'Takin' a chance on you' was the second single from Dollar's second album 'The Paris collection'. Contrary to its predecessor 'The girls are out to get ya' and the follow-up 'You take my breath away', this single did make the UK singles chart, but only reached number 62.
Cicero released his debut single 'Heaven must have sent you back to me' on 12 August 1991 on the Spaghetti Records label, owned by the Pet Shop Boys. Despite promotion from the artist and Pet Shop Boys, the single failed to chart. The two singles that followed, 'Love is everywhere' and 'That loving feeling' were co-produced by Pet Shop Boys and were minor hits in the UK.
One of Israel's most famous singers Ofra Haza competed in the 1983 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Hi'. Although the song title means 'Alive' in Hebrew, it was translated into English as 'High' and into German as 'Frei'.
In 1986, after Dollar reformed for the first time, they released the single 'Haven't we said goodbye before' on Arista records. The lack of success of this single and its predecessor 'We walked in love' had them looking for another record contract the next year.
'Passengers' was released in 1984 as the second single from Elton John's album 'Breaking hearts'. It reached number 5 in the UK singles chart and number 9 in Australia.
On his album 'New light through old windows' (1988) Chris Rea re-recorded the tracks that made him famous in the Eighties. They were not always better versions, but I guess the man felt the need to do these songs once again.
When I visited the record fair in Utrecht a year ago, I saw the single 'Never turn away' and thought I already owned it. I was very dismayed upon my arrival home to find that I didn't. So a year later, back at the record fair, I found that same single with a different dealer... and snapped it up.
'Shine' was released in 1986 as a single by Mike Oldfield, featuring Jon Anderson on vocals. It barely scraped the UK singles chart, reaching number 100, but peaked at number 31 in the German singles chart.
'California blue' was written by Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. The latter two worked with Orbison on what was to become his last album, 'Mystery girl'. The album was released briefly after he died in December 1988, since the lead single 'You got it' had already become a hit while he was still alive.
Phil Collins' debut solo single 'In the air tonight' was re-released in 1988 as a remix. The remix was made by Phil Collins and Hugh Padgham, although a more accomplished remix by Ben Liebrand existed (and was included on 12" and cd-single versions of this single).
'Sisters are doin' it for themselves' was written by Eurythmics members Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. It was intended as a feminist anthem. They recorded the track together with American soul/R&B musician Aretha Franklin and released as a single by RCA Records in October 1985. It was featured on both Eurythmics' 'Be yourself tonight' and Franklin's 'Who's zoomin' who?' albums.
Back in 1992, they were presented as a modern day Abba, the Swedish quartet Ace of base. And they certainly started out promising: 'All that she wants' quickly became a number one hit in Denmark, the UK and Australia. The single was certified Platinum in the United States, where it peaked at number 2. It is one of the highest-selling #2 songs of all time in the States: it stayed in the top three songs on Billboard Hot 100 list for three months, but never actually reached the peak position.
'Love so right' is a R&B/pop ballad released by the Bee Gees in 1976. The single hit number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It peaked at number 2 in Canada, but was less successful in Europe: in the UK the single only reached number 41, and in Germany it reached number 38.
'It's my life' was the first collaboration between Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene, members of Talk Talk. It was released as the band's first single from the album of the same name in January 1984. It reached number 46 in the UK charts, but did better in other countries: number 31 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 30 in Canada and Netherlands, number 33 in Germany, number 32 in New Zealand, number 25 in France and number 7 in Italy.
I've seen the Belle Stars, or at least, three of them, during those Here & Now tours at the beginning of this century in the UK, and one of the staples in their set was their version of 'Iko iko'. I never found the single of that track, but here it is... a reissue of the song because, apparently, it was used in the movie 'Rain man'.
Puck recently informed me that all Carpenters tracks are in fact very depressing. Given this knowledge, it's hard to reconcile that with an upbeat track like 'Sweet, sweet smile', in which the protagonist says that she wants to always see someone's sweet smile.
Donna Summer's 1987 album 'All systems go' spawned the hit single 'Dinner with Gershwin', but the other singles from the album were less successful. 'Only the fool survives', a duet with Mickey Thomas, only reached number 40 in Canada, and this single, the title track from the album, only charted in the UK, peaking at number 54.
