It's the June 2021 edition of
Star Time's semi-annual '80s Atonement episode. Twice a year I do an all-'80s R&B show to make up for my being abducted by representatives of punk, new wave and independent-label rock around 1981. Everything ultimately turned out okay, thanks largely to Prince. Here's this half-year's selection of Linn drum machines, fat synthesizers, sentient automatons, and guitar riffs from halfway up the fretboard. Where we're going we don't need roads, although we could use a GPS.
| Artist | Song | Year | Label |
|---|
| Set 1 | | | |
| The Gap Band | Automatic Brain | 1985 | Total Experience |
| Vanity 6 | If a Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up) | 1982 | Warner Bros. |
| Charades | Gimme the Funk | 1982 | Brunswick |
| Val Young | Mind Games | 1985 | Gordy |
| The Jets | Crush On You | 1985 | MCA |
| Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio | Two Places at the Same Time | 1980 | Arista |
| Set 2 | | | |
| Diana Ross | Who | 1982 | RCA |
| Teena Marie | The Ballad of Cradle Rob and Me | 1981 | Gordy |
| Tom Browne | Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.) | 1980 | Arista GRP |
| Steve Arrington's All Stars | 15 Rounds | 1984 | Atlantic |
| Trouble Funk | Get On Up | 1984 | Sugar Hill |
| Debra Hurd | Make Me No Promises | 1983 | Geffen |
| Set 3 | | | |
| Kleeer | Hypnotized | 1981 | Atlantic |
| Yarbrough & Peoples | Crazy | 1980 | Mercury |
| AM-FM | You Are the One | 1981 | Dakar |
| Lakeside | Outrageous | 1984 | Solar |
| Leon Haywood | Tenderoni | 1984 | Modern |
| Xavion | Get Me Hot | 1984 | Asylum |
| Set 4/Outro | | | |
| Midnight Star | No Parking on the Dance Floor | 1983 | Solar |
| Cameo | Talkin' Out the Side of Your Neck | 1984 | Atlanta Artists |
| Human Body | DX3-T18 | 1985 | Elektra |
| Brenda & The Big Dudes | Touch Somebody | 1985 | Fly (S. Africa) |
| Lenny Williams | Responsible Man | 1981 | MCA |
| Fat Larry's Band | Traffic Stoppers | 1982 | WMOT |
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