at tacky Continental discos or dragged out annually as a Radio 1 golden oldie: "Back in time with Alphaville . . . All of which makes "Forever Young" a real surprise. A stately and well-sung melody floating along on echoey church organ, it does everything but scream `follow up'. Big in the credibility stakes if not in the charts. (Martin Townsend, No1, November 3, 1984)

PH: It started off for me quite interesting, but then it went into something which was quite MOR. AM: They're from Munster, I met them three weeks ago in Cologne, I was doing an interview. They made me feel like Grandad, because they came up to me and said "Oh OMD, big heroes of ours, your first album was really important, made us want to make music." They're all our age, and one of them's 30, actually. That song started off sounding like Toto on synths, then got strange... it's a mega Euro-ballad. (Andy & Paul of OMD, Record Mirror, November 3, 1984)

ABC - How To Be A Millionaire (Phonogram)

ABC's Beauty Stab was, for me, one of the albums of '83. Precise, socially-aware lyrics beefed up into a heady rock mixture, - Here Martin Fry and Mark White - with two new members aboard - take the fashionable and logical next step. They throw their weight behind pounding electro rhythms in an ironic, scathing attack on money politics. Radical dance music of the first order. File next to "Fascist Groove Thang". (Martin Townsend, No1, November 3, 1984)

PH: There's a melody line in there which is very similar to Shannon's "Let The Music Play". It's the kind of fractured rhythm that you wish would settle down. AM: Sounded like a production in search of a song. I wanted to like that one, what have you done? (Andy & Paul of OMD, Record Mirror, November 3, 1984)

Why ABC should want to make a weak New York dance record is beyond me. Nevertheless, here we have Martin Fry crooning over a reasonable imitation of one of Shannon's backing tracks. There's no originality or feeling - ABC are just desperately apeing an already over-imitated sound. Obvious proof of a lack of material and a crisis of confidence and direction within their ranks. (Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, November 8, 1984)

Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumours/Somebody (Mute)

Depeche Mode are becoming a Very Important band indeed. Pretentious though it may sound, Depeche's powerhouse Martin Gore is one of the few songwriters genuinely concerned with the politics of life in the '80s - unhampered by side-issues of style and blatant commerciality. "Somebody" gently unfurls the map of a modern relationship and explores every fold. The double A-side, "Blasphemous Rumours" weighs religion and reality with precision and feeling. Thought provoking stuff. (Martin Townsend, No1, November 3, 1984)

A double-A-sided single of two tracks from their Some Great Reward LP. "Somebody" gets my vote because it's so different from all their other singles. Martin Gore sings a slow, sad plea for love over a REAL PIANO and when the synthesized "Aaahs" come in it sounds just like Art Garfunkel. This'll have them reaching for their handkerchieves. "Blasphemous Rumours", on the other hand, is a routine slab of gloom in which God is given a severe ticking off. (Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, November 8, 1984)

PH: I really like it, I like it a lot; it's got a great chorus line. It's a bit fractured, but then that's their style. It's a bit too fractured at times, you keep wanting to hear the chorus. AM: The strong thing is their melodies and that chorus as Paul said is a belter. I've got this feeling that Depeche Mode are going to do something really amazing and they're getting pretty close. PH: They're the only band this week that sound like they know what they're doing, the only band that've got two ideas to rub together. AM: Well, two pieces of metal to rub together, anyway! (Andy & Paul from OMD, Record Mirror, November 3, 1984)

Lloyd Cole - Rattlesnakes (Polydor)

Although Lloyd has his most obvious influences written proudly across his chest - Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed - he's still creating a rock mythology all of his own. On "Rattlesnakes" the influences of his Derbyshire birthplace and Glasgow - where he was educated - are stirred up in equal measures of hometown grit and academic wit. He juggles European and American references in the lyric - novelist Simon De Beauvoir, On The Waterfront - and still ends up with a peculiarly English blend. A rich and fascinating single of the week. (Martin Townsend, No1, November 3, 1984)

AM: Having just listened to Depeche Mode this sounds positively dated, but that's what people want these days. Why is it that old Marlon Brando movies are so bloody trendy these days? The guy's fat, bald and an American millionaire. Any musician who was like that would be out of the window straight away. What I want to know is, will Lloyd Cole be getting two million dollars in the year 203 for appearing in 'Superman 37'? (Andy & Paul of OMD, Record Mirror, November 3, 1984)

Black - Sweetest Smile (A&M)

Isn't that Prince's favourite colour? Or was that last week? Either way, this is delicious. Really moody and dramatic, from the latest band to emerge from Liverpool. File under classics. (David Martin, No1, July 4, 1987)

Level 42 - It's Over (Polydor)

Once we've got past the positively asthmatic opening keyboard line, the Levellers deliver a powerfully sensitive song that makes up for some fairly corny lyrics with its atmosphere and, for once, restraint. Who cares if it's not the hippest single this week? It's an accomplished record that I'd play in my Cortina (if I had one) on the way to a cosy Epping Forest nook, late on Saturday night. (Andy Strickland, Record Mirror, September 5, 1987)

