1. Heaven 17 - The Luxury Gap

Energetic, melodic and austere pop. Looking back through a comp, the best songs are from this album. Come Live With Me, Let Me Go and Crushed by the Wheels of Industry are heavenly pristine.

2. ABC - How to be a Zillionaire

Brilliant synth horn stabs make this the synthpop equivalent of a James Bond soundtrack. Dancey as well.

3. Blancmange - Happy Families

Tense and terse, this is the epitome of all synthpop zeniths. Also sticks in my mind since I copied the cover for my art class and was highly praised for plagiarism.

4. Human League - Dare

Captures all the essence of a 12-year old boy's dreams. Love, travel, BBC television and Judge Dredd.

5. Duran Duran - Duran Duran

Everything sounded so fresh back then.

6. Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark - Dazzle Ships

Pretty nifty tribute to Kraftwerk's Radioactive. Musique Concrete at its best.

7. Yello - You've Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess

Multi-timbral polyrhythms. What more could you ask for? How about some surrealism?

8. Depeche Mode - Black Celebration

Catchy as hell, despite the solemn lyrics. Hated everything they put out after this.

9. Thomas Dolby - The Flat Earth

Not so much pop as orchestral jazzy sweeps. Redolent with atmosphere.

10. Soft Cell - The Art of Falling Apart

My cassette copy misses the Hendrix covers. But a pretty good summation of their career at the end. "Do you use their bodies like cigarettes? Do you use them for ego? Do you use them for sex?"