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

RUN OF the mill poppy lass whose sole piece of pop nothingness was "I Love My Radio" ("woah-oh my guy, the DJ after midnight") which naturally spawned a host of massaged jingles from cheddary jocks of the time and got to a decent No.6. Nothing thereafter, but still a must at retro discos.

Biggest Hit: "I Love My Radio", No.6, 1987
Defining Moment: "I love my radio, my midnight radio!"

TALK TALK
(UK, three Top 40 hits, four Top 40 albums)

REFINED ELECTRO new wave trio comprising of haunting vocalist Mark Hollis and two backers who emerged from the ashes of a progressive band called Reaction in the late 70s. The new name came from the title of a Hollis song, and they spent much of the decade gaining major critical plaudits but little in terms of commercial success, and certainly minimal chart activity. Their eponymous track flopped in '82, before "Today" got them to No.14. Though pigeonholed alongside the New Romantic era, there was always something more discerning about Hollis and pals, which probably explains their limited moneyspinning potential. Still, a remix of "Talk Talk" ("all you do to me is talk talk") got the exposure it deserved to find No.23. By now working a lot with top-rate producer Tim Friese-Greene, Talk Talk's best known single appeared (after four more had flopped) in '86 in the shape of "Life's What You Make It" ("celebrate it, anticipate it, yesterday's favourite, nothing can change it") with its wonderful four note crunchy piano backing and ecstatic guitar riff running through the entire song without the key ever changing. It also featured some quite amazing drum-miming on TOTP and got to No.16, with the video shot in a darkened forest with snakes and lions and other archetypal scary wildlife interfering. The decade more or less ended there, but two welcome re-issues (one of which was the fantastic "It's My Life" which got to No.13 in '90, six years after it cruelly flopped, the other being "Life's What You Make It") gained them two more hits. Still worshipped by a sizeable hardcore, and worthy of the hindsight-ridden affection they now attain.

Biggest Hit: "Life's What You Make It", No.16, 1985
Defining Moment: That piano - "duh, dum-dum-dum, duh-duh-duh, dum-dum-dum, duh..."

TALKING HEADS
(US/UK, three Top 40 hits, seven Top 40 albums)

PETRIFYINGLY LED by the jutting cheekbones and penetrating Scottish eyes of David Byrne (whose family emigrated to North America when he was two), this group of alterno-superhumans sold albums by the coachload and remain hugely influential with their expressive, semi-electro pieces of unrestrained, emotive poetry, but only three singles were picked up by the proles. They were "Once In A Lifetime" ("you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile, and you may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife") in '81, the awesome "Road To Nowhere" ("we're on a road to nowhere, come on inside") in '85, famous for its long acappella beginning and the newlyweds-grow-older-and-snog-with-arms-out and ubiquitous man running kangaroo- like in the corner of the screen on the video. Eventually peaking at No.6, it was by far their biggest hit. Lastly, along came "And She Was" ("and she was taking off her dress") which achieved a passable No.17 in '86. Six other singles up to '88 all faltered, though those that really cared still parted with their cash. Byrne and his three stooges (bassist Tina Weymouth, her drummer husband Chris Frantz and keyboardist Jerry Harrison) were much more of an album and tour band, with a certain cult status attributed to them, and they split in '91 after the usual 'musical differences' stuff. Byrne did some solo work, acted a lot and wrote the odd book - his artistic bent was very high - while the remaining three reformed as the Heads, and called their only long player "No Talking, Just Heads." Nostalgia from them, particularly their earliest days in the late 70s, remains very strong, and in Byrne they had one of the most charismatic of frontmen.

Biggest Hit: "Road To Nowhere", No.6, 1985
Defining Moment: "Well we know where we're going, but we don't know where we've been..."

TANSLEY SCHOOL
(UK, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

OR, TO BE exact, the Children of Tansley School, just in case you thought it was an adult education centre. Suppose it was inevitable really - three months after St Winifred's donned their pink frocks and pushed the lisped one to the front to extol the virtues of having a grandmother, this little lot (obviously the decision was that of a music teacher with pound signs in his or her eyes) had a go at eulogising over mother's vital role in life with something called "My Mum Is One In A Million" which only got to No.27 after the lion's share of the paying public got wise, although such a chart position still suggests that there were enough idiots out there who considered it a good gift for Mother's Day. Some people never learn. Still, at least there was no murdered Beatle to displace from the top of the charts this time. Oh, and where is Tansley, exactly?

Biggest Hit: "My Mum Is One In A Million", No.27, 1981
Defining Moment: Ripping off St Winifred's - and failing.

TEARDROP EXPLODES
(UK, three Top 40 hits, two Top 40 albums)

ANGRILY SUPERB project of the unique Julian Cope, though it all unspontaneously combusted by '83 and Cope went on to put together his workaholic solo career which still clings on to this day. Their impact and influence was far-reaching among those actively seeking inspiration beyond the workaday stuff in the charts, hence only a brief bit of hit parade  recognition in '81 with the definitive "Reward" ("I've come to collect my reward") which got to No.6. We don't want to bullshit too much, as there are plenty of people out there more qualified to elucidate on the virtues of this band, so we'll end here. Suffice to say, they were crucial for their time.

Biggest Hit: "Reward", No.6, 1981
Defining Moment: Giving the world Julian Cope.

TECHNOTRONIC
(Belgium, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

GOD-AWFUL dance geezer from a nation with no famous countryfolk, who started his relentless battering of fragile earholes in late '89 with "Pump Up The Jam" ("pump it up, while your feet are stomping") which supposedly featured Zairean model Felly on rap duties, only for it to be later revealed that an accented Ya Kid K, a much more natural rappette, had actually performed it. Not that it mattered, as it was still garbage, as were the three follow-ups and the megamix which emerged in '90 and thankfully require no expansion on our part.

Biggest Hit: "Pump Up The Jam", No.2, 1989
Defining Moment: "Make my day, make my day, make my make my make my day..."

TEN CITY
(US, two Top 40 hits, one Top 40 albums)

NONENTITY-FILLED Yank soully-ish cluster whose one hit was "That's The Way Love Is" which we do remember, but are unwilling to dwell on. Not one of the best.

Biggest Hit: "That's The Way Love Is", No.8, 1989
Defining Moment: Ordinariness.

HELEN TERRY
(UK, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

KLAXON-VOICED lardy backing singer for Culture Club throughout their world- dominating stay, whose one serious stab under her own name was the forgettable "Love Lies Lost", a mere No.34 hit, after which she went back to Boy George. Amazing singer though.

Biggest Hit: "Love Lies Lost", No.34, 1984
Defining Moment: Her crescendo screech on "It's A Miracle".