Ronny’s Pop Show 11 – CD 1 (CBS, 1988)

Review
It was spring 1988. Ronny’s Pop Show 11 was divided into two separate CD releases which meant that buyers got all 32 tracks that were on the double LP and cassette versions.

A kind of magic beginning: Black’s driving yet dreamy Everything’s Coming Up Roses. My book of British Hits Singles confirms that this failed to reach the top 75. We’re off to the supper club for the next track, Guillermo Marchena’s My Love Is A Tango. A brace of evergreen beauties, Terence Trent D’Arby’s sensual Sign Your Name coupled with the aching regret of Johnny Hates Jazz and Turn Back The Clock [LP mix. Get Now That’s What I Call Music 11 for the 7″]. There’s a rock twist with the open hood pair of Dominoe’s Here I Am and Toto’s Stop Loving You. Back to the blues as Helen Watson treats us to the sultry When You Love Me I Get Lazy and The Nits disappear into the clouds.

The Hooters’ Karla With A K, a song about a hurricane. Beamish drinkers will remember it. The Bangles crash in with their speed demon cover Hazy Shade Of Winter. Next comes Bryan Ferry’s Bête Noire centerpiece, the bitter Kiss And Tell. And Climie Fisher’s serene, chilled-out Rise To The Occasion. Now for a curio that’s only found here: Lisa Stansfield before she went solo – in Blue Zone singing On Fire. Coincided with the King’s Cross train station fire so it sank without trace. A dynamic slice of driving pop. Elsewhere Manhattan Transfer’s Soul Food To Go (Sina) is a summery beach number while The Stranglers cover The Kinks’ All Day And All Of The Night with customary aplomb. This fine selection ends with Nina Simone’s legendary My Baby Just Cares For Me.

Favourite tracks
Black – Everything’s Coming Up Roses

Bangles – Hazy Shade Of Winter

Lest we forget
Blue Zone – On Fire