Showing posts with label Eighties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eighties. Show all posts

Saturday 8 June 2019

Walk right now - The Jacksons

Record dealers are often likely to charge an arm and a leg for records of famous bands and the Jacksons can count as one of the most famous bands of all time. So it was a source of much pleasure to find a very good copy of this single by the Jacksons for just one euro during an open air record fair last week.

'Walk right now' was taken from the album 'Triumph', the album that gave us the hits 'Can you feel it' and 'Lovely one'. The single performed well in the UK, peaking at number 7, but only got to number 73 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 6113
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, June 1, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Walk right now' / 'Your ways'

Almost over you - Sheena Easton

'Almost over you' sees Sheena Easton at her most melodramatic. The single was taken from her 1983 album 'Best kept secret', the first one in her career to be entirely recorded in the USA.Not surprisingly, the material went down better in the USA than it did in the UK. The album reached number 33 in the US album chart, but only got to number 99 in the UK.

The single followed the same pattern: while it peaked at number 25 in the US Billboard Hot 100, it only got to number 89 in the UK singles chart. Sheena's UK career would never recover: only 'The arms of Orion', her 1989 duet with Prince would do marginally better in the UK than it did in the USA.

My collection: 7" single no. 6111
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, June 1, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Almost over you' / 'I don't need your word'

Friday 7 June 2019

Einfach weg - Anita

Austria was represented at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest by Anita Spanner, born on December 22, 1960 in the Fürstenfeld District, Styria in Austria. As a virtual unknown she managed to win the national preselection with 'Einfach weg' as a clear winner. She was less successful in the Eurovision competition, as she ended up in the last of 19 places with only 5 points - 4 from Denmark and 1 from Ireland. Nonetheless the song topped the Austrian singles chart for two weeks that year.

Between 1987 and 1991 she released three more singles before fading away from the music business. She withdrew from the public eye to raise a family. She has recently returned to performing as a member of a seven-piece live band called Hit4You.

My collection: 7" single no. 6103
Found: eBay, received May 24, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Einfach weg' / 'Einfach weg (instrumental)'

Monday 3 June 2019

King of fools - Perfect day

Having bought 'Jane' and 'Liberty town' in April, I followed up last month with the acquisition of 'King of fools', another single by Perfect Day. As with the previous two, the involvement of Ricky Wilde made me want to check this one out: the B-side 'Step out' is produced by him and contains some of the hallmarks that makes Kim Wilde's music so glorious.

This single was released in a special gatefold sleeve, probably in an attempt by the record company to make this a more attractive package. Unfortunately this didn't help: this was to be the band's final release.

My collection: 7" single no. 6066
Found: Discogs.com, received May 10, 2019
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'King of fools' / 'Step out'

Call of the wild - Midge Ure

I didn't just find Midge Ure's 'Dear God' on clear vinyl recently, but also his lesser known single 'Call of the wild'. For the longest time I believed I already had this one, but that was a mistake.

'Call of the wild' was released in 1986, after three singles taken from his debut solo album 'The gift'. Despite the fact that it was a new song, it didn't quite deliver in terms of chart success: it only reached number 27 in the UK singles chart. As a result, the song did not appear on Ure's next album, 'Answers to nothing'.

My collection: 7" single no. 6092
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Call of the wild' / 'When the winds blow (live at Wembley Arena, 23 December 1985)'

Thursday 30 May 2019

Chiquitita - Nana Mouskouri

Having bought my first ever Nana Mouskouri single in February ('The one that got away') it looks like 2019 might be her year - at least in my record collection. 'A force de prier' - the original version of 'The one that got away' - is one that I will probably get before the end of this year, and here is her cover version of that immortal Abba song, 'Chiquitita'.

Nana Mouskouri recorded this song in 1984, with French lyrics by French musical theatre lyricist  Alain Boublil. The single was taken from the album 'La Dame De Coeur', also released in 1984.

My collection: 7" single no. 6094
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Chiquitita (Dis-moi pourquoi)' / 'La fin du voyage'

Hit me with your rhythm stick (Paul Hardcastle remix) - Ian Dury

During the Seventies I was already watching Toppop, thanks to my older brother and sister. They had their own interpretations on what the 'rhythm stick' that was mentioned in this song was, and as an impressionable youngster I immediately got the joke myself. The song has remained a fun 'double entendre' ever since.

Paul Hardcastle remixed the track in 1984, giving the song a well-deserved second outing. The remixed version peaked at number 55 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 6088
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Hit me with your rhythm stick (Paul Hardcastle remix)' / 'Sex & drugs & Rock & Roll (Paul Hardcastle remix)'

Dear God - Midge Ure

I always held off on buying this single because I knew that there was a clear vinyl edition of it, just like all those Ultravox singles during the Eighties. 'Dear God' was taken from Midge Ure's second solo album 'Answers to nothing' (1988) - and I already own the clear vinyl edition of the single of that title track.

