The winners of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, British quartet Bucks Fizz were, throughout the early '80s, regarded among the most successful bands of their era, chalking up no less than nine Top 20 hits between 1981-1983, including three chart-toppers, "Making Your Mind Up" (their Eurovision winner), "The Land of Make Believe," and "My Camera Never Lies." The band's total chart record includes 20 Top 40 entries, and it was 1988 before Bucks Fizz finally stopped scoring hits – not a bad record for a group that did not even exist before the Eurovision Song Contest.

Robert Finley's Black Bayou takes listeners on a journey through the haunting, mystical landscapes of Louisiana while sharing deeply personal stories. From the slow-burning funk of "What Goes Around (Comes Around)" to the upbeat and groovy "Sneakin' Around," each track on this album showcases Finley's exceptional tone and vocal versatility. Produced by Dan Auerbach, every note on this album is a testament to Finley's musical prowess and his unwavering commitment to soul, R/B and the blues.

Growing up in an urban environment could lead to obliviousness to the natural world. Having grown up in a rural environment, saxophonist/composer Jeremy Udden was very aware of nature but living in metropolises made him seek nature’s touch in the city’s midst. Udden’s children have grown up in Brooklyn and he is frequently amazed at how attuned to nature his city kids are, just one of the intriguing juxtapositions he reflects in his new recording, Wishing Flower.

Real (partially lost unreleased Kirsty MacColl album; 1982). Singer/songwriter Kirsty MacColl released her first album Desperate Character in the UK in 1981 on Polydor Records. She returned to Polydor to make her second album, titled Real and featuring a synthpop sound opposed to the guitar-based arrangements of her debut. Dave Jordan, then best known for his work with The Specials, was the producer for at least some of the sessions.

Zoltán Kodály’s life was largely occupied with collecting his country’s folk music and devising the internationally renowned method of music education that bears his name. His orchestral output is therefore a relatively small but astonishingly colourful and rhythmic legacy, brimming with Hungarian spirit. Háry János is the charming story of a veteran soldier and the ‘tall tales’ he spins about his life, while Summer Evening is a timeless evocation of that gentle moment in the day. The Symphony in C major occupied Kodály for over 20 years, the composer’s disarming explanation being, ‘I was busy with more important work.’