Abba - Dancing Queen

Probably Abba's most well known worldwide hit, more of a case of where it didn't charts I think! One of the most successful and remembered songs from the 1970's was released in August 1976 off the album Arrival and went straight to number 1 in the UK and in America too. The song became a huge disco hit, even though the single isn't really a disco track and an ultimate party tune that always gets people up dancing! The song had been recorded the previous year and I remember watching a TV show about the band and Freda said in the show how she cried when she first heard the backing track as it had such a beautiful tune, also on the same show, they showed a bit of film of them recording the song with an extra verse that never made the single. Over the years, the members of Abba have said that when they recorded the song, they all knew it would be a massive hit.

It was re-issued in 1992 to promote the issue of the compilation album Abba Gold, which (next to Queen's Greatest Hits) has become the UK's second biggest selling album of all time. I guess that shows just how popular the band were and still are I guess. The song always gets placed high up in the best ever song polls and biggest hit charts of the music channels. A track that has survived the various generations throughout the years and will continue I guess.

Here are the scans of my singles, the first one is the most owned copy of the single, on the orange Epic label

Here is the rarer copy of the single, the first pressing when it got released back in August 1976 on the yellow Epic label. Epic records were just about to revamp the labels design and had come up with the orange version which would last for the next four years.

Slade - Merry Christmas Everybody

IT'S CHRISTMAS! A line towards the end of the song that Noddy shouts to us all in this, my all time favourite Christmas song. The track was released in 1973 and went straight to number 1, the bands third single to enter the charts at number 1, a feat that only the Beatles had achieved earlier! The demand for the single was such that Polydor had to have copies pressed up in Germany and America (which is where my copy came from), with half a million copies sold within the first week of the singles release!

It was recorded in America in September 1973 and the track was a mixture of odd bits of songs Noddy Holder and Jim Lea had written over the years. It was about a normal family enjoy the festive period while being optimistic about the future, with everyone having been through a bad time during the year (economy, strikes, a bad year for everyone!) The track stayed at number 1 for 5 weeks and stayed in the top 40 for 9 weeks in total. The track is always one that gets played the most with (according to Wikipedia) 42% of the worlds population has heard this track! Along with Wizzard, the single is always hitting the charts every year and even hitting the top 40 this year on downloads alone and they don't even sing the title anywhere in the song! For more of a read about the track, have a look on Wikipedia for an interesting story of the making of the single!

So here it is, the scan of the single in all it's beaten and worn glory, the American vinyl is slightly different with it being more of a solid feel, less flexible than a UK piece of vinyl!

On that note, I would like to wish all the people who visit my Blog a Merry Christmas Everybody! Please continue to visit the Blog and hope you enjoy the singles that I post up on here!

Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

This feel good Christmas song originally was released in 1973 and reached number 4 for 4 weeks, Slade has taken the coveted number 1 spot with their single and Elton John's Step Into Christmas stalled at a lower number 24 with his Xmas offering.

Wizzard's track was written and produced by Roy Wood and originally had been recorded in the hot summer of 1973, with Roy and the engineer making a Christmassy theme feeling in the studio to create the right mood for the song. School children from Birmingham were brought down to London for the recording of the choir. When the band performed the song on Top Of The Pops, the school kids were to sing on the track, but were replaced with school children from a London stage school instead. There was also a video for the single with Roy's daughter featured in the video.

The single was released in a mock Christmas card picture cover and although the single came on Harvest records (owned by EMI) the promo copies were released on Warner Brothers records as the band had signed to them when it was discovered that EMI were still owed a single, so they released it.

Here is my copy of the single, released in 1981 which managed to get to number 41. Over the years it has managed to get onto the single charts and even in the years of downloads only still manages a placing on the charts. To me it is one of the best Christmas songs ever, a Christmas card turned into song!

