'More than love' was the fourth single from Wet Wet Wet's fourth studio album, 'High on the happy side'. The single was released in March 1992 and reached number 19 in the UK singles chart and number 9 in the Dutch Top 40. The single's B-side was 'Goodnight girl', which was actually the previous single that reached number 1 in the UK.
Earlier today I read the news that A-ha is disbanding. It's a sad thing: for a quarter of a century they have made some of the most incredible pop songs, and their craft became better with every album. Their latest, 'Foot of the mountain' (2009) is a great piece of retro synthpop, with some of the best melodies they've ever composed.
Holland–Dozier–Holland originally composed 'Where did our love go' and prepared the instrumental track for The Marvelettes to record it. They rejected the song, after which the songw as offered to the Supremes. They had only had one top 40 hit and eight flops to their name. Although they were hesitant to record the song, they finally felt they didn't really have a choice other than to do it.
'Wonderful life' is the song they can play at my funeral. It's the perfect combination of beautiful music and a raher cynical lyric - although it can also be perceived as being a rather upbeat lyric as well. Add to this the perfect voice of Colin Vearncombe, and you have one of the best pop songs of all time.
'Sweet and low' was another single from Deborah Harry's 1989 album 'Def, dumb and blonde'. Originally produced by Chris Stein, Toni C and Deborah Harry, the track was remixed for the single by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow, associates of Stock, Aitken & Waterman. At the time of the release of this single, Harry embarked on a solo tour in the USA, UK and Australia in early 1990.
Tenpole Tudor released their debut album 'Eddie, Old Bob, Dick and Gary' in 1981. The second single from the album, 'Wunderbar', was a European hit, but its predecessor did less well. Still, in the UK it was their biggest hit, reaching number 6 in the UK singles chart.
Phil Collins wrote 'Against all odds' for the 1984 movie of the same name. It was originally titled 'How can you just sit there?', and was one of many songs to be written for Collins' debut album 'Face value' (1981). Collins rewrote the lyric for the 1984 version which was released on the soundtrack album of 'Against all odds'.
'I heard a rumour' was the first single from Bananarama's 1987 album 'Wow!', which was their second album to be produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman. The song has all the features of a SAW production: a steady beat, lots of synth sounds and an accesible pop treatment. It has to be said that the B-side is a weird one, featuring samples from Princess's 'Say I'm your number one' amongst other things.
As far as I know, it doesn't happen that often that a 'hidden track' on a cd album is subsequently released as a single. But that's exactly what happened with Janet Jackson's 'Whoops now' in 1995. It was the eighth single taken from Jackson's 1993 album 'Janet', and it was released in the UK as a double A-side with 'What'll I do', another album track.
The single 'Bakerman' by Laid Back was notable for its music video, directed by Lars von Trier, featuring members of the band falling down in the sky as part of a parachute jump. The music is also interesting, while the lyric is a little repetitive. The track featured guest vocals by Hanne Boel.
Terence Trent d'Arby returned to form in 1993, when he released his third album 'Symphony or damn'. The songs were certainly more accessible than his work on the second album 'Neither fish nor flesh' and he also managed to reach the higher regions of the UK singles charts again.
I found this 12" single in 1995, a beautiful relic from the early Eighties. As mentioned before, Freur's single 'Runaway' was the second single from Freur's debut album 'Doot doot' and didn't bring them the commercial success they may have hoped for.
'Nobody knows' is another single from Nik Kershaw's 1985 album 'Radio Musicola'. The lyric of the song deals with tabloid journalists, paparazzi and the public's right to know intimate details of celebrities' lives.
The first single from the Editors' third album 'In this light and on this evening' (which came out just recently) is 'Papillon'. Contrary what one might expect, this song is very synth-driven and almost sounds like an old Depeche Mode track. It has already reached number 1 in Belgium.
When I wrote about 'Paris is burning' by Ladyhawke in August, I noted that that single contained only a remix and the French version of the song. What I didn't know was that in the mean time the single had been re-released in March. This limited release (only 600 copies were made, apparently) was pressed on white vinyl and featured the original version of 'Paris is burning' plus a remix. Of course, a download bundle was also available.
I'm really sorry now that I didn't buy the 7" singles from Mika's debut album 'Life in cartoon motion', because when you find them now on eBay, each one of them costs a fortune. So I decided to be quicker this time around, with the release of 'We are golden', the first single from Mika's second album. It was pressed on - you guessed it - gold coloured vinyl.
