So I am going to play every 45 in my collection.......(Part 3!!)

How many 45's do you have in your collection? I've always bought them but only started collecting 45's in earnest the last year or so. I have not noticed a lot of interest in 45's on these boards - are there other good sites/forums/etc. for 45 enthusiasts? I am aware of the 45CAT sites. Is that where the action happens? Thanks.

 

A lot more than I realized!! I guess they don't take up much space Not a lot of interest here on 45's for sure. I don't quite get why other than the constant getting up/down. Great sound (depending of course), unique mixes, custom labels, Non-LP tracks...what's not to love? The 45CAT is probably a good place to hit up!

 

Green Day-Warning/Suffocate GREEN VINYL UK ISSUE
A #27 hit in the UK and a pretty big rock it in the USA. The very clever video, depicted a man going about his day and doing everything society deems dangerous to your health. A great watch!! No secret that this track is basically lifted melody wise from "Picture Book" by The Kinks...it sounds especially similar to the version found on The Kinks To The Bone Live/Acoustic collection.

 

GTR-When the Heart Rules the Mind/Reach Out
GTR (short for guitar on studio desks) featured renowned guitar Gods Steve How and Steve Hackett. This track, a somewhat forgotten pop/rock gem, reached #14 in the USA in 1986. For such a high chart placing, I feel like you never hear this song anywhere today. A shame since it is catchy as can be. Great vocal by Max Bacon (former Nightwing vocalist) and some strong guitar work as you might expect. It definitely has a positive Asia feel to it (Howe's influence no doubt) in the song structure as well as the over tinny production values (thanks to Geoff Downes) that went along with Asia's early records too unfortunately. Still, a great song and one of my go to 45's when I have guests over who dig 80's music.

Side note: Apparent Brian May of Queen demoed some tracks with Hackett with intentions of joining the project! Bring them on!!!!!

 

GTR-The Hunter/Sketches in the Sun
Written by prodigious keyboard player Geoff Downes (who also produced), this track reached #85 in the USA in 1986. An ok track, but a major disappointment after the aforementioned, and awesome, "When the Heart Rules the Mind". This track sounds like the work of a middling 80's Rock singer/songwriter and not in a positive way! Howe, Hackett...where are you guys?? Did they both take the day off creatively here? Again, It is not bad by any stretch...just disappointing. Parts of it remind me of Martika's Toy Soldiers for some reason!!! A song I like a lot better....

 

The Guess Who-These Eyes/No Time
A fitting Gold Series reissue since both of these songs are great!
These Eyes reached #6 in 1968 in the USA and was written by band membrs Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings. I love this track...great piano intro, powerful vocal, a nifty bass line...it has it all. Best part for me is when the track picks up during the "These eyes have seen a lot of loves..." bit and the horns kick in.

No Time was re-recorded for single release and this version hit #5 in the USA in 1970. Great little riff from Bachman here and he really shines across the whole track. I always like Cummings' voice and he goes from melodic to gritty effortlessly throughout this tune.

 

The Guess Who-American Woman/No Sugar Tonight
A #1 hit in the USA (fittingly enough), this track is either an anti-war sentiment or a statement about the dangers of America girls....both work for me The guitar led intro certainly grabs your attention right from the get go. The 45 really highlights the fine percussion work which grounds the track and the bass is nice and full sounding. I like me some Lenny Kravitz but he need not have messed with this tune IMHO.

 

Greg Guidry-Goin' Down/Darlin' It's You
This track hit #17 in the USA in 1982. Another forgotten Top 20 hit, this is a finely crafted and produced adult-contemporary pop song. Fans of the Little River Band, Climax Blues Band, Firefall, etc... would dig this song. Fine vocals and arrangements, all produced impeccably. Sadly Greg was found burned to death in a car in his garage and it was ruled a suicide.

 

The Gun-Race With the Devil/Sunshine
A UK Top Ten hit in 1968, this track just flat out rocks! Definitely a bit of a psych-rock freakout, it features a killer guitar riff accented with some bizarre, yet complimentary horns...quite a combination! I always play this one at least a few times through when I pull it out. I've always meant to track down more of their stuff but have never gotten around to it. The Gurvitz brothers would later record a couple of pretty good albums with Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge.

 

Guns N' Roses-Sweet Child O' Mine/It's So Easy
A #1 hit in the USA and a #5 hit in the UK in 1988. The classic riff famously came out of a warm-up that Slash used to run through. My practice runs (and all my playing honestly) sounds like trash! Axl's lyrics deal with then girlfriend Erin Everly. I can't say enough about this song....just a fantastic performance all around. Especially key is Duff's melodic bass line which really serves as almost another lead guitar part...just brilliant and a ton of fun to play. Adler's drumming also fit the track perfectly. They lost quite a bit of feel when he left. Fortunately the 45 is the LP version and not the butchered single version that trims the intro and edits out quite a bit of Slash's solo!!!! Huh??? That solo is KILLER!!!!

