Today most of the country was covered in snow. It immediately made me think of David Essex's 1982 single 'A winter's tale'. The song is not necessarily a winter song, but rather a lovesong about a relationship gone sour.
After the success of Soulsister's single 'The way to your heart', the previous single 'Like a mountain' was re-released in a remixed version. It was a small success in Belgium, but in other countries, this single did not follow in the footsteps of 'The way to your heart'.
'Black Betty' is a 20th century African-American work song often credited to Huddie 'Lead Belly' Ledbetter as the author, though the earliest recordings are not by him. Some sources claim it is one of Lead Belly's many adaptations of earlier folk material; in this case an 18th century marching cadence about a flint-lock rifle.
The Australian band Midnight Oil specialises in songs with lots of socially conscious and political comments. 'The dead heart' refers to early white settlement in Australia, from the perspective of the Aborigines who had laid claim to the land prior to the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. The song also gives a mention to the industrialisation of Australia with the words 'Mining companies, pastoral companies, uranium companies, collected companies / Got more right than people / Got more say than people'.
The Time Bandits scored another hit in the Netherlands with the single 'Endless road' in the summer of 1985. Having had a successful run of hits since the early Eighties, it was not much of a surprise that this one reached number 16 in the Dutch Top 40.
'Mindworks' was released as the fourth single from Sam Brown's 1990 album 'April moon'. In the UK, a strictly limited edition featured a pop-up gatefold sleeve, with part of the lyric of the song and Sam Brown's head popping out.
I've never actually seen a dove cry, but I guess that's a poetic license the Purple Majesty took on himself in this song. Prince wrote and composed the tracks after all the other tracks on the album 'Purple rain' (which was also the soundtrack to the movie of the same name) were complete. In addition to vocals, he also played all instruments on the track. Remarkably, there is no bass line in the track. Prince has said that there originally was a bass line, but decided that the song was too conventional with it.
Following up the massive hit 'Walk like an Egyptian' was quite a chore for the Bangles, as they didn't have a lot of these unusual tracks on their album 'Different light'. In the end, the record company opted for 'Walking down your street', in a slightly remixed version when compared to the album version. In the UK, they released the single in a limited edition double pack with 'Walk like an Egyptian' as the free second single.
'Just an illusion' was written by Leee John and Ashley Ingram from the band Imagination, together with their producers Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The smooth soul sound of the track appealed to a lot of listeners.
Bread broke up in 1974 and lead singer David Gates launched a solo career, as well as Jimmy Griffin. The band come back together in 1976 when their record label expressed interest in another album. David Gates, Jimmy Griffin, Mike Botts and Larry Knechtel returned to the studio that year and recorded the album 'Lost without your love', which was released in January 1977.
The sisters Alie and Doetie de Vries, calling themselves Alice May and Caren Wood, started singing at a very early age. The joined the Karina's in 1974, moving on to the country group Colt 45 in 1976 and in 1977 forming the duo The Lady Pop's. In 1978 they decided to continue as Maywood.
Julian Lennon sounds a lot like his famous father on this 1991 single, 'Saltwater'.The song combines subtle melodies with a lyric full of environmentally conscious themes such as pollution and poverty. The many marvels and feats of human civilization are in sharp contrast with the way we handle our planet. The track features George Harrison on lead guitar.
'What is love?' was Howard Jones' second single, released in November 1983. It reached number 2 in the UK singles chart. What's more, the single was his international breakthrough. It became a hit in various European countries and peaked at number 33 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart during the summer of 1984.
Although Mai Tai made a name for themselves with dance hits like 'Body and soul' and 'History', they tried their luck in 1985 with the ballad 'Am I losing you forever'. Contrary to most Dutch productions, this track had an international sound: it might as well have been sung by an American soul trio.
'Wow' was released as the second single from Kate Bush's second album 'Lionheart'. The single featured an edited version of the song, although it is not actually labelled as such: the first 12 seconds of synthesizer chords were removed from the track.
Phil Collins was playing around with a drum machine when he started saying the chorus of 'One more night'. He later recalled that 'the rest of the song was written very quickly'.