Kiki Dee - Amoureuse

This gorgeous ballad hit the charts in November 1973 and peaked at number 13 in December in the same year. Originally a French song by Véronique Sanson, Gary Osbourne translated the lyrics into English and would be the first real hit single for Kiki on Elton John's Rocket Record label. Basically the song is about a woman after she has her first sexual encounter with a guy. There was another version of this track called Emotion released in America by Helen Reddy, same tune but totally different lyrics. Over the next few years Amoureuse would be re-released again on an E.P Loving And Free and this single is the reissue from 1984.

The Cars - My Best Friend's Girl

I still really really enjoy listening to this single after all these years! American band The Cars released this track about a guy who sees his best friend with a new girlfriend and that girl used to be his girl, in October 1978 and slowly climbed the charts to a final position of number 3. This new wave track also had the award of being the first available picture disc released here and vanished off the shelves straight away. It would be a few years later before I managed to get a copy of it.

I remember being bought a new stereo for Christmas in 1978 plus a new pair of headphones and had some money to buy some new records and I bought this single and was the first new single I played on that record player, memories eh! So here is the single, plus the picture disc of the track!

The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays

This was the Rats second number 1 coming after Rat Trap in 1978. This track was released in 1979 and was based on a tragic shooting in America by Brenda Ann Spencer who killed two adults and injured several children and a policeman. When questioned about why she did it, she said "I Don't Like Mondays." Bob caught the story and built the song around the story. Known for being more of a punk band, this was quite a step away from their normal stuff, with the track being more string based and Johnny Fingers piano helping out turned this into a classic track.

The single also came with a lavish video which was quite ahead of all the videos at that time (I think they paved the way of how videos would be made for the next couple of years, till the New Romantics made them more of an art form). It was number one for 4 weeks in the UK but for obvious reasons it didn't get much radio play in America and suffered as a result. The song was performed at Live Aid when the band took the stage and Bob sang the line "What Reason Do You Need To Die" to a cheering stadium crowd!

Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky

A cheery song to think about to get us over the next few wintery months! Mr Blue Sky originally came off the double album Out Of The Blue and the single was released in January 1978 and reached number 6 in the charts. The song came from a writers block Jeff Lynne was going through. He was trying to write songs for the album and nothing was coming, he was looking at the weather and the grey skies cleared and the blue sky was there to give him inspiration and wrote the song.

At the end of the song is a vocoder vocal where people have always thought they sang Mr Blue Sky, but in fact the line is saying "Please Turn Me Over" as the song was originally at the end of side three of the album, telling the listener to turn the record over to listen to the other side! The single was released in blue vinyl to help get the single into the charts. Here's the cover and the single.

Kiss - I Was Made For Lovin' You

This is Kiss in their disco era! Paul Stanley had wanted to write a disco song, to prove how easy it was to write one. So he wrote it with Desmond Child and Vini Poncia, changed it around a little and this rock disco song took shape. Paul took it to the band proclaiming he had a disco song to record. The band recorded it but weren't too happy with it as it didn't sound like Kiss but the track sold over a million in the States and managed to reach the top 50 here in the UK. It is off the album Dynasty which also came out in 1979.

Kiss never really had many hits, singles or albums here in the UK in the 70's but it would be the 80's when they did better and became huge concert draws, I saw them live twice in the 80's and they blew me away with the shows, not bad concidering I didn't really like the band till Lick It Up came out in 1983! Here is the scan of my record and label, an Italian import!

John Foxx - Underpass

This was the debut single from John Foxx, who originally had been the lead singer with Ultravox. Ultravox were formed from Tiger Lilly in 1976 and signed to Island records where they released 3 albums. They had a good following but no success in the charts, after the third album Systems Of Romance, Foxx left the band to go solo, Midge Ure would later join the band and take them in a different direction.

In 1980 John released this first single, Underpass on his own label through Virgin called Metal Beat. The single only reached number 31 in the UK charts but it summed up the early electronic songs of the early eighties, cold, stark, drama laden but still a classic track. It also came off his first album, Metamatic which reached number 18 in the charts and influenced many of the up and coming electronic bands, Gary Numan was a fan too!

He had several more hits in the early eighties before dissapearing for a few years before making a return to recording in the 1990's and he is still recording and touring today!

