Released in September 1979, 'Every day hurts' was the biggest hit of Manchester-based band Sad Café in the UK. It peaked at number 3, making it the only top 10 hit the band ever had in that country. On this 'Old gold' single, the track is coupled with 'My oh my', their second biggest hit, released in March 1980 and reaching number 14 in the UK.
Margriet Eshuijs was born on October 14, 1952. Both her parents were musicians. They owned a music store and also gave lessons in music. It was almost inevitable that she would become involved in music herself too. In 1972 she joined the band Lucifer, a Dutch band that would be immortalised with their 1974 hit 'House for sale', on which Margriet performed the vocals. By the end of the Seventies the band broke up.
'It hurts' was the last hit single for the Lotus Eaters - although this is stretching the term 'hit' a little. Released in1985, it reached number 87 in the UK. The track was taken from their album 'No sense of sin' (1984), which flopped in the UK, but got a significant cult following in Japan and the Philippines.
Steve Harley was born on February 27, 1951 in London, where he grew up as well. His career in music started in the late Sixties when he was busking and performing his own songs. The original version of Cockney Rebel was formed when he and John Crocker met up in 1972 and auditioned additional members Stuart Elliott, Paul Jeffreys and Milton Reame-James. After just five gigs they were signed to EMI Records.
I didn't realise this at the time, but the single 'Menage a trois' by K-Ram sounds a lot like the early singles by Wham!. It didn't help them a lot, because the single flopped in the UK. Surprisingly though, it was a hit in the Netherlands, peaking at number 28. The music video appeared regularly on Music Box and Sky Channel, the European satellite channels who were broadcasting videos at the time.
Kiki Dee was born as Pauline Matthews on March 6, 1947 in Little Horton, Bradford (UK). In the days before BBC Radio 1, Dee was a regular performer of cover versions on BBC Radio, and she starred with a group of session singers in the BBC Two singalong series One More Time.
'Fire' was released from the Ohio Players' album of the same name, both released in 1975. The single peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 in the Dutch Top 40. The song was recorded at Mercury Record's Chicago-based studio. While performing it in California, the band let Stevie Wonder hear the basic track for the song and he predicted that it would become a big hit.
'Nobody wins' was a track on Elton John's 1981 album 'The fox'. The album was recorded partly during sessions for Elton's previous album '21 at 33' (1980). The track was not written as usual by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, but by Jean-Paul Dreau and Gary Osborne.
Released as the third single from the band's 1986 album 'Mooi en onverslijtbaar', het Goede Doel scored the biggest hit from this album with 'Zwijgen'. The single peaked at number 17 in the Dutch Top 40 in the autumn of 1986.
Enya was born as Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin on May 17, 1961 in Gaoth Dobhair, also known as Gweedore in Ireland. She got involved in music when she joined the family band Clannad in 1980. She went solo six years later, when she was contacted to provide music for the BBC television documentary 'The Celts'.
'Silent lucidity' is a single by the American hardrock band Queensrÿche. It was released as the fifth single from their 1990 album 'Empire'. The track is an epic piece incorporating an orchestra and a compelling melody. Only hardrock bands are able to make ballads like this. The single peaked at number 9 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 27 in the Dutch top 40. In the UK it did not chart, but when it was re-relased in 1992, it made number 18.
'The blood that moves the body' was released as the second single from A-ha's third album 'Stay on these roads' in June 1988. The enigmatic lyrics of this song have been attributed to many things, including teen suicides in Japan and literary references to 'eyes of a blue dog'. World sales reportedly amounted to 400,000 copies.
Shakti, from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that move through the entire universe. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes referred to as 'The Great Divine Mother' in Hinduism. On the earthly plane, Shakti most actively manifests through female embodiment and fertility.
The Jamaican reggae band Third world formed in 1973 when Michael "Ibo" Cooper and Stephen "Cat" Coore left Inner Circle to form their own band. They recruited Cornel Marshall, Irving "Carrot" Jarrett and singer "Prilly". When they released their second album '96° in the Shade' "Prilly" was replaced by "Bunny Rugs" Clarke and an all-new rhythm section: Ritchie Daleyand former Inner Circle drummer Willie Stewart.
'Straight ahead' was released as a single from the Nick Straker Band in 1982. It was completely unsuccessful, and I can honestly say I never heard this track anywhere. Buying this was a complete gamble. But it paid off: this is a very danceable and melodic track, vaguely reminiscent of earlier material, but also very different.
'Listen to what the man said' was recorded in early 1975 by Wings during their New Orleans sessions for the album 'Venus and Mars'. The song featured new member Joe English on drums, with guest musicians Dave Mason on guitar and Tom Scott on soprano saxophone.
Mike Oldfield enjoyed a commercial peak with his singles in the first half of the Eighties. He employed different singles to add vocals to his tracks, one of the most successful being 'Moonlight shadow' in 1983 with Maggie Reilly. He did a kind of reprise in 1984 with the single 'To France', also sung by Reilly.
