Spandau Ballet Best of (1991)

Best of Naked Eyes offers 15 tracks of the synth pop duo's best moments from their two U.S. albums, 1983's Naked Eyes and 1984's Burning Bridges. The collection is surpassed by the more extensive Very Best Of from 1994, but is notable for the inclusion of one track, "Could Be," which the second collection excluded.

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.

With hype building behind a clutch of successful singles, London quartet Then Jerico made its full-length debut in 1987 with the grandiosely titled First (The Sound of Music). The album, mostly produced by Owen Davies, actually featured a sound common in the mid- to late '80s: massive backbeats married to the big guitars that had come back into vogue. Atop it all sat the impassioned, warbling vocals of Mark Shaw, whose haircut and cheekbones made him a strong contender for the U.K.'s leading pinup of the moment. But the group wanted to be seen as a band – and taken seriously – and First wasn't about to turn into any crass chart cash in.

Even before the first KuschelRock album, Kuschelrock was named as a weekly nightly music program for HR3 radio station (HR3 broadcasts from Frankfurt, Germany), the author and host of this project was Thomas Koschwitz, who is considered to be the co-author of a number of albums in Kazle … After Sony Music patented the right to release a series of albums called "KuschelRock", the HR3 radio station can no longer air this night music show … And now Sony Music regularly releases every year on the album …

The second – and, as far as most listeners were concerned, final – album from London's Then Jerico stands as the group's defining moment, containing their biggest hit (the rousing, synth-rocking title track) and best presentation, courtesy of former Roxy Music producer Rhett Davies. His polished, sweeping soundscapes match the band's anthemic songwriting well, even if they do remove some of the live excitement that was also a staple of Then Jerico's appeal. The highs here are higher than on First (The Sound of Music), as singer Mark Shaw turns "Sugar Box" into the sort of epic ballad that eluded him previously, and overall is much less mannered than on the band's debut.

This smoky-voiced singer/songwriter, whose sophisticated jazz-pop songs and dramatic vocal delivery place him somewhere between Bryan Ferry and Morrissey, hits his peak with the driving "Everything's Coming up Roses" (not the Jule Styne song).