I Want My 80's Box (Dig) [Box set]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 17, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Hip-O Records
• ASIN: B00005LZVD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,887 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #49 in Music > Pop > By Decade > 1980s

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles

2. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? - Culture Club

3. Steppin' Out - Joe Jackson

4. 867-5309 / Jenny - Tommy Tutone

5. Rapture - Blondie

6. You Dropped A Bomb On Me - Gap Band

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar

2. Cuts Like A Knife - Bryan Adams

3. Sweet Dreams - Eurythmics

4. Take On Me - A-Ha

5. Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood

6. One Thing Leads To Another - The Fixx

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears

2. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel

3. She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals

4. Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung

5. Walk This Way - Run DMC

6. Addicted To Love - Robert Palmer

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

God bless punk and new wave. Without them, '80s pop music might well have ended up as vapid and ghettoized as, well, pop music of the '90s. Those late '70s movements were frankly reactionary at heart (seeking to counter what was perceived as the overwrought tendencies of rock's prog and hard-rock elite and calling for a return to the diverse energy of '60s Top 40), but their influences can be felt on nearly every cut of this triple-disc hits anthology, from the Buggles' all-too-prophetic "Video Killed the Radio Star" to the nouveau funk of Kool and the Gang, the Dazz Band, and the Gap Band, to the nascent big-hairdom of Night Ranger ("Sister Christian") and Whitesnake. If you're looking for the roots of alternative rock or obscure college playlist fodder, look elsewhere; this is prime-time '80s pop chart glory, as seen on MTV (over and over and over). Though the songs here cover a breadth of style and genre (if not necessarily substance), there's a remarkable unity of purpose and hook-laden musical accomplishment that's sorely missed. If this collection woefully shortchanges hip-hop, it still underscores a distinctly irony-free era where style admittedly triumphed over substance, as opposed to the '90s, where style caricatured substance. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars essential, September 16, 2005

By 

M. Montgomery - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I Want My 80's Box (Dig) (Audio CD)

I mix 80s dance music and the number of times when mixing that I find myself reaching for either this compilation or its companion, "Hit Me With Your 80s Box," is extraordinary. These are two outstanding collections. They are pricey, but worth every penny. For many people, owning these two will be all the 80s music you'll ever need.

Fidelity is outstanding, the tracks are well organized more or less chronologically, and the sequences in which tracks are placed is excellent. The "box" itself in which the 3 CDs come is sturdy, it is easily folded out in part or in whole to access any of the CDs quickly and easily (unlike many multi-CD offerings). Liner notes are extensive and interesting.

This offering is a class act all the way. Highly, highly recommended. 7 stars.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music I grew up with..., March 30, 2002

By 

Chris Letempt (Marietta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Want My 80's Box (Dig) (Audio CD)

There is not a bad song in this set. It is full of wonderful, classic music from the 80's and not to be missed. Ahh, the 80's. How I miss that time. At least now I can relive some of it with this music!

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overpriced overview, July 20, 2001

By 

Pat Kelly (Here, There & Everywhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Want My 80's Box (Dig) (Audio CD)

Goodness knows there are enough 80's compilation CD's out there, and many cover exactly the same territory.

ROLE CALL! Culture Club, present. Blondie, present. Tears For Fears, present. Michael Jackson, absent. Soft Cell, present. Duran Duran, absent. Eurythmics, present. Frankie Goes to Hollywood, present. Cyndi Lauper, absent. Thomas Dolby, absent. Peter Gabriel, present. Madonna, absent. Kool & the Gang, present. Bryan Adams, present. New Kids on the Block, absent, but who cares? Not a bad turn out.

Given that there's under 50 tracks, there's a pretty good representation of the hits of the day, and even a few misses (Tempted, Oh Yeah, Weird Science) that have aged better than several high charted songs.

If somehow, by this point in your life, you've avoided buying these tracks separately, this is a good way to get them together for your next retro party. But you probably already have more than half of them or you wouldn't be reading this far. As such this may be more than you want to spend.

Check out Rhino's New Wave Dance Hits (Just Can't Get Enough) series for a lot more depth and a lot less repetition with your current collection.

Wonder who'll be included on the first 3-CD review of this decade...