Queen - We Are The Champions - We Will Rock You

A huge hit for Queen, this power ballad and stomping anthem single was released in October 1977 as a double A Side. These tracks came off the album News Of The World which was released shortly after the single came out.

We Are The Champions was written by Freddie Mercury and has become one of the most played songs in the world, is one of the most played sporting anthems too. The idea of the song came from audience participation, having a live crowd chanting and waving arms to a song. The video of the song was the first one to use fans from the fan club as the audience to a ''live'' show of the band playing the new track. At the end of the video shoot, the fans were then treated to a real live show by the band and a copy of the new single. The band were to use the fans in videos of future releases!

We Will Rock You is also one of the most well known songs ever and also is often used in sporting arenas, A backing track of claps and stomping with the band singing on top, was such a simple idea and the classic Brian May guitar solo at the end finished an awesome track. The video to this track was recorded on a very cold snowy day in October in the back of Roger Taylor's garden. You can see just how cold the band were as they mimed the track.

The single reached number 2 in the UK and went gold, the single got into top 10 charts around the world too. We Will Rock You is the first track on the album with Champions following along, in America they still play both tracks as one from the album!

Here is the cover and label from the single

The Beatles - Love Me Do

The 5th of October 1962 is a date that just about changed the world, musically and more importatnt people's lives. Although it would take a couple of years for the full impact to hit, The Beatles had arrived on the music scene and over the next few years of the sixties would cause a revolution that changed the world forever. Love Me Do was released and got to number 17 in the UK charts. Beatlemania was just around the corner and the fab four would be screamed at with every concert they played.

We all know what went on to happen with the Beatles, together and apart over the next few years but EMI were to celebrate again in 1982 when the single got a 20th anniversary release and the single was re-released in a picture cover and picture disc and this time it got to number 4 in 1982, and after that all the Beatles singles got the 20th anniversary reissue treatment.

Shoot forward to October 2012 and the single is now 50 years old, many things have changed, vinyl is no longer a populat format, EMI has been bought out and really isn't a giant like it was back in the old day, Universal (who now own EMI) decided to release Love Me Do as a limited single originally set for October 5th 2012 but the company issued the wrong version onto the single. Andy White was a session drummer brought in on one of the recordings of the single but the Ringo Starr track was used as the original single. EMI pressed the White session onto the anniversary single and realised, they withdrew the single but around 200 copies got out and now changing hands on Ebay for a lot of money. So the single was reissued a few weeks later missing the anniversary and coming out towards the end of October instead. Also on the reissue, the catalogue number on the B Side is wrong to the A Side and also the publisher of the song is MPL Communications which is McCartney's publishing company.

Here is the 50th anniversary single, plus the picture disc and a scan of an original red Parlophone Love Me Do single from 1962

The Venus Hunters - Starburst

Here is the Venus Hunter's only single, from 1982, well that's what the makers of the TV show Hunting Venus wanted us to think! The one off show for Yorkshire Television was shown in April 1999 and Starred Martin Clunes & Neil Morrisey. The plot was getting the band from the 80's back together from their lives in 1999 for one more show at the BBC. It is an amazing show and I'm really surprised it has never been released on DVD as it is a period piece from the 1980's complete with an 80's soundtrack!

Starburst is about looking forward into the future about moving and exploring and giving hope to the human race, well it is supposed to be but really the song is full of double entendres about having a wank (I sent my children skywards) and puns and one liners. The track really was written by Joolz Holland for the show, but it is so 80's sounding and if it had have been a single in the early 80's I'm sure it would have charted. A great song from a great TV show! Here is the sleeve to the soundtrack album with a picture of the Venus Hunters!

Julee Cruise - Floating Into The Night

Probably most well known for singing Falling (from Twin Peaks) Julee recorded Floating Into The Night in 1989 with David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti after she had previously recorded a song for Lynch's Blue Velvet movie. David Lynch also used some of the album's music for his Industrial Symphony No 1 in which he filmed Julee singing on stage.