Even if you're not able to understand the Dutch language, when you listen to this single it will be obvious from the music alone that the Dutch music scene was is pretty fine shape back in 1982. The instrumental break in 'Net als in de film' ('Just like in the movies') is up there with the pop classics of its time. And for the Dutch readers of this blog: the lyric of the B-side is a wonderfully cynical response to that old Dutch classic 'De glimlach van een kind' ('The smile of a child').
'Nothing can come between us' was released as the third single from Sade's 1988 album 'Stronger than pride'. The single was the second to feature backing vocalist Leroy Osbourne prominently, after 'Never as good as the first time'.
'Heading west' was the third single from Cyndi Lauper's album 'A night to remember'. It was written by Lauper with Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. The lyric of the song is about moving on from a past relationship, which was the overall theme of the album.
While in the UK the Thompson Twins released a special single version of 'Sister of Mercy', the German record company decided that the album track 'The gap' was the better single choice. It was also released in the USA, where it reached number 69.
I actually have no idea whether Feargal Sharkey's 'Cry like a rainy day' was released as a single commercially. My copy of the single is made for promotion, with a peculiar catalogue number 'HEY MR DJ 1'. The single features two tracks from his 1991 album 'After the mardi gras'.
The fourth single from Kim Appleby's self-titled debut album was also released on 12" single. This 12" single contains three remixes of the track. The remix on the A-side was made by Pete Schwier and George DeAngelis, while the two on the B-side were made by Ben Chapman.
'Diamonds and pearls' is the title track from Prince's 1991 album, recorded with the New Power Generation and featuring the powerful vocals of band member Rosie Gaines. The repeated lyric 'If I gave U diamonds and pearls, would U be a happy boy or a girl?' echoes the lyrics 'I'll buy U diamonds and pearls only if U're a good girl' from Prince's 1982 song, 'International lover'.
Shakespear's sister released 'Stay' as the second single from their second album 'Hormonally yours' in early 1992. It became the duo's biggest hit, reaching number 1 in the UK singles chart for eight weeks, making it one of the longest running UK number ones in chart history.
'Call me' was originally recorded as the main theme of the movie 'American Gigolo'. Producer Giorgio Moroder originally asked Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac to make a song for the soundtrack, but they declined. Moroder then turned to Debbie Harry and Blondie. The song was recorded by the band, with Moroder producing.
Max Q was formed by Michael Hutchence and Ollie Olsen who were accompanied by key members of the Melbourne post-punk scene, most of whom had previously collaborated with Olsen. The project followed on from Hutchence and Olsen's work on the film 'Dogs in space', where they met.
The lyric of 'Don't you want me' was, according to lead singer Phil Oakey from the Human League, inspired by a story in "a trashy tabloid". Musicians Jo Callis and Philip Adrian Wright created a synthesizer score to accompany the lyrics which was much harsher than the version that was actually released. Oakey disliked the remixed and remodelled version of the song so much that it was relegated to the last track on the album 'Dare'.
The last single from Ten Sharp's debut album 'Under the waterline' was 'Rich man', released in March 1992. Amazingly, it sold a lot better than the two previous singles, reaching a respectable number 16 in the Dutch Top 40.
The Adventures released their most successful album 'The sea of love' in 1988. It reached number 30 in the UK albums chart and remained in that chart for 10 week. It was certified silver (for 60,000 copies sold) a year after its release.
Kylie Minogue teamed up with American R&B singer Keith Washington for the single 'If you were with me now', a track traken from Kylie's fourth album 'Let's get to it' (1991). The single reached number 4 in the UK singles chart, but did not chart in the Netherlands.
'Thru' these walls' was released as the first single from Phil Collins' second solo album 'Hello, I must be going!'. It was an unusual choice: a slow ballad interspersed with hard drum beats that sounded a lot like the drums from his debut solo single, 'In the air tonight'. The song is about a man listening through the wall to his neighbours who are enjoying the nightlife, so to speak.
'I would do for you' was a 1989 single by UB40. As they continued to make music well into the Nineties and Noughties, the band became increasingly uninspired, and personally I think this is one of their last great songs.
The British and the Irish have a strange relationship with alcohol: for some reason they always seem to have to overdo it. And then there's musicians, who are also prone to drinking too much. Put it together and you have Irish and British musicians. Stephen Gately, an Irish musician, died two days ago, according to the latest rumours, as a result of excessive drinking. His ex-boyfriend was on Dutch television tonight, saying that Stephen never drank much. Yeah, right.
