'Fireworks' was released as the third single from Roxette's 1994 album 'Crash! Boom! Bang!'. The song was written by Per Gessle and used all the now familiar trademark Roxette sounds.
After Rubberen Robbie discovered chart success with 'De Nederlandse sterre die strale overal', the band decided to make a sequel. For the second time, they glued together bits and pieces of famous Dutch songs and wrote their own funny lyrics for these songs.
In 1993, Howard Jones fulfilled his contract with Warner Bros. with a compilation album spanning his ten year career. It included all of his hit singles, plus one new track: a cover of Donald Fagen's 'I.G.Y.'.
'Rock my world' was the second single from Five Star's 1988 album 'Rock the world'. The music video for this single saw the band leather clad, with long hair extensions, dancing in the bottom of a quarry, with dumper trucks driving around them. The B-side, 'Sweetest innocence', received a BPI award for best instrumental.
The lyric of 'Time will crawl' is about the pollution and destruction of the planet by industry. Bowie has cited hearing of the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986 as the genesis of the lyric. The song was praised by critics for its restrained production compared to Bowie’s other work of the era.
The song 'Girls' was written by David Bowie and Erdal Kizilcay. It was recorded by Tina Turner on her 1986 album 'Break every rule'. The track featured Phil Collins on drums and was produced by Terry Britten.
The lyric of the song 'Take it now' can be described as a day in the life of a pop star. I was never too impressed with the song, but as I have all of Maarten Peters' singles, I couldn't let this one pass me by when it turned up for almost nothing.
The single 'The way to your heart' from the Belgian duo Soulsister was initially released as a one-sided 7" single. Subsequent copies did have a B-side, the track 'Bye bye'. Initially I searched for the one-sided version, but when that search proved to be unsuccessful, I settled for the 'normal' single.
The Dutch band De Dijk has had a career of almost thirty years up until now, with only a dozen hit singles to show for it. One of them was this single, 'Mag het licht uit' ('Turn off the lights), which reached number 23 in the Dutch Top 40 in the summer of 1983.
'Don't wanna lose you' was written and recorded by Gloria Estefan. It was released in 1989 as the first single from the album 'Cuts both ways'. The single reached number 1 in the USA, where it became her second number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also reached number 3 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 6 in the UK singles chart.
'I guess that's why they call it the blues' was released in 1983 as a single from Elton John's album 'Too low for zero'. The track features Stevie Wonder on harmonica and received favourable reviews from the moment it was released. It has gone on to be one of Elton John's most-played songs on radio stations from the Eighties portion of his career.
'Don't ask me why' was written by Annie Lennox and David Stewart. The lyric of the song describes the ending of a relationship. The lyric can also be interpreted as a personal message from Lennox to her ex-husband, from whom she split acrimoniously in 1985, although some think the lyric is directed towards ex-lover and band partner Stewart.
These days I don't play Bon Jovi anymore, but I can see why I bought 'Born to be my baby' back in 1988: it's a loud and proud rock track, slightly overstating the point that the couple depicted in this song's lyric may have been made for one another.
When 'Enjoy the silence' was written by Martin Gore, he intended it to be a slow-paced ballad in C minor; the demo featured a harmonium with Gore singing. Fellow band member Alan Wilder saw hit potential in the track, and composed an upbeat tempo and structure for the song. Despite initial resistance from songwriter Gore, who felt the spirit of the song was not suited to an upbeat track, the rest of the group liked it. After some self-described 'sulking', Gore came around and added more to the embryonic fast version together with producer Mark 'Flood' Ellis, notably the guitar riff heard throughout. Within hours of recording the track, the band was convinced they had a hit single on their hands.
Although 'There's got to be a way' and 'I don't wanna cry' were released as two separate singles in the USA, in Europe it was a double A-side single. 'I don't wanna cry', the best track of the two in my opinion, was written by Narada Michael Walden and Mariah Carey. Because of bad experiences during its production and because she feels it 'doesn't have a message', Carey later commented that she dislikes the song and tries to sing it as rarely as possible.
Released as the first single from his 1989 album 'But seriously', 'Another day in paradise' was written to bring attention to the problem of homelessness. It all sounded slightly pompous coming from a man who was so rich that he could easily buy a building and shelter all the homeless people in the UK. But I guess Collins didn't think about that when he wrote the song.