When David Lynch was filming Twin Peaks he used 2 tracks off this album in the show, plus Falling (the instrumental version was the theme to the show). The album is full of dreamy vocals with a darker side to the lyrics typical David Lynch I guess. Rocking Back Inside My Heart was the second single off the record but didn't really do a lot in the charts but the album went silver in the UK. It is a gorgeous album to listen to, heart tugging songs, full of emotions with a twist in the lyrics. One of the best songs is Into The Night, but the album always gets a full play!

Ultravox - Vienna

January 15th 1981, this classic piece of a synth ballad, appeared out of nowhere. It was so different from what was happening in the charts at the time, but fitted in with the New Romantic scene so right. It summed up the time, all drama, over the top production, electronic music, plus the classic video that made the single showed that image and music could go together to make more of a complete package.

The single came off the album of the same name and was the third single off the L.P. Sleepwalk was the first and made a modest entry into the top 30, Passing Strangers was a great track but didn't crack the top 40. I guess it was such a risk to release a track like this at the time, after a flop single, would it get radio play or would anyone bother with it? It was released (like all Ultravox singles) in clear vinyl but it sold on the song, not the gimmick and reached number 2 for 4 weeks. The ground breaking video (slightly inspired by The Thrid Man) was cheaply shot in Covent Garden and in parts, in Austria as the video made you believe it all happened in Austria! I really believe it was this video that started the video revolution here in the UK. Here is the single, plus the clear vinyl scan!

Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive

The ultimate song, of finding your own strenght from a breakup, this song I guess is the biggest gay anthem I know as everyone can identify with some line of this song. Released in late 1978 at the height of Disco, I Will Survive originally was going to be on the b side of Gloria's latest single Substitute. DJ's in the disco's picked up on the b side and quickly made that the track they played in the clubs.

The record company quickly started pressing the single with Survive on the a side and quickly began to storm up the charts. Released here in January 1979 the single finally got to number 1 and went gold. The simple video to go with the single is the iconic girl on the roller skates with Gloria singing the track in the night club. The single is one of the most well known disco tracks ever, it is always played at parties and one of those songs that is going to be around for ever!

Sinead O Connor - Troy (The Phoenix From The Flame)

This could be my all time favourite Trance track, strange concidering it wasn't originally a dance track and I didn't really like the original

The original just simply called Troy was released in 1987 off her debut album The Lion And The Cobra, but never charted here. It would be her next single Mandinka that would make her a popular name (sometimes for all the wrong reasons)

So jump forward into 2002 and dance music is huge thanks to the DJ culture and Trance was still around from the end of the 90's. Someone had the great idea to have the track remixed and brought in German producer Push. He remixed the song to an amazing dance track, complete with echo on her voice and turned it into an awesome track. It got to number 48 on the charts but managed to top some of the club charts. It was released on a CD single and a remix 12'' single. I caught the track by accident one night channel surfing through the music channels. Check it out on Youtube and play loud!

Gary Glitter - I'm The Leader Of The Gang (I Am)

Controversally I put this one on here, more to highlight that even your heroes can let you down. In 1973 when I was an 8 year old lad, Gary Glitter could do no wrong. He had a massive following since Rock N Roll Parts 1&2, his debut hit as Gary Glitter (he had recorded under various names but had no chart hits) was released in 1972 he was very much amongst the big glam acts of the early 70's. This single was to be his first number 1 and another two were to follow. After this he became known by his fans as the Leader plus the sound and the beat of the music was known as the Glitter stomp. The song like nearly all the Gary Gliiter tracks were recorded by him and his producer Mike Leander playing all instruments and producing the tracks. Gary had the Glitter band but they were more for live gigs and TV performances.

I still think this is a really good record, still good to hear and still got a lot of power there and even live (I saw him live in 1985) it still was a good track. During the mid 70's Glitter's success began to fade and with a drug addiction he went into tax exile for a couple of years but didn't stop him going bankrupt. It was the mid 80's before he had the comeback he really wanted with a couple of hits in the 80's and well recieved concerts, epecially his Christmas shows proved he was on his way back.

