'Throwing it all away' was released as the last single from the Genesis album 'Invisible touch' in the summer of 1987. It reached number 22 in the UK singles chart and number 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Released in 1985, 'Found my girl' was dedicated to Charlotte. The song was written by Leee John and Ashley Ingram, so without any additional information I can only assume that the girl meant something to one of them - or both. However passionate the message in the song, it left the audiences cold, as the single didn't chart in any territory.
In 1987, the Simple Minds released the album 'Live in the city of light', which as the name vaguely describes, was a recording of their concerts at Le Zenith in Paris on August 12 and 13, 1986.
Gaga originally wrote 'Telephone' together with Rodney Jerkins, for Britney Spears. however, Spears' label rejected it and Gaga recorded the song as a collaboration with Beyoncé Knowles for her own album 'The fame monster'. According to Gaga, the telephone addressed in the lyric of the song is not a physical phone, but a person in her head telling her to keep working harder and harder.
Although I've known Bill Withers' 1978 hit single 'Lovely day' pretty much since it came out, I never actually bought the single. While I did own the 1988 remix by Ben Liebrand on this single, I can't say that I actually saw this original single very often.
'We'll be together' was originally written by Sting for a beer commercial for Kirin Brewery Company. The original recording included Eric Clapton on guitar, while other takes feature Brian Loren instead. The original version would surface on Sting's 1994 greatest hits album. Near the end of the song, Sting sings a snippet of his earlier hit, 'If you love somebody set them free'.
Released in 1991, 'If looks could kill' was the final single by Transvision Vamp, the second to be taken from their third album 'Little magnets versus the bubble of babble'. This album took on a more mellow sound which was the reason that their record company at one stage refused to release it - it was eventually released in the USA but never in the UK.
Unlike many of the earlier Supremes records, 'You can't hurry love' has inspired many different cover versions. The most notable of these was released in late 1982 as a single by Phil Collins from his second solo album, 'Hello, I must be going'.
'Chicano' was released in 1983 as a single by Pussycat. It was taken from their album 'After all', also released that year. The song was written by Werner Theunissen, who was also responsible for the band's early successes.
'Heart attack' was one of two new tracks on the 1982 compilation album 'Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2'. It was released as the first single of the two to promote the album.
'That's what they always say' was the second single taken from Chris Rea's 1989 album 'The road to hell'. The track was remixed for the single release, but it didn't help much: the single didn't chart in any territory.
I wouldn't be surprised if people in 1960 compared Marty Wilde with Elvis Presley, as he sounds a lot like him on these recordings. 'Little girl' was Marty's eighth hit single in the UK, peaking at number 16 at the end of the year.
'Rockaria!' was the second single from Electric Light Orchestra's 1976 album 'A new world record'. The track features the operatic voice of Mary Thomas during the introduction. She flubbed the first take by starting the vocals too early. However, Jeff Lynne elected to use the take (complete with her interjection, 'Oops!') anyway.
Helen Terry was born on May 25, 1956. She is best known for her work as a backing vocalist with Culture Club and the Pet Shop Boys, but she also had a solo single hit with 'Love lies lost' in 1984. It reached number 34 in the UK singles chart.
'Zoals vrienden doen' was released as the follow up to Bonnie & José's 1984 single 'Cassandra'. It was a translation of the Abba track 'The way old friends do', featured on their 1980 album 'Super trouper'.
After the single 'No doubt about it', the band Hot Chocolate lingered on the theme of visitors from outer space some more on their next single, 'Gotta give up your love', albeit on the B-side, 'Children of spacemen'.
'Las palabras de amor' was inspired by the band's close relationship with their Latin American fans. It was released as a single from Queen's 1982 album 'Hot space' in June 1982. The single reached number 17 in the UK singles chart and number 26 in the Dutch Top 40.
'Into the blue' was released in 1990 as the third single from the Mission's fourth album 'Carved in sand'. I never bought the single because of the similarity between the sleeve of this single and the one of 'Hands across the ocean' (at least, in my mind), which made me think I already had it.
