Formel Eins – Special (EMI, 1986)

Review
Formel Eins was a West German music video show that ran from April 1983 until December 1990. Tie-in compilations emerged in 1984 and finally ceased at the end of 1997. This volume – titled Special – was the first to be released on CD.

It’s got that autumn 1986 feeling with hits from Duran Duran, Mel and Kim, Grace Jones and the Pet Shop Boys [all of which featured on Now 8] and Robbie Nevil’s C’est La Vie [Now 9].

Top moments for me are twofold:
Kraftwerk’s funky and futuristic Musique Non Stop [original version from Electric Café LP].
Plus a new track from Kate Bush – the sinister and alluring Experiment IV that was used to promote her late 1986 retrospective The Whole Story.

There’s also a few curios – Tina Turner’s twangy What You Get Is What You See and Steve Miller’s claustrophic I Want To Make The World Turn Around. The latter did not chart in the UK and is another Miami Vice-drenched deep cut. Equally effective is Scottish band Glass Tiger’s plaintive Someday.

Favourite tracks
Kate Bush – Experiment IV

Kraftwerk – Musique Non Stop

Lest we forget
Glass Tiger – Someday