In 1999 he was convicted of child pornography and did 4 months in prison, when he got out he left the UK and ended up in Vietnam where in 2005 he was arrested again for under age sex with 2 girls and jailed. He was released from prison in 2008 and had to come back to the UK. I remember my sister waiting to find out if he was to plead guilty or deny the charges in 1999. When he pleaded guilty she took all the singles she had of his and smashed them against the garden wall.

His name is cropping up again with the news about Jimmy Saville (who was another childhood hero) who has allegedly raped young girls for 6 decades and the latest alleged rumours and that Jimmy and Gary both had under age girls in Jimmy's dressing room.

It is sad but when I listen to his singles however good they are, these titles, do they all have a second meaning? Leader of The Gang, which gang is this? Do You Wanna Touch Me, was that his was of getting the girls? Do I need to go on, but it is so sad! Here is the single!

Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

Released towards the end of 1978 and got to number 1 in January 1979, this Ian Dury single showed that the the mixture of clever lyrics and great music was a hit with the record buying public. Released on Stiff records and was backed with There Ain't half Been Some Clever Bastards, the single sold just under a million copies and in 1985 was remixed but wasn't a patch on the original.

The song came from lyrics Dury had written a few years earlier, slightly changed and inspired from the piano riff from Wake Up And Make Love With Me (off Dury's New Boots & Panties album). After several takes of the song they used one of the earlier takes for the single although not many of the band were happy with the mix. Listening to the single you get to realise just what a great songsmith Ian was, but the band were equally as good, the band playing on the single were amazing, they were so good Stiff Records often used the band as the label's inhouse band for their solo artists to record with. Ian Dury died in March 2000 but the band still play on, with guest vocalists, however good the singers are, no one can match Ian Dury!

Judas Priest - Unleashed In The East

Venturing into heavy metal, this was the first metal album I really listened to and it just blew me away. The sheer power from the music, the amazing vocals of Rob Halford and those awesome twin guitars of KK Downing and Glen Tipton made this album make me want to listen to more of this Heavy Metal that was slowly making noise in the charts amongst the new wave and punk bands.

Unleashed In The East, or Unleashed In The Studio as it is sometimes is known, is a very polished live album, that's why it has a maybe unfair extra title as it does sounds like a heavily overdubbed live album. Everything on the album sounds so clear, but Rob Halford has said that it is a totally live album but he had to overdub his vocals in a live setting as the original concert vocals (which were recorded from 2 shows in Japan) had been damaged. There are a couple of really good covers on this album, Fleetwood Mac's Green Manalishi and a great version of Joan Baez Diamonds And Rust featuring Rob's soaring high vocals and the trademark twin guitars. Released in 1979 the album hit the UK Top 10 and started Judas Priest on a world wide domination of the metal scene.

The Doll - Desire Me

The charts in 1979 were an exciting time, lots of new bands with new fresh sounds were hitting the charts and appearing on Top Of The Pops. This was where I saw this band perform this fantastic single. I remember the band fronted by Marion Valentine playing the track and she was wearing a leopard skin suit to match her guitar and got all the boys talking about her. The single only reached number 28 in the charts during it's 8 week spell in the top 40. It got released as a double single (a new format in those days) 12'' & normal 7'' singles but couldn't push it any higher, but classic songs don't always have to sell huge amounts.

The band split shortly after the single, but a newly reformed band recorded the follow up single and an album but neither hit the charts again and the band split for good in 1980.

Tom Robinson Band - 2 - 4 - 6 - 8 Motorway

Tom Robinson formed the band in 1976 and within a few months of gigging and riding the current wave of Punk music, the band were spotted by EMI Records and within a few short months of forming, they had a record deal and 2-4-6-8 Motorway was the band's debut single. It was released in October 1977 and managed to climb up to number 5 and earn the band a silver disc. It is one of those singles with the chug along beat and singalong chorus that still makes the single a great listen today and is featured on many of the driving compilation cd's that get released every so often. They released several singles afterwards, but nothing was successful as this one, the debut album was a hit but never contained the single, they managed another album before the band split in 1979.

