Electric surrender

There's something gentlemanly about giving a longtime backup singer her moment in the sun. Say what you will about the power dynamics of patriarchal largess, but David Bowie did sidewoman Robin Clark a pretty nice solid when he put some celebrity muscle behind her effort as a frontwoman. As you might expect, the results are mixed, but then again her moment happened to fall in the mid-'80s. And it doesn't get much more 1985 than this. Not very healthy, but full of addictive additives.

Robin Clark — Surrender

No give up

Feelin' the sting of the NYC real estate hustle. The best medicine is a tune like this. Sends me to the imaginary world of $50-a-month lofts and a city that would keep finding reasons for me to see very little of home.

Claudia - Don't Give Up (Your Love)

Burn the feel

There's a part of my head where it's always 1982 and electrofunk soundtracks moments both great and small. This tune represents a few characteristic minutes in that world. Sure it's a party jam, but I can't help but find the music moving. Which is weird, I admit. As for the upper case "k"s in the middle of her name...you got me.

JaKKi - Got Me Burnin' Up

Express train

It really is a shame that many people default to the '70s when they think about funky music. More often than not, it's the taut, mechanical bounce of '80s grooves that puts the silly looks on my face. And that's before we even get to those heavenly pitch bends and break dance magic. Here's a track that suffers from none of the dubious authenticity of yesterday's. A hot chestnut from days of block parties past. Also a total short-lister for my wedding dance party soundtrack.

D Train - You're The One For Me

Digital love/like

I'm no vinyl snob, but it just seems right to enjoy bands like Shalamar on turntables every bit as much as crackly Bix Beiderbecke records. Of course, with the former, you really shouldn't have to shell out more than the price of a hot dog for the pleasure. To that end, I was pleased as pie to find Shalamar's Friends album in a flea market dollar bin a while back. It lives happily in my living room alongside similarly beat-up—but now much-loved—musical orphans. But I'm a modern guy and I recognize the importance of having a healthy breadth of strut soundtracking options when you're out and about. Pops and crackles or no, I'll take the tradeoff. Give this hot little number a listen, and I trust you will agree.

Shalamar - Don't Try To Change Me

Lifted by love in coal country

Here's another revelation from the road. Despite the fact that 'We Are The World' was my first musical purchase, I'd never really gotten into Lionel Ritchie, much less gone back to The Commodores. Maybe it had something to do with the mullet overload in the 'Dancing On The Ceiling' video. Terrible oversight in retrospect, but I guess context is everything.

This jam came on the stereo while we were driving on the Big Ben Bowen Highway in West Virginia, which was an excellent mismatch. Then we almost got killed by a deer running across the road. I suppose you could do worse than shuffle off to this song.

The Commodores - Lady (You Bring Me Up)

How to walk when it's goodbye

When you title your album Ladies of the Eighties, you're betting on a certain amount of staying power. You probably think you're destined to thread yourself deep into the fabric of your time. I love the optimism, and if you've got the chops, why shouldn't you step proud? Especially when it's so early in the decade, before the paint has dried. As it turned out, the '80s had other plans. And the paint pretty much dried overtop these particular ladies. Maybe that's why I love this period of pop R&B so much, much as I do many things that have been shown precious little love by posterity. In my imaginary movie, this is the song that soundtracks the scene right after the breakup, with the shoulder-padded heroine striding decisively down Broadway and not looking back. Take a walk with this on your headphones and tell me you don't know just how she feels.

A Taste of Honey - Sayonara