Kinda mellow and middle-America ie. benign ol' grandad out on the front porch serenading coyotes with trusty old harmonica and geetar. Don't quite know how Mark King and his varmints fit into this pleasing scenario but no doubt some black-and-white film and a well placed cactus will do the trick, (Paul Simper, No 1, September 5, 1987)

Howard Jones - New Song (WEA)

Candifloss synthi-pop. Producer Colin Thurston, man at the controls of Duran Duran and Kajagoogoo, spins out lots of sweetness and light. About as substantial as the fluffy pink stuff on a stick. (Lynn Hanna, No 1, August 20, 1983)

Another in the long line of pretty-boy popsters, Howard is apparently rather big in High Wycombe. This first offering is produced by the same man as Duran Duran and Kajagoogoo and will probably be MASSIVE. It's squeaky clean disco pop with lots of whoops and woos in the background. You can't fault it. (Eleanor Levy, Record Mirror, August 20, 1983)

Missed A Sitter: Smash Hits failed to review 'New Song' which reached number 3 in the pop charts.

Bucks Fizz - You And Your Heart So Blue (RCA)

I must say I always detested Bucks Fizz. Those medallion men! And those girls! Yucksville. Their records have always exemplified the worst traits of British pop kitsche. This is no exception. Now, it seems, they can't stand each others' guts either. What colour law suit do you want! (Max Bell, No 1, June 22, 1985)

Bucks Fizz have again proved that fact is always better than fiction, having read The Sun last week. Could the Dallas scriptwriters have made up a better tale of sex and high flying wheeling and dealing? Could The Godfather makers have made up a gorier tale of alleged 'family' treachery,and squalid break ups? This release is a spirited version of the sort of thing Smokie used to knock out in their sleep. It's not a patch on the B-side - "Now Those Days Are Gone" - a quality song and more than a little apt to boot. (Mike Gardner, Record Mirror, June 22, 1985)

Suze De Marchi - Young Hearts (EMI)

A pretty face and an average-sounding single are in evidence. The looks belong to 21-year-old platinum blonde Suze, who hails from deepest Western Australia. The song on the other hand, hasn't got as much going for it, as it sounds alarmingly like a Pat Benatar or Laura Brannigan, for that matter, cast off. Thankfully, it's all over before you know it. (Anna Martin, No 1, May 14, 1986)

The Dream Academy - Life In A Northern Town (Blanco Y Negro)

Supposing it did exist, a dream academy would be a place to learn all there is to know about dreams. But there isn't one. Is there? Maybe the two boys and one girl in The Dream Academy know something, as the reason why this record is so damned good eludes me like a dream. It could be the haunting, almost-choral arrangement of this atmospheric song, or perhaps the lyrical content which triggers off a barrage of romantic images. Whatever makes it such a dream of a single, more please. (Adrian Tierney-Jones, No 1, March 9, 1985)

Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy - She Makes Me Quiver (10 Records)

There's probably some perverse logic behind having such an unwieldy name, but if I were Stephen I'd drop the Tin Tin bit, pronto. That aside, the quest for the hit solo single by the Duran that got away continues. I'm not sure if this is the one though. It's got the right ingredients, but it doesn't make the impression it should. Could have something to do with all those rhyming lyrics. Narcotic/ neurotic/gothic/exotic . . . it all gets a bit wearing after a while. (Karen Swayne, No 1, September 22, 1984)

The Chant Of Barry Flynn - The Smile And The Kiss (Ensign)

This originally came out under the name of Bonk. I mean, BONK!!! And if you don't know what that means, I'm certainly not going to tell you. It flopped, so Bonk, who is actually Barry Flynn, decided to give it another go under his real but equally uncharismatic moniker. It's still pretty unexciting. (Sunie, No 1, April 21, 1984)

Almost a hit last year and deservedly re-released. Bas has dropped the awful Bonk moniker which must have affected his chances before. A rousing sixties soul stomp chorus and not too much else, but a hit. (Andy Strickland, Record Mirror, April 28, 1984)

Bruce Willis - Under The Boardwalk (Motown)

Bruce Willis, oh yes, I loved "Respect Yourself", I'm a big fan! This is a really nice treatment, although as a singer I've already found a couple of things that grind, but it's still a lovely, sweaty, vocal sound. The B-side's an instrumental of "Respect Yourself", I'd be interested in that alright! I could see myself buying this, and I'd put it on in the evening and drink wine. I love the real strings, and it's surprisingly good for an actor. (Johnny Logan, No 1, May 30, 1987)

Hot House - The Way We Walk (RCA)

Lacking in subject matter, my son. Not enough information about the position of the upper body on this one. Still, walking is an instinctive thing, except for Derrick. Nice to hear a prominent Joanna having its ivories tinkled. Good brassy bits. They'll dig it in clubland. (Gilbert*, No 1, August 15, 1987)

Trivia: Hot House featured Heather Small, who would later go on to achieve great success with M People and as a solo singer.