Showing posts with label Tears for fears. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tears for fears. Show all posts

Wednesday 3 June 2009

Shout - Tears for fears

'Shout' is commonly referred to as Tears for fears' signature song. Roland Orzabal commented: 'A lot of people think that 'Shout' is just another song about primal scream theory, continuing the themes of the first album. It is actually more concerned with political protest. It came out in 1984 when a lot of people were still worried about the aftermath of The Cold War and it was basically an encouragement to protest.'

The single was a big success, topping the charts in Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland. In the UK, the single peaked at number 4. I bought the single when it was brand new, right before I would become sick of hearing it. But it's still a great song.

My collection: 7" single no. 253
Found: Wouters, Den Haag, December 1984
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Shout' / 'The big chair'

Friday 29 May 2009

Mothers talk - Tears for fears

After their debut album 'The hurting' had been a reasonable success, Tears for fears had to come up with a follow-up. The new album - which would be 'Songs from the big chair', released in 1985 - was preceded by the single 'Mothers talk'. Roland Orzabal commented: 'The song stems from two ideas. One is something that mothers say to their children about pulling faces. They say the child will stay like that when the wind changes. The other idea is inspired by the anti-nuclear cartoon book 'When the wind blows' by Raymond Briggs.

The single version was different from the album version (and shorter, too) and did not appear on cd as far as I know. 'Mothers talk' reached number 14 in the UK singles chart, which was good. But more successful singles were on the way...

My collection: 7" single no. 644
Found: Brussels, August 2, 1988
Cost: 120 Belgian Francs
Tracks: 'Mothers talk' / 'Empire building'


Thursday 21 May 2009

Change - Tears for Fears

Released in February 1983, 'Change' was a number 3 hit for Tears for Fears in the UK. The song also gave the band their first charting single in America when it cracked the Billboard Top 75 in August 1983. Roland Orzabal commented about the song: 'It's not really about much. It's just one of those cheap pop lyrics.'

The real rarity on this single is the B-side. 'The conflict' was never released on cd as far as I know. It describes a conflict between two individuals. Sung by Curt Smith, this is one of the few songs in the Tears for Fears catalogue on which he shares a writing credit.

My collection: 7" single no. 910
Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 25, 1989
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Change' / 'The conflict'

Thursday 14 May 2009

Pale shelter - Tears for fears

There are two different versions of Tears for Fears' track 'Pale shelter': the original version, produced by Mike Howlett, released as 'Pale shelter (You don't give me love)', and this version, produced by Chris Hughes and Ross Collum, released just after Tears for Fears' debut album 'The hurting' in 1983. To provide a chart push this second time around, Mercury took full advantage of the picture disc and coloured vinyl gimmicks that were popular at the time. In all, eleven different variations of the reissued single were available for purchase. It helped get the single to peak at number 5 in the UK singles chart in April 1983.

I got the green vinyl version of 'Pale shelter' during one of the first record fairs I ever visited. My sister bought the single in three other colours. I've never seen those singles since, so I'm still looking for them to this day.

My collection: 7" single no. 274
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, April 22, 1990
Cost: 10 guilders
Tracks: 'Pale shelter' / 'We are broken'


Saturday 9 May 2009

The way you are - Tears for fears

After the record company had released several singles from Tears for fears' debut album 'The hurting', the band released a new single, 'The way you are' towards the end of 1983. The single kept the band in the public eye while they were working on their second album. It peaked at number 23 in the UK and as such didn't live up to the expectations caused by the three top 5 singles taken from 'The hurting'.

The single, which heavily featured sampling and programmed rhythms, led to a departure in Tears for Fears' musical approach. In the liner notes to their 1996 B-sides album Saturnine Martial & Lunatic they wrote that 'this was the point we realised we had to change direction'. I had a hard time finding this single, since it wasn't released in the Netherlands. I finally found it in a second hand store while on holiday in London.

My collection: 7" single no. 1027
Found: Record exchange, London, October 17, 1989
Cost: 80p
Tracks: 'The way you are' / 'The marauders'

Saturday 2 May 2009

Everybody wants to run the world - Tears for fears

Tears for fears had a big worldwide hit with 'Everybody wants to rule the world' in 1985. In the slipstream of charity projects like Band Aid, Live Aid etcetera, 1986 saw the event Sport Aid take shape. Tears for Fears were asked to contribute a theme song, which became 'Everybody wants to run the world'. Roland Orzabal explained why the song was recorded: '...to get Bob Geldof off our backs! He gave us so much gip for not turning up at Live Aid. All those millions of people dying, it was our fault. I felt terrible. I tell you, I know how Hitler must have felt.'

Being absolutely appalled about anything to do with sports, I had a lot of doubt whether I should buy this single. In the end, my desire to have a complete Tears for fears collection was stronger.

