Why New Musik never achieved commercial success is a mystery to me. 'Luxury' is one of many singles that never reached a chart anywhere. And 'Anywhere' is the title of the album this single was taken from. 'Luxury' was the first of three singles taken from the album. It was backed with a non-album track, 'The office'.
A year after releasing 'Free as a bird', Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr completed a second unfinished recording by John Lennon. They added new vocal and instrumental tracks to strengthen the original sound from John's cassette. The single was released to promote part two in the three part 'Beatles Anthology' cd set.
The tracks on Exile's 1979 album 'All there is' were recorded with a distinct disco beat. 'The part of me that needs you most' was taken from this album, and according to Wikipedia, the single did particularly well in Europe. Well, parts of Europe then, because it flopped in the UK and the Netherlands.
The original Peaches & Herb consisted of Herb Fame and Francine 'Peaches' Hurd Barker. Herb has been part of the duo ever since its original creation in 1967, but after Francine, several different women have taken on the 'role' of Peaches. Initially the duo wasn't successful, to the point where they both retired from the music scene in 1970. In 1976, Herb decided to return to music and enlisted the help of Van McCoy to find a new 'Peaches'. Linda Greene was found, and thus started the most successful incarnation of the duo.
'Everyday is like Sunday' was the second single taken from Morrissey's debut solo album 'Viva hate'. The previous single, 'Suedehead', reached number 5 in the UK singles chart, and this one did almost just as well, peaking at number 9. In the Netherlands, both singles didn't make the Top 40.
In 1992, Deborah Blando suddenly appeared on the pop scene with the song 'Innocence'. Born in Italy but raised in Brazil, Blando released her debut album at the age of eleven, entitled 'Giovanna – Alegria da Gente', containing Italian songs. In her teens, Deborah joined the Brazilian theater company Os Menestréis, which has revealed many promising singers in Brazil, and started touring the country acting and singing in their musicals.
'Turn the beat around' is a disco song written by Gerald Jackson and Peter Jackson and made popular by Vicki Sue Robinson in 1976. It appeared on her debut album 'Never gonna let you go', and was released as a single. In the USA, the song went number 10 on the Billboard pop charts. In the Netherlands, it reached number 12 in the Dutch Top 40. The song was covered by Gloria Estefan in 1994.
This is the first double single that I can remember, and it is quite possibly the first double single released on the European continent. After his big success in Europe with 'Fraction too much friction', Tim Finn released the beautiful ballad 'In a minor key' as the second single from his debut solo album 'Escapade'. This double single was widely available in the Netherlands, but it flopped all the same. The interest for Tim Finn has disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Yes, I know, I wrote about the 12" single of 'I'll fly for you' in December, but it was exactly that piece which made me realise that I didn't actually have the 7" single. And so I bought it, quite recently. And not just any old 7" single: it's the limited edition, apparently, released in a poster bag. And quite a creepy one: it shows the Spandaus without a shirt on. I wish I hadn't now...
'Ainsi soit je...' was the second single taken from Mylene Farmer's 1988 album of the same name. As for all her songs since the 1987 single 'Tristana', Farmer wrote the lyric. Nevertheless, the first words of the couplets 'bulle de chagrin, boule d'incertitude' were written by Marie, a singer unknown to the general public who died not long before. It was a way for Mylene to pay a tribute to her.
'McVicar' is a British film, released in 1980, starring Roger Daltrey from The Who in the title role of John McVicar, an armed robber turned writer who Scotland Yard publicly announced to be Public Enemy Number One and wanted dead or alive. The soundtrack of the film was performed entirely by Daltrey, and the single 'Without your love' was drawn from the soundtrack album.
'White and black blues' was composed by Georges Ougier de Moussac, with lyrics by legendary French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. The song was originally titled 'Black Lolita Blues', however Joelle Ursull, who was chosen to represent France at the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest, declined to perform it with this title. Rewritten as 'White and black blues', the song deals with the need to overcome the prejudices of skin colour.
