The band Steely Dan broke up in 1981 after nine years. Founder member Donald Fagen didn't sit on his laurels: he recorded a solo album instead. 'The Nightfly' (1982) became a critical and commercial success and yielded a few hit singles, of which 'I.G.Y.' was the biggest. It peaked at number 30 in the Netherlands.
Synthpop wizard Howard Jones recorded a cover version of this song as a new track for his 1993 compilation album 'The best of Howard Jones'.
My collection: 7" single no. 1810 Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, January 4, 1993 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'I.G.Y.' / 'Walk between raindrops'
'Love' was written by John Lennon and originally appeared on his 1970 album 'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'. The Dream Academy recorded their cover version of the song in 1990 and released it as a single. Although it sounded very contemporary (or perhaps because of that), it did not chart in any territory.
The song did appear on their third and last album 'A different kind of weather' (1991). The cd-single of 'Love' featured six remixes of the track, with other remixes appearing on other formats. Perhaps they overdid it a bit.
Barry Ryan was born as Barry Stephenson on October 24, 1948 in Leeds, UK. Barry and his twin brother Paul started performing at the age of fifteen. As Paul & Barry Ryan they released several singles. When Paul couldn't cope with all the stress involved with showbusiness, the two brothers decided that Barry would go solo, while Paul wrote songs for him. The biggest success they had was 'Eloise', a dramatic and heavily orchestrated track, released in 1968. The single peaked at number 2 in the UK and topped the chart in the Netherlands.
I couldn't find the original single so I settled for this 'Old Gold' re-release from 1984. The B-side is Jim Stafford's 'Spiders and snakes', a far more modest hit from 1973. It peaked at number 13 in the UK and did not chart in the Netherlands.
My collection: 7" single no. 1413 Found: Grammofoonwinkel, Utrecht, April 3, 1991 Cost: 4,5 guilders Tracks: 'Eloise' (Barry Ryan) / 'Spiders and snakes' (Jim Stafford)
In February 1988, Supreme Records released what would become Mel & Kim's last single, 'That's the way it is'. Mel Appleby had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment in a specialized hospital. Pete Waterman later explained: 'Mel had to check herself out of the cancer hospital in order for her to lay vocals down for that track. The doctors said that it would be at least twelve months before Mel would be able to record material again, so we put the second album on hold and prayed that she'd get better soon. Tragically that never happened.'
'That's the way it is' was promoted with a music video that didn't feature Mel & Kim, just dancers. Still, the single was a success, peaking at number 10 in the UK and number 8 in the Netherlands.
My collection: 7" single no. 588
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, February 13, 1988
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'That's the way it is' / 'You changed my life'
It would be fair to say that the band Animal Nightlife made music very much like the band Sade: funky, jazzy, soulful music with good melodies and catchy choruses. The band formed in the early Eighties, its members were vocalist 'Flid', Leonardo Chignoli, Billy Chapman, Paul Waller and Andy Polaris.
The music video for 'Mr. Solitaire' was a regular on music channels in 1984. It caused me to get a bit sick of it in the end. That summer, it peaked at number 25 in the UK singles chart. Years later, I realised I wanted to have this song - and then spent ages trying to find it.
In late 1985, Propaganda's management introduced the group to the London based music lawyer Brian Carr of Compton Carr, who studied both contracts Propaganda have been given to ZTT Records and Perfect Songs, contracts which had been signed by the band members without legal advice. He came to the conclusion that under these contracts, the members of the group could go on making records for the rest of their lives and never make any money from them.
This was the point where everything ended between Propaganda and ZTT Records/Perfect Songs Ltd. Claudia Brücken left Propaganda to pursue a solo career. In 1988, the band signed to Virgin Records, and began recording new material. Alongside Michael Mertens were the new line-up of vocalist Betsi Miller, Derek Forbes and Brian McGee. The result was a new album, released in 1990 called '1234'. The single 'Heaven give me words', co-written by Howard Jones, was not a huge success, perhaps in part due to MTV dropping the video for 'Heaven give me words' after only very few plays. The single peaked at number 36 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 1254 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, June 26, 1990 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'Heaven give me words' / 'Count zero'
In 1991 Claudia Brücken released her solo album 'Love: and a million other things'. In the United Kingdom two singles were released from this album: 'Absolut(e)' in 1990, and 'Kiss like ether' in 1991.
While 'Absolut(e)' was released in a limited edition box set, 'Kiss like ether' was released in a gatefold sleeve. I was lucky enough to find this one as well, so both Claudia Brücken singles I own are actually quite special items.
The band Steely Dan broke up in 1981 after nine years. Founder member Donald Fagen didn't sit on his laurels: he recorded a solo album instead. 'The Nightfly' (1982) became a critical and commercial success and yielded a few hit singles, of which 'I.G.Y.' was the biggest. It peaked at number 30 in the Netherlands.
