Tom Tom Club - (You Don't Ever Stop) Wordy Rappinghood (Island, 1981)

Lovely dubbed-out version.

Totally unclassifiable slice of alternative dancefloor joy. This b-side dub version let's the groove breathe, adding refractions of the keyboard squiggles, backing vocals and the chikka-chikka guitar to stunning effect.

Download Tom Tom Club '(You Don't Ever Stop) Wordy Rappinghood' (mp3) (Divshare)

Aztec Camera - Lost Outside The Tunnel (Postcard Version) (Postcard, 1980)

Bossa Nova version of the song that eventually graced 'High Land, Hard Rain'.

At first I thought this was a drum machine demo but it's just that the drums are incredibly tight at the start of this version recorded for the b-side of Aztec Camera's debut 7" on Postcard.

A giddy, Romantic swirl, 'Lost Outside The Tunnel' is Roddy Frame at his most melodramatic. A sizzling Latin rhythm is augmented with bouncy bass, lashings of Spanish guitar and Frame's impassioned croon.

Download Aztec Camera 'Lost Outside The Tunnel (Postcard Version)' (Postcard, indie, pop, mp3) (Box.net)

Talking Heads 'Once In A Lifetime (Same As It Never Was) (Liquid People Dub)' (White Label, 2001)

Classic Talking Heads re-rubbed for the discerning dancefloor.

This take on on of Talking Heads' finest moments builds on the perpetual motion of the original with heavy filtering on the vocals, a nice repetitive 'blip', a lithe deep house rhythm.

Top piece of remix business.

Download Talking Heads 'Once In A Lifetime (Same As It Never Was) (Liquid People Dub)' (post punk, alternative, remix, mp3) (Mediafire)

Squeeze 'Vanity Fair' (A&M, 1981)

Perhaps better known for their geezer-ish tales of drink, failed romance and fashionable cats, Squeeze should be hailed more for the exquisite observation of Chris Difford's lyrics and Glenn Tilbrook's bittersweet melodies.

'Vanity Fair' is a elegantly wrought baroque pop vignette from what I think is their best album - 'East Side Story' - recorded just as they hit their peak of 'the new Lennon & McCartney' fame and produced by Elvis Costello.

The song introduces itself with a mournful cello line, the rest of orchestral palette being used sparingly but effectively to illustrate the unfortunate tale of an attractive but ultimately abused and unappreciated young girl. It's so beautifully under-stated but has a gorgeous sweep, perfectly executed and ending with a swell of strings.

Download Squeeze 'Vanity Fair' (mp3) (Rapidshare)

Eurythmics 'Take Me To Your Heart' (RCA, 1981)

Having first encountered Eurythmics via their glacial synth-pop, this album came as something of a discontinuity. Firstly, it was a surprise that there was an album before 'Sweet Dreams'. Moreover, it was a shock that it sounded like this - an album obviously inspired and indebted to the masters of German progressive, Kosmische or 'Kraut' rock (call it what you will). Not that I knew what any of that was until long after I first heard this album.

'In The Garden' was produced by Conny Plank in Cologne and features a plethora of notable German guest musicians - Can's Jaki Liebzeit (drums) and Holger Czukay (french horn), DAF's Robert Gorl (drums) and Marcus Stockhausen (horn, brass). It's a rhythm-heavy album but still song-based, though a long way from the sleek pop that made them famous.

'Take Me To Your Heart' enters on a plodding, simplistic bass line with subtle, clipped drums finding and creating space, letting the bass dominate. Occasional ripples of synth strings, harpsichord and guitar frills the sound but nothing gets in the way of the steady but unrelenting motion of the rhythm.

The vocal comes in clear and quite passionless, creating a mood of zoned-out reflection. The locked-groove is Can-like in construction, rolling on through the song, slowly pulsing onwards, unchanging.

Beautifully hypnotic.

Download Eurythmics 'Take Me To Your Heart' (mp3) (Rapidshare)