The Weeds - China Doll (In Tape)

Yet more Stooge-aphiles here. Splendid country and northern tally ho with a fine line in raucous bounce and bawl. With some incredibly penetrating female vocals on the chorus, this is finger lickin' good. And if anyone recognises their graphics as being akin to a Sixties psychedelic combo of not dissimilar name, contact Age Concern immediately. (Jane Wilkes, Record Mirror, October 25, 1986)

Jih - Big Blue Ocean (Breadth Of Vision)

Scottish band Jih (well I presume they're Scottish having scoured the sleeve for information) sound very familiar indeed. Echo & The Bunnymen's name keeps cropping up on sampling this; and as the single gets into full swing, you expect a chorus of 'Seven seas...' to come bursting through knocking the jangly guitars asunder. Impressive but unimaginative. Nice sleeve though. (Anna Martin, No 1, October 26, 1985)

Big Heat - Watch Me Catch Fire (A&M)

The "Sexual Healing" drumbox pre-empts a rather disappointing track, of which the most outstanding feature is Elvis Costello (who produced it) doing backing vocals. It's soul music, I suppose. Soul music by design though, not by feel. Do I like soul music? I like good music - Talking Heads, The Specials, The Blue Nile. (Roland Orzabal [Tears For Fears], Smash Hits, April 24, 1985)

Unfortunate Timing: The Bradford City stadium fire on May 11, 1985, which killed 56 people, led to several singles mentioning 'fire' in the title being withdrawn from radio airplay.

Memphis - You Supply The Roses (Swamplands)

Rose: Got to be the Single Of The Fortnight for me. Great vocals, great guitar, it's a great pop record with tinges of country & western. It makes me really happy - I just wish the charts were full of songs like this. Jill: I don't think this is the best version I've heard of this song, but I like it anyway. The cover is great - a highland cow in a purple loch! (Jill Bryson & Rose McDowell [Strawberry Switchblade], Smash Hits, March 28, 1985)

Keanan - Watersport (Awesome)

This bloke's been getting loads of publicity lately, purely because he goes to the 'right' art school, designs funny clothes, has weird hair and knows people who work on trendy magazines. Nobody ever mentioned his music, and I presumed - as is usual in such cases - that it would be complete rubbish. What a nice surprise, then, to discover that this record is really excellent, a spirited hi-energy romp which knocks Pete Burns' recent weedy attempts into a cocked hat. And it's got the week's best cover. Runner-up single of the fortnight. (Vici MacDonald, Smash Hits, October 9, 1985)

Kate Garner - Love Me Like A Rocket (Regard)

And we certainly have lift off! The steamiest single of the season, as Haysi's Kate wraps her tongue around some particularly spine-numbing vocals. Haysi Fantayzee are great but this is better, and it will scratch your eyes out. (Robin Smith, Record Mirror, October 29, 1983)

In such a strong week for singles, two-thirds of Haysi Fantayzee have penned and put together possibly the catchiest tune, a production that even Mr Horn would applaud, and dance music to drive you dizzy. Silly and saucy: ketchup to Kate's solo talent for a taste of commercial Fantayzee. Buy the 12-inch for the full effect and blast it like a rocket! (Debbi Voller, No 1, October 29, 1983)

Affairs Of The Heart - Waterloo Sunset (Heartbeat)

Wonderful looking girl, shame about the record. A synth version of the kinks' hoary old classic and a terrible waste of time. (Robin Smith, Record Mirror, July 23, 1983)

The Winterbabies - Bossa Nova Suicide (Stiff)

A scrupulously clean record, which sets Deborah King's unvarnished voice against Keith Bayley's bleak landscape of rhythmic tension. A Tracey Thorn scraped to the bone, a Carmel for the great outdoors. Clarity, brevity, poignancy - enough said. (Roger Morton, Record Mirror, November 16, 1985)

The Business Connection - Bring You Down (Hippodrome)

After the national papers' acres of coverage for Lady Teresa Manners and her tiresome antics, you'd expect her record to be something out of the ordinary. But it's not. It's not even bad, just very very ordinary. (Phil McNeill, No 1, February 8, 1986)

The notorious Lady Theresa Manners - daughter of the Duke of Rutland, denizen of the gossip columns and bore of this parish - releases a stodgy synthesizer based debut that would invite jokes about Berk's Peerage if it had any character to get worked up about. Surrounded by such spiffing pedigree chums as Lord Michael Cecil Bunter (surely they call him Bunty?), she proves that though she's thick with aristocracy, her voice is so thin it could conceivably be suffering from anorexia. (Mike Gardner, Record Mirror, February 1, 1986)