Rock 85

The greatest compilation of all time? This record certainly makes a strong case

By MEGAMIXDOTCOM
Published Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Happy belated birthday to my best pal and podcasting partner in crime, the Sliiiiipman. This one’s for you, old buddy.

In Grade 6, I made the dreadful mistake of declaring to a couple of classmates that I really liked “Jump (For My Love)” by the Pointer Sisters. On the surface this doesn’t seem too bad of an admission, but in order to fully understand you need to take into consideration the timeframe – that particular school year took place between September of 1988 and June of 1989. “Jump” had been released almost four and half years earlier, and had last appeared in the Canadian Top 100 on November 3, 1984. In the minds of 11/12 year-olds, that might as well have been a lifetime in the past.

The full story goes like this. Sometime during that school year, a group of girls decided to put together a class newspaper. They wrote articles about who was dating who and reported on events like the recent Air Band Battle and the trip the safety patrols had taken to Saints Roller Rink. Near the end of the publication, they included a Top 10 Songs list, which they had sourced by asking kids what their favourite songs were and then compiled a chart using les mathématiques.

I don’t remember any actual concrete details about the École Varennes Grade 6 Top 10. In fact, the only artist I’m actually certain that appeared on the chart was Guns N’ Roses, and they probably had multiple entries. But what I do remember vividly is that at the end of the Top 10, there was a bonus song listed. It read exactly as follows:

“#11 – Jump by the Pointer Sisters (MEGAMIXDOTCOM’s choice)”

I mean, just look at the casualness of it. I have to give credit to the young lady who did this – it was impressively cold blooded. Now, I had experienced more than my fair share of embarrassing moments up until that time, and there would be many, many more of them to come. But this was one was particularly stinging because I had offered up my naivete so willingly and ended up paying the price – in print, no less.

But life went on and Grade 6 ended with a class camping trip where I defended a girl I liked by yelling at a teacher AND was introduced to Def Leppard’s Hysteria, so in the end I think I came out ahead.

Years later, I tried to figure out how I even had easy access to a song like “Jump” at that time. I did some Digging on Discogs™ and I now strongly believe that my access to the song was via my parents’ copy of the 1985 Quality Records compilation Rock 85.

Rock 85 was the first in the Rock series to be released by Quality Records after K-Tel had produced the first five volumes. The company came out swinging with an impressive collection of super popular tracks from the previous year or so. Eight of the 15 tracks on Rock 85 were #1 hits in Canada, with an additional five that reached the Top 10. So this is a stacked comp when it comes to bringing the legit hits.

Tracks like “Footloose,” “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” and “Ghostbusters” are so deeply ingrained in the eighties music culture that they almost feel like cheating here, but hey Quality had to move units. Delightful pop gems from Matthew Wilder, Nik Kershaw and Billy Ocean keep the record rolling at a pleasing pace.

The man who us jealous elementary school boys called Corey Fart provides the requisite Canadian content here. “Sunglasses At Night,” was a modest hit from the Montréal native that foreshadowed a career explosion for the singer in 1985.

The compilation suffers only from the inclusion of the far inferior English version of Nena’s “99 Luftballons.” The German original was a big hit in the US, but didn’t resonate in Canada and United Kingdom until it was re-recorded in the mother tongue. Quiet Riot’s “Cum On Feel The Noize” is the lowlight of the record, standing out like a puss filled boil among the sheen of the rest of the album.

Rock 85 is easily the best compilation produced during the series’ Quality era. From “The Reflex” to “Caribbean Queen” and everything in between, this one (for the most part) bops along while bringing some big hits and a few nice surprises. Highest recommendation.

⭐ RATING: 9 out of 10
💖 BEST TRACK: Cyndi Lauper – “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”
💀 WORST TRACK: Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel The Noize”

A full tracklist and link to listen to the album on Apple Music are below. Thanks for reading, friends!

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