The Australian band Icehouse found fame with 'Hey little girl' and 'Can't help myself' in the early Eighties. I was very impressed with these early singles, and the later hits 'No promises' and 'Crazy' took some more getting used to after that. 'Crazy' was drawn from their 1987 album 'Man of colours', Icehouse's best selling album worldwide.
During the Here and Now Tour 2002 I saw Altered Images, or rather Clare Grogan, live in concert and immediately liked the songs she was performing. So I went to the nearest record shop in London and found 'I could be happy' and this single. I didn't know this song - she hadn't performed it - but the sleeve looked interesting enough and so I decided to buy it anyway.
After 'Uncertain smile' single version 1 and version 2, I quickly realised that I should also buy the 12" single. It would probably feature an extended version of this wonderful track. There was always the chance, of course, that it would simply contain the album track which is lengthy enough as it is, but it was a risk I was willing to take.
Het Goede Doel (The Good Cause) released their single '4 films' in 1987. It was a new track on the live album that was released after their tour across the Netherlands after the release of their third studio album 'Mooi en onverslijtbaar' (1986). It didn't become a hit and has since become a very rare track. A version sung by Ramses Shaffy was released on the album 'Iedereen is anders' (1988), but this original version wasn't released on cd for a long time.
Elton John and Kiki Dee recorded and released the duet 'Don't go breaking my heart' in 1976. Like many of Elton John's singles from the Seventies, it was never included on any of his original albums (though it was recorded during the same sessions that produced 'Blue Moves'). The single was Elton John's first number 1 single in the UK. It was his sixth number one in the USA. In the Netherlands, it was just kept off the top spot by 'Kiss and say goodbye' (Manhattans) and 'Dancing queen' (Abba).
'Hallelujah' was the winning song of the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, performed in Hebrew by Milk & Honey, representing Israel. The group was created especially for the contest after the song's original performers, the band Hakol Over Habibi, declined the opportunity to sing the song. The song is a slow-building ballad, with the group praising God for the world and all the good things in it. This is, to date, the most religiously-themed song to win the Contest.
'Self control' is one of those songs I heard a lot in 1984, so much that I got entirely sick of it. Radio stations kept playing it and whenever I watched television the video would appear at some point. It got so boring! But ultimately it is a great song, and two decades later I can finally hear it again.
In 1994 I bought a promotional cd-single of Heart's 'Black on black'. It turned out to be a cover version of a song originally performed by Dalbello. Heart's version rocked a lot, so naturally I became rather curious about the original song.
'Videotheque' was released in 1982 and, like many of their singles, it was produced by Trevor Horn. Lots of echo effects and synthesizers once again disguise the limited vocal abilities of the two.
The beautiful balled 'With you I'm born again' was performed by Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright in 1980. The song appeared on Billy Preston's 1980 album 'Late at night'. The B-side of this single features a beautiful instrumental version, played on the piano by the gifted Billy Preston.
Little River Band was an Australian rock band consisting of Glenn Shorrock, Graeham Goble, Beeb Birtles, Ric Formosa, Roger McLachlan and Derek Pellicci. 'Help is on its way' was one of only three of their singles that made the Dutch Top 40, peaking at number 20 (the other two peaked at number 13). It was taken from their third album 'Diamantina Cocktail', released in 1977. The band has released over twenty albums between 1975 and now, and still perform live in the USA - around 100 shows every year.
The fourth single from the Fine Young Cannibals' second album 'The raw and the cooked' was 'I'm not the man I used to be'. It reached number 20 in the UK singles chart before the end of 1989.
Some things are forever lost in time. Like for instance the shop where I bought this bootleg e.p. of All About Eve. All I remember was they had expensive Kate Bush singles on the wall, and that I bought this e.p. there. And I think it was near a busy motorway, somewhere in London. Well, not much to go on, and so I never saw that shop again.
'Quiet life' was Japan's first big chart hit, peaking at number 19 in the autumn of 1981. The album of the same name saw the band change from glam rockers to futuristic synthpop performers. They were rewarded with an ever greater following.
I wonder how much this single is worth. It's obviously not a commercially sold item, and not quite a white label. However it does list the release date of this single (April 22, 1991) and it is a custom A&M label.
