Different Light - The Bangles

Christmas 1986. I was lucky to get a red Sharp Ghettoblaster (with a back to back dual tape mechanism!), 'Labyrinth' for the Commodore 64 and a copy of this album on cassette. I played this album over and over until the tape must have been all but worn out. It must've drove my parents mad!
Listening to this again, now on CD, it struck me just how well written and played the songs are; jangling guitars, harmonies and pop hooks. Sure they didn't write all the songs, perhaps most famously Prince who wrote their hit 'Manic Monday', but the cover versions sit perfectly next to their own compositions. Great examples are 'Following' and 'Return Post'
Their next album, particularly 'Eternal Flame', would take them into more commercial territory but 'Different Light' captures them in sparkling guitar pop form.