Chris Rea wrote the song 'Josephine' for his daughter of the same name. It was included on his 1985 album 'Shamrock diaries'. (He would pay the same compliment to his youngest daughter Julia on the 1993 album 'Espresso logic'.)
Fish left Marillion in 1988, leaving the band with a big hole in their line-up. This hole was filled when they recruited Steve Hogarth, former keyboardist and sometime vocalist of The Europeans. The band had already recorded some demos for what was to become 'Seasons end', Marillion's fifth album. With Fish - who had written most of the lyrics for the four previous albums - gone, Hogarth set about writing new lyrics for the songs that had been demoed. The album was eventually released in 1989.
Even for foreigners the Dutch single 'Ongelofelijk' ('Unbelievable') is easy to follow: the only lyric in the song is the title plus the phrase 'Het gaat maar door' ('It just goes on'). Makes no sense to you? Well, most Dutch people didn't understand this either, which is why it didn't reach the chart. Personally, I am rather fond of such nonsensical tracks.
The second single from the Pretenders' second album 'Pretenders II' was the dynamic 'Message of love'. It was another UK success for the band, as it peaked at number 11 in the UK singles chart. They also managed to reach number 16 in the Australian singles chart.
The Netherlands organised the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, stepping in for Israel, which had won the Contest twice in a row but were unable to do this in 1980 because of the fact that it was held at a national holiday. The Dutch used the same setup they had used in 1976, after Teach-In had won the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest.
It was Puck who introduced me to the 12" single of 'Chain reaction' by Diana Ross. I wasn't particularly fond of the track, despite the involvement of the Bee Gees in the writing of the track and the backing vocals. When I heard the special dance mix of 'Chain reaction', however, I had to admit this was a pretty good remix.
Depeche Mode's seventh single 'Get the balance right!' was released between albums in January 1983. Alan Wilder had officially joined the line-up of the band, and he wrote the B-side of this single together with Martin Gore.
Bryan Ferry released his sixth solo album 'Boys and girls' in 1985. The album was a big success, and to this day it's still his only number 1 album in the UK.
Jan Leyers and Paul Michiels formed the Belgian duo Soulsister in 1986. They debuted that year with the single 'You get to me'. The next single was 'Talk about it', and in 1988 they released 'Like a mountain'.
'Tonight I'm yours' was the title track of Rod Stewart's 1981 album. The single was released in the autumn of 1981, a few weeks ahead of the album. It became an international hit, reaching number 13 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 8 in the UK singles chart.
The Australian band Flash & the Pan made their international chart debut with the 1977 single 'Hey st. Peter', written by band members Harry Vanda and George Young. The single reached number 76 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart nd number 8 in the Dutch Top 40.
One of Lionel Richie's biggest hits is arguably more famous for its music video than for the music itself. The video, in which a blind girl sculpts an image of Lionel Richie's face (which looks as much like him as my behind looks like a lily), became the subject of lots of airplay and some parodies too.
I bought this 7" single of Grace Jones' 'La vie en rose' long before I bought the 12" single. At the time, I felt it was just a nice song, but since then, I have grown to appreciate this track as one of Grace's best.
'Leaving me now' was the second single release from Level 42's 1985 album 'World machine'. The song was written by Mark King, Phil Gould and Wally Badarou. Though heavily edited for the single, the track was still a good success for the band.
'Seven wonders' was the second single release from Fleetwood Mac's 1987 album 'Tango in the night'. Lead vocals were performed by Stevie Nicks, who wrote the song together with Sandy Stewart.
Back in 1985, the lucky buyer of 'Perfect way' in the UK could get this limited edition version of the single, featuring not only a gatefold sleeve, but also a poster with a monochrome photograph of founding member Green Gartside.
'Crying' was written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson and recorded by Roy Orbison in 1961. It was released as a single that summer, becoming a worldwide hit.