My memory of this single was of a late Saturday night listening to the very missed Radio Luxembourg, with a mono earpiece connected to a radio. I shared my bedroom with my younger brother and couldn't listen to the radio until he had gone to sleep, then I had my chance to listen to the stations chart, which I heard this gem on, as the frequency kept drifting in and out, something you no longer get in this age of digital broadcasting!

Squeeze - Cool For Cats

The second single from the album of the same name, Cool For Cats hit the charts in March 1979. Helped by the single being released in pink vinyl, the song complete with Cockney rhyming slang and the Cockney vocals of Chris Difford became the band's biggest hit at that point reaching number 2. The video with dancing, singing girls to the chorus was shown a lot on TV at the time as it was still a rare thing to have a video to a single in those days. When I bought the single it was one of the first few singles I managed to buy in coloured vinyl, it was also released in a rarer deep pink vinyl too!

Nazareth - This Flight Tonight

This powerful reworking of a Joni Mitchell album track hit the charts in 1973 and got to number 11. Originally off Mitchell's album Blue, the band completely changed the sound of the song, turned it into a hard rock track and basically made it their own. It was produced by Roger Glover from Deep Purple and was the band's third hit of 1973 and was off their album Loud N Proud. By this time the band had a huge fan base, which is still present today as they are still together touring and recording.

T Rex - Metal Guru

On Sunday the 30th of September will be the birthday of Marc Bolan and I thought it would be nice to put this on as a little Happy Birthday nod to him. He was killed in September 1977 a few days before his 30th birthday and the music world lost a true genius.

Metal Guru was released in May 1972 and got to number 1 for 4 weeks. This was the last chart topper T Rex would have although several singles would crack the top 10. It never charted in America and I think really, Marc was only a British superstar but they were the first band to send all the fans into a frenzy, or as it was known T Rextasy since the Beatles!

Here is the single, on his own label given to him by EMI, the sign of a true superstar. Put a liitle Marc in your heart R.I.P

Soft Cell - Torch

A single that is number 2 on my all time favourite list, originally came out in the spring of 1982 and also reached number 2 in the charts. To me, the best version of the track is the 12'' version, the full 10 minutes of amazing lyrics, great tune and even female vocals from their then drug dealer, Cindy Extasty! I read that all Soft Cell's singles, were actually recorded as full 12'' extended versions and the 7'' version would be edited from the finished track which I think is a really good idea of how to record a track. Usually remixes in those days would just have an instrumental bit added in somewhere for effect. Another one of those impulse buys, I never heard the song before but had bought the last single, played this and loved it ever since. It's a shame really that this doesn't get the plays or gets picked for compilation albums, it's always seems to be Tainted Love!

Dusty Springfield - I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

This heart tugger of a killer track written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David for an American artist called Tommy Hunt in 1963. Dusty had been to New York, heard the track and bought a copy back home to the UK to record. This was her 3rd solo single release and became the classic Dusty sound, complete with the trademark, thick eyeliner and beehive hair-do was enough to get the single to number 3 in the UK charts in the summer of 1964. The single got an American release but didn't get into the Billboard charts although Dionne Warwick's version managed to chart.

The Human League - Rock N Roll

This was the bands 4th single and a cover of Gary Glitter's Rock N Roll (Part 1). It was released in May 1980 and climbed to number 56 in the UK chart after an appearance on Top Of The Pops. Originally it was released as a double single called Holiday 80 E.P, with the song being a joined up effort with Iggy Pop's Nightclubbing and at that time the band had started to tour to promote the single and the release of the album Travelogue. The single originally was left off the vinyl release of the album, only to be included on the CD version of the album. The 7'' single was just Rock N Roll as the A Side track.

This single brings great memories back as I was really getting into electronic music at that time, 1980 seemed to be the year for synth tracks. Me and my sister saw the guys on TOTP and she bought us tickets to see them at Hull City Hall the same week they were on the show. I played and played this single and it is pretty worn now, they were one of the first bands I saw live and when I saw them live it was awesome, Phil at the front with the guys on keyboards with Adrian's slide show to fit each track. Who would have thought barely a year later and the band would be so successful!

