American Songwriter has revisited four pop songs from 1981 that the outlet argues have been unfairly forgotten despite their innovative, still-fresh sound. The piece highlights how the early-1980s charts embraced experimental electronic and new wave production, with several of these tracks achieving notable chart success abroad even where they failed to break through in other major markets, underlining how national chart performance often diverged sharply during this period.

The four picks are Pete Shelley's "Homosapien", which topped charts in Australia, Canada and New Zealand but missed the US and UK; Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark's "Souvenir", which reached No. 3 in the UK; The Human League's "Love Action (I Believe In Love)", also peaking at No. 3 in the UK; and Ultravox's "The Thin Wall", which reached No. 14 in the UK and performed similarly in Ireland without crossing over to the US.

– Four overlooked 1981 pop tracks singled out as still sounding fresh.
– Songs by Pete Shelley, OMD, The Human League and Ultravox featured.
– Several charted highly in the UK but not in the US.