'Venners nærhet' was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, performed in Norwegian by Britt Synnøve Johansen.
The song is a ballad, with Synnøve singing about the power that friendship can have, even when the rest of the world is against the friends in question.
The song was performed eighth on the night, and ended up 17th in a field of 22 competitors at the close of voting.
This single, released in Germany, puts the English version, 'Words of friendship' on the A-side, and the original Norwegian version on the B-side.
My collection: 7" single no. 5637 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received August 29, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Words of friendship' / 'Venners nærhet'
This 1988 single by Heaven 17 is, frankly, puzzling. Having established themselves as synth pioneers and having been quite successful with their electronic sound, this single, the first from their 1988 album 'Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho', featured - gasp - guitars and a very American influenced sound. Also, no promotional video was created for the single. A performance of the
track was shown on the British TV show Get Fresh, along with a performance of
the following single 'Train of Love In Motion'.
Probably trying to broaden their musical horizons, this effort was not rewarded by the record-buying public: the single stranded on number 91 in the UK singles chart and failed to chart everywhere else.
My collection: 7" single no. 5405 Found: unknown Tracks: 'The ballad of Go Go Brown' / 'I set you free'
'Touch Me' is a song by The Doors from their album 'The Soft Parade'. Written by Robby Krieger, it is notable for its extensive usage of brass and string instruments (including a solo by featured saxophonist Curtis Amy). Ray Manzarak played harpsichord and organ on the song. The song also borrowed the guitar riff from the 1967 Four Season's 'C'mon Maryann' and used it on keyboards.
The single was released as a single in December 1968 and reached number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The single also did well elsewhere, peaking at number 1 in Canada. It is by far the most melodic and beautiful single by the Doors... but that's my opinion of course. I'm very glad to have found a reasonable copy for a reasonable price.
My collection: 7" single no. 5392 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Touch me' / 'Wild child'
I have posted some duplicates on this blog since it started, and this is another one. I already owned the gatefold sleeve version of Rebel Yell when I came across this one. That one was the 1985 re-release, this one is the original 1984 release. I bought it mainly for the beautiful sleeve which is glossy and in mint condition.
Billy Idol's output in the first half of the Eighties is nothing short of legendary, since he and his guitarist Steve Stevens churned out catchy tunes almost non-stop.
My collection: 7" single no. 5451 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Rebel yell' / 'Crank call'
'Tom Tom Tom' was the Finnish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973, performed in English (the first occasion that Finland had not performed entirely in Finnish) by Marion Rung. This was Rung's second Eurovision entry, in 1962 she had made her debut in the Contest as a 16 year old with 'Tipi-tii', which finished in 7th position.
'Tom Tom Tom' was performed first on the night and reached 6th place in a field of 17 contestants. This would be Finland's most successful Contest appearance until 2006, when heavy metal band Lordi won with 'Hard Rock Hallelujah'.
My collection: 7" single no. 5641 Found: eBay.co.uk, received September 2, 2014 Cost: 2 pounds Tracks: 'Tom tom tom' / 'My son John'
'Is it love' was released as the third single from Mr Mister's 1985 album 'Welcome to the Real World'. The song hit number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 32 in the Dutch Top 40, but only got to number 87 in the UK singles chart.
When you compare this single to its predecessors 'Broken wings' and 'Kyrie', you can hear it's a more pedestrian pop/rock effort. Nice song, nonetheless.
My collection: 7" single no. 5456 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Is it love' / '32'
Although They all run after the carving knife has already been featured on this blog once before, it returns here because of this rare alternative version. The tracks are identical, but this sleeve seems to be rather rare. It isn't even listed on Discogs.com! Both versions share the same catalogue number and disc, it is just the front sleeve that is totally different.
I wrote before that all I am looking for now is a copy of the band's final single 'Warp', but if more alternative sleeves come up, I may have to expand my New Musik collection even further.
My collection: 7" single no. 5457 Found: unknown Tracks: 'They all run after the carving knife' / 'This world of Walter'
