70s & 80s

On February 4th 1977, after a year of recording through hedonism, scandal and relationship break-ups the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac released their eleventh studio album, Rumours.

The 4th Led Zeppelin album, untitled but commonly known as "Led Zeppelin IV" or "Four Symbols". Originally released in 1971 it became their biggest seller and one of the biggest selling albums of all-time.

Originally released on 21st October 1983, the recording of Soul Mining began in the spring of 1982, when the then 20-year old Matt Johnson, financed at this point by London Records, de-camped to New York to record 'Uncertain Smile' with producer Mike Thorne.

Lou Reed's second solo album Transformer is an album that everyone should own. 

Caught at the beginning of her career in 1985, Sade's cool vocals and exotic looks grabbed everyone's attention. But equally as important to Diamond Life's success was the velvet muscle of the band's accompaniment, a sinewy after-hours groove, laden with minimalist funk. Eight of the nine tracks are self-penned. Straddling R&B and pop, this album lays out the hooks and sultry allure that became Sade's soulful standard - intelligent and sexy at the same time.

Compiled by legendary producer Arthur Baker, ‘Breakers Revenge’ is a neardefinitive collection of original funk, soul, latin, disco and electro classic tracks from 1970 to 1984.

The definitive female singer songwriter album of the 70's 1971's Blue is just about as perfect as an album can be.

The DNA of Purple Rain can be felt throughout pop culture at large. It is a timeless body of work with an immortal resonance exemplified by smashes such as Let’s Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, Darling Nikki, the title track Purple Rain and more.

Steely Dan holds the title as one of the most quietly subversive pop bands of the 20th century. 

Love Is Overtaking Me contains 21 tracks recorded between 1974 and 1990. 

The album contains the singles The Sweetest Taboo, Never As Good As The First Time and Is It A Crime.

This was the last studio album to be recorded alongside the E Street Band until 2002's The Rising. Spawning two top five and two top twenty hits which were "Dancing In The Dark", "Cover Me", "Glory Days" and the double A-side "I'm On Fire" / "Born In The USA".

Songs of Faith and Devotion is the eighth studio album by Depeche Mode, originally released in March 1993 by Mute Records.

After the success of the dance hits Fame and Young Americans (both off 1975's Young Americans), Bowie seemed to step back, ponder the future of rock, and then turn up the guitars and the art-rock sensibilities and make a completely engaging and evocative album.

John Lennon's 1970 official solo debut is as remarkable for its startling contrast to the Beatles as it is for the passion and force of its songwriting.

The band’s breakthrough record It’s My Life saw the arrival of producer and multi-instrumentalist Tim Friese-Greene, who became a significant creative force in the band and an unofficial fourth member for the remainder of its existence.

New York's 1970s punk was markedly different to that of Britain. Rather than reject the past, American groups deconstructed its forms and rebuilt them with recourse to the music's strengths.

Recorded in 1970 with legendary producer steve rowland (Pretty Things, the Cure). Back in 1971, Coming from Reality was Rodriguez's last gasp, the follow-up to Cold Fact and the final album he was allowed to record for the Sussex label. 

A brand new collection that couples the new feature length documentary Music, Money, Madness . . .

It seems hard to believe, given the career full of revolutionary and hugely influential stylistic shifts that followed, that this superb record was only David Bowie's fourth.

Like an out-of-control firecracker, Iggy Pop has made his often erratic way through a musical career since the sixties, beginning with The Stooges; then a series of solo albums, and an ever-widening list of interesting collaborations with both major stars and unknowns.

The Album That Created A Superstar' - Originally released at the end of 1973, the double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was the crowning moment of an upward trajectory marking the unstoppable rise of Elton John.

Originally released in 1989 the album that spawned the hits She Drives Me Crazy, Good Thing and Ever Fallen In Love took the band to No.1 in the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and won the band two Brit Awards.

Until 1978, Blondie was perceived mostly as a '60s-referencing, British-invasion-meets-girl-groups band. 

