Bobby Vinton – Blue Velvet / Blue On Blue [1987; Epic]

Pulling together two A-sides from singles released by Bobby Vinton in 1963 (as on the Blue EP, released the same year, which also included “Blue Moon” and “My Blue Heaven”), this compilation single capitalized on the release of David Lynch’s film Blue Velvet, which featured a performance of the song by the same name. Here, it appears in a honky-tonk-ish pop form, with Vinton’s vocals striking a fine balance between strength and tenderness. “Blue on Blue” carries on in much the same fashion, though the backing instruments get more of a presence, which combines with the higher tempo to make for a less haunting tune, though still pleasant in its emotional outletting.

Here’s one of the alternate covers.

Another alternate.

And another alternate.

10cc / Steam – I’m Not In Love / Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) [1987; Underground Records]

On 10cc’s half of this record, they play a keyboard-driven ballad persistently denying being in love while detailing its effects on the singer’s behavior. Though it’s structurally sound, the content is bland, and it ends up only vaguely hooky. Steam’s B-side, show-casing their big hit, ups the energy and musicianship considerably, with a much more memorable melody and chorus. An uneven pair, but not bad for the purposes of contrast.

Coil – The Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser [1987; Solar Lodge Records]

This collection leads with its name-sake, three pieces intended for use in the 1987 Hellraiser film before Christopher Young took over its scoring duties. Blending a range of piano-like synth voices with heavy electronic percussion, the “Hellraiser” cue opens with an establishment of the brooding undertones which persist in “The Box Theme”, as that piece adds in more lingering low tones and the clinking of a malfunctioning music box. “Main Title” revisits the instrumentation from “Hellraiser”, pushing it to a more driven pace and harder energy, with faint lulls drawing in touches from “The Box Theme” as well.

The remainder of the record is a tour through music Coil produced for use in commercials for assorted companies and products, including “Liqueur”, “Video Recorder”, “Accident Insurance”, and so on. As might be imagined, these pieces, aside from having very short durations, are also much more friendly in tone, though they retain the synths and experimental flavoring. Presumably, they were also created around the same time as the Hellraiser themes, as some of the instrumentation sounds near-identical at times (the piano of “Perfume” being one of the more easily identified instances). Something of a dig, as it’s targeted towards Coil completionists, but it does offer up a nice deep look into their material and quick-form composing techniques of the time.

Ryuichi Sakamoto – Neo Geo [1987; CBS, CBS/Sony, Epic, Terrapin]

Fusing a number of world music styles with a synthwave base, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s seventh solo studio album brought in a number of guests, including co-producer Bill Laswell, bassist Bootsy Collins, and (for one song, “Risky”) the vocals of Iggy Pop. Most of the songs run no more than five minutes and change, but in those short durations, Sakamoto takes generally simple riffs and expands on them with flair, whether crunching out translated electrofunk or adapting electronics to fit with traditional instruments.

Most of the songs omit vocals entirely, but that serves to make the various genres which Sakamoto emulates and splices more easily identifiable. When voices are used, it tends to be in ways that add an extra layer of influence (e.g., taiko chants over dubby bass bumps), which would end up at odds with the very clean production and mixing presentation of the whole album. At once mellow and energized, with plenty to absorb even while the the music calls for listeners to just relax and go with the flow.