Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box (Totally) [Box] (CD, Jul-2002, 7 Discs, Rhino)

Album Features
UPC:	081227823924
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2002
Record Label:	Rhino
Genre:	New Wave, Rock & Pop
Number Of Discs:	7

Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. Whip It - Devo
2. Video Killed the Radio Star - Buggles
3. Empire Strikes Back, The - Meco
4. Another One Bites the Dust - Queen
5. Celebration - Kool & the Gang
6. Breaks, Pt. 1, The - Kurtis Blow
7. Let My Love Open the Door - Pete Townshend
8. Call Me - Blondie
9. Keep on Loving You - REO Speedwagon
10. Turning Japanese - The Vapors
11. Lost in Love - Air Supply
12. 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
13. I Love a Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbitt
14. Sailing - Christopher Cross
15. Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington, Jr./Bill Withers
16. Cars - Gary Numan
17. Ah! Leah! - Donnie Iris
18. Sweetheart - Franke & the Knockouts
19. Shake It Up - The Cars
20. General Hospi-Tale - Afternoon Delights
21. Stroke - Billy Squier

DISC 2:
1. Dancing with Myself - Billy Idol
2. Working for the Weekend - Loverboy
3. Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
4. Genius of Love - Tom Tom Club
5. Centerfold - J. Geils Band
6. At This Moment - Billy Vera & the Beaters
7. Harden My Heart - Quarterflash
8. Hold on Loosely - .38 Special
9. Theme from "Greatest American Hero" (Believe It or Not) - Joey Scarbury
10. Take Off - Bob & Doug McKenzie
11. Super Freak, Pt. 1 - Rick James
12. 867-5309/Jenny - Tommy Tutone
13. Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes
14. Time - The Alan Parsons Project
15. Gloria - Laura Branigan
16. Maneater - Hall & Oates
17. Theme From Hill Street Blues, The - Larry Carlton/Mike Post
18. Valley Girl - Frank Zappa/Moon Unit Zappa
19. Da Da Da (I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha) - Trio
20. You Dropped a Bomb on Me - The Gap Band

DISC 3:
1. Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran
2. Look of Love, Pt. 1, The - ABC
3. Tainted Love - Soft Cell
4. Rock This Town - Stray Cats
5. Lies - Thompson Twins
6. Words - Missing Persons
7. Don't You Want Me - The Human League
8. Love Plus One - Haircut 100
9. Down Under - Men at Work
10. Steppin' Out - Joe Jackson
11. I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow
12. Come on Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners
13. Mickey - Toni Basil
14. Twilight Zone - Golden Earring
15. You Should Hear How She Talks About You - Melissa Manchester
16. Key Largo - Bertie Higgins
17. Pac-Man Fever - Buckner & Garcia
18. Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
19. Africa - Toto
20. Goodbye to You - Scandal
21. Puttin' on the Ritz - Taco

DISC 4:
1. Jeopardy - Greg Kihn Band
2. She Blinded Me With Science - Thomas Dolby
3. Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant
4. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics
5. Our House - Madness
6. Salt in My Tears, The - Martin Briley
7. Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
8. Talking in Your Sleep - The Romantics
9. Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling
10. Always Something There to Remind Me - Naked Eyes
11. In a Big Country - Big Country
12. One Thing Leads to Another - The Fixx
13. Der Kommisar - After the Fire
14. Suddenly Last Summer - The Motels
15. Karma Chameleon - Culture Club
16. Let's Go to Bed - The Cure
17. Too Shy - Kajagoogoo
18. Maniac - Michael Sembello
19. Sister Christian - Night Ranger
20. C** on Feel the Noize - Quiet Riot

DISC 5:
1. Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes
2. Mr. Roboto - Styx
3. I'm So Excited - The Pointer Sisters
4. Back on the Chain Gang - Pretenders
5. I Want to Know What Love Is - Foreigner
6. Sunglasses at Night - Corey Hart
7. Missing You - John Waite
8. 99 Luftballons - Nena
9. Tenderness - General Public
10. They Don't Know - Tracey Ullman
11. Heaven - Bryan Adams
12. White Horse - Laid Back
13. Let the Music Play - Shannon
14. Let's Hear It for the Boy - Deniece Williams
15. Cool It Now - New Edition
16. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker, Jr.
17. Footloose - Kenny Loggins
18. We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister
19. Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions
20. Glamorous Life, The - Sheila E.