The song 'Private dancer' was written by Mark Knopfler and was originally going to be included on the Dire Straits album 'Love over gold'. After the song was recorded, however, the vocals were not added. Mark Knopfler considered that they were not suitable for a male to sing, so the track was cut from the final mix.
Daryl Hall & John Oates had been away from the pop scene for three years when they released 'Everything your heart desires' in April 1988. It was the first single from their imaginatively titled 1988 album 'Ooh Yeah'.
'I could never take the place of your man' was the fourth and final single from Prince's 1987 double album, 'Sign 'o' the times'. The track was originally recorded in Prince's home studio in 1982. It was brought out of the vault and updated for Prince's 1987 album.
Released as the second single from their 1986 album 'The hole', 'Why do I' was a slightly formulaic rock ballad by the Golden Earring. The band were not known for their ballads, but through the years they'd recorded quite a few.
'Stay out of my life' was released as the fifth single from Five Star's second album 'Silk & steel' in February 1987. The song was coupled with an alternative version of the track, '(How dare you) Stay out of my life', which was used as the theme tune to the Eighties children's television series entiled 'How dare you', presented by Carrie Grant.
In 1981, Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Making your mind up'. German singer Maggie Mae recorded this German cover version with alternative lyrics written by Werner Schüler and Bernd Meinunger. Entitled 'Rock 'n' Roll cowboy', it's a tale of a woman who is seduced by a Marlboro-man type of figure, but on a motorbike instead of a horse.
Sometimes the reactions I get on this blog really amuse me. A recent entry on 'Cannonball' by Supertramp was reason enough for someone to start promoting Roger Hodgson, writing, 'If you want to see a REAL Supertramp concert, see Roger's show. (...) See the original voice of Supertramp and not an imitation.' True enough, Roger Hodgson co-founded Supertramp, but he also left the group prematurely. Rick Davies was there when the group was founded as well. So when he sings 'Free as a bird' in 1988, after Hodgson's leaving the group, is that an imitation? I would think not.
'Working on it' is another one of those catchy rock tunes by Chris Rea that sticks in your head once you've heard it. It was released in 1989 when his compilation album 'New light through old windows' had just seen the light of day. This compilation featured new versions of Chris Rea hits.
London Beat were less successful in their home country, the UK, than they were in the Netherlands. 'You bring on the sun' reached number 5 in the Dutch Top 40 when it was released in May 1992, but only managed to reach number 32 in the UK singles chart.
Laurent Voulzy wrote 'Les nuits sans Kim Wilde' together with his writing partner Alain Souchon after seeing music videos of Kim Wilde on television. He felt rather infatuated by this beautiful lady on the screen. Kim was approached to sing guest vocals on the track, and after some hesitation, she agreed. She eventually even appeared in the music video to promote this single. Released in the summer of 1985, it was a hit in France, but was not released in other territories.
However, in early 1986 the single was re-released. The sides were switched, and 'Belle-ile-en-mer Marie-Galante' was now the A-side. This single was an even bigger hit in France, and was also released outside of France. During a TV programme in France a few years later, Voulzy and Kim Wilde performed a version of this song together.
Rod Stewart released his fourteenth studio album 'Every beat of my heart' in June 1986. The title track was released as a single a month later. A sentimental piece about longing for one's country of birth - in this case, Scotland - Stewart wrote this track together with Kevin Savigar.
'Words get in the way' was the third single by Miami Sound Machine, taken from their second English language album, and ninth overall, 'Primitive love'. As a ballad, the song marked a change in sound from the band's earlier singles and was the first sign that Gloria Estefan, who wrote the song, would be successful as an artist in her own right.
The third and last single from the album 'Foto van een mooie dag' by the Frank Boeijen Groep was the ballad 'Schaduw' ('Shadow') . The record company probably thought they would build on the success of the previous single 'Kronenburg park' - also a ballad - with this single, but unfortunately, 'Schaduw' failed to chart.
The intro of 'Heaven in my hands' was used a lot on Dutch radio during programmes. I was more familiar with the intro than I was with the song: only years later I found out it was this Level 42 track.
The ballad 'Crash! Boom! Bang!' was the title track of Roxette's 1994 album. It was released as the second single from that album in the summer of 1994.
'Two souls' was released in 1992 as the second single from Howard Jones' fifth album 'In the running'. By this time, it was becoming increasingly hard to find his singles in the Netherlands. I guess the record company gave up on distributing his singles, because they flopped anyway. And this one, unfortunately, was no exception.