Blondie - Picture This

After having two top 20 hits in the UK, the band released this single in the summer of 1978 and got to number 12 in the UK charts. Released on limited edition yellow vinyl and was also the first single off the forth coming Parallel Lines album giving us an idea what to expect off the new album (and nobody was dissapointed) also the cover of the single was used as the picture disc version of the album. A classic piece of pop which I always remember it being played on the radio, but I am really surprised to find out the single never got an American release! Here's the single plus the scan of the yellow vinyl 7''.

10CC - I'm Not In Love

This classic single was released in 1975 and became an instant masterpiece. The drummer of the band Kevin Godley came up with the idea of replacing the backing track and to use the bands voices instead. Each member of the band recorded one note which was dubbed and mixed onto a master tape which created a multi layered choir effect. Complete with vocals from Eric Stewart and the secetary of the guys recording studio provided the girl's voice in the intrumental break repeating "Big boys don't cry" which they decided on after she walked in to pass a message to the band.

The band were after a new record contract and signed to Mercury Records after the label heard the track and offered them a 5 album deal. The single was released at the beginning of June and hit number 1 for two weeks and got to number 2 in America. It has become a heavily covered single and has featured on quite a few film and TV soundtracks over the years, an always popular track to feature on love song compilations it remains an ever popular single!

John Miles - Music

John Miles 6 minute epic might only contain 2 verses (one repeated) but what a single. One of the first I remember to pair off a rock band with an orchestra (I don't want to include ELO here). To me the lyrics say it all how I feel about music and I guess the record buying public of 1976 agreed to as this went to number 3 and to me is a classic single that always seems to get over looked when they compile these classic singles TV shows.

John only really had 4 hit singles in the UK but he is more known for working with other musicians and worked with Tina Turner quite a lot. If you get a chance, listen to this track, it still is an awesome song!

The Police - Roxanne

Fresh from their record contract with Illigal Records, the band were signed to A&M Records after the label heard this track. Roxanne was first released in the UK in 1978 but never achieved much success and had to wait until the next single, Can't Stand Losing You had been a hit and then Roxanne got a reissue and the rest is history. The song was based around a guy falling for a prostitute and falling in love with her. The single originally was banned by the BBC because of the subject matter but I think the reissue recieved airplay and got to number 12 in 1979.

Here is the single in blue vinyl and complete with the picture cover, it was reissued again in 1980 as part of the Six Pack in a different sleeve and a different shade of blue!

David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes

Bowie's first big hit single of the 1980's and with more than a nod towards Major Tom (from Space Oddity) with the line about "a guy who's been in such an early song" and "my Mother said, to get things done, you'd better not mess with Major Tom" this was a huge number 1 in August 1980. It entered the top 40 at number 4 and went all the way to number 1 for 4 weeks and some say the song is quite introspective, but Bowie has given many an answer to what the song is really about.

The video to me is a very iconic video of the 1980's, from the drenched solarised colour, to the bulldozer with the New Romantic Blitz kids in front of it walking with Bowie, made it a classic piece of film, still one I can watch over and over! I never realised until now, the single didn't even get into the US charts, it peaked at 101.

Here's the sleeve and the label to the single, there were 3 different sleeves and this one has a set of stamps issued inside featuring photo's of him in the suit he wore for the video. Listen to the single and send yourself back to 1980

The Latest Album

The latest album was bought today, on CD. Words And Music by Saint Etienne, is a really good album of pop tunes and a great sleeve of street names made from and refering to pop songs, how many can you find! The opening track on the album when I heard it really rang home for me, Sarah describes how she listens to the songs in her bedroom, learning the pop charts, record labels, well I could go on but I just thought I did that and it was just an odd little thing I did, but it sure made me feel better when I realised all of us who are into music did it! The albums second track I've Got Your Music is my fave off the album but give it a listen if you can, it is the life of a music lover set in music