'Sexual healing' was composed by Marvin Gaye, Odell Brown and David Ritz. The song discusses a man's aching for finding sexual salvation with his woman - hence the title 'Sexual healing'. Some saw the song as Gaye's harmonious plea to sex in the form of him preaching the word of gospel, marrying his divided soul.
While Tina Turner live sounds a lot like a cat being strangled, this single is still of interest because of the appearance of David Bowie on the title track. The song 'Tonight' was written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop for Iggy's 1977 album 'Lust for life'. It subsequently appeared as the title track of Bowie's 1984 album.
After having had eight hit singles in several countries between 1971 and 1973, 'Samba d'amour' was the first of four singles that was only successful in Germany.
The Style Council recorded 'Have you ever had it blue' for the soundtrack of the movie 'Absolute beginners'. After David Bowie's song of the same name was released as a single, the Style Council's track was the next single to be taken from the soundtrack album.
'Surrender' is a 1987 single released by British pop act Swing Out Sister from their debut album, 'It's better to travel'. The song features a trumpet solo performed by John Thirkell. It was released as the follow-up to the successful single, 'Breakout'.
'Stray cat strut' is a track on the Stray Cats' debut album, released in 1981 in the UK. Released as the third single from that album, it reached number 13 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 11 in the UK singles chart.
'My broken souvenirs' was released in March 1977 as the fourth single from Pussycat's debut album 'First of all'. Like their debut single and number 1 hit 'Mississippi', the song was written by Werner Theunissen.
The album 'Another place and time' by Donna Summer, released in 1987, was entirely written and produced by Stock Aitken & Waterman. As a result, the songs sounded a lot like many other hits at the time.
'Victim of love' was written by Erasure band members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell and incorporates the signature Erasure sound of uptempo rhythm, analog synthesizer and a prominent acoustic guitar. Bell's lyrics pertain to one's apprehension when entering into a new love relationship. The song's protagonist doesn't 'want to look like some kind of fool' or become a 'victim of love'.
'Flashback' was released in 1981 as a single by Imagination. It was their third single overall, but also the third single taken from their debut album 'Body talk', named after their debut single which peaked at number 4 in the UK single. Like the second single 'In and out of love', this single peaked at number 16 in the UK singles chart.
During a time out from the Fine Young Cannibals between their debut album and its follow-up, David Steele and Andy Cox recorded - without frontman Roland Gift - an instrumental house single as 2 men, a drum machine & a trumpet.
'Dreamer' was originally recorded in 1974 by Supertramp on their album 'Crime of the century'. Released as a single, it peaked at number 13 in the UK singles chart.
Everybody remembers Phil Collins' debut single 'In the air tonight' of course, but can you also name the single that followed it up? Released just two months after that classic single, 'I missed again' was the second single taken from Collins' debut album 'Face value'. The song, like many on that album, is about Collins' anger and frustration about his first wife leaving him.
Released in September 1982,'Chances' was a single taken from Hot Chocolate's album 'Mystery'. As usual, the tracks on this single were produced by Mickie Most and written by frontman Errol Brown.
In 1982, 'The height of the fighting' was released as the fourth and final single from Heaven 17's debut album 'Penthouse and pavement', and their only single of that year. The song that featured a repetitive chorus and not much in the way of a verse, turned out to be a commercial disaster: it failed to reach the UK singles chart.
'My girl' first made its way into the Madness's set when they were performing as The Invaders. The first performance of the song came in July 1978, when it was still titled 'New song'. Mike Barson, who wrote the song about his girlfriend at the time, originally performed lead vocals and even sang on the demo for the song. However, Suggs took over the vocal duties before long, and sang the album version of the song.
In October 1991, Everything but the girl released their sixth album 'Worldwide'. 'Old friends' was released as a single from that album, featuring a live recording of the 1988 track 'Apron strings', recorded live in Minneapolis/St. Paul in June 1990.
