'Together forever' was the fourth single from Rick Astley's debut album 'Whenever you need somebody'. The track was remixed for the single by Pete Hammond.
In 1990, the album 'Red Hot and Blue' was released in order to raise funds for AIDS research. Twenty artists contributed cover versions of Cole Porter songs to the album. Neneh Cherry's version of 'I've got you under my skin' was released as the lead single from the album.
Such is the nature of my record collection, that I sometimes buy a single I moderately like when the limited edition version is attractive enough. This single came in a foldout box set with four postcards. The price was right, so I bought it.
'Nothin' at all' was the fourth single taken from Heart's self-titled 1985 album. It is a love song which describes a new relationship which falls into place without effort or conflict. The track was remixed for this single. In the remix, a vibrant alternate lead vocal take from Ann Wilson is featured with striking embellishments; Howard Leese's guitar solo is vastly different.
'Different air' was the last single by Living in a box to reach the UK singles chart, albeit at number 57 only. After the ballad hit 'Room in your heart', this single was a decidedly middle of the road track, that didn't touch a lot of people.
I depend on my photographic memory when it comes to buying records for my collection. This doesn't always work, as is demonstrated with this single. I bought the German pressing of 'That girl' (pictured above) back in 1989. A decade later, I found the UK version of that same title (pictured below), but because the sleeve was so different, I didn't recognise it and bought it again (I didn't register where and when, so that data is missing below). The French version has a different sleeve, so I'll have to watch out that I won't buy that one too in the future.
The 1982 release 'That girl' was the lead single from Stevie Wonder's Greatest Hits compilation, 'Original Musiquarium' as one of four new songs from the collection. The single reached number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 39 on the UK singles chart.
While recording the movie 'Evita', Madonna had finally had some much-needed vocal coaching. After more than a decade in music, she finally learned how to handle her voice during singing. The effects didn't wear off immediately, as shown on her 1998 album 'Ray of light'. The first single from that album was 'Frozen', showing a remarkable change in direction: from superficial pop to melodic trance. Producer William Orbit had a lot to do with this, of course.
Since this single is also included in the box set for 'Atlantic', I've got two copies of it. But originally I bought this single soon after it came out in 2006. The song was written about the war in Iraq. Tim Rice-Oxley explained: 'It's probably the one song that most expresses our dismay and confusion about what it means to be a British citizen, in terms of what our society's contributing to the world at large. It's very hard to make sense of why Britain feels it needs to sign up with George Bush's attacks on Iraq and the whole Afghanistan thing. It feels like there's a whole lot of trouble brewing up over Iran, and you just don't know where it's going to end. On a personal level, for people of our age, it's really unsettling...'
George Michael released his second solo single 'A different corner' in April 1986, while still a member of Wham!, although their farewell concert had already been announced. This song was written, arranged and produced by George Michael himself and the sleeve proclaimed that the song was 'dedicated to a memory'. It is rumoured that the song was written about his brief relationship with Pat Fernandez. Fernandez appeared in the Wham! videos 'Wake me up before you go-go' (as one of the dancers with Pepsi and Shirlie) and 'Last Christmas'.
The single was another number one hit for George Michael, in the Netherlands, the UK and Norway. It also reached number 7 in the US Billboard Hot 100. I recently bought the 12" single but found out that the tracks on it are exactly the same as the ones on the 7" single I've had for 20 years.
After her success with the Pet Shop Boys in 1987 and 1989, Dusty Springfield finally returned to recording music after an absence from the music business for almost 20 years. The resulting album, 'Reputation' was released in June 1990. The album included the previous two hits 'Nothing has been proved' and 'In private'. This single, 'Reputation' was the title track and the first single by Springfield circa 1990 that was not produced by the Pet Shop Boys.
'Move to Memphis' was a new track by A-ha, released in 1991 to coincide with the release of 'Headlines and deadlines', their first ever compilation album. The single showed a more mature-sounding A-ha than ever before, already foreshadowing what their next album would sound like. A a new version of 'Move to Memphis' would actually appear on that next album.
'Goodbye girl' was the title track from David Gates' third solo album, released in 1978. The former Bread lead singer recorded only six new tracks for the album, the other six tracks were taken from his two previous solo albums.
The English band Kajagoogoo was formed in 1979 by Nick Beggs, Steve Askew, Stuart Croxford Neale and Jez Strode. Originally named Art Nouveau, they struggled to find a record company but were unsuccessful. In 1981 they auditioned for a lead singer to add to their band and found Christopher Hamill. He made his profile catchier by using a stage name, 'Limahl', an anagram of his surname. His hairdo, blond on top and black on the sides, also helped, of course.
I might never have become a fan of Sade's music if it wasn't for this single. I thought her debut 'Your love is king' was pretty boring, and initially I didn't like this song either when it showed up on music video TV channels. But the chorus grabbed me one day, and I found myself buying the single not long after that. It went on from there: 'Smooth operator' was kindof interesting (although I very much preferred the 12" and extended video version) and by the time 'Hang on to your love' was released, I was looking for the album.
I'm not a purist by any means, but I do think that remixing Motown classics like this should be a capital offence. At the height of the Stock/Aitken/Waterman mania in the UK, Phil Harding and Ian Curnow, who worked with the trio rather often, were commissioned to make a remix of the Four Tops classic 'Reach out I'll be there'.
While still a member of the British group Guys & Dolls, Dominic Grant recorded a solo album in 1982, of which 'I won't let me down' was the lead single. The single was mainly a success in the Netherlands, peaking at number 17 in the Dutch Top 40.
'It ain't necessarily so' was written by George and Ira Gershwin (pictured here on the sleeve) in 1935 for the opera Porgy and Bess. In the opera, the track is sung by a drug dealer who expresses his doubt about several statements in the bible.
I'd like to start off this Sunday morning with some typical Sunday morning music. This romantic ballad by Van Morrison was originally written as a prayer, and it certainly contains a few religious lines. Popularly it is interpreted as a love song, often played at weddings and the like.
Since All about Eve was pretty much famous in the UK only, their singles became increasingly hard to find in the Netherlands. Some shops were still selling import records in 1991, but I was unlucky with this single: the shop in Rotterdam where I got my imports only got the 12" single, cd-single and picture disc 12" (which of course I bought too).
'Mull of Kintyre' is arguably Paul McCartney & Wings' most recognised song. McCartney wrote it as an ode of the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland, where he had a home and recording studio since the late Sixties. McCartney commented about the song: 'I certainly loved Scotland enough, so I came up with a song about where we were living; an area called Mull of Kintyre. It was a love song really, about how I enjoyed being there and imagining I was travelling away and wanting to get back there.'
