That's because she was only 5 when the record came out, we need someone presenting the show who was actually 'there' a la Brian Matthews (SOT60's) and Johnny Walker (SOT70's).

Not some R1 reject who needed a cozy niche at Radio 2. SOTE's could be so much better with the right presenter, Cox would be better for Sound's Of The 90's.

Totally agree. Wish they would get a better presenter for SOTE's.

On air.

I wish she'd drop all these 12 inchers, singles are far better. There's only one 12" I like, Hard Times/Love Action, and that's because it's just two sevens in a row.

Rich Tea, when you join the party... read your PM's

Ahhh - a bit of Dave Gahan...

One of their best!

Ahhh- I was in Year 1 at secondary school when Howard Jones and Nik Kershaw were in the charts. Wasn't both WOuldn't It Be Good and What Is Love on Now 1 or Now 2?

Indeed. When she read out the opening lines of ELO's 'The Way Life's Meant To Be' from the fabulous Time album she didn't know that it was a lyric.

Come on Sara, you should be better than that and the information given on Prince's Raspberry Beret you could so tell she was reading that straight from the script.

Aaaand Diane Warren gets another chunk fo PRS cash for a Whitney classic..

I have to agree with you Keicar, as I've been listening tonight I've been beginning to think she sounds a bit vague and almost coasting rather than sounding like the 80's music really interests her and she's really into it. Most of the presentation has been pre-prepared by the production crew on the show and she's effectively just reading notes done for her much of the time and it shows clearly. No genuine first hand input on any meaningful level really.

Nice to hear ELO's Here Is The News. Should have played the other side of this double A sided hit too, Ticket To The Moon, one of their best. First line "Remember the good old 1980's". Missed a trick there on a show like this.


My nan bought me Everything Counts by Depeche Mode in the summer holidays of 1983 when I was 14. When I got back to their home and played it even my almost 80 year old grandad at the time liked it. Sara mentioned yuppie's but I thought that term was later in the 80's. Was it a term even heard of in 1983?

In the States initially - then entered British parlance in about 1984-5.

Ah, Ticket To The Moon is getting a rightful play! Shocking it was such a minor hit.

As for Everything Counts being written about "Yuppies" then clearly not, directly as in that phrase at least.

Yes what we seem to get is a fanciful view of the 80's, all shoulder pads and Rubik Cubes.

Everything Counts was actually about corperate greed, who writes this stuff?

As far as I'm concerned the UK was only just coming out of recession in 1983 and I consider the term Yuppie very much as a late 80's thing, 86 onwards. Even the most famous episode of Only Fools and Horses 'Yuppie Love' (falling through bar) didn't hit our screens until 1989.

But as stated Sara wouldn't really know and is reading from a script, or even Wikipedia because she wasn't 'there'

Certainly all that "greed is good" stuff was not evident around the time of Thatcher's 1983 election win, but became very much a feature by the time off her 1987 election win. There is a big difference in those 4 short years through the 80's. Many of the privatisations had taken place in the meantime and the big bang on the stock exchange all within that period. Not forgetting Harry Enfield's now iconic take on the era with Loadsamoney in 1988. In 1983 the country was still creeping out of the doldrums economy wise and none of that brash 80's swagger was yet apparent until well past the mid point of the decade.

Not one of my fave ELO tracks, but Hear Is The News certainly is.

I've felt from the off that this was more about getting Sara Cox onto R2 than doing a proper 80s show. I'd still like to hear Janice Long or David Jensen present it, people with some experience of being around 80s music and artists.

Jensen is probably a bit too old, if they wanted to keep the Saturday night party vibe one of the younger generation of 80's jocks like Pat Sharp, Gary Davies, Bruno Brooks, Steve Wright or even Mike Read would have been a far better call than Cox who didn't arrive at Radio 1 until 1999!

I have to agree with the above 2 posts. The best kind of presenter for a show like Sounds Of The 80's would actually have been somebody who you immediately recognised as 80's themselves. Even the ex Radio 1 DJ Mike Smith would be better. In my mind he is slotted into a very 80's era and no other. Sara Cox just doesn't press any of the buttons, and 5 months into the show is a reasonable time to finally cast a judgement. There is no real depth to her presentation, and it suddenly hit me over the past couple of weeks. It's a listenable show but could be so much better and the shortcomings from the presenter are glaring. How much better would it be to have a presenter who could add their own personal 80's anecdotes and didn't rely on simply reading notes from a screen or piece of paper prepared by somebody else.

Infact having watched an edition of that iconic 80's show Treasure Hunt last night from 1983, and knowing she is on the Radio 2 roster already, I think Anneka Rice should be the presenter of Sounds Of The 80's!

You mention Anneka Rice and Mike Smith, there is a connection remember CBTV on ITV circa 1981? They were both presenters, twas a sort of Magpie for the 80's

http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?p=4162

If it's an '80s party' then they might as well carry on with Sara Cox. I'd prefer a show that does for the 80s what Brian Matthew does for the 60s and delves a bit deeper. Jensen's totally associated with the 80s for me, championing New Wave music through his Radio 1 show, but also the poppier stuff through the Network Chart, and being the host of the Roxy and Razzmatazz on ITV. He interviewed the acts at the time. Alternatively, they should scrap the pretence and just have Sara Cox's Saturday Night Party, but then I suppose they couldn't pretend that was a specialist show.

I have never ever heard of this show. One of those that somehow slipped right under the radar un-noticed.

On air.

I thought I might find you skulking around these parts at this time Al.

I'm coming to it a few minutes late, shortly.

Wham, Duran Duran, Alison Moyet - could be an OK one..