 

I'm just seeing this thread for the first time and you've already got me checking out a couple tunes I don't recall very well if at all. No hidden gems yet, imo (keeping in mind that I've only listened to a couple), but I'll check more out.

 

Guns N' Roses-Paradise City/Move to the City
A #5 hit in the USA and a #6 hit in the UK in 1988. One of my least favorite cuts on the LP (I really love the album as a whole, so this means I think this track is just really, really good!) but still a monster of a track! That double-time bit at the end can get the dead moving! As with most of the LP, it is really cool to listen to Slash's parts versus what Izzy is playing...lots of little licks that get lost in the overall mix. They really feed off of each other very well and Izzy does not get enough credit for his rhythm work.

 

The fact that this thread even got you to check out some stuff you never heard before is a win for me I have found some songs I had really overlooked over the years whilst doing this. I had to make a note of them on the side so that I wouldn't forget them again!

 

Even if this song had no lyrics it would be #1 for me. The instrumentation, and it's execution is perfect. I can't even pick out one instrument because it all works so well as an ensemble. IMO, this is the best song this band ever recorded!

The band has said the song was specifically about The U.S., and it's "war machine". "Woman" was simply a metaphor for U.S. society. A lot of people in the states took great offense, and the song was banned on many radio stations. This record came out at the height of the Viet Nam war protest.

I was there, and I remember the tremendous reaction to this song. People loved it and it was all over the place. me? I got sick of hearing it. I'm still sick of hearing it. It's also one of those songs your girlfriend just loved.

Now, this song is more like it! I never heard the single if it's edited, but this song smokes! It also inspired tons of teens to make up alternate lyrics "Take me down to Paradise City where the girls are clean and have big titties!"

 

Without a doubt my friends and I made up many alternate lyrics to "Paradise City"! I also remember not letting my folks see the rape "artwork" from the inside sleeve. My Mom would have been a bit upset by it.

 

Great feedback - thank you! I agree with everything you say. I also like the ephemeral quality of 45's. Being that they were cheap to produce and primarily a promotional tool, they are great snapshots of the times that they were created in. I just can't get over the sheer volume of different little slices of wonderful weirdness that I come across. I'm not sure there is another commercially released medium that has as eclectic an array of musical and sound experiences. I know anybody can make a tape or CD but the fact that anyone can't just whip up a 45 adds to their uniqueness. And getting up all the time to change records is good exercise!

Thanks again. Love your thread.

 

For me growing up it was also a neat way to explore a band without investing in the LP. Bonus was that if I ended up loving the 45 and getting the album later on, the 45 still usually provided me with a different mix/edit it Non-LP track and maybe a custom sleeve too! Sometimes you don't want to engross yourself to one band for 45 minutes and a stack of 45's is the perfect fix!

 

I was a big Asia fan that lost faith after Astra came out out in late '85. I was excited to hear that Steve Howe was in a new band and I loved "When The Heart Rules The Mind." The rest of the album was a snooze to me.

I actually heard this song recently on one of the Sirius stations.

 

I heard this song and I was very excited about GTR until I heard the rest of the LP. I never tire of this song though. Such a great hook.

 

I love checking out stuff that people are talking about. Ideally, I wish I could listen to everything that people mention in threads as we talk about it, even stuff that I'm already intimately familiar with--my collection is big enough that usually it's been awhile since I listened to whatever it is. This board moves too fast to listen to everything, of course (which is something I like about it--it's the first music board I've found where I wasn't rather frustrated with how slow it is/just how beaten to death the threads become), but one of my favorite things has always been to sit around with friends for listening sessions as music fans, where we make observations about what we're listening to. This board is a good virtual substitute for doing that in person.

 

I agree...it is fun to have some late night listening friends around in these forums who "get it".

 

The original promo of this 45 was edited to 3:42 and eliminated a lot of the guitar solos. After hearing this on the radio, the band made a deal with the label that none of their songs would be edited for single release - that's why the commercial 45 of this song ran 5:55. The 45s of the great "Paradise City" ran 6:46 and the even greater "November Rain" ran the full 8:53.

I love long 45s!

 

I can't understand why there isn't more interest in 45s here either - there have been some really interesting threads once in a while (a couple I started), but generally they are few and far between.

I've always been more of a 45 fan than an LP fan, for many of the reasons you've already stated. I like going onto 45cat but if there are any other good sites for 45s out there, please post!

I'm especially looking for sites where I may be able to buy or post want lists - I'm a picture sleeve collector and there are about two dozen from the '80s I've been on the hunt for a long time, which have seemingly disappeared from the face of this earth

Keep up the good work on this thread - I LOVE IT!

 

So how many do you think you have?
And how do you store them?
Love this thread.

 

I'm with you all on the love of 45's. In our youth, a buddy of mine and I would look forward to going to our favorite record stores and grabbing the latest items on our want lists. We used to love the bins of plastic covered cut-out 45's in Woolworth's or discount department stores...usually 3 for $1. My parents were great about giving me spending money to support my "habit". I need to check out the 45cat website.