Buying records can be a bit like hunting in the wild. (Not that I ever did the latter, but anyway.) You see a prey, it escapes, you wait for it... and wait for it... and when you see it again, you snap it up. It's a bit like this with this single. My sister bought this limited edition with a poster bag way back in 1987 during a holiday in London. I didn't buy it at the time for lack of money, and then of course this edition never showed up again...
Commenting on the track in interview, Stevie Nicks says that 'Sara' is about her best friend Sara Recor Fleetwood, the wife of Mick Fleetwood. Nicks had an affair with Mick Fleetwood in early 1978 while he was married to Jenny Boyd. Then her best friend, model Sara Recor, fell for Fleetwood and began an affair with him whilst Nicks and Fleetwood were still together. The pair ultimately moved in together, and were subsequently married. Nicks felt very betrayed, but Recor and Fleetwood were undeniably in love. Sara claims that Nicks was never upset with her, only with Fleetwood.
Released as a single from their 1987 album 'E.S.P.', 'Angela' was not the Bee Gees' most inspired song, nor was it very successful: released exclusively on mainland Europe, it only reached number 52 in the German singles chart.
There is no information on this single about the year of release, but several internet sources put this single in the year 1977. It makes sense: at the height of the disco era, pretty young girls were coupled to cheesy disco anthems or disco covers of wellknown songs. In this case, it's the latter: a version of a song originally recorded by Abba.
'Love to hate you' was released as the second single from Erasure's 1991 album 'Chorus'. It is one of Erasure's most successful singles on the UK singles chart, peaking at number 4. It also reached number 19 in the German singles cra tand number 4 in Sweden.
The Flying Pickets came up with the then novel concept of transferring the art of a cappella to the pop music scene. The members of the group were internationally renowned for their flamboyant appearance: Hibbard's huge sideburns, Stripe's thick eye-liner, and four others showing off gaudy suits and large hats.
Collecting Boney M singles has become a very amusing pastime for me. The original singles from the Seventies are all in my collection, but in the second half of the Eighties an endless stream of remixes was apparently released on single. I have already found a couple of these (and you can see them on this blog here), but yet another one turned up.
The duo David van Day and Thereza Bazar had a rather stormy career in the first half of the Eighties, then broke up after relations between the two became increasingly strained. In 1986 they reformed and had a big hit with a cover of the Erasure track 'Oh l'amour'.
I'm not ashamed to admit that photography is one of the reasons I like Belinda Carlisle's singles so much. She's always managed to find the right photographer to put her on the cover of her singles - and this one is a good example of that.
Limahl is forever associated to his band Kajagoogoo and his dodgy haircut. But people tend to forget that he's also had a solo career with considerable success, mostly in central Europe. And he's made some very nice pop tunes too.
Every now and then I play an old cd that's been orphaned in my collection. A few weeks ago I took out the greatest hits collection of the Fine Young Cannibals, and the standout track on that, I felt, was their version of 'Suspicious minds'. I never liked this track much in the past, but things change. The hysterical backing vocals by Jimmy Somerville add a certain something to this track. I decided I had to buy the single after all these years.
'Heavenly Action' was released in November 1985 as Erasure's second single. Released after 'Who needs love like that', it was another commercial failure for the duo. In the UK it is still their lowest charting single, peaking as it did at number 100.
When Siobhan Fahey left Bananarama some might have thought she would disappear into nothingness, but nothing was further from the truth: within months she set up Shakespear's sister together with Marcella Detroit and the duo released a couple of very successful and artistically interestig albums.
In August 1981, Bowie had begun rehearsals to appear in the BBC version of Bertolt Brecht's play 'Baal'. The lyrics to the songs were all translated by Ralph Manheim and John Willett. Dominic Muldowney provided all new musical settings, except for 'The drowned girl', which was a setting by Kurt Weill done originally for Das Berliner Requiem. In September 1981, Bowie and Tony Visconti returned to the Hansa studios in Berlin to re-record the five songs Baal performed in the play.
