8th May 1982, with Arthur Baker

For our second visit to 1982, Greg Wilson and Mike Atkinson are joined by Arthur Baker: producer, remixer, songwriter, DJ, and one of the prime architects of electro-funk (Planet Rock, Walking On Sunshine, Play At Your Own Risk, Confusion, IOU etc). In this Top 20 countdown, we can see these electronic elements starting to emerge, with some well-established funk acts already embracing the changes. Elsewhere, jazz-funk and Britfunk rub shoulders with pop crossovers, in a typically diverse snapshot of the times. Along the way, Arthur shares memories of the Paradise Garage, Better Days, a pre-fame Madonna, and collaborations with Tee Scott, Leee John, New Order and many more key figures of the era.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

Further listening: other tracks mentioned in this episode.

Further reading:

• James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)
• Greg Wilson's interview with Arthur Baker (2022)
• Arthur Baker: Looking For The Perfect Beat (Faber, 2025)

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

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