'Thought you were on my side' was the second chart hit for Cock Robin in the Netherlands. After the number one hit 'The promise you made', this single reached number 5 in the Dutch Top 40. The single was also successful in Germany and France, but flopped in the UK and America.
'Equinoxe' was the second album released by Jean Michel Jarre, released in 1978. The album reflects a day in the life of a human being, from morning to night. The release of the album was followed by a concert on the Place de la Concorde, Paris on July 14, 1979. The concert attracted one million people, becoming Jarre's first entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest crowd for an outdoor concert.
I already wrote about the Ghosts' single 'Stay the night'. 'The world is outside', their next single, peaked at number 35 in the UK singles chart. 'Ghosts' was released a few months after that, but achieved no chart placing in the UK. Still, this is an interesting single, if only for the remix of 'The world is outside'. While this remix misses the sparkle of the original track, it does keep certain elements of the song intact and makes it interesting to listen to. 'The world is outside' was one of my favourite tracks of 2008 (although it was released a year earlier, but how was I to know...) and so I was glad to get this single. And it's pressed on white vinyl, too!
When you read the long, long entry on Lily Allen in Wikipedia, you would think this girl has spent decades in the entertainment business. But in fact she's only released one album, with her second one underway right now. 'The fear' is the first single drawn from this second album, and it was released last month on cd-single and this picture disc 7" single.
A fabulous disco track from 1978. 'Let's all chant' by the Michael Zager Band reached number 4 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 8 in the UK singles chart. Michael Zager was born on January 3, 1943 in Passaic, New Jersey. He was a member of Ten Wheel Drive from 1968 to 1973, and then went on to record a couple of album as the Michael Zager Band. 'Let's all chant' remains his best known song, and was even re-released in 2000 in a remixed version.
One of the most famous hits from the Eighties is actually a song from the Seventies: 'Are 'friends' electric?' was released in 1979. Tubeway Army consisted of many different musicians, but the main members were Gary Webb (a.k.a. Gary Numan) and Paul Gardiner. 'Are 'friends' electric?' became their first hit after appearances in 'Whistle Test' and 'Top of the pops'. The single climbed steadily to stay at number one in the UK charts for 4 weeks. After this hit, Tubeway Army disbanded and Gary Numan went on solo.
In a world where Michael Jackson was just about the most famous person alive, it was no wonder that other people tried to make some money out of his work. Or try to parody him. Weird Al Yankovic shot to worldwide fame when he made a parody of Michael Jackson's video for 'Beat it', and a song to match. Entitled 'Eat it', the video was a shot-for-shot parody.
Fiat Lux followed up their single 'Secrets' with the up-tempo track 'Blue emotion'. Some sounds on this track reminded me very much of Ultravox, and if someone had told me it was their new single, I probably would have believed it. My sister played this single a lot when I was younger, so when I came across this single years later, I still knew I wanted to have it.
Indecent Obsession formed in 1987 in Brisbane, Australia. David Dixon, Andrew Coyne, Michael Szumowski and Daryl Sims hit the Australian chart in 1989 with their single 'Say goodbye'. follow-up single 'Tell Me Something' peaked at number 17 two months later, but would be the band's last Australian Top 20 single.
The winner of the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, Nicole, recorded her winning song 'Ein Bisschen Frieden' in six languages. One of them was the Dutch version, 'Een beetje vrede'. The thing that struck me back then was that this young German girl spoke (sang) better Dutch than my aunt in her fourties, who was born in Germany but spent two decades in the Netherlands, did.
Eddie Tudor-Pole formed the British punk band Tenpole Tudor in 1974 with Bob Kingston, Dick Crippen and Gary Long. In 1980, they signed a recording contract with Stiff Records and released their debut single 'Three bells in a row' in 1980. A year later, their debut album 'Eddie, Old Bob, Dick and Gary' was released. This album spawned two hit singles, 'Sword of a thousand men' and 'Wunderbar'. The latter was the only single to have some success abroad: it reached number 4 in the Dutch Top 40.