Although The Smiths continued to improve over the course of their career, the songs here are vital and alive, making sure that their debut remains startling and exciting to this day

The Dreaming was the breakthrough album for Kate Bush. 

Newly remastered. Ultra rare 1969 private press psych-folk-rock masterpiece featuring the legendary Wrecking Crew (Beach Boys, Phil Spector).

2012 reissue with updated artwork

Songs Of A Lost World is the long-awaited new album from The Cure, their 14th studio release and their first in 16 years.

A beautiful time capsule of Eastern culture meets Western influence, where experimentation and intrigue produced a fusion of sounds that still sound as vibrant and alluring as they have ever been.

Apple Corps and USM present the next multi-format Beatles album reissue of Let It Be. January 1969 – The Beatles planned to return to live performance, setting up in Twickenham Film Studios, London, for 21 days of rehearsals.

Featuring songs written for David Byrne's film of the same name, True Stories from 1986 is even more pop-oriented than Little Creatures, full of simple, catchy melodies and guitar hooks.

Debut solo album by the American singer-songwriter, best known for his work in group Steely Dan.

1991's Out of Time was the album that catapulted R.E.M. from an indie favourite to one of the biggest bands in the world.

Closer, the group's second and final album arrived the year after their debut in July 1980 on Factory Records, following Ian Curtis' death two months earlier.

1970's unexpectedly acoustic-oriented Led Zeppelin III is the sleeper in the band's catalogue, and remains many a fan's favourite. Includes "Tangerine", "That's the Way", "Immigrant Song", "Since I've Been Loving You", "Gallows Pole" and more

Unknown Pleasures, the debut studio album from Joy Division, was first released in 1979 on Factory Records.

Released in 1979 Fear of Music is the band's third album

McCartney II was Paul’s first solo album since the formation of Wings in 1971. While its highly electronic style was certainly innovative, its cosily domestic origins were reminiscent of 1970’s McCartney album.

In 1979 Jerry Dammers from ska band The Specials launched the cult music label 2 Tone Records, with the support of major label Chrysalis.

The UK’s Official Albums Chart has compiled a list of the 60 top-selling albums. Queen’s 1981 Greatest Hits takes the number-one spot by a landslide, being the only album to break 6 million sales on the chart.

To tie in with the 40th anniversary of the multi-platinum selling album, EMI present Too-Rye-Ay, as it should have sounded.

Elvis Presley’s 1973 Honolulu concert was broadcast by satellite around the world and the resulting live album was called Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite.

in 1981, a couple of young men from Leeds went to New York, discovered the drug in its infancy, fused its’ gritty synth pop to acid house’s squelchy 303 groove and recorded an album: Soft Cell’s Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.  The rest, as they say, is history. 

Celebrating 45 years of Blancmange, ‘Everything Is Connected: The Best Of Blancmange 1979 - 2024)’ is the first collection to be curated by Neil Arthur, tastefully blending a mixture of hits and personal favourites.

Leonard Cohen's debut album from 1968 encapsulated the performer's artistry.

The classic debut LP from ’79 containing all the hits you need…..

Reissue of the debut Clash album released in April 1977. One of the most important records ever released, not just in punk rock terms either. 

Early brought together a series of formative recordings from the late 70s and early 80s, for an America-only vinyl release in 2005.

Have you ever felt sad about the times you are living in? You may not always be able to work it out, but you can sprinkle a little sugar on your sadness with songs like these.

Originally released in 1979 on Mistlur Records in Sweden, Nyanser is widely considered Thomas Almvqvist’s masterpiece.

Arthur Russell's most extraordinary work, originally released in 1986, World Of Echo is a deeply intimate and meditative work of awe-inspiring grace and remains a timeless work of sublime beauty. 

By any measure, 1970 was a high-water mark for the Grateful Dead. Hot on the heels of the incredible success of Workingman’s Dead that summer, the band returned in the autumn with the equally stunning American Beauty.