Shattered (1991)

If The Human Menagerie, Cockney Rebel's debut album, was a journey into the bowels of decadent cabaret, The Psychomodo, their second, is like a trip to the circus. Except the clowns were more sickly perverted than clowns normally are, and the fun house was filled with rattlesnakes and spiders. Such twists on innocent childhood imagery have transfixed authors from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, but Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel were the first band to set that same dread to music, and the only ones to make it work. The Psychomodo was also the band's breakthrough album. The Human Menagerie drew wild reviews and curious sales, but it existed as a cult album even after "Judy Teen" swung out of nowhere to give the band a hit single in spring 1974. Then "Mr Soft" rode his bloodied big top themes into town and Rebelmania erupted. The Psychomodo, still possessing one of the most elegantly threatening jackets of any album ever, had no alternative but to clean up. Harley's themes remained essentially the same as last time out – fey, fractured alienation; studied, splintered melancholia, and shattered shards of imagery which mean more in the mind than they ever could on paper.

Although they surely qualify as one of England's most successful thrash metal bands, Lancashire's hapless Xentrix ultimately came to epitomize all of Great Britain's relatively insignificant contributions to speed metal – as compared to the genre's utterly dominating American bands. Formed in 1986 (as Sweet Vengeance, in the town of Preston) by vocalist/guitarist Chris Astley, guitarist Kristian Havard, bassist Paul MacKenzie, and drummer Dennis Gasser, Xentrix started life, not surprisingly, as a Metallica cover band, gradually drawing attention to themselves on the U.K. pub circuit and with their 1988 demo, Hunger For…. Fledgling Roadrunner Records soon took notice and signed the band, releasing their debut album, Shattered Existence, in 1989, and, later that year, the now infamous Ghost Buster EP…

This very special 31-disc CD singles collection celebrates the legacy and phenomenal chart success of the Stock Aitken Waterman songwriting and production team, who provided the pop soundtrack of the late 80s. Released to mark 30 years since their first UK number one with Dead Or Alive’s You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), this is the first-ever box set devoted to the hitmaking partnership of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman and tells their whole story by bringing together 31 classic releases from 31 different artists.

This very special 31-disc CD singles collection celebrates the legacy and phenomenal chart success of the Stock Aitken Waterman songwriting and production team, who provided the pop soundtrack of the late 80s. Released to mark 30 years since their first UK number one with Dead Or Alive’s You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), this is the first-ever box set devoted to the hitmaking partnership of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman and tells their whole story by bringing together 31 classic releases from 31 different artists.

The British trio Johnny Hates Jazz had Spandau Ballet's striking attire, clean-cut looks, and knack for smooth, glossy pop songs that were more soulful than the critics gave them credit for. Unfortunately, like Spandau Ballet Johnny Hates Jazz were stigmatized in the U.S. by an omnipresent hit that burned out interest in the group before the rest of their discography had the chance to be heard. Johnny Hates Jazz was formed in 1986 by Clark Datchler (vocals, piano), Calvin Hayes (keyboards), and Mike Nocito (bass). Named after a friend who despised jazz, Johnny Hates Jazz released their first single, "Me and My Foolish Heart," on RAK Records that year. The band searched for a major-label deal, and they were signed by Virgin Records after a gig at, ironically enough, a jazz club near the end of 1986.