The Crusaders formed in 1961 as the Jazz Crusaders. Since then, they have released over fourty albums, including some live and compilation albums. Their biggest hit was the 1979 single 'Street life', with vocals performed by Randy Crawford, who would go on to have a very successful solo career. 'Street life' peaked at number 5 in the UK and number 13 in the Netherlands.
'Through the years' was released as the last single from Tim Finn's solo debut album 'Escapade'. It was a nice upbeat song, which saw him conquer the charts in Canada (where the single peaked at number 34) and the Netherlands (number 34).
'Glam slam' was the second single taken from Prince's 1988 album 'Lovesexy'. The title originates from the sexual quote 'Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am,' which is an allusion to the popularized line from glam-rock star David Bowie's 'Suffragette City'.
Released in July 1980, 'Doin' la bamba' was to be the last top 10 hit for Pussycat in the Netherlands. The single peaked at number 6 in August. In subsequent years, the group slowly lost its members until only a quartet was left in 1983. The group fell apart in 1985.
Having already written about the 12" single of 'Answers to nothing', there's not so much to add here. Except this: the 7" single contains the original version of the track, which is the same as the album version. And a limited edition was available on clear vinyl. I'd already bought the normal version when I found the clear vinyl pressing. Obviously, I bought that one as well.
Michael Cretu was born on May 18, 1957 in Bucharest, Romania. In the Seventies he started his music career playing keyboards and producing for German producer Frank Farian. In the Eighties, he played keyboards during Arabesque's live shows. This is how he met Sandra, whose albums he started to produce once she went solo in 1985. The couple got married in 1988.
Ivo Watts-Russell had founded the record label 4AD in 1980, and it quickly established itself as one of the key labels in the British post-punk movement. One of the label's earliest signings was Modern English. In 1983, Watts-Russell suggested that the band re-record two of their earliest songs, 'Sixteen days' and 'Gathering dust', as a medley. At the time, the band was closing their sets with this medley, and Watts-Russell felt it was strong enough to warrant a re-recording. When the band rebuffed the idea, Watts-Russell decided to assemble a group of musicians to record the medley: Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins; Gordon Sharp of Cindytalk; and a few members of Modern English. An EP, Sixteen Days/Gathering Dust, resulted from these sessions.