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.
'Rapture' is a combination of New Wave pop, funk, jazz and rap music, with the rap section forming an extended coda. While it was not the first single involving rap to be successful, it was the first to top the charts in the USA. The lyrics of 'Rapture' included references to hip-hop pioneers Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash.
'Out of touch' was the lead single from Daryl Hall & John Oates' 1984 album 'Big Bam Boom'. It was their last Billboard Hot 100 number one, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in December 1984. The single also reached number 33 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 48 in the UK singles chart.