'Dear God' was a minor hit for Midge, peaking at number 55 in the UK singles chart and number 95 in the US Billboard Hot 100. The lyrics of the song are less cynical than the song by XTC with the same title - perhaps Midge has a little more faith in that invisible non-existant force in the sky.

My collection: 7" single no. 6091
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Dear God' / 'Music #1'

On the beach (Summer '88) - Chris Rea

I scored a hattrick last week when I bought three singles by Chris Rea. The last of the three, after Giverny and You can go your own way, was the 'Summer '88' version of 'On the beach'. It is one of my favourite songs by Chris Rea - although there are more - and this version is a bit more up-tempo than the original. It was taken from the album 'New light through old windows', a collection of re-recordings of his older songs.

The original version of 'On the beach' only reached number 57, so it must have been a surprise to find that this new version peaked at number 12 in the UK. In other territories, the single did not chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 6083
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'On the beach (Summer '88)' / 'I'm taking the day out'

Wednesday 29 May 2019

And then there were none - The Enid

The British rock band The Enid was formed in 1973 by former Barclay James Harvest member Robert John Godfrey. Despite several album and single releases, commercial success always eluded the band. In 1981, they played most of the music for Kim Wilde's debut album, which probably is their biggest claim to fame.

After this, they released the single 'And then there were none' in early 1982. It was interesting enough for me to check this out. At the time of release, the band consisted of Godfrey with Steve Stewart and Chris North - the latter would also drum with Kim Wilde on subsequent tours. 'And then there were none' is a great single, but wasn't exactly chart material at the time.

My collection: 7" single no. 6087
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'And then there were none' / 'Letter from America'

I need a man - Eurythmics

A long time ago, when I was working at the public library, I had the opportunity to borrow cd's for free. During that time I listened to a lot of music I didn't (yet) own - and I do mean A LOT. One of the bands that I listened to was Eurythmics. In the end I wasn't that impressed with their albums, which is why I never bought them. But there were a lot of good singles, and I did buy those.

'I need a man' somehow escaped my attention and that must be because of the frankly horrible sleeve of that single in Europe. The American sleeve looks a lot nicer, as you can see here. The best track on this single actually isn't the A-side: I prefer the album track that is included on the flipside. 'Heaven' is a weird, but great track.

My collection: 7" single no. 6084
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'I need a man' / 'Heaven'

Tuesday 28 May 2019

Det' lige det - Hot Eyes

Kirsten Siggard (born 7 September 1954 in Slagelse) and Søren Bundgaard (born 4 March 1956 in Glostrup) formed Hot Eyes and represented Denmark at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest for the first time - and certainly not the last time. 'Det' lige det' ended up in fourth place, in a field of 19 competitors.

This single presents both the Danish and the English version of the song. The song is sung from the perspective of a woman waiting for her lover to come to her. She tells him that his presence brightens the day considerably and that he shouldn't be afraid of loving her, as he appears to be.

My collection: 7" single no. 6078
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Det' lige det' / 'Waiting in the rain'

Monday 27 May 2019

Giverny - Chris Rea

Somewhere along the way, I have become addicted to unknown Chris Rea singles. They are always surprising, but in a good way. His sound is usually pretty relaxed, laidback and soothing. This single from 1986 is no exception. 'Giverny' was taken from his album 'On the beach', but it was only released in Europe.

In these days of European politics, it is worth noting that Chris Rea is apparently a supported of the idea of a Brexit, claiming that 'you cannot force different people to live together [when] they simply do not want to'. Applying this logic to the United Kingdom, we're in for some interesting times then...

My collection: 7" single no. 6081
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Giverny' / 'Bless them all'

Jump to it - Heartbeat UK

Steve Byrd was a guitarist in Kim Wilde's band when she went on tour for the first time in 1982. Since then, he remained in the band and also wrote songs together with her when she started writing songs herself. But in 1987 he made a break for himself and joined Heartbeat UK, a band that was formed by ex-Culture Club member Jon Moss. Together with Steve Lambert and Mark Heyward-Chaplin (the latter also from Kim's backing band) they signed with Virgin Records and released this single, 'Jump to it'.

The single bombed. Heartbeat UK soon ceased to exist. Steve Byrd went back to Kim's backing band - and he appeared live on stage with her when she supported Michael Jackson in Europe during his 'Bad' tour in 1988. All's well that ends well, then? Well, anyway, I needed to hear this song for myself. It's a nice pop track. It would have been interesting to hear more from this band. Alas, it wasn't to be.

