Artwork is definitely the worst thing about it. There was some confusion with the titles back in the day when I first bought it. Greatest Hits Of The 80s / More Greatest.......80s / 114 more hits.......80s It took me a while to realize those were all separate compilations with different tracklistings........ so 24CD altogether ! The company Disky what also very sneaky......they frequently released compilations with different titles but complete identical tracklistings......
.....and how about Where Did Your Heart Go ? One of the few examples when I can say with a lot of certainty that the cover version is miles ahead of the original. What Wham! did with the cover is nothing short of miraculous.......all the changes in tempo, orchestrations, instrumentations that they made were perfectly executed......not to mention the vocal performance....... Actually, when I first heard Wham! do it in 1986, I had no idea this was a cover.......only years and years later did I found out.
Just bring it on......finally! I need another twenty-something versions of Imagination.......cause I feel that song has not received proper exposure the way You Spin Me Round did...... The official extended versions simply isnt ...... well, extended enough !! There are other candidates as well.......a couple o extra mixes of Some People & Let It Be With You would be just fine.......
Thats one of the few cases I could safely say - Americans know best! Be Near Me is IMHO, still, one of the highlights of their career and just a perfectly crafted pop-song. Too bad that both of the 12" mixes completely missed the mark. Should have emphasized the piano instrumental break in the middle.......the best thing about the track.
Same here, didn't know it was a cover at the time and only heard the original many years later... which was disappointing, to say the least. Not a huge Wham! fan, but respect where it's due.
Yeah... Disky were sneaky. I bought some compilations, of the single artist or various artists variety, and discovered what you wrote. But sometimes they included some gems that I had never met. For instance, the lively Suzi Quatro recorded the Chinnichap classic "If You Can´t Give Me Love" twice - first as an uptempo, almost happy version, and a lot later as a smokey ballad. Both give the lyrics different connotations - and I love both. Just like Joni Mitchell´s re-recording of "Both Sides Now". (NB! I am not claiming that the songs are of equal stature! But I do love both.)
Of course the definitive version was to come later. I think BoM really bring out the emotion of the song. The male led vocals on the verses with the female sung choruses is a stroke of genius. Apparently Ms Streisand, upon hearing the BoM cover, snapped at Barry Gibb, “Why didn’t we do that?” This BoM cover is from their 1981 20 Love Songs album. Tragically still unavailable on CD. It includes their takes on such hits as Silly Love Songs, My Eyes Adored You and Chanson D’Amour. Enjoy the lovingly put together video above and marvel at the montage of images of Brotherhood of Man through the years.
Oh my! That was certainly something... I might have enjoyed hearing Babs & Gibb trade off vocals like this, but the solo Streisand version is such perfection that I'd hate not to have it exactly as-is.
Time for one of my favorite singers, Sam Brown (and also time to flog the Sam Brown thread for anyone who wants to learn more about her extensive material, shifting styles, and work with the majority of UK national treasure acts!). Sam's best known for Stop!, the second single from her debut album (also called Stop!), released in 1988 - but it went nowhere until it was re-released in 1989, and then it became a Europe-wide hit (and UK #4). This was when she was still on a major label with a polished image and her material was more mainstream - albeit with lots of other influences and crafted with care. Much more on Sam: Sam Brown Appreciation Thread / Album By Album
The titles of Brown's six solo studio albums and her live album partly spell out her name: - Stop! - April Moon - (43) Minutes... - Box - ReBoot - Of the Moment - Wednesday the Something of April Brown said that she was unaware of the pattern until it was pointed out after the release of ReBoot in 2000. ***** Hmm.
I'm thankful it even contained a lyric booklet John. Many of these early US Sony albums skimped out on them completely
And you thought America was bad enough, with the titles of their first several albums (bar their debut) starting with 'H' (Hearts, Holiday, Homecoming, Hat Trick etc.).
This unique cassette release from 1984 was my first exposure to acts such as The Smiths, The Bluebells, Carmel, The Assembly (I was already a big Yaz fan!), and Scritti Politti: Various - Survival Sampler SR-1A Sound Rations A cassette packed in a tin can to look like food rations. "Wood Beez" was on it; I eventually saw the video on MTV not long after. In the wake of the success of "Perfect Way" in 1985, "Wood Beez" was a single in early 1986 with a new video to go along with it.
Hurrah. An 80s reference I can get behind. It has been a while on this thread. Recent pages have mostly been about acts that I spent the decade (and indeed subsequent decades) trying to avoid.
There haven't been many famous - or even semi-famous - musical acts from my hometown. One of the (very) few are Saxon. I always thought they were twerps, musically speaking, but I do love their single Wheels Of Steel. They were part of the 'New Wave Of British Heavy Metal', which sprang up at the end of the '70s. Wheels Of Steel #20 (1980)
*hits Wikipedia* If we're talking Barnsley, for a town of over 220,000 souls the paucity of musicians is actually quite astonishing.
It is an fascinating topic. Diana Ross only managed to score 2 UK No1's but both were spectacular failures in the US failing to crack the Top 50. 9to5 is arguably Dolly Parton's best known and best loved record and is incredibly popular. A US No1 it failed to crack the UK Top 40. Michael Jackson's One Day In Your Life was a minor Hot 100 hit when originally released in 1975- it failed to chart in the Uk but resurfaced in 1980 to become his first UK solo No1. Journey's Don't Stop Believing' & Open Arms were stiffs in the UK but finally achieved chart glory 30 years later. Open Arms being covered by Mariah Carey. It goes right back to the very beginning of the charts with Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Elvis and the Beatles having different releases in the UK/US. I know I've gone off the reservation in this post I kinda got carried away!
Jim Irvin went onto perform in Because who released one great album in 1992 - Because - Mad Scared Dumb And Gorgeous