Dance hall days revisited - Wang Chung

Wang Chung's biggest hit was 1984's 'Dance hall days'. When subsequent singles turned out to be less successful, the band decided to revisit the track. Hence 'Dance hall days revisited', released in 1989.

This new version is basically a remix of the original track with added raps by a certain Angel C. Despite those raps, this is quite a reasonable version. But - unsurprisingly - it didn't become a hit.

My collection: 7" single no. 4303
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Dance hall days revisited' / 'At the speed of life'

Wait - Wang Chung

After the third single from Wang Chung's second album 'Points on the curve', 'Dance hall days' had become a big hit, the record company decided to release a fourth single. It was a remixed version of 'Wait', another track on the album. The single managed to reach number 87 in the UK singles chart, but that was about it.

This double single features a second disc with a new track, 'Hard times' and a live version of 'Dance hall days'. However, I seem to have gotten a mispressing: disc 2 features the same tracks as disc 1, although the labels indicate otherwise.

My collection: 7" single no. 4208
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009
Cost: 0,66 euro
Tracks: 'Wait' / 'Dance hall days (part 2)' // 'Hard times' [= 'Wait'] / 'Dance hall days (live)' [= 'Dance hall days (part 2)']

Ti-na-na - Huang Chung

Huang Chung consisted of Jeremy Ryder, Nick Feldman, Darren Costin and Dave Burnand in 1982, when their debut album 'Huang Chung' was released. The second single from the album was 'Ti-na-na', a lightweight poppy track. Like their earlier efforts, the single didn't chart in any territory.

I didn't know this track when I bought the single, but it was still a good buy: both the A-side and the B-side are very good tracks.

My collection: 7" single no. 4044
Found: La La Land, Den Haag, September 19, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Ti-na-na' / 'I can't sleep'

China - Huang Chung

The band that found fame as Wang Chung originally started in 1980 as Huang Chung. Jeremy Ryder, Nick Feldman and Darren Costin chose this name as it refers to the standardized bass pitch of ancient China. The literal translation means 'yellow bell', the band summarized the definition as 'perfect pitch'.

They released three singles as Huang Chung before finding fame with 'Dance hall days' with their new band name Wang Chung. 'China' narrowly missed the Dutch Top 40. My sister bought the single when it came out, which is the reason I still remembered it 15 years later. I was very surprised to find the extended version of the track on the B-side. A very good deal.

My collection: 7" single no. 3002
Found: Geest, Den Haag, June 20, 1998
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'China' / 'China (extended version)'

Dance hall days - Wang Chung

In some circles, nothing spells 'dodgy eighties music' better than the British new wave band Wang Chung. Their biggest hit in the USA was 'Everybody have fun tonight', which contains the immortal line 'Everybody Wang Chung tonight', which earned them the accolade of the third worst song ever by Blender magazine.

'Dance hall days' was their only hit in the UK, and the video was shown endlessly on music television stations in Europe in 1984, despite its blandness.

My collection: 7" single no. 3494

Found: Geest, Den Haag, 2004

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Dance hall days' / 'There is a nation'

Download: Album 'Points on the curve', including the track 'Dance hall days' / 12" single 'Dance hall days, including the track 'There is a nation'