NOEXTEHO

One of our local stations (WHOB 106.3 FM, The Bee!) would play some syndicated show from England where some guy (I can't remember who) would run through what was (I can only assume) at the top of the charts in England. I swear I heard the DNA remix of Tom's Diner waaaay before all of my friends... you know, like a week or two before.

M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up The Volume

1987: I never saw the video until probably the end of highschool, which is a shame, because I would have loved the song even more if I had seen it when I first heard the song.... (How could I mention this song without mentioning one of my favorite movies?)

The KLF - 3 a.m. Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.)

1991: That little two note synth thing (played on the phone in this video) brings me back, more than anything else in this one. Oh, also, this was the first time I realized just how cool that British winter jacket or rain coat look could be. (BONUS: check this out. It's Tammy Wynette making an appearance while The KLF played on TOTP. Ahh, those wacky Illuminati-fightin' techno bands!)

The Farm - Groovy Train

1990: Ahhh! Such jangly happy hippy techno! Yay! After all this, can you believe that I never heard The Happy Mondays until just a couple years ago? (PS- I sooooo wanted to be on that bus.)

Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (DNA remix)

1990: Who knew I'd end up living a few blocks away from that diner for a little while a few years ago? Imagine my disappointment when I went inside and learned that they don't have this song on an unending loop blaring on the stereo!

Underworld - Cowgirl

1993(song)/2000(video): To this day, one of my very few regrets in life is not being in that crowd when the drums finally kick in around the 2:55 mark and everyone is bouncing and the lights are flashing so!
(BONUS: Underworld - Two Months Off... 2002: Not from my youth, but a similar vibe for sure, and I love the video.)
(DOUBLE BONUS: Gus Gus - David... 2003: Definitely not from my youth, but I love it and its definitely techno... reminiscent of all this stuff I've been talking about here.)
(TRIPLE BONUS!: Faithless - We Come 1... 2001: Oh, how stylish protest is! In all seriousness, this was the only good thing to come from Dido's success: I learned of this, her brother's band.)
(QUADRUPLE MEGA BONUS!!!!:
Paffendorf - Crazy Sexy Marvelous

THE MOST PERFECT TECHNO SONG/VIDEO EVER!!!!!!!!!!!
Whenever I enter a club (disclaimer: I don't) this is the song I'm always dancing to, no matter what the DJ plays.)

Honorable/Questionable Mentions:

• Cathy Dennis - Touch Me (All Night Long) 1990: I was never too into it, and its kind of crap, but damn its so cheezy techno sexy!
• Neneh Cherry - Buffalo Stance 1988: Another so-so song by one of my boyhood crushes.
• Snap! - The Power 1990: I can't take this one anymore. But I used to love it.
• Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam 1989: Wow, that's a gaudy video.
• The Prodigy - Out of Space 1992: Me then: "Whoah!" Me now: "Whoah! It's The Firestarter with long hair dancing all silly!"
  

Finally, discovery of this song in 1997 just might be the reason (or one of the reasons) I will never truly get back into these late 80s and early 90s cheezy songs, except for maybe Underworld.

Addendum: Perhaps "dance" should have been used in place of every instance of "techno" in this post...

Underworld existed before I first heard of them in 1994. Take, for instance, this video of theirs from 1988:

from World Of Kane