The self-titled debut album from Ph.D. did not only include their big hit 'I won't let you down' and the unsuccessful 'Little Suzi's on the up' but also this follow-up single, 'There's no answer to it'. This third single didn't trouble the charts anyway and sunk without a trace.
Landscape was formed in 1974 by Richard James Burgess, Christopher Heaton, Andy Pask, Peter Thoms and John Walters. They began experimenting with computer programmed music and electronic drums in the late Seventies, making records in the emerging genres of electronic dance music and synthpop.
I don't really keep up with the hypes of today anymore. Sad to say, I've lost touch with the charts some years ago because the amount of untalented people and angry 'niggaz' became too high for me. But sometimes a new song still reaches me when I flick through the channels on TV.
After The Dutch had their first hit with 'This is welfare' and the mini-album of the same name, they released a new track as a single in 1984. It was 'Video', another nicely crafted popsong. The single did not chart - and in fact I didn't know it existed until today. I didn't really keep up with the band at all, so that's not so shocking.
In 1985, the band Curiosity Killed the Cat was signed to Phonogram records. The group began recording their first album. However, producers Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare were taken off the project after some time, and replaced by Stewart Levine. As a result, the album was delayed for nearly a year.
By 1973, the band Middle of the Road had stopped having hits in the UK. Their popularity remained unchanged on the European mainland. So much so, that the 1973 single 'Yellow boomerang' made it to number 2 in the Netherlands.
'Oh Yeah' was released as the fifth single from Ash's album '1977'. It became their second Top 10 single. The lyric tells a tale of a 'bitter-sweet teenage love story'. The song features backing vocals by Lisa Moorish. Mark Hamilton has said of the single cover that it's 'supposed to show two young lovers just around 'that' age. Look they're in the woods, they've that sorta look on their faces that they might just have done 'it' whils't their mates waited 10 feet away drinking shandy bass and getting fucked up on a Lambert & Butler.'
What kind of a name is Herb? Well, anyway, Herb Alpert and his business partner Jerry Moss were the founders of the A&M label. When they signed Janet Jackson in the early Eighties, they couldn't have known about the level of stardom she would achieve, but when she did, Alpert made good use of it.
Ultravox's 1984 album 'Lament' saw the band continuing to move away from the synth pop style associated with their previous albums, heading into a more mainstream pop/rock direction, alike their comtemporaries Echo and the Bunnymen, Simple Minds and U2. The album featured greater use of guitar and 'stadium' reverb.
'Scales of justice' was Living in a box's second single. It was taken from their self-titled debut album and reached number 30 in the UK singles chart. In the Netherlands, where the debut single 'Living in a box' had been a hit, this single did not trouble the chart at all.
Alannah Myles followed up her hugely successful debut single 'Black velvet' with the more straightforward rock song 'Love is'. To promote sales, the UK record company released the single in a limited edition single box set, including two full colour heart-shaped prints. It's the kind of box set that makes you wonder why: the prints could easily have been stuck in the sleeve of the single. But anyway...
Tony Wegas was born as Anton Hans Sarközi on May 3, 1965 in Unterschützen, Austria. He was born in a Roma family. His father, who was a musician, learned him to play guitar, keyboards, drums, bass and panflute. He represented his country twice, during the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992 and 1993. He reached 14th place in 1993 with 'Maria Magdalena', and 10th place in 1992 with 'Zusammen geh'n'. I bought this single mostly because I was in Austria in 1992 and I stumbled on it. I didn't really particularly like this track.
'Cantonese boy' was the third single taken from Japan's 1981 album 'Tin drum'. The album continued their now developed use of electronic elements coupled with traditional instrumentation, but leans a lot more towards far-eastern influences than any of their previous albums. This single was released as a double single set, including a track called 'Gentlemen take Polaroids', taken from their previous album of the same name.
Black Slate was formed in 1974 with musicians from England, Jamaica, and Anguilla.They backed Delroy Wilson and Ken Boothe on their UK appearances, and had their first reggae-chart hit themselves in 1976, with the anti-mugging song 'Sticks man', calling themselves Disco Reggae Band Black Slate.
The 'From the hip EP' was the last single release of Lloyd Cole & the Commotions before the band broke up and Lloyd Cole continued solo. The song 'From the hip' was taken from the band's 1987 album 'Mainstream', but the three other tracks were new recordings. The EP reached number 56 in the UK singles chart.
Hans de Booy was born on June 2, 1958 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. In the early Eighties he made his debut with the album 'Hans de Booy', which was successful in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Paola di Medico represented Switzerland during the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest. She sang the French-language song 'Cinéma', written by Peter Reber and Veronique Müller. The song remembers the childhood of the singer, when she liked the cinema very much, the lights and the heroes of the movies.
On Enya's album 'Watermark, 'Storms in Africa' was an instrumental track with vocals that didn't express any lyric. It is included on this single as part 1 on the B-side. The track was re-recorded and retitled 'Storms in Africa II'. This new version did include a lyric, although it was in typical Enya style: floating, vague and slightly windy.
Juice Newton was born as Judith Kay Cohen on February 18, 1952 in Lakehurst, New Jersey (USA). During the first half of the Seventies she was part of a band called Juice Newton and Silver Spur, but this band broke up after two albums. In 1977, Juice Newton embarked on a solo career.
Judie Tzuke was born as Judie Myers on April 3, 1956 in London. She signed to Elton John's Rocket Records in 1977. 'Stay with me till dawn' was the first single credited to her alone, since her official debut 'For you' (1978) was credited to Tzuke and Paxo. The song became Tzuke's most wellknown track and her only hit single in the UK, peaking at number 16.