My collection: 7" single no. 1317
Found: Virgin Megastore, London, October 16, 1990
Cost: 3 pounds
Tracks: 'Everybody wants to run the world' / 'Everybody wants to run the world (Running version)'

Tuesday 31 March 2009

Pale shelter - Tears for fears

Tears for Fears released 'Pale Shelter' as a single three times. The first edition - this one - was produced by Mike Howlett and was released as the band's second single, after their debut single 'Suffer the children'. Both tracks of this single would appear on the band's debut album 'The hurting', but in re-recorded versions.

About the lyric, Roland Orzabal said: 'It's a kind of a love song, though more referring to one's parents than to a girl'. The title of the song is a reference to "Pale Shelter Scene", a 1941 drawing by British sculptor Henry Moore.

My collection: 7" single no. 2536
Found: Beanos, East Croydon, London, November 1, 1995
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Pale shelter (You don't give me love)' / 'The prisoner'


Tuesday 20 January 2009

Johnny Panic and the bible of dreams - Tears for Fears

Not actually credited to Tears for Fears, this 12" single is simply called 'Johnny Panic and the bible of dreams'. However, since the track is produced by 'Tears for Fears and Dave Bascombe', I decide to present this as a Tears for Fears track nonetheless.

The track, which is an alternative version of Tears for Fears's 1989 hit single 'Sowing the seeds of love', originally appeared as the B-side to their 1990 single 'Advice for the young at heart'. The song was later remixed by producer/DJ Fluke and released as a single in 1991. The title of the song is taken from a short story by the American writer Sylvia Plath, which was the title story in a collection of her short stories posthumously published in 1977.

My collection: 12" single no. 484
Found: London, 2002
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Johnny Panic and the bible of dreams (mix 1)' / 'Johnny Panic and the bible of dreams (mix 2)'
Download: here

Friday 2 January 2009

Mad world - Tears for fears

These days, 'Mad world' is considered to be a ballad performed by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules, but I am old enough to remember the original version, released by Tears for fears in 1982. The single reached no. 3 in the UK singles chart, making it the band's first hit. Roland Orzabal said about the song: 'That came when I lived above a pizza restaurant in Bath and I could look out onto the centre of the city. Not that Bath is very mad - I should have called it 'Bourgeois World'!'

I bought the single of 'Mad world' in 1990. It wasn't until 1999 that I found the double single version, which included the rare 'World remix' of the track. The second single featured 'Suffer the children' and 'Ideas as opiates', both in versions that were different from the ones that would be recorded for Tears for fears's debut album 'The Hurting' (1983).

My collection: 7" single no. 1334 / 7" double single no. 3163
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 17, 1990 / Record fair, Utrecht, 1999
Cost: 50p / 5 guilders
Tracks: 'Mad world' / 'Ideas as opiates'
Tracks (double single): 'Mad world' / 'Mad world (World remix)' // 'Suffer the children' / 'Ideas as opiates'
Download: here

Saturday 6 December 2008

Suffer the children - Tears for Fears

Taken from their debut album 'The Hurting', 'Suffer the children' was actually Tears for Fears's debut single. According to Curt Smith: ''Suffer The Children' was the first song we did together when we left Graduate. It was our very first experimentation with sequencers and drum machines, with a guy called David Lord, who worked with Peter Gabriel and different people down in Bath. So that was actually the first song we did as Tears For Fears.'

The 12" single featured three tracks that were never included in any of the compilations and re-releases on cd: an extended remix, an instrumental version and the B-side 'Wino', which is probably the simplest track Tears for Fears ever recorded: just guitar and voice.

My collection: 12" single no. 87
Found: London, 1989
Cost: 2,5 pounds
Tracks: 'Suffer the children (remix)' / 'Suffer the children (instrumental)', 'Wino'
Download: here

Thursday 27 November 2008

Everybody wants to rule the world - Tears for fears

One of the most successful songs Tears for fears released, was this: 'Everybody wants to rule the world' stormed the charts in 1985 and went top 3 in most countries. The single reached number two in the UK, and this was partly thanks to the attractive double single, released by Mercury records. Not only did it contain a remix of the track, it also offered an interview with Curt and Roland, explaining more about the tracks on their then-current album 'Songs from the big chair'.

Double singles were hard to get outside the UK, but fortunately small quantities were imported. One of those copies ended up at my home after a few moments of desperation: why are these things so darn expensive?

My collection: 7" single no. 380
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1985
Cost: 12,95 guilders
Tracks: 'Everybody wants to rule the world' / 'Pharaohs' - 'Everybody wants to rule the world (Urban mix)' / 'Interview with Curt & Roland'
Download: here
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