Laurent Voulzy - Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde

What's not to like about a bespectacled French Prince-wannabe singing about "nights without Kim Wilde"?

Strawberry Switchblade - Jolene

The sound of an interesting and original group being forced by their record company into doing a novelty cover version. Oh dear.

Cock Robin - The Promise You Made

I was suddenly reminded of this when I accidentally stumbled across a dodgy Eurodance version of the song. The original is, of course, infinitely better and reminds me of the summer of 1986 when it seemed to be climbing the charts at a rate of one position a week for most of the summer, eventually settling at number 28.

For those of you with a strong stomach, here is the dance version by Kate Ryan:

The Big Dish - European Rain

Some classy pop from the late '80s. This lot had one top forty hit with Miss America in 1991 taken from their album Satellites. Satellites - Big Dish - do you see? Oh well.

Bardo - One Step Further

From the days when the UK used to score points at Eurovision (don't get me started on that one), here's a clear case of a song which really should have won it for us but somehow didn't. Christ knows what's going on in the video.

Tears For Fears - The Way You Are

Tears For Fears appear to have disowned this single - it came out in 1983 between The Hurting and Songs For The Big Chair but doesn't appear on either, nor does it show up on their greatest hits album.

Swimming With Sharks - Careless Love

Apparently this lot are very big in Germany, where they were called "Humpe & Humpe". When the single was released in the UK the band was renamed "Swimming With Sharks", which was also the title of their album. It still wasn't a hit.

Duranduran - Do You Believe In Shame?

A minor hit from that strange late '80s period when the band was a trio and the band's name was all one word.

Cocteau Twins - Pearly Dewdrops Drops

The first chart success for Grangemouth's finest export (except for petrol from the BP refinery)...

The Farmers Boys - Phew Wow

How did such a handsome bunch of guys never manage to have a hit?

Robbie Nevil - Dominoes

Great song, but get a haircut!

The Cross - Heaven For Everyone

This lost '80s classic would probably have remained lost if The Cross's frontman Roger Taylor hadn't got his old mate Freddie Mercury to record a version of the song. The version with Freddie's vocals turned up on The Cross's album Shove It and was later recycled into a Queen single. This is The Cross's single version with Roger Taylor on vocals.

Drum Theatre - Eldorado

Have you got anything a bit more '80s?

Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat

Yes, there was always more to Stan Ridgway than novelty songs about ghost soldiers...

Terry, Blair & Anouchka - Missing

A modern blues from Terry Hall - ex-Specials, ex-Fun Boy Three, ex-Colour Field and then solo artist!

The video for the follow-up single Ultra Modern Nursery Rhyme is here - it's from 1990 so not strictly a forgotten '80s classic, but it's another great song and the video has Jerry Sadowitz in it...

The Blow Monkeys - This Is Your Life

This is the original 1988 version, not the pointless dance remix which inexplicably was a much bigger hit the following year.

Wham! - Where Did Your Heart Go?

Well, I never knew there was a video for this, the D-side of Wham!'s farewell double single The Edge Of Heaven. Unfortunately Sony BMG have decided that it's far too dangerous to allow anyone to embed this video anywhere, which kind of begs the question why did they put it on YouTube in the first place? Anyway, to see it, click here...

New Order - Thieves Like Us

Totally live on Top Of The Pops in May 1984, in the days when everyone had to lip sync. This video also contains Mike Read; sorry about that.

Thomas Dolby - Dissidents

The mad scientist of synthpop with another mysteriously unsuccessful single...

Stephen Duffy - I Love You

Somewhere between the sampler frenzy of Kiss Me and his later, gentler work with The Lilac Time... how he came to be writing an album with Robbie Williams is still a mystery.