My 80s Playlist: Owen Paul chooses his favourite 80s tracks from U2 to Simple Minds

Virgin Radio

24 Mar 2023, 10:42

Scottish singer Owen Paul knows a thing or two about what makes a great 80s hit. 

He dominated the charts with his 1986 hit single, My Favourite Waste of Time, which landed at number 3 in the UK. It was followed up by Pleased to Meet You and One World in the same year. 

He’s worked with some of the decade’s biggest names, including Carol Decker from T’pau, The Fizz’s Cheryl Baker and fellow Scots Simple Minds. 

While at the Top of the Tower at Virgin Radio 80s Plus, Owen ran through his favourite tracks of the decade for My 80s Playlist with host Steve Denyer, and went through why these 10 tracks mean so much to him. 

U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name

U2 opened up their seminal 1987 album The Joshua Tree with Where The Streets Have No Name. 

It was a top five hit in the UK, and bagged the Irish band a Grammy Award for their iconic Los Angeles rooftop music video. 

Owen had previously discovered a fledgling U2 while visiting a pub in London in 1981, and knew instantly they would be a huge success.

On this particular hit single, the singer said: “I just think this is the best band in the world being the best band in the world at that exact moment. Then you see the video, you can tell as well. You see it live, you can tell as well. But it was no different to the band that I'd seen in the little pub. I'm not joking, there was like, maybe 12 people, in total that day, and I was one of them.”

Grace Jones - Slave To The Rhythm 

1985 R&B anthem Slave to the Rhythm by Grace Jones was released in 1985, and became one of her most successful singles, often being considered one of her signature songs. 

The track was originally intended for Frankie Goes to Hollywood, but was soon handed over to Jones, who then incorporated eight different versions of the same song on the album of the same name. 

Owen added: “It’s the most beautifully recorded thing. It could 100% [be in the charts today]. This record is so good, that they…made a whole album of the one song, and rightly so because it’s the most incredible track of an audio thing.”

Chesney Hawkes - The One and Only

Chesney Hawkes launched his career with his massive debut single, The One and Only, which topped the charts for five weeks in 1991. 

It became Chesney’s biggest hit, and while chatting to host Steve, Owen revealed that they both get mistaken for each other when spotted by fans. 

He explained: “We know each other well and we meet backstage at different festivals and things. I remember saying to him, ‘what's odd is that when people meet me, they go ‘didn’t you sing The One and Only?’ And then he was saying to me that he meets people who say to him, ‘are you the guy saying My Favourite Waste of Time?’”

New Radicals - You Get What You Give 

Stepping slightly outside the 80s, American alt-rock band New Radicals burst onto the scene with their 1998 debut You Get What You Give, which was a top five hit in the UK. 

For Owen, who admitted he’s often “embarrassed” by the ‘one-hit-wonder label, he considers this track by the New Radicals to be the ultimate example of the perfect one-time hit. 

Owen shared: “The intro’s brilliant. It even does that old rock and roll 1,2,3,4 the Bruce Springsteen style shouting. He gets a swear word in that as well and it's a brilliant chorus. It’s got brilliant guitars…that comes out of nowhere then it comes down again. Then you never heard of them after that. They are the ultimate one hit wonder.”

Simple Minds - Theme From Great Cities

Owen has a particularly close connection with Simple Minds, having attended school with members Charles Burchill, Derek Forbes, Brian McGee, Michael MacNeil and Jim Kerr. 

As part of the 1981 album Themes For Great Cities, Owen described the moment the track came to be, telling host Steve: “Jim used to say to me, when Brian, Derek, Mike and Charlie would jam for house on end when he wasn’t around, they’d record the thing on a cassette and say ‘here you go’. 

“What I really admire about Jim is that when these guys in the band give him this track, he said, ‘I ain't singing on that, that is perfect.’”

Propaganda - Duel

German pop band Propaganda released their most successful UK single, Duel, in 1985, as part of their debut album, A Secret Wish. 

Off the back of the song’s success, Propaganda made their one and only Top of the Pops performance. 

While a pop track, Owen admitted Duel is about “quite a dark subject.” He added: “I remember Paul Weller saying ‘it's all very well having a meaningful subject, but if it's not memorable, you're talking in the wind.’ That's a great example of something that's quite a serious subject, quite dark, but it's got the majesticness of a brilliant pop record.”

A-ha - Living Daylights 

Norwegian hitmakers A-ha recorded The Living Daylights for the 1987 James Bond movie of the same name. 

It shot up to number one in their native Norway, and number five in the UK, and for Owen, it’s one of the more “Bond-y” tunes to come out of the 80s. 

He said: “The artists, whoever it may be, can do whatever kind of song they want. But then John Barry who wrote the original [Bond theme] and his estate got involved and put a bit of John Berry in it.”

Nik Kershaw - The Riddle 

Singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw released The Riddle in 1984, and reached the top five of the UK singles charts. 

While he kept fans guessing with this Alice in Wonderland-inspired music video, Nik admitted there was no ‘riddle’ to the song, but rather the “ramblings of an 80s popstar.”

Nik is part of the school of 80s hitmakers who often come together for nostalgic 80s festival gigs, as Owen explained: “Kershaw, Howard Jones, Midge Ure, Tony Hadley…brilliant people. Now the record company thing is gone…We don't have that anymore. Now, our children come backstage, I get to meet their children. We talk about family things. Then we just go on stage for half an hour. 25,000 people are singing with us. We're having a great time.”

Blue Nile - The Downtown Lights

Owen then picked another Scotland export, The Blue Nile, and their 1989 track, The Downtown Nights. 

It remained on the UK charts for three weeks and was a favourite on MTV’s rotation, and for Owen, it’s another example of a perfect 80s track. 

He said: “I just think his vocal is incredible. I think it's got that mood and that emotion, something is going on. This is not just a bunch of words and a tune, something else is going on. It’s just majestic.”

David Bowie - Heroes

This final tune was actually a 70s hit, but didn’t make it big until it landed in the 80s. 

Always ahead of his time, David Bowie recorded Heroes in 1977, but it didn’t become a true classic until he performed it at 1985 charity concert Live Aid. 

Owen believed the song was a hit from the get-go, adding: “It’s only the greatest record ever made. It’s beautifully pieced together. When he did it at Live Aid, it changed his life and his career. But that record had been around since 1977. It’s got one of my heroes who produced it called Brian Eno. And it's just a cacophony of rackety-racketness, and a wonderful singer, like virtually dying as he's given it to you to tell you the tale.”

You can listen to Virgin Radio 80 Plus HERE. You can also listen on DAB+ in London and Central Scotland and on smart speakers across the UK, as well as via the Virgin Radio UK app.