Giorgio Moroder made a restoration and new edit of 'Metropolis', the 1927 movie by Fritz Lang. Moroder’s version of the film introduced a new contemporary pop music soundtrack for the film. Although it restored a number of previously missing scenes and plot details from the original release (in particular, Moroder's version restores the character of Hel, who was omitted from the original release version of the film), his version of the film runs to only 80 minutes in length, compared to the original 153 minute version.
In 1992, Erasure released the Abba-esque EP, featuring four covers of Abba songs. All formats were released with four tracks on them, so one would think no other formats would exist.
Freda Charcilia Payne was born on September 19, 1945. She's an American singer and actress best known for her million selling, 1970 hit single, 'Band of Gold'. The song, written by the famous writing team Holland-Dozier-Holland, tells a story of a recently married woman whose husband is incapable of loving her (even though he tried), resulting in the couple sleeping in separate rooms on their honeymoon, to her dismay. It would appear that the marriage ended in the husband's abandoning his bride, leaving her with no more than the titular 'band of gold'.
'We'll live it all again' (Italian title: 'Noi lo rivivremo di nuovo') was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, performed in Italian and English by Al Bano & Romina Power. So far, this the country's only ever entry not to be sung entirely in Italian (although this year's entry will also be in English, I understand).
In 1974, France did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. Still, here it is: a single of the 1974 entry by Dani. How come?
'Tubular bells' is Mike Oldfield's signature theme and he has released several versions around the theme of the thunderpipes, as well as several singles. The original album was released in 1973 and at the time it came with a single in the UK and a different single in the US.
'To love somebody' was originally recorded and released by the Bee Gees in 1967, back when they were still a quintet. The song was written on a boat in Monte Carlo the day the Beatles manager, Brian Epstein was found dead (August 1967) after manager Robert Stigwood encouraged Barry Gibb to write a soul song for Otis Redding. Redding, however, died in an airplane crash before he could record the song.
'Son of a Preacher Man' was recorded by Dusty Springfield in September 1968 as a track on her legendary album 'Dusty in Memphis'. Written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins, the song was originally offered to Aretha Franklin, but she turned it down. Only after she'd heard Springfield's version she recorded the song herself. By that time, however, Springfield's version had already become a hit; thus, Franklin's version, included on her 1970 album, 'This girl's in love with you', ended up as a B-side of the single 'Call me' only.
Janet Jackson's album 'Control' was a big success, and the way the album was 'milked' for singles was equal to her brother Michael's 'Thriller' a few years before. After six singles released internationally, 'Funny how time flies (when you're having fun)' was released as single number seven in the UK and Australia.
I always get a kick out of buying really old singles, and this one is almost 50 years old. Marty Wilde released 'Tomorrow's clown' in October 1961, and reached number 33 in the UK singles charts with it.
'Some kind of lover' was the fourth single taken from Jody Watley's self-titled debut solo album. It was a relative failure, reaching number 81 in the UK singles chart, but it is one of the nicest funky tracks on the album.
'If it happens again' is one of my favourite tunes by UB40, and a lot of that has to do with the last few minutes of the track. So I was hoping that the 12" version would offer more of that. Well it doesn't, but that's okay because this dub mix is quite interesting too.
'We were so turned on: A tribute to David Bowie' was released worldwide on September 6, 2010 as a charity for War Child UK. It is the only tribute album that has been approved by David Bowie and his management.
Released in 1972, Ricky Wilde (yep, Kim's brother) was just eleven years old when he sang 'I am an astronaut'. The single was not a hit all over Europe, but the single was released in several countries.
'Verlieben verlieren' can be translated as 'loving and losing', which qualifies this song as a story everyone has gone through at one point or another. It's a pleasant popsong and the B-side is a nice bonus, as it holds a remix of the A-side track.
A Taste of Honey was the name of an American recording act formed in 1971 by associates Perry Kibble and Donald Ray Johnson. In 1978 they had one of the best known songs of the disco era, 'Boogie Oogie Oogie'. The single as a number 1 hit in the USA, while reaching number 3 in the UK singles chart and number 34 in the Dutch Top 40.