DISC 6:
1. Obsession - Animotion
2. Shout - Tears for Fears
3. Take on Me - a-ha
4. Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
5. Walking on Sunshine - Katrina & the Waves
6. Voices Carry - 'Til Tuesday
7. Weird Science - Oingo Boingo
8. You Spin Me 'Round (Like a Record) - Dead or Alive
9. "Miami Vice" Theme - Jan Hammer
10. Life in a Northern Town - The Dream Academy
11. Kyrie - Mr. Mister
12. Every Time You Go Away - Paul Young
13. We Built This City - Starship
14. St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) - John Parr
15. Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
16. Axel F - Harold Faltermeyer
17. Rhythm of the Night - DeBarge
18. You Look Marvelous - Billy Crystal
19. Heartbeat - Don Johnson
20. Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung

DISC 7:
1. Venus - Bananarama
2. Walk Like an Egyptian - Bangles
3. Paranoia - Max Headroom/The Art of Noise
4. If You Leave - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
5. Keep Your Hands to Yourself - The Georgia Satellites
6. What You Need - INXS
7. Walk This Way - Run-D.M.C.
8. Rumors - Timex Social Club
9. Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
10. Holding Back the Years - Simply Red
11. I'll Be Loving You (Forever) - New Kids on the Block
12. Tuff Enuff - The Fabulous Thunderbirds
13. Since You've Been Gone - The Outfield
14. Only in My Dreams - Debbie Gibson
15. Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
16. Bamba, La - Los Lobos
17. Wild, Wild West - The Escape Club
18. Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin
19. Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx
20. Roam - The B-52's

Details
Distributor:	WEA (Distributor)
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
LIKE OMIGOD! THE 80'S POP CULTURE [BOX] includes an 86 page booklet.Compilation producers: David McLees, Bill Inglot, Gordon Skene.Includes liner notes by Dan Epstein and Jamie Malanowski.All tracks have been digitally remastered.LIKE OMIGOD! was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards For Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package.Adapter: Ritchie Valens.Audio Remasterers: Dave Schultz; Dan Hersch; Ken Perry; Bill Inglot.Liner Note Author: Dan Epstein.Directors: Clive Langer; Alan Winstanley.Unknown Contributor Role: Mr. Fresh.Arranger: Ritchie Valens.Rock criticism has two schools of thought regarding the '80s. One complains that it was all crass, commercial crap, breathing a sigh of relief that we made it through that dreck (thanks to IRS, SST, jangle pop, college rock, and hardcore punk, of course). The other celebrates the album as "cheesy" fun, full of naïve, silly singles; bad haircuts; big synthesizers. It's a school intent on reducing it all as nostalgic fodder -- and whenever '80s music is written about in this fashion, it's always given ironic adjectives, straight out of the height of valley girl speak. All this ghettoizes an era in pop music that was rich in innovation, great one-hit wonders, oddities, and inexplicable flukes that make it a wonderful cross between the first days of the British Invasion and the peak of AM pop in the early '70s. It was the last great era for pop singles -- the last time that singles really mattered, the last time that something totally unexpected could capture the minds of the public, before radio consolidation meant hits couldn't build in a region, before MTV turned to non-music programming and cut off a national outlet for new music. Like, Omigod! It's the '80s Pop Culture Box (Totally) captures that era pretty well. Even if it occasionally succumbs to treating the decade's music as if it was nothing but silly ephemera (which, granted, some of it was -- but it was catchy, well-made silly ephemera), it does do a couple of things right: Namely, it relies on new wave, yet tempers it with soul, hip-hop, hard rock, and soft rock, while realizing that the prime period of the '80s was before 1985, and that the one-hit-wonders and spirit of new wave faded away after that. This box spends about five-and-a-half of its seven discs on that era, with the remaining disc-and-a-half having about a disc's worth of 1986-era hits before quickly wrapping it up as we approach the first Bush era and the height of superstar MTV (the years when only the big guys -- whether it was Michael Jackson, Madonna, Aerosmith, Don Henley, or Steve Winwood -- ruled the prime time MTV airwaves, and the network no longer had to rely on interesting, primarily British, oddities to fill time). That's a good thing, because that was the best time for pop music in the '80s, and this captures much of the giddy feel of that time. The main problem with the box is that its sheer size gives the impression that it's more definitive than it really is. Forget the complaints that there's nothing from critical favorites and heavy-hitters like Elvis Costello, Hüsker Dü, Joy Division, R.E.M., U2, Prince, Madonna, Springsteen, etc.; the real crime is that there are numerous great, definitive one-hit wonders and fluke breakthroughs by cult favorites missing. Dan Hartman's "I Can Dream About You," as good as any single released in the '80s, isn't here; there's nothing from Adam & the Ants, XTC, or the Violent Femmes; "Warm Leatherette" isn't here, nor is M's "Pop Muzik," "88 Lines about 44 Women," or "I Don't Like Mondays"; there's not a single from Squeeze, Split Enz, or the Jam; no "Someday, Someway," no "Mexican Radio," no "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades"; no "I Know What Boys Like" or "I Melt With You"; Peter Wolf's "Lights Out," never present on any '80s hits collection, isn't here; "The Safety Dance" is missing; no Flock of Seagulls or Baltimora. It's hard not to miss any of the above, once ...

Editorial Reviews
3 stars out of 5 - ...replete with one-hit wonders....A must-own...
Rolling Stone (20020919)