Elton John wrote 'Song for Guy' himself, without his usual writing partner Bernie Taupin. The track is mainly instrumental but contains one line near the end of the track, which is repeated several times: 'Life isn't everything'. Elton later commented: 'As I was writing this song one Sunday, I imagined myself floating into space and looking down at my own body. I was imagining myself dying. Morbidly obsessed with these thoughts, I wrote this song about death. The next day I was told that Guy (Burchett), our 17 year-old messenger boy, had been tragically killed on his motorcycle the day before. Guy died on the day I wrote this song.'
Besides the regular version of the single of 'Personal Jesus' by Depeche Mode, this limited edition was also released in the autumn of 1989. It features a gatefold sleeve with a booklet featuring four photographs (each of the band members with a naked woman) and two tracks on the B-side. The acoustic version of 'Personal Jesus' is of particular interest.
'Strong as steel' was released in 1987 as the second single of Five Star's third album 'Between the lines'. The song was written by acclaimed songwriter Diane Warren, who has also written hit songs for Cher, Tina Arena and Michael Bolton amongst others.
Written by Stevie Nicks, 'Silver springs' was originally intended for the Fleetwood Mac album 'Rumours'. Years after the fact, Nicks commented that in a way, its lack of inclusion on the effort marked a growing tension in the band. The group has three great writers, and only so many slots. The track's inherent longing reportedly came from the ending of the romantic relationship between Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.
Norway won the Eurovision Song Contest for the very first time in 1985 with a very tired old song, 'La det swinge' was performed by the Bobbysocks. This duo, consisting of Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreasson, sang a tribute to dancing to old rock 'n' roll heard on the radio. The melody arrangement is in retro style, containing elements of contemporary Eighties music and throwbacks to the Fifties.
Jeff Lynne spent two weeks writing songs in Switzerland in 1977 for Electric Light Orchestra's double album 'Out of the blue'. One of the results was this song, 'Turn to stone', which became the opening track for the album. It was also released as the first single from the album.
'You have placed a chill in my heart' was written by Eurythmics members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, and appears on the duo's album 'Savage'. It was released as the fourth single from the album.
'Whiskey in the jar' is a famous Irish traditional song, set in the southern mountains of Ireland, with specific mention of Cork and Kerry counties, as well as Fenit, a village in Kerry county. It is about a highwayman, or perhaps a footpad, who is betrayed by his wife or lover, and is one of the most widely performed traditional Irish songs. It has been recorded by numerous professional artists since the Fifties.
The single 'Burn your boats' was the second single taken from Maarten Peters' second album of the same name. The single featured a live version of the song 'Get out of here' (a track on his debut album 'Hunting the queenbee') on the B-side.
When I bought this single, I hadn't actually heard it. I might have thought twice before buying it if I had, I think. 'Please forgive me' was written by Bryan Adams and Robert John 'Mutt' Lange and treads a much too often trodden path. According to an article in Wikipedia: 'the passion Adams sings the song with is breathtaking'. I would say instead that the lack of originality in this song is breathtaking, but there you go.
'Two hearts' was written by Phil Collins and Lamont Dozier (of Motown's Holland-Dozier-Holland) for the 1988 crime comedy film 'Buster'. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song alongside the Carly Simon song 'Let the river run' from 'Working girl'.
The Amsterdam-based Dutch band De Dijk released one of their better known songs 'Binnen zonder kloppen' ('Enter without knocking') in early 1985. The single failed to chart but is remembers within the Netherlands until this day.
'Just the way you are' is a love song from Billy Joel's 1977 album, 'The Stranger'. It was written as a birthday gift to Joel's first wife Elizabeth Weber. After they divorced, Joel said that when performing the song, he would imagine what he would eat for dinner or what he would do after the show, or even accidentally sing alternate lyrics written by Liberty DeVitto ('She took the dog, the house, the car').
'Still got the blues' is a 1990 album by guitarist Gary Moore. Prior to this album Moore's work had consisted of predominantly rock and hard rock styles including his work with Skid Row, Thin Lizzy, G-Force as well as a large repertoire of solo work. This album, as evidenced by its title, is a departure from hard rock to an electric blues style.
In 1994, the Mission released the compilation album 'Sum and substance'. The album was preceded by this single release, a remix of their biggest hit up until then: 'Tower of strength'. The 'East India Trans Cairo Mix' was created by Youth.
'Disappear' was released as the second single from INXS's album 'X'. The song was written by Jon Farriss and Michael Hutchence while they were living together in Hong Kong in 1989.
