I have no idea whether the Time Bandits had any success in America in 1984, but that is where this 12" single comes from. The record company must have thought it a viable option, as they put a lot of work into it: the original track, produced by Pim Koopman, was remixed by Steve Thompson, who was a wellknown producer and remixer stateside.Three versions of the track appear on this 12" single, which is marked 'For promotion only' on the back of the sleeve. 'Sale is unlawful', it says too. Still, I bought this disc in a shop in London.
My collection: 12" single no. 309
Found: Record Exchange, London
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'I'm only shooting love (extended version)' / 'I'm only shooting love (dub)', 'I'm only shooting love (single)'
That was great information and good for me.
ReplyDeleteCD Jackets Printing
The only hit in Portugal of Time Bandits was "Endless Road". I remember they had a different hit in Germany. Probably this single.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog. Time Bandits had 2-3 big hits in Australia 1984-1985 Endless Road and I'm only shooting love. I had forgotten about them but these 2 are great pop tracks from that time. I recently bought Endless Road on 12inch. I just have to find I'm only shooting love now.
ReplyDeleteTime Bandits did have quite a bit of success oddly enough in America, but mainly in discotheques. Their first single "Live It Up" was a #1 hit on the dance charts in America, but oddly enough, CBS here did not put out an album or another Time Bandits single for four years until "I'm Only Shooting Love" had become an international hit. The song went to #2 on the dance charts here in America.
ReplyDeleteNearly every Time Bandits album did actually come out here, though the self-titled debut album, which was different here than the one released in The Netherlands and by CBS UK in the rest of the world, mainly compiled songs from the first two Dutch albums and included the then-latest single "Star", which ended up being cut from the Fiction album, and an exclusive song not released anywhere else in the world called "Crazy World".
I imagine one of the problems of the Time Bandits was that the record companies had trouble promoting their unique music. The promotion was particularly bad here in America as usually only one single came out from each album. There was "Live It Up", then "I'm Only Shooting Love" to promote the American self-titled debut, then "Dancing On A String" to promote Fiction, and then "Wildfire" to promote Can't Wait For Another World.
I love that you put up all the Time Bandits singles as you've made me rediscover this band and I love their music. I wish someone would make MP3's of all the band's Dutch albums (the first two are the self-titled debut released there in 1982 and Tracks in 1983) as they have all been out-of-print for decades since the band came out in the 1980's and only the last two albums and the Greatest Hits album came out on CD at all. I think it's rather criminal how forgotten this band's music is, since it's so great.