Elkie Brooks' breakthrough second album, released in 1977, propelled her into solo stardom in the UK and Europe. Featuring the top ten hits 'Pearl's a singer' and 'Sunshine after the rain', it had a distinct American sound largely due to the work of legendary writers and producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
'Sunshine after the rain' was released as the third single from the album and reached number 10 in the UK singles chart in August 1977.
My collection: 7" single no. 5293 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received February 1, 2012 Cost: 2,7 euro Tracks: 'Sunshine after the rain' / 'You did something for me'
Elton John released 'Philadelphia freedom' as a single in 1975. Elton, looking to honour his friend, tennis professional Billie Jean King, asked Taupin to write a song called 'Philadelphia Freedom', an homage to her tennis team. Taupin said, 'I can't write a song about tennis', and did not. Taupin maintains that the lyrics bear no relation to tennis, Philly Soul or even flag-waving patriotism. In the U.S. it was a charttopper in April 1975.
The B-side features a live performance of 'I saw her standing there' by Elton John and John Lennon at Madison Square Gardens on November 26, 1974.
My collection: 7" single no. 5292 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received February 1, 2012 Cost: 2,8 euro Tracks: 'Philadelphia freedom' / 'I saw her standing there (live)'
'Ace of hearts' was the fourth single taken from Chris Rea's 1984 album 'Wired to the moon'. In the UK, it was the title track of a mini album featuring five tracks. This German single features just two of them: 'Ace of hearts' and 'True love'.
The single did not become a hit in Germany. In the UK, it reached number 79 in 1984, and a reissue reached number 78 a year later.
My collection: 7" single no. 5291 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received February 1, 2012 Cost: 1,5 euro Tracks: 'Ace of hearts (special remix)' / 'True love'
I posted my 12" single of Earth Wind & Fire's 'Boogie Wonderland' just two weeks ago, a few days before I ordered this 7" single. I didn't know I didn't have the 7" single, but as I was writing that piece, I found out. It was a pleasure to correct this small omission.
The 7" single is, obviously, shorter than the 12" single. The full length version is 8'30 minutes, whereas the single edit is just 5 minutes. The instrumental version on the B-side is just 50 seconds shorter than its 12" counterpart.
My collection: 7" single no. 5290 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received February 1, 2012 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Boogie wonderland' / 'Boogie wonderland (instrumental)'
Record producer John Carter was the veteran of the early Sixties beat music, most notably Carter-Lewis and the Southerners, a band Carter formed with fellow producer Ken Lewis. Lewis and Carter formed a vocal harmony band, The Ivy League, that enjoyed three top twenty hits in Britain in 1965. Carter and Gill Shakespeare wrote the song 'Beach Baby' in the summer of 1974 in their home in East Sheen, South West London, far from any beach. Carter immediately enlisted the help of lead singer Tony Burrows and another session singer, Chas Mills, to record the song for Jonathan King's UK Records record label under the name The First Class.
The dense, complex production, layered vocals evoked the Sixties west-coast production style of lead Beach Boy Brian Wilson. At one point the arrangement utilises the horn theme from the last movement of Sibelius' Fifth Symphony. In 1974, at a moment when nostalgia for the Sixties was fashionable (and The Beach Boys sat atop the Billboard Hot 200 album chart with Endless Summer on 5 October 1974), the song became a hit in the UK (where it peaked at number 13), and in the USA, where it peaked at number 4.
My collection: 7" single no. 5289 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received February 1, 2012 Cost: 1,6 euro Tracks: 'Beach baby' / 'Surfer queen'
The 12" single I bought back in 1994 features four remixes of Kim Appleby's 'Free spirit', but this promotional double 12" set, which I found last month on a website, features five. Indeed, that's one extra and so I guess you could say I bought this set for one track only.
Now if 'Free spirit' was recorded by Madonna or Britney Spears these days it would probably be a hit, because it's a piece of inspired high energy pop, but Kim Appleby's star had faded in 1994, when this disc came out, and so it disappeared quietly. What a shame.
My collection: 12" single no. 624 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received February 1, 2012 Cost: 3 euro Tracks: 'Free spirit (Mixed by Mobius Loop)' / 'Free spirit (Club mix - remix by Tony King' // 'Free spirit (Sound of Stockwell dub)' / 'Free spirit (Spiritual mix)', 'Free spirit (Diesel & Ether Defacto mix)'
I don't have any Joe Cocker tracks, except this one. I already had the 12" single, which I bought two decades ago, but I decided I had to have the 7" single as well. So when the opportunity presented itself last month, I ordered it.
Much to my surprise, this German pressing comes in a rather boring sleeve, whereas the UK version (at least, the 12" single I have was made in the UK) is much prettier with an actual photograph on the front cover. The song remains a true classic with Joe's devastated voice used to full effect.
My collection: 7" single no. 5288 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received February 1, 2012 Cost: 1,5 euro Tracks: 'Don't you love me anymore' / 'Tell me there is a way'
Elkie Brooks' breakthrough second album, released in 1977, propelled her into solo stardom in the UK and Europe. Featuring the top ten hits 'Pearl's a singer' and 'Sunshine after the rain', it had a distinct American sound largely due to the work of legendary writers and producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
