The Beatles - Real Love

Real Love, was another track done by The Beatles for the album Anthology 2 and was another demo track by John Lennon given to Paul McCartney by Yoko Ono. The band's original producer George Martin didn't produce the new tracks as he told Paul McCartney that his hearing wasn't as good as it used to be and he didn't want to do a bad job, so they brought in Jeff Lynne (of ELO fame) who had worked with George Harrison on his solo album and the Travelling Wilbury's to produce the tracks. Like the previous single Free As A Bird, the track was slowly pieced together by Jeff. The cassette of the demo was recorded by Lennon on an old tape recorder and was recorded low-fi, so it was full of background hiss and electrical hum and assorted clicks. If took Jeff a few days to get rid of the noise so that it was a workable demo.

The rest of the band put the backing track down, with the guys using many of their old instruments that had been used on many a classic track. McCartney recorded a higher range backing track to ride along Lennon's vocal as it drops in level in odd places. They managed to complete the track by all saying that John had left to go on holiday after putting his bits down, so that they could finish it off for him, it was the only way they could deal with the emotion of the recording. It was released as a single in March 1996 on the band's Apple label and got to number 4 in the UK and 11 in the US charts. It also was the opening track on Anthology 2 album that was released, covering the mid 60's period for the band.

In the UK the single suffered a radio play ban by Radio 1, then the biggest radio station in the UK. They had decided that The Beatles were no longer relevant in the chats of 1996 although many of the bands in the charts at that time (especially Oasis) had cited the band as a major influence. Paul wrote a piece for a newspaper saying how bad the ban was, Ringo said that they didn't need Radio 1 as they had the independent radio stations behind them. This would be the last time that all four original members of The Beatles would chart, Ringo said that this really was the end of the line as there was nothing more they could do as The Beatles. Here's the cover of the CD single

Philip Lynott - Yellow Pearl

Here is a great track from the late great Thin Lizzy leader. Back in 1980 Phil released a solo album, Solo In Soho and had a couple of reasonable hits for him. When Midge Ure was a temporary replacement for Gary Moore during Thin Lizzy's tour, between rehearsals and sound checks for the shows, Midge would often try to write the basic Yellow Pearl tune on the keyboards. When Phil was recording his album, he remembered the tune and asked Midge if they could work on it to make it a proper track. The song isn't about much apart from making a thought about the technology that was beginning to hit the west in the early 80's with a lot of it coming from Japan. Phil made the lyrics up as he sang and they basically are a load of lyrics that rhymed but nothing more that that, no hidden messages. It was released as a single in early 1981 and managed to reach number 56. It's release in clear vinyl managed to push it so far but not enough to reach the top 40.

In 1981 Top Of The Pops which had been a must watch TV show every Thursday night, was caught in the middle of a strike at the BBC which meant many shows were off air for the weeks of the strike. During this time, they had decided that the format of the show need updating to follow the trends of the new 1980's. The show complete with a new title sequence needed a new and exciting theme tune, as it had previously used Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. The producer of the show had liked Yellow Pearl and asked Phil to write a new theme tune for the show. Phil had asked what would they like and the reply was something like Yellow Pearl, so Phil replied "so why don't you use that?" The instrumental track was remixed by Midge and also featured his Ultravox band mate Chris Cross and Midge's old band drummer Rusty Egan (who were all involved with the New Romantic sound that was current in 1981). The single was remixed and reissued in a new sleeve which stated it was the theme to the show and reached a more respectable number 14 in the UK charts.

I love this track, it is such exciting electronic track and always manages to get on my playlists. I love electronic music anyhow and no doubt many a track since has been influenced by this single! I've included the remix version on my Spotify playlist as it is so much more full of life than the original track, although that is a great song in itself! Check out the Spotify link here http://open.spotify.com/user/1158943663/playlist/5Jn1HAojaqM3cPMko6MN4b

Pet Shop Boys - Go West

This 1993 single was a cover of the Village People hit from 1979. In 1992 Derek Jarman asked the Pet Shop Boys to perform at an aids awareness show he was putting on and they decided they would sing this song. They liked the song and decided to release it as a non album single, but for some reason they decided to postpone the release until the following year and include it on the Very album. The guys added an extra verse to the song which helped add extra meaning to the song, plus an all male Broadway choir made it a huge hit for the duo and a huge anthem on the gay scene too which helped the single reach number 2.

Such a large song needed a larger than life video made with CGI and had shots of Neil and Chris in full uniform walking across Red Square. A singing statue of Liberty, Russian imagery and walking Russian soldiers, gave the viewers plenty to watch in an East West image stuffed video. Here's the CD sleeve

M - Pop Muzik

Released 35 years ago, this single is still very much remembered and liked and is often found on compilation albums. Robin Scott who was the brains behind M released this single in March 1979 as a song that told how pop music brought everyone together, a simple statement put on a simple pop track. When it was released it came on a double groove 12'' single which meant that the a side and the b side tracks were all on side a of the 12'' single, so it was pot luck when the needle landed to what track you actually listened to! A gimmick indeed but it annoyed a lot of people who only wanted the 12'' mix of the single!

The single reached number 2 in the UK in May 1979 but was stopped by Art Garfunkle's Bright Eyes. The single managed to get to Number 1 in the states almost 6 months after it peaking in the UK. It came off the album New York, London, Paris, Munich which failed to chart in the UK but managed a low entry in the US charts. Pop Muzik had a remix and re entered the charts in 1989 and managed to reach number 15. Here's the single

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

Stevie Wonder - Superstition

Another hit single from Stevie Wonder, this great track was released here in the UK in early 1973 and managed to climb to number 11 but did so much better in the States as it got to number 1. Stevie played many of the instruments on this single, including the drums, he wrote it and also produced the track which mentions a few of the superstitious tales of old. Taken from the 1972 album Talking Book which managed a number 16 chart placing here had enough sales to make it a gold album, but I don't think Stevie's UK success matched the States as in chart placing's. Shooting forward to 1986 and Peter Gabriel released Sledgehammer which gives a nod to Superstition. Here's the single

Alice Cooper - From The Inside

I'm not a huge Alice Cooper fan, although I saw him live in the late 80's and he was awesome, but I really like this unbelievably over looked album by Alice. Released in 1978 it was a concept album based about his stay in a New York institution for his alcoholism. This is a raw Alice, with help from Elton John's side kick Bernie Taupin and a couple of Elton's band mates, they helped create an album with each track with a storyline of a situation and character who he had met in the institution. From The Quiet Room about a guy in a padded cell to avoid self harm (also my favourite track on this album), with Millie And Billie which is a tale of two lovers which one is married who kill her husband to be together. There's Nurse Rosetta about a nurse that tuned on the inmates with a verse describing just what happens when he sees her! There is also the single How You Gonna See Me Now about an unsure Cooper wondering how a partner will treat him once he is freed. The single was a fairly big hit in the US but only managed 61 in the UK charts.

The album didn't chart in the UK which is a real shame as I think it is a classic. The album artwork was great too, featuring opening doors on the front cover and doors on the back which opened too all revealing Alice in various shots of the institution. To me, when I listen to this album it seems such a personal album but also bringing the other inmates to life too, where those people he sings about really there? I think it also a lot more of a softer rock album with, dare I say strings added to a couple of tracks! An album I think should be listened to from start to finish and follow the story to the final track singing about the inmates in Inmates (We're All Crazy). Originally released on Warner Brothers, try and listen to it if you can as it is a shame it wasn't such a bigger hit. Here is the sleeve from the cd!