The Stranglers - Aural Sculpture

This is The Stranglers 8th album and the second for Epic Records. It was a more mellowing sound of the band although some of the lyrics to the songs showed they had lost none of their bite. The tracks were recorded in Brussels the previous year and into early 1984 and was produced by the now very much in demand Laurie Latham, thanks to his work on the Paul Young debut album. This album was quite a departure for the band, after the last album which had more of a European sound, this album was the first one to have a three piece horn section on. The lead single off the album was Skin Deep, which was a great keyboard featured track which managed to get to number 15 in the UK charts but the following two singles fared less well. The album came out in November 1984 and reached number 14 but also helped the band gain a following in Europe.

As typically Stranglers, I originally had the album on cassette, at the end of the album was a short explanation and screams from the band before it went into a game for the ZX Spectrum. It was the Aural Quest, where you had to complete parts of the game to build parts of an ear. I never completed the game as it was always a pain to load up onto the computer, but when it worked, you had to think how would one of the band think, their strange humour featured too, it was a nice added touch to the album. Have a listen to the album on Spotify, it is quite a departure from the previous Punk and New Wave sounds, you'll probably enjoy it. Skin Deep is one of my favourite tracks, along with North Winds Blowing, Souls and No Mercy. Here's the sleeve

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

My favourite Michael Jackson single ever, Billie Jean was released in January 1983 and went to number 1 in the UK. it was the second single to be released off the album Thriller (which has become the biggest selling album ever) and is one of Jackson's most popular songs. The song which many reviewers think is about a fan saying that he is the father of her child, Michael has claimed it was more about groupies that used to follow the Jackson 5 around when the band had hit the big time!

The video to the single was a great dance film, with Michael dancing on top of lighting up tiles, a result of a limited budget for the video, the director told Michael which tiles where lit and Michael told him not to worry and when filming, he just danced and hit those tiles! The video they say changed the way MTV used to show music vids, they never showed black artists until this video came out, it helped the single get to number 1 in the various charts in America, helped Thriller to sell bucket loads of copies and helped MTV to become established and become the station that it is today!

Billie Jean is also well known for the dance routine on the Motown 25th anniversary show, where Michael sang the song and showed the audience the Moonwalk for the first time. The show went down in history for that little dance move and whenever Billie Jean was sung, he had to do the Moonwalk! The track of the song, to me sounds quite sparse in production but is so sinister in the words and the way he sings the song, such a powerful performance. Here is the cover to the single and the scan of the vinyl, here as a 7'' red vinyl single from a pack of singles released of all his singles up to Bad.

Abba - Waterloo

Probably Eurovision's biggest success ever via Sweden. In 1974 Abba took part in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on the 6th of April in Brighton with a catchy little ditty called Waterloo. Influence by the Glam Rock scene of the UK and dressed in the latest fashions of the time (remember folks this is mid 1970's) they performed the song in English and won the contest with just 24 points. They had previously tried for Eurovision in 1973 with Ring Ring but failed to get chosen by the Swedish broadcasters. So this time they knew what they had to do to win a place, but for them it was a small step in the band's idea of making the big time.

The single got to number 1 in the UK and also the top of the charts in several European countries too. Also it hit the charts in Australia and America too where Eurovision wasn't really that well known. Apparently the band have said that Waterloo is roughly based and influenced by Wizzard's single See My Baby Jive (a hit in 1973) which I never thought about until now, but there is a similar sound. Although they released another couple of singles in the UK they all flopped here until S.O.S was released in 1975 which got into the top 10 and the rest is history. This was the beginning of the Abba story, from this one contest that would shoot them into superstardom and worldwide stars.

Tonight's Eurovision Song Contest is to take place in Sweden, 39 years after Abba's triumph win, the band split up in 1982 and vowed they would never sing together again. There are a lot of rumours that they might appear tonight to sing Waterloo, seeing that the band have opened this year a museum in Sweden celebrating the bands career and that Agnetha Fältskog has just released a new album, have all helped to fuel the rumours. It would be nice to think they might get back together but it is doubtful! Here is the original single, plus a picture disc version of the single that was released here to celebrate the 30th anniversary.

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.