Best label ever? I’d hesitate to say anything like that for anyone, but anyone living in the 1980s has to acknowledge that ZTT was one of the most exciting labels of the decade. Emerging as a joint project between music journalist Paul Morley and producer Trevor Horn, the label fashioned a sound that sought to regain the prestige and ability for singles to be the most powerful messengers of mass communication. The sound that the two created, Horn through the music and Morley through words and graphic design was immediately a hit, with acts such as Frankie Goes To Hollywood, ABC, Art of Noise and Grace Jones. But that’s truly only the tip of the iceberg with this label. This week: three tracks from the more underrated acts of the glory days of ZTT, the mid 80s.

Propaganda– The Murder of Love, [A Secret Wish]

Perhaps the one you’ve heard of, though, is Propaganda. “P-Machinery” did make it to #10 on the club charts in America, at the very least. I imagine the group did even better in England. But the one track that seems to have gotten forgotten in all of this is the second one on their absolutely stunning A Secret Wish. With good reason? I don’t think any song with that resilient bass, those synth bleats and the vaguely Nico-esque vocals of Claudia Brücken should ever be overlooked. Luckily, that’s a lot of A Secret Wish. The fervent keyb figure that continues for much of the song that comes right after the bridge is what does it for me, though.

[visit Propaganda’s website here, buy the recent reissue of A Secret Wish here]

Anne Pigalle– He Stranger (Extended), [He Stranger 12”]

I’ve always been a bigger fan of the more bizarre and extended mixes of songs that ZTT put out. This is a prime example. The original version (hard to say that definitively with any release, incidentally) is a much shorter take that utilizes the motif of the first minute for its four minute duration. This version, however, is far more ebullient using a variety of instruments to work up the song’s main theme into a enormous sonic soup, in true Trevor Horn fashion. Overblown? Yes, but I think it works perfectly with Pigalle’s very low-key approach, making her emerge from her previously mousy persona into a sultry and powerful diva. Also, the climax near the middle of the song is, frankly, worth the whole thing.

[visit ZTT’s website here, buy Anna Pigalle material here]

Andrew Poppy– The Object Is A Hungry Wolf, [The Beating of Wings]

And then there’s this. OK. During college, Poppy became rather interested in Terry Riley and Philip Glass, even going so far as to perform some of their work. In early 1981, Poppy helped found and played piano with The Lost Jockey, a group interested in performing and writing original material based on the minimalistic music of Glass and Steve Reich. One of the compositions to come out of that period was this: “The Object Is A Hungry Wolf”. It isn’t exactly clear how Poppy met up with Morley or Horn, but in his drive to bring this music to a wider audience he did, and convinced the two to put out two records. The first, The Beating of Wings contains “The Object…” and three other beautiful pieces of minimal music that is definitely worth tracking down. But, let’s remember: pop music. ZTT. This twelve minute piece isn’t exactly what comes to mind when either of those ideas are brought up, yet here we are, still trying to unravel what exactly the value of entertainment is 20 years later.

[visit Poppy’s website here, buy Poppy material through his website here]