Spandau Ballet debuted in 1980 with the single 'To cut a long story short'. According to the blurb on the back of the sleeve of the Spanish pressing: ''To cut a long story short' es un tema de fuerte ritmo en el que destaca especialmente la voz de su solista y el trabajo de la guitarra y la percusión. Pero es realmente toto el equipo de Spandau Ballet el que consigue que su nombre se haya catapultado hacia el estrellato en solamente unas cuantas semanas.' Which probably means the song is quite good.
I bought both the UK and Spanish pressings in one go, mainly because the Spanish version had such an interesting sleeve. Since I bought quite a few singles, I got a discount, which basically means I got it for free.
The 1960 Harry Locklin song 'Send me the pillow that you dream on' has been covered by many artists, Such as Johnny Tillotson and Marty Wilde. A Dutch version was recorded by the sisters Hepie & Hepie in the Netherlands. In 1980, their 'Ik lig op m'n kussen stil te dromen' reached number 13 in the Dutch Top 40.
Released in October 1962, 'Ever since you said goodbye' would turn out to be Marty Wilde's last chart hit in the UK. It reached number 31 during a 7 week chart run.
In 1992, Alphaville member Ricky Echollette commented about 'Jerusalem': 'One day we were given the sketch for a theatre play, for which we were supposed to write the soundtrack. It's the story of a man, who at night convinces lonely passers-by on Brooklyn Bridge to commit suicide. He offers them as human sacrifices for his lover, who, years ago - because of him - committed suicide at the same location. In his frenzy he turns her into Eris, the Goddess of Revenge. Due to time problems, we were unable to pursue this project. But it was in that time, that 'Jerusalem' came to life.'
Those who read my previous entry on Annie's 'Mishandeld, vernederd, verkracht' already know that one could expect only the very worst in the lyrics of this Dutch artist. Which is why at some point I actually started collecting her singles. Several titles will follow on this blog, but this single is a strange one, as it seems particularly innocent.
After having had several successes in the early Seventies with her particular brand of glam rock tracks, Suzi Quatro had a hard time finding any success after 1974. She still released records, but they all failed to chart. In the mean time, she worked as a session musician.
Sting commented about 'All this time': 'It's about the death of my father, so its pretty dark as a record but on this song the words are foiled by this fairly jolly tune. That's something I like to do quite a lot, combine dark subject matter with upbeat music. No, its not based on a dream. The lyrics seem surreal, but they are all images I remembered from my home town: ferries, priests, shire horses. I grew up by the shipyards. I just wanted to escape. I suppose it was quite a surreal place, though. It is the landscape of my dreams.'
'Tied up' was one of two new songs recorded for the 1982 compilation album called 'Olivia's Greatest Hits Volume 2'. The song was the second single released from the album, following 'Heart attack', the other new track recorded for the package.
Peter Marsh started out in the British music scene together with his brother-in-law, Ken Nicol. First as Nicol and Marsh, but later changing names to Easy Street, they released three albums together. After that Peter mainly played with short-lived bands and projects such as Twist (1979) and Mannfred Mann's band Chance (1980).
The Dutch band Take it easy thought it was a good idea to record and release two Dutch translations of Eurovision songs in 1987. Why they picked two songs that didn't win, but the numbers 4 and 12 is beyond me.
The Nolans released the album 'Portrait' in 1982. The album, like its predecessor, was produced by Ben Findon and Nicky Graham separately. Both producers were now giving the songs a heavy disco sound such as 'Don't let it go by' (by Findon) and 'Chemistry' (by Graham).
'A little tenderness' was released in 1981 as the third single from Sheena Easton's second album 'You could have been with me'. By that time, several singles had been released with almost the same sleeve: compare the one picture here with the ones of 'You could have been with me' and 'Ice out in the rain' and you'll be amazed.
With the song 'Mississippi', the band Pussycat reached the Dutch Top 40 for the very first time. And it was a big success, as it peaked at number 1 for four weeks in the Dutch chart in December 1975. The single also spent four weeks at the top of the UK singles chart a year later.
