The band Leisure Process never had much success, so its only claim to fame was the inclusion of band members Ross Middleton and Gary Barnacle, who have always been successful session artists.
'Cashflow' was one of their singles and when you listen to the two tracks on this single you can hear a great instrumental on the B-side. In my opinion, it's the best track the band have recorded.
My collection: 7" single no. 5297 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 12, 2012 Cost: 3 euro Tracks: 'Cashflow' / 'The emigré'
Most people seem to think that Paul Young landed an immediate number 1 hit with his debut solo single 'Wherever I lay my hat' in the summer of 1983, but in fact, it was this single, released in 1982, which started it all. Paul Young left his band the Q Tips and released 'Iron out the rough spots' as his debut single. The single was not successful, in fact it didn't chart in any territory.
Up next was 'Love of the common people', which was equally unsuccessful upon its first release. It was only when the third single was released, the aforementioned 'Wherever I lay my hat', when Paul reached number 1 in the UK and Ireland. 'Love of the common people', of course, still became a hit after fourth single 'Come back and stay' had gone top 10 almost everywhere. But this single remained unknown for most people - although the track still does appear on Paul Young's debut solo album, 'No parlez'.
My collection: 7" single no. 5295 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2012 Cost: 3 euro Tracks: 'Iron out the rough spots' / 'Behind your smile'
Although it was already 1981, the band Racey were still recording rock and roll tracks as if no two decades had passed. An anachronism in a way, but it was kindof charming nonetheless. 'Little darlin'' was one of their later offerings, which didn't dent the charts.
Racey's last hit, 'Runaround Sue', was released the year before. The band formally split in 1985, and since then two separate groups
named Racey exist, one featuring band member Richard Gower and the other
featuring Clive Wilson, Phil Fursdon and Pete Miller.
My collection: 7" single no. 5302 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2012 Cost: 3 euro Tracks: 'Little darlin'' / 'Rock it'
Today Marty Wilde celebrates his 73rd birthday. That in itself is a great achievement, but even more so when you start to realise that 55 years after starting his career with a string of top 10 hits in the UK, he is still performing across that country.
'Rubber ball', released in January 1961, was his last top 10 hit, peaking at number 9 in the UK singles chart. I was quite stunned to find this mint copy yesterday, in the stall of a dealer who was selling everything for just 1 euro. Normally one is expected to pay much more for old gems like this.
My collection: 7" single no. 5316 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2012 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Rubber ball' / 'Like makin' love'
For a mere eight years I was well into Tori Amos. All that time she released five great albums, until the disastrous covers album 'Strange little girls' ended that great run and introduced a decade of wishy-washy albums, finally descending into that career nosedive called the - gasp - Christmas album.
I should have suspected that Tori Amos was not entirely artistically correct when her third album 'Boys for Pele' spawned a few very bad remix efforts. The number one hit 'Professional widow', in which the original song was mangled beyond recognition, was an offence, and it was followed by this 12" single featuring four half-decent remixes of 'In the springtime of his voodoo'. I couldn't foresee what would happen next, I bought this one out of curiosity more than anything.
My collection: 12" single no. 636 Found: Delft, 1996 Cost: 20 guilders Tracks: 'In the springtime of his voodoo (Hasbrouck Heights club mix)', 'In the springtime of his vooodo (Quiet mix)' / 'In the springtime of his voodoo (Sugar dub)', 'In the springtime of his voodoo (Hasbrouck heights single mix)'
Daryl Hall & John Oates wrote some very fine pop tunes in the early Eighties, and this is one of them. This single from their 1981 album 'Private eyes' was also released on a 12" single, which features an extended version of the track. This wasn't a standard practice back in those days, in fact I have a few 12" singles from 1981 which only feature the normal single version.
The funky beat of this track has been misused by many hiphop "artists" through the years, and you can also hear it in Simply Red's 2003 hit 'Sunrise'.
My collection: 12" single no. 163
Found: Record fair, 1993
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'I can't go for that (no can do)' / 'Unguarded minute'
When Frida went solo in 1982, nobody suspected that it signalled the end of Abba, the band she'd been part of for the last ten years. And when the first single, 'I know there's something going on', produced by Phil Collins, became a big hit, nobody knew that the rest of her solo career would be less successful. Her career as a solo artist became comparatively insignificant, although artistically it had some interesting moments nonetheless.
This 12" single features the full length version of the track, as it was found on the album 'Something's going on'.
My collection: 12" single no. 144 Found: Record fair, 1993 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'I know there's something going on (full length version)' / 'Threnody'
For a mere eight years I was well into Tori Amos. All that time she released five great albums, until the disastrous covers album 'Strange little girls' ended that great run and introduced a decade of wishy-washy albums, finally descending into that career nosedive called the - gasp - Christmas album.
When Frida went solo in 1982, nobody suspected that it signalled the end of Abba, the band she'd been part of for the last ten years. And when the first single, 'I know there's something going on', produced by Phil Collins, became a big hit, nobody knew that the rest of her solo career would be less successful. Her career as a solo artist became comparatively insignificant, although artistically it had some interesting moments nonetheless.