My collection: 7" single no. 6080
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Jump to it' / 'Jumping'

Thursday 23 May 2019

Made in Spain (La chica que yo quiero) - La decada prodigiosa

La Década Prodigiosa was formed in 1985 as a project directed by Javier de Juan (drums), Manel Santisteban (piano) and Manuel Aguilar (bass) to produce an album of medleys of popular Spanish songs from the sixties. Several session singers collaborated in this first album, 'Los Años 60, Vol. I'. Due to the success of the album, a band of eight members was formed in 1986 for the second album ('Los Años 60, Vol. II'): Manolo Rodríguez, Cecilia Blanco, Ana Nery, Carmelo Martínez and Jose Subiza joined the three creators.

In 1988, La Década was internally chosen by broadcaster Televisión Española to represent Spain at the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin with one of their first original songs, 'La chica que yo quiero (Made in Spain)'. As only six people were allowed on stage by EBU rules, Javier de Juan directed the orchestra and Manolo Rodríguez stayed backstage. The song finished eleventh out of 21 competitors. Since then, the group has survived many replacements of members, even though in the mid-nineties their popularity began to decline.

The single is pretty rare nowadays and is often sold online for upwards of 10 euros. I was therefore pretty happy to find a copy of this single on a Spanish marketplace website.

My collection: 7" single no. 6074
Found: Todocoleccion.net, received May 23, 2019
Cost: 4 euro
Tracks: 'Made in Spain (La chica que yo quiero)' / 'Made in Spain (La chica que yo quiero)'

Wednesday 22 May 2019

Rock 'n' Roll is king - Electric Light Orchestra

I think I wasn't the only one who was quite shocked when Electric Light Orchestra released this single in 1983. Ever since they hit it big with 'Sweet talkin' woman', 'Mr. Blue Sky', 'Don't bring me down' and 'Xanadu', listeners had grown accustomed to lush arrangements and melodic songs, so 'Rock 'n' Roll is king' felt a bit like the band had gone back to basics. And after radio picked it up, I quickly didn't want to hear this song ever again.

And so I ended up in a record store in Leiden last Saturday, where another visitor was playing a few singles before he decided to buy some of them, and I heard this one come by. Quite nice. And so I picked up a copy and took it home. A lot changes in 35 years.

My collection: 7" single no. 6073
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, May 18, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Rock 'n' Roll is king' / 'After all'


Monday 20 May 2019

Heaven help me - Deon Estus (with additional vocals by George Michael)

Deon Estus was born in Detroit on July 4, 1956. As a teenager he joined the band Brainstorm and recorded two albums with them. During the early Eighties he moved to Europe, living in Belgium and Ireland before settling in London. Not long after that he was invited to join Wham! - he is featured prominently in the music videos for 'I'm your man' and 'The Edge of heaven'.

No wonder, then, that George Michael appeared on this track, recorded for Estus' solo album 'Spell'. The sleeve shown here is from the American edition of the single. Curiously enough, a European sleeve which I saw in the same record store last Saturday does not mention George Michael on the front sleeve at all. No wonder, then, that the single only reached number 41 in the UK, whereas it reached number 5 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

My collection: 7" single no. 6072
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, May 18, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Heaven help me' / 'It's a party'

New song - Howard Jones

The recent release of a super deluxe edition of Howard Jones' debut album 'Human's Lib' included a rare track. It made me aware of a Portuguese single of 'New song', Howard's debut release, that apparently contained a different version of the song. Did I mention that I am a collector? Somehow I felt motivated to get a copy of this single, and sure enough, a Portuguese dealer offered a copy online.

I ordered this single along with a few others from this dealer, and I wasn't disappointed: the 7" single from Portugal did indeed contain a version of 'New song' that I'd never heard before. How this ended up on the single is still unclear, but it's nice to have a copy.

My collection: 7" single no. 6015
Found: Discogs.com, received March 13, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'New song' / 'Change the man'

Sunday 19 May 2019

Popcorn - MH Band

Here is another version of 'Popcorn', the legendary Gershon Kingsley composition. Well... not exactly another version, because I already owned a copy of the M&H Band's version of 'Popcorn', but this is a different edition.

But this single is still of interest, because the sleeve is different and the B-side features a track called 'Popcorn House', created by Mark Haliday, but incorporating a piece of the melody of 'Popcorn'. And this makes it all very worthwhile.

My collection: 7" single no. 6069
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, May 18, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Popcorn (radio version)' / 'Popcorn house'

Saturday 4 May 2019

De do do do de da da da - The Police

The Police recorded their nonsensical 1980 single 'De do do do de da da da' in two languages other than English: in Japanese and Spanish. It's not easy to find a good copy of this single in mint condition, so I was rather stunned to find one in the centre of Den Haag during today's record fair.

Unusually for an American 7" single this copy has a small centre hole. And it has to be said, hearing Sting sing in Japanese is an interesting experience, although Japanese readers of this blog would have to say whether his pronounciation is good enough. I would also venture that the Japanese version is better than the Spanish one.

My collection: 7" single no.  6059
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, May 4, 2019
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'De do do do de da da da (Japanese)' / 'De do do do de da da da (Spanish)'


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