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)

Samantha Fox - I Surrender (To The Spirit Of The Night) (Jive)

T: Apart from the bloke they shoved in at the end to do harmonies this is actually quite good. Can I keep it?
A: Sounds like a hit to me. Very good, her voice seems to have improved a lot recently. She could become quite famous, and if she does, I might let her be my friend.
J: She's starting to sound like Kim Wilde, isn't she? This is really good. If they'd put some medley guitars in with the backing I think it would be brilliant. (All About Eve, Record Mirror, July 18, 1987)

Sam Fox's achievement, if you can call it anything so grand, is to have become the first Brit to crack the formula for producing totally drossy Euro synth pop. This is about on a par with a Europe record i.e. it's nauseating and utterly daft. A gormless charmless sound from a big galoot. Will it be a hit? Do bears poop in the woods? (Max Bell, No 1, July 18, 1987)

Sam Fox has got this pop lark off to a fine art. However brainless the press may attempt to portray her, there's no denying she knows a good tune when she hears one. This, like all her other songs, sounds instantly familiar after the first spin and actually turns out to be a loosely disguised version of the 1978 disco classic "Let's All Chant" by the Michael Zager Band. Still, it's been Sam Fox-ed up with thundering drums, growling guitar solos and plenty of woh-oh-ohs. "I Surrender" sounds like a huge hit and just goes to prove that nothing, short of a nuclear war, is going to stop her now. (Ro Newton, Smash Hits, July 29, 1987)

Billy Idol - Flesh For Fantasy (Chrysalis)

Billy's passionate devotion to 'rawkanroll' normally leaves me cold, but here the buzz-saw guitars, meaty drumming and snarled vocals all combine to produce a powerfully driving record with about 19 times more energy than anything else released this week. The tune's pretty good too, which isn't surprising seeing as it's lifted almost wholesale from Simple Minds' brilliant "Up On The Catwalk". (Vici MacDonald, Smash Hits, September 27, 1984)

Billy is the Idol of America's young nouveau punx. They pogo in droves to his full-throated rebel yell. But we Brits lost interest in that years ago. We preferred "Eyes Without A Face". The sighs without the pace. Wised-up, our Gen X-ile repeats the formula - prowling a steamy hotel room as the bass throbs through the floor and the guitar throws odd shapes against the wall. William, this is really something... (Martin Townsend, No 1, September 29, 1984)

Billy Idol's the sort of bad boy who runs home crying if you say boo, but I can't deny he's making some great records these days. "Flesh For Fantasy" is one of these despite the most outrageous Simple Minds rip off on the chorus. Big fat production and a big fat hit. Grrrr. (Andy Strickland, Record Mirror, September 22, 1984)

Wham! - Last Christmas (Epic)

And the public gets what the public wants . . . The mega-duo celebrate a mega-golden year with another mega-hit - no doubt about that. Well, it is Christmas and George finds himself in the clutches of a young-love crisis while Andrew looks on sympathetically and the Whamettes swoon. For all musicologists out there note the close similarity to Peaches & Herb's cream-curdling duet, "Reunited". (Lesley White, Smash Hits, December 6, 1984)

Predictable schmaltzy seasonal love story from Pinky and Perky. This must be the tenth song in the last six months to have lifted the chord structure of Peaches And Herb's "Reunited". Obviously a hit, but I'd rather listen to the Queen's speech myself. (Andy Strickland, Record Mirror, December 8, 1984)

Laudable B-Sides: Now considered something of a Christmas staple, "Last Christmas" was originally released as a double A side single, with "Everything She Wants" on the flip. After Christmas, Epic simply put the same single in a new sleeve and reversed the order, causing "Everything She Wants" to become the next big hit for the group. Incidentally, the much more obscure extended mix of "Last Christmas" was known as the "Pudding Mix".

Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin (Parlophone)

An enormous clap of thunder, horns winking in the distance and then an absolutely huge slab of European disco drama in which Neil Tennant, sounding oddly like Princess Stephanie (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that), sings 'When I look back upon my life/It's always with a sense of shame'. the tune is impossibly grand but, um, haven't we heard it somewhere before? We have. It's Cat Stevens antiquated chestnut "Wild World" almost to the note - and a very nice tune that was too. This is going to be such a massive hit - an undoubted Number One in at least 500 European countries - that it might well blow your hat off. (Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, June 17, 1987)

Sounds a bit like that "It's Raining Men" song by the Weather Girls! I think the video will have a lot to do with whether or not this record makes it - they definitely seem strong on image (two picture sleeves for the price of one!). There's a strong beat there but it gets you going in places and then suddenly dies down a bit, like a Frankie Goes To Hollywood song.Just when it was getting exciting as well! They're not the sort of band whose records I'd buy, anyway, though I might dance to them in a club. (Neidet Salih, No 1, June 20, 1987)