Whenever you're ready - Five Star

Five Star were an essential pop group in the middle of the Eighties. The Pearson siblings were able to score hit after hit under the guidance of their father Buster, and their newfound fame came with loads of money, which was invested in a mansion somewhere in England.

Part of their success must have been the attractive 12" single packages. Almost without exception, the discs contained four tracks, three of which were remixes. This 12" of 'Whenever you're ready' packs two remixes of the title track, a Shep Pettibone remix of an album track and the obligatory instrumental B-side track.

My collection: 12" single no. 553
Found: Record fair, 200X
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Whenever you're ready (New York mix)', 'Whenever you're ready (Crazy dub jammy)' / 'Are you man enough (Shep Pettibone remix)', 'Forever yours'

The man I love - Kate Bush and Larry Adler

The 80th birthday of harmonica player Larry Adler was celebrated with an album called 'The glory of Gershwin'. It was released in 1994 and produced by George Martin. Several guest musicians made an appearance on the album, including Kate Bush, who sang the Gershwin song 'The man I love'. Released as a single on July 18, 1994 it climbed to number 22 in the UK Singles Chart.

The B-Side of the 7" single was an edited version of Adler and Martin's rendition of 'Rhapsody in Blue'.

My collection: 7" single no. 2155
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, September 3, 1994
Cost: 10 guilders
Tracks: 'The man I love' / 'Rhapsody in blue'

Love resurrection - Alison Moyet

I was very disappointed when Yazoo broke up, and I had a hard time forgiving Alison Moyet for starting up a solo career and recording songs that were so different from the synth-driven pop tracks composed by her and Vince Clarke. But in time I had to concede that Moyet was a pretty damn good singer in her own right and her voice fits pretty much with every style of music.

Last week she was one of the stars during a concert dedicated to Kirsty MacColl, along with Kim Wilde, Amy MacDonald and Andrea Corr amongst others, and I hear she is now a slim, beautiful woman. Back in 1984, she was big and quite scary to watch. One thing never changed, though: the voice. This 12" single features a longer version of her debut solo single, 'Love resurrection'.

My collection: 12" single no. 411
Found: Record fair, 200X
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Love resurrection (long version)' / 'Baby I do'

Heart of the sun - Red Box

This picture disc version of the 12" single of 'Heart of the sun' by Red Box must have been confusing at the time for fans: the A-side of the disc (shown here) carried a picture that was also used on the sleeve of the album 'The circle & the square'.

The disc itself was a good package: interesting remixes of both 'Heart of the sun' and the previous single 'Lean on me', plus a weird B-side. Red Box fans should rejoice: a new album has just been released by Cherry Pop records.

My collection: 12" single no. 552
Found: Esprit Mailorder, received 2000
Cost: 4 pounds
Tracks: 'Heart of the sun (Slash & Burn)' / 'Enjoy (Solid Gold Easy Amex)', 'Lean on me (Vera's Husband's mix)'

Get outta my way - Kylie Minogue

'Get outta my way' was released last week as the second single from Kylie's current album 'Aphrodite'. Like the previous single 'All the lovers', it was released on two cd-singles and a 7" picture disc. It has already peaked at the number 12 spot in the UK singles chart - and is unlikely to get any higher than that.

The song was written and produced by Lucas Secon, Damon Sharpe, Peter Wallevik, Daniel Davidsen and Cutfather, and co-produced by Stuart Price. He said the song wasn't written for any particular artist and at one point four different artists wanted to cut it as their first single before it was claimed by Kylie.

My collection: 7" single no. 4951
Found: Recordstore.co.uk, received October 8, 2010
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Get outta my way' / 'Get outta my way (Bimbo Jones piano mix - radio edit)'

Star - Time Bandits

There was a time when I thought 'Star' by the Time Bandits was one of the greatest tracks of all time. That feeling has subsided, but it is a pretty nifty pop song nonetheless. It wasn't a hit, which was kindof a shame, but I never actually knew there was a 12" single of this. And that the special remix on it was mixed by Ben Liebrand is a real treat too.

Ben Liebrand made a name for himself during the Eighties with his weekly remix on radio Veronica, and also managed to score a few hits of his own with remixes of oldies (some of which have featured on this blog in the past). This mix is certainly not one of his best, however it is quite a rarity.

My collection: 12" single no. 551
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, October 8, 2010
Cost: 1,5 euro
Tracks: 'Star (special remix)' / 'Star (instrumental remix)'

Starlight - Risqué

I hope Jos is still reading this blog, because I know he will be very excited by this record. It's the 12" single of Risqué's 'Starlight', a disc so rare that it isn't even listed in many discographies on the web. Released in 1982, it's from a time when 12" singles weren't a standard yet, and certainly not for Dutch groups.

The song itself isn't very exciting as the girls always seemed to sing in unison. This 'extended long dance version' is slightly longer than the single version, but that doesn't add a lot.

My collection: 12" single no. 550
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, October 8, 2010
Cost: 1,5 euro
Tracks: 'Starlight (extended long dance version)' / 'Starlight (instrumental)'