Frazier Chorus released the single 'Sloppy heart' twice: their debut single in 1987 on 4AD records, and as their fourth single on Virgin Records in 1989. This is the latter. It features an edited version of the track on their debut album 'Sue'. The single reached number 73 in the UK singles chart.
In 2004, The Divine Comedy released their eighth studio album, 'Absent friends'. The first single, 'Come home Billy Bird' featured ex-Kenickie vocalist Lauren Laverne. Released on 7" vinyl, the B-side track was 'All things', which was not released on the cd-single and remains unreleased on cd to this day.
After I'd bought 'Living on video' shortly after it was released, Trans X disappeared from the scene. The duo consisting of Pascal Languirand and Cerstin Strecker, hailing from Canada, did release some more singles, but they failed to chart outside of Canada. In 1985, Trans X released a 1985 re-mix of 'Living on video', which reached number 9 in the UK singles chart. Incidentally, the original version didn't chart in that country. In the Netherlands, the original version reached number 12 in the summer of 1983, but this remix version didn't chart. And so I only found out about this single more than a decade later.
'If I say yes' was the fourth single taken from Five Star's 1986 album 'Silk and steel'. The single reached number 15 in the UK singles chart, but didn't chart in the Netherlands.
The New Seekers were founded in 1969 by Keith Potger after the Seekers split up. The idea was that the new group would appeal to the same market as the previous one. He recuited Laurie Heath, Chris Barrington, Marty Kristian and the sisters Eve and Sally Graham.
This remix of 'Turn my back on you' was the fourth and last single drawn from Sade's third album 'Stronger than pride'. At the time, I felt it was the worst track on the album and I was very surprised to find that it was released as a single. I also remember the video, which was a busy, hyperactive affair. While I appreciate the track better now, twenty years later, the years have not been kind to the video: I still can't stand to see it.
'Dirty Diana' was the fifth single taken from Michael Jackson's 1987 album 'Bad'. Like the four previous singles, it reached number 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, whereas it reached number 4 in the UK and number 2 in the Netherlands.
I didn't know the song 'Fantastic day' when Nick Heyward appeared as one of the artists during the 2001 Here and Now tour. He played this track and it was a real live favourite. The compilation cd I bought during this tour only contained a live version, so it was great to hear the studio version when I finally found the single.
'The Jam Was Moving' was the second and final single from Debbie Harry's debut solo album, 'Koo Koo'. After Debbie's debut solo single, 'Backfired' failed to become the big hit everyone expected, there was no video and little promotion for this single. Unsurprisingly, this second single flopped. In 1988 Debbie Harry and Chris Stein themselves remixed 'The Jam Was Moving' for inclusion on the Blondie/Debbie Harry remix compilation 'Once More into the Bleach'.I bought this single because I was curious about the track. It is a nice track but I can see why it didn't appeal to the general public: it's a bit of a boring, repetitive song.
My collection: 7" single no. 3565
Found: La La Land, Den Haag, January 31, 2009
Cost: 1,5 euro
Tracks: 'The jam was moving [7" remix]' / 'Chrome'
Download: here
'Revolution baby' was the last single by Transvision Vamp I ever bought. It was a gamble: whereas I knew the three others before I bought them, I hadn't heard this one at all. It is a far less memorable song, which is why I stopped buying their singles.
'You should be dancing' was released by the Bee Gees in 1976. It became a US number one hit, whereas it reached number 5 in the UK and number 17 in the Netherlands. It was this song that first launched the Bee Gees into disco stardom, although rock-oriented drums and guitars can be heard in the background.
Van McCoy was born on January 6, 1940. McCoy moved to Philadelphia just before he was twenty, where he formed his own label Rockin' Records, and released his first single Hey Mr. DJ in 1959. This single gained the attention of Scepter Records owner Florence Greenberg, who hired McCoy as a staff writer and A&R Representative. As a writer there, McCoy wrote many hits for Gladys Knight & The Pips, Chris Bartley and Jackie Wilson, amongst others. He also put together the hit-making duo of Peaches & Herb, arranging and co-producing their first hit, 'Let's Fall In Love'.
