My favorite compilations by far are the Indie Scene: History of British Independent Music series. Single discs for each year 1977 through 1986 and chock full of stuff you never see on typical comps. Here's the listing for 1982's CD:
3:40 Aztec Camera -- Pillar to Post
4:18 The Wild Swans -- Revolutionary Spirit
3:36 The Room -- Things That Have Learnt to Walk That Ought to Crawl
2:53 Everything But the Girl -- Night and Day
3:33 The Alarm -- Marching On
3:03 Robert Wyatt -- Shipbuilding
5:56 New Order -- Temptation
4:33 Fad Gadget -- Saturday Night Special
3:28 Lori and the Chameleons -- Lonely Spy
2:40 Wall of Voodoo -- On Interstate 15
3:48 Thomas Leer -- All About You
3:59 Shriekback -- My Spine (Is the Bassline)
3:02 The Higsons -- Conspiracy
3:47 The Farmers Boys -- More Than a Dream
3:11 The Marine Girls -- On My Mind
3:01 Mari Wilson with The Wilsations -- Beat the Beat
3:45 The Adicts -- Viva the Revolution
3:42 The Lords of the New Church -- Open Your Eyes
2:54 Gene Loves Jezebel -- Shaving My Neck
3:27 Virgin Prunes -- Pagan Love Song
3:53 The Passage -- Xoyo
3:22 The Toy Dolls -- Nellie the Elephant
They're long out of print but you'll see them pop up on Ebay occasionally. Click here
http://www.nwoutpost.com/nwcomps.html and scroll down to see the tracklistings for 1977 through '81. Great stuff.