'I hear talk' was released on December 15, 1984, in the same week when Bucks Fizz were involved in a road accident: their tour bus collided with road works, careened off the road and injured members of the group as well as their entourage. The group were inactive for several months as a result.
Promotion for 'I hear talk' was minimal, although a music video had already been completed. The single reached number 34 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4265 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'I hear talk' / 'Pulling me under'
'And when the night comes' was released as the second single from Jon & Vangelis' third album 'Private collection'. The single failed to make any chart impact.
It's funny how I never saw this single, while on the record fair on November 21 I found it in three different stalls. Sometimes I think there's a secret vault of old 7" singles where these things come from every once in a while.
My collection: 7" single no. 4264 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'And when the night comes' / 'Song is'
ZTT Records signed Frankie Goes to Hollywood after producer and co-founder Trevor Horn saw the band play on the TV show The Tube, where they played an early version of 'Relax'. Once the band was signed, ZTT co-founder Paul Morley mapped out the marketing campaign fashioned as a 'strategic assault on pop'. He opted to tackle the biggest possible themes in the band's singles ('sex, war, religion'), of which 'Relax' would be the first, and emphasised the shock impact of Frankie members Holly Johnson and Paul Rutherford's open homosexuality in the packaging and music videos.
Horn dominated the recording of 'Relax' in his effort for perfectionism. The band were overawed and intimidated by Horn's reputation, and thus were too nervous to make suggestions. Johnson said in his autobiography, 'Whatever he said we went along with'. When attempts to record with the band proved unsatisfactory, Horn hired former Ian Dury backing band the Blockheads for the sessions. When the results of these sessions didn't sound modern enough, Horn then constructed a more electronic-based version of the song with session musician Andy Richards and with rhythm programming assistance from J. J. Jeczalik of Art of Noise. Horn developed this version of the recording in his West London studio while the band remained in their hometown of Liverpool. Ultimately lead vocalist Johnson was the only band member to perform on the record. Horn completed the recording having spent £70,000 in studio time. As Horn explained years later, 'I was just... Look, 'Relax' had to be a hit.'
My collection: 7" single no. 4263 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Relax' / 'One September Monday'
The song 'Take me home' is not to be taken literally: it's not about a man going home. Phil Collins has explained that the song lyric refers to a patient in a mental institution, and that the song is based on the novel 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest'. The song features Sting, Peter Gabriel and Helen Terry on backing vocals.
The song was released as a single in the UK in July 1985 and in the US in March 1986. It peaked at number 19 in the UK and number 7 in the USA.
My collection: 7" single no. 4262 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Take me home' / 'We said hello goodbye'
While in most of the world 'Union city blue' was released as the second single from Blondie's 1979 album 'Eat to the beat', 'The hardest part' was released in the USA and Canada. The song was written by Deborah Harry and Chris Stein, as most of the band's material.
The single only reached number 84 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 86 in Canada.
My collection: 7" single no. 4261 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'The hardest part' / 'Sound asleep'
'Reet petite' by Jackie Wilson was re-released in December 1986 after a clay animation video was shown in the BBC 2 documentary series 'Arena'. This re-release gave Jackie Wilson a big hit all over Europe, three years after his death. The single reached number 1 in the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland.
The song was written by Berry Gordy and Tyran Carlo, a pseudonym of Jackie's cousin Billy Davis. It was Jackie Wilson's first recording as a solo artist after leaving the Dominoes. The song peaked at number 62 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and reached number 6 on the UK singles chart in 1957.
My collection: 7" single no. 4260 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'Reet petite' / 'You brought about a change in me', 'I'm the one to do it'
For the second time I bought the single 'If I had you' by the Korgis. I already had this version, which includes two tracks on the B-side, but this single only includes one of them. Furthermore, the sleeve design is similar to the one of 'Young 'n' Russian', also released in 1979.
After all this information, one would almost forget that 'If I had you' is simply a lovely pop song, which should have been a big hit all over Europe.
My collection: 7" single no. 4258 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'If I had you' / 'Chinese girl'
'I hear talk' was released on December 15, 1984, in the same week when Bucks Fizz were involved in a road accident: their tour bus collided with road works, careened off the road and injured members of the group as well as their entourage. The group were inactive for several months as a result.