I bought the German version of '19' this year, but I've had the original since 1990. The story remains the same: '19' featured television narrator Peter Thomas talking about Vietnam war veterans.
Abba never officially disbanded, but when they stopped recording together in 1983, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus concentrated on writing musicals for a while. One of them was 'Chess', created together with Tim Rice. The choruses were sung by Anders Glenmark while the verses, spoken raps by Murray Head, are a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek denunciation of the city's moral corruption and comparative glorification of the intellectual purity of chess: 'The queens we use would not excite you.'
In the song 'Cold', Roland Orzabal included some references to former associates of Tears for fears. Business manager Paul King is mentioned in the line: 'King got caught with his fingers in the till. Where's your calculator, did you leave it in your will?', after alleged discrepancies were discovered in King's prior management of the band's financial affairs. The line 'Listened to my old friend Nockles, hoped that it would warm the cockles' is a reference to former Tears for fears keyboardist and co-writer Nicky Holland, whose nickname was 'Nockles'.
Buying this single was a gamble. I liked the track 'Rockit' and assumed that the second single from the album 'Future shock' would be similarly interesting. To be blunt: it wasn't, really. It is an instrumental track that seems to go on without a point or clue.
The song 'The Buddha of Suburbia' was a song by David Bowie, made for the BBC TV series of the same name. It features Lenny Kravitz on guitar, performing quite a great solo. Interestingly, the song caused minor controversies on both sides of the Atlantic, with Radio 1 making an airplay edit to cover up the word 'bullshit' in the lyric, and US networks re-editing the video to remove shots where Bowie was smoking a cigarette.
When 'Kiss from a rose' was released as the second single from Seal's self-titled second album in July 1994, it did not make much of a chart impact. It did reach number 20 in the UK singles chart, but that was about it.
'I need love' was released as the second single from Sandra's 1992 album 'Close to seven'. The track was edited for the single. It featured Andy Jones, a.k.a. Andy 'Angel' Hart, performing the male vocals. The B-side, 'Shadows' also appeared on the album and was a cover of Michael Cretu's 1979 track 'Shadows over my head'.
Edwyn Collins was born on August 23, 1959. He formed the Nu-sonics in 1976, which became Orange Juice in 1979. This band broke up in 1985, after which he pursued a solo career.
Roughly translated the chorus of this song starts with the words 'I'd rather be well off / preferably a millionaire'. The song is taken from the band' 1984 album 'Tempo doeloe', and as mentioned before on this blog, the singles taken from that album didn't do exactly well as most people were turning away from Dutch language music in the Netherlands after the most popular band 'Doe maar' disbanded.
'I'm specialized in you' was the second chart hit in the Netherlands for the Dutch band Time Bandits, and also their biggest hit. It reached number 2 in the Dutch Top 40 in January 1983. The track was taken from their self-titled debut album, produced by well-known Dutch producer Pim Koopman.
Simon Moore, Paul Snook, Patrick Gallagher, Gari Tarn, Myles Benedict and Kent B. Bass formed Drum Theatre in 1985. They released one album, entitled 'Everyman', after which they disbanded.
I don't know why I like this song so much, but I do. It's pretty standard eighties dance stuff, but it has that certain Scandinavian coolness about it. I described the 12" single of 'Candy love' last year on this blog, but obviously I've got the 7" single too.
This is the original version of 'MacArthur park', also made famous by Donna Summer. Richard Harris recorded it for his 1968 album 'A tramp shining' and also released it as a single. It was an unusual single, running for more than seven minutes, with a long, climactic orchestral break. Throughout his recording, Harris can be heard using the incorrect possessive form, "MacArthur's Park". Producer Jimmy Webb has said he tried correcting Harris during re-takes, but gave up when he simply could not (or would not) sing the correct words.
Jon Anderson and Vangelis had their biggest hit together in 1982, when they released 'I'll find my way home'. It reached number 1 in Switzerland and number 4 in the Dutch Top 40, although it didn't chart in the UK.
When the Dire Straits went on hiatus in 1987, band leader Mark Knopfler formed the Notting Hillbillies, a country music project, with Brendan Croker, Steve Phillips, and Knopfler's bandmate Guy Fletcher. They made just one album, 'Missing... presumed having a good time' (1990).