After the success of 'Thank you', I can imagine that the Pale Fountains would have expected more success with the follow-up single 'Palm of my hand', released in 1983. It is a short, but effective song. However, the single was ignored by the record-buying public although it did get some radio exposure.
'Breakaway' is a song written by Jackie DeShannon and Sharon Sheeley. It was originally recorded by Irma Thomas in 1964 and released as the B-Side of her biggest hit, the US number 17 hit single 'Wish someone would care'.
In 1981, David Geffen approached Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager and producer, and asked if Springsteen would be interested in writing a song for Donna Summer. Summer had just recently signed for Geffen Records. Springsteen agreed to write a song and he gathered the E Street Band to record a demo. However when Landau heard the result, 'Cover me', he persuaded Springsteen to keep that song for himself. Springsteen then wrote 'Protection'.
Dutch music from the Eighties can be interesting at times. At the height of the synthpop age, even Dutch artists were inspired to make good tracks. (Which is interesting, because since then, nothing really interesting has happened.)
Umberto Tozzi and Raffaele Riefoli represented Italy during the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Gente di mare' ('People of the sea'). It was a decent effort - although at the time I thought the song was unspeakably boring - reaching third place in the Contest.
'The loco-motion' was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King in 1962. The original recording of the song was sung by Eva Boyd, under the stage name Little Eva, which reached number 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1962.
Jerry Dammers, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter formed The Automatics in 1977. When Terry Hall and Roddy Byers joined the band the following year, the band changed its name to The Special AKA The Coventry Automatics, and then to The Special AKA.
'I only want to be with you' was written by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. It was the first solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield. Recorded while she was still a member of The Springfields, the song was released in November 1963, three weeks after The Springfields' final concert.
While Monsoon is best known for their hit 'Ever so lonely', the band continued to record tracks for a couple of years. The single 'Tomorrow never knows' was taken from their only album, 'Third eye'. It was a cover of the Beatles track from their 1966 album 'Revolver'.
Mari Wilson scored her second UK hit with 'Baby it's true' in 1982. The single peaked at number 42. The single was even played on Dutch radio, but that didn't give her a hit in this country. Like all of Mari Wilson's singles from around this time, the track evokes images of the Fifties and Sixties, with big hair and big bands.
'Leaving on the midnight train' was the third single by the Nick Straker Band. After the debut single 'A walk in the park' had been a good success, their second single 'Don't come back' flopped everywhere.
'Belangrijk nieuws van Louise Tucker' ('Important news from Louise Tucker') is a promotional 7" single from the Netherlands. It offers a fascinating insight in the world of the music business in 1983. The single, which can only be played on one side, contains a short greeting by Louise Tucker himself, followed by the original recording of 'Midnight blue', the single that was a hit in the Netherlands the year before. A voice-over then starts to talk about her 'phenomenal success' in the Netherlands and Europe.
The Dutch singer and bass guitarist Nick Hall released his album 'A very special case', produced by Pim Koopman, in 1980. The single 'Hop on the bus' was taken from that album. The single did not chart.
'Secret' was released as the fourth and final single from Heart's tenth studio album 'Brigade'. The single at number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 79 on the UK singles chart.
'Hazard' tells the story of a relationship between Marx's character (usually considered the protagonist) and a woman named Mary. Mary is presumably murdered and Marx, shunned by many in the small town Hazard in Nebraska since his childhood, is immediately considered the main suspect. Marx, however, maintains his innocence throughout the song, and the question of such is left open to the listener's interpretation.I got to know the song because of the music video being aired on television regularly in early 1992. The single peaked at number 3 in the UK singles chart, although it did not chart in the Netherlands.
My collection: 7" single no. 1593
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, March 21, 1992
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Hazard' / 'Big boy now'
Although I'm not exactly a fan of Italo disco music, the single 'We just' by Moses was an interesting one. Full of samples and beautiful synth solos, it was a memorable track, even if it seemed to be devilishly simple.
The band Raydio started in the second half of the Seventies and had a few hits with songs like 'You can't change that'. From 1980 onwards, they became known as 'Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio', giving more prominence to their lead singer.
'Talk' was released as the third single from Coldplay's 2005 album 'X&Y'. A number one hit in the Netherlands, it also reached number 10 in the UK and number 4 in Canada.
I wrote about 'I believe in you' before, but that was because of the promotional 7" single that I own. A few years after getting that one, I found a version of the commercially available single, featuring the B-side 'John Cope'. Since this single was made in Spain, it is a bit of a rarity as well.
Erasure released the 'Storm chaser' EP in September 2007. While the cd-single contained eight remixes of five different tracks plus a duet with Cyndi Lauper, the 7" single only had two tracks, making it a single, not an EP.
