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Book of Love
In 1986 a new face (or set of faces, actually) hit the new wave scene with a bang. Traditionally, synthpop new wave was a British outfit, usually with a male vocalist (although Yaz was the wonderful exception to that rule.) When Book of Love showed up, they violated both of these rules, they were italians from New York, but they matched the Brits on all fronts. The band consisted of musical genius Theodore "Ted" Ottaviano, the equally talented Susan Ottaviano (no relation, believe it or not) who handled the vocals and a supporting cast of Lauren Roselli and Jade Lee who did backing vocals, keyboards and a variety of other instruments.
The real genius of Book of Love came from the brilliant combination of Ted's songwriting and Susan's vocal interpretation. They were perfectly matched to create a naive, wistful, yet playful and sexy combination that had tons and tons of atmosphere without being dark or moody. They managed to be consistent with that theme all the way through three albums, before turning to Abba-like songs and a more generic pop atmosphere (although I haven't heard Lovebubble in a long time, and that impression is based on extremely hazy memories.)
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