ICEHOUSE
(New Zealand, two Top 40 hits, no Top 40 albums)

Kiwi collective who suffered from that age-old problem of having only one worthy single, and then struggling to follow it up with anything remotely as good. "Hey Little Girl" reached No.17 in '83 and made many mistake classically-trained multi-musician and singer Iva Davies' nasal tones for Bryan Ferry. They were formulaic and uninspiring mid-rockers, but were good ambassadors for the restricted amount of successful acts coming out of New Zealand.

Biggest Hit: "Hey Little Girl", No.17, 1983
Defining Moment: None, really.

ICICLE WORKS
(UK, one Top 40 hit, three Top 40 albums)

The dictionary definition of 'cult' could have a picture of this little lot next to it. Ian McNabb led this aloof trio through a plethora of experimental and dramatic projects throughout the decade, yet the one hint at pop mainstream status was the first release "Love Is A Wonderful Colour" which peaked at No.15 in early '84. They continued to chart below the threshold for the rest of the decade, but the song titles spoke of pomposity and theories way too clever- clogs for yer average single buying pleb, and nothing happened for them again, though the faithful kept snapping up the albums. Always appreciated, always rated, rarely understood. They split in '90.

Biggest Hit: "Love Is A Wonderful Colour", No.15, 1984
Defining Moment: Being way too good for the charts.

BILLY IDOL
(UK, eight Top 40 hits, four Top 40 albums)

Accident-prone, blond bombshell punk rock cast-off who, having disbanded Generation X in the early part of the decade, buggered off to the States and subsequently got huge plaudits there while his homeland ignored him completely. Both "Hot In The City" ("Stray-ngerrrs!") and "Rebel Yell" ("in the midnight hour, she cried more, more, more"), later to become huge signature tunes, flopped on first release before the dreamy "Eyes Without A Face" ("les yeux sans visage") gave him his first solo Top 40 hit in '84, reaching No.18. The next hit was the best by a country mile - the awesome bass-thudding "White Wedding" ("hey little sister, who's the only one?") which, despite the in-breeding overtones, best exploited Idol's rare ability to croon like Sinatra and then rage like Little Richard. It got to No.6, quickly followed by "Rebel Yell" on re-issue. Three palpable chart entries followed before his unashamedly live version of "Mony Mony" ("all right, do you wanna dance?") took him into the Top 10 for the final time. In '88, Idol got to No.13 with a remix of the sublime "Hot In The City" before Americanisation took over and his back turned, releasing songs in Blighty which were so pro-American that his loyalty to his geographical roots were as suspect as his loyalty to his jet black hair roots. In all this time, Idol was perfecting THAT sneer, taking overdoses, wearing black leather bodywarmers and crashing motorbikes, suffering many a broken bone and brushing with death on numerous occasions, yet he never got embarrassed by his inability to rival Barry Sheene. Somehow, you wanted Idol to get back on his bike and risk it all again, simply because he epitomised true, honest, chest-beating rock and roll which too many marketing cretins were anxious to remove from the soulsapping industry of the era. Rock on.

Biggest Hit: "White Wedding", "Rebel Yell", both No.5, both 1985
Defining Moment: CRRRRRRRASSHHHHHH!

JULIO IGLESIAS
(Spain, five Top 40 hits, five Top 40 albums)

"Begin The Beguine (Volvar A Empezar)" got him to No.1, and the 35-plus housewife guaranteed him a place in the charts whenever he released a single, but this Spanish MOR legend is best known as the ex-goalkeeper who has slept with more than 2,000 women. So he was handy in the box in more ways than one.

Biggest Hit: "Begin The Beguine (Volvar A Empezar)", No.1, 1981
Defining Moment: The shagging revelation. He wasn't boasting - we KNEW he was speaking the truth...

IMAGINATION
(UK, eight Top 40 hits, five Top 40 albums)

CAMP AS A ROW of wigwams but purveyors of gentle, often inspirational poppy Britfunk, this tightly-clothed lot had admirable longevity from the early part of the decade, even though they had reached a commercial peak within a year of their first outing. The gorgeous "Body Talk"  ("searching for love, searching for fun") took them to No.4 as a starter in '81, a slow, sensuous, falsetto soulfest dripping with moisture and arguably responsible for the conception of anyone born in the early part of '82. Two more Top 40 hits followed, before the swaying "Just An Illusion" ("Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-waaah! Illusion...") got to No.2, criminally prevented from the top echelon by the Goombay Dance Band. They would never come so close again. "Music And Lights"  ("ba ba-da, ba ba-da!") went to No.6 in the golden summer of '82, and that was that. They managed four more Top 40 hits until '84, but the star was over, yet we all had good fun and improved our powers of seduction while they were around, while those gold, packet-revealing costumes will remain in the psyche for an eternity. One tiny downside was that they gave a career to Sinitta as a dancer, employed to grope the protagonists seedily during onstage performances to try to sex them up even more, but we'll forgive them for that. And in lead singer Leee John, they had a frontman with the most snobbish spelling of a Christian name ever. As cool as anyone could ever be.

Biggest Hit: "Just An Illusion", No.2, 1982
Defining Moment: The first, gorgeous hit.

IMPOSTER
(UK, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

Elvis Costello incognito, basically. The song was "Pills And Soap" and we can't remember it. We would guess it wasn't as influential as "Oliver's Army" or "Watching The Detectives" though.

Biggest Hit: "Pills And Soap", No. 16, 1983
Defining Moment: That was in the late 70s.

INCANTATION
(UK, one Top 40 hit, two Top 40 albums)

British through and through, but relying solely on their passion for South American trad music which brought them just one hit but widespread respect and integrity. Pan pipes were prevalent, but they were better than muzac.

Biggest Hit: "Cacharpaya (Andes Pumpsa Daesi)", No.12, 1982
Defining Moment: Originality for pop.