Sting wrote 'Fortress around your heart' in the studio in Barbados in 1985. He commented about the song: '[it] is about appeasement, about trying to bridge the gaps between individuals. The central image is a minefield that you've laid around this other person to try and protect them. Then you realise that you have to walk back through it. I think it's one of the best choruses I've ever written.'
'Minimal' was originally planned to be the first single from the Pet Shop Boys' 2006 album 'Fundamental', but was held back in favour of 'I'm with stupid'. The single finally was released in July 2006. The lyrics are an abstract description of expressions of minimalism, such as 'more is less' and 'an empty box, an open space'. The upbeat, busy instrumentation and production is quite in contrast with minimalism.
The Fixx released 'Red skies' as a single in 1982. The lyric of the song is quite explicit on the theme of impending doom. This was made even more obvious by a music video, released in 1987, in which a nuclear holocaust is depicted.
After Climie Fisher broke up, Simon Climie embarked on a solo career, signing to Columbia Records to release his debut solo album 'Soul inspiration'. The title track was released as a single, which reached number 60 in the UK singles chart in the autumn of 1992.
'Knockin' on heaven's door' was written by Bob Dylan for the soundtrack of the 1973 movie 'Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid'. The song describes the feelings and impressions of a dying deputy.
'Set your loving free' was the fourth single from Lisa Stansfield's second album 'Real love'. The track is full of Seventies disco sounds, but still sounds very modern. The real treat on this single is the non-album track, 'Whenever you're gone', a touching ballad about a woman who can't face the light of day when her lover is out of sight.
'Water sign' was released in 1983 as Chris Rea's fifth album. By that time, the record company showed so little interest in anything by him, that they wouldn't even give him the money to record the album professionally. What was actually released is a collection of demo versions, with a few overdubs. Hence the extensive use of electronic drum machines.
Simply Red was pretty successful with their first two albums 'Picture book' and 'Men and women', but occasionally their singles didn't do so well in the charts. 'Maybe someday' is a prime example of this: the video was shown regularly on television in 1987, but I was not able to locate a copy. In the end, I just assumed that it was only released as a single in the USA - especially when I found this copy in 1991: an American promo 7" featuring the same track on both sides.
Dutch singer Taco Ockerse made his debut in 1982 with a cover version of 'Puttin' on the ritz', which was written by Irving Berlin in 1929. The song was used in several movies, including 'Idiot's delight' (1939), performed by Clark Gable, and 'Blue skies' (1946), performed by Fred Astaire.
'El Norte' was the third and final single from Cock Robin's second album, 'After here through midland' (1987). It showed the first signs of the Spanish influences that would become more apparent on their next album, 'First love last rites' (1989).
'Luka' was a track on Suzanne Vega's second album 'Solitude standing'. It was released as a single in May 1987. The song was one of the earliest about the subject of child abuse and domestic violence.
China Crisis released 'Hanna Hanna' in March 1984, after their first top 10 hit, 'Wishful thinking'. The single did not match that success, as it only reached number 44 in the UK singles chart and failed to chart in much of Europe - contrary to its predecessor.
Mariah Carey is one of those vocalists that people love or loathe. And of course, I'm in the latter category - and rightfully so. People who think that the woman can sing clearly have their ears clogged up. But the strange thing is, she did occasionally record a decent song. 'Dreamlover', taken from her fourth album 'Music box' was the one track that stood out amidst a pile of drivel.
The Eurythmics were one of the most successful bands of the Eighties, but their debut single went by almost unnoticed - except by me. My sister bought 'Never gonna cry again' when it was released and for a long time it was a favourite of ours. The spooky sleeve and the sad, melancholic song appealed enormously to us.
The genesis of 'Driver's seat' dates back to 1973 and a demo tape recorded for a French record label by singer/guitarist Paul Roberts for the band Ashes of Moon. However, that band broke up and, at the suggestion of drummer Luigi Salvoni, Roberts reformed it as Sniff 'n' the Tears with guitarists Laurence 'Loz' Netto and Nick Dyche and bassist Nick South. They shopped the demo tape and signed with the small Chiswick label in 1977. They recorded 'Driver's seat' in 1978 on their debut album 'Fickle heart'.
