Starting off with Prefab Sprout and Paddy McAloon's love song to the Big Apple. A wonderful song, Hey Manhattan! had the thankless task of being the follow up single to The King Of Rock 'n' Roll, their first (and only) Top 10 hit in the UK, reaching #7. Hey Manhattan! also had a '7' in it's highest chart placing. Unfortunately, that '7' was #72. It deserved better.
Lloyd Cole & The Commotions fared better, reaching #17 with Lost Weekend, two places higher than previous single Brand New Friend and, it turns out, Lloyd's biggest UK single success, with or without The Commotions.
Howard Devoto followed up Magazine and a solo album with Luxuria, a partnership with Norman Fisher-Jones aka Noko. After two albums and a handful of singles, the pair worked again, Devoto writing lyrics for songs on Apollo 440's debut album and Noko later joining the reformed Magazine in 2009. The 12" of Redneck was a beautiful thing, the vinyl single housed in an embossed brown cardboard sleeve.
I really liked China Crisis' first album but didn't get any of the follow ups until well into the 21st century. I did go back and buy the 12" singles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Hanna Hanna wasn't a particular favourite as a single, but the extended mix won me over. It's only when I looked up the lyrics and listened more closely to the song that Gary Daly snuck in the F-bomb with the verse,
"We're living on a catwalk, catwalk
And swimming with the sharks
Biting into poison, poison
In a city all full of fucking sharks"
And swimming with the sharks
Biting into poison, poison
In a city all full of fucking sharks"
Naughty Gary, wash your mouth out with soap. If you're quick, you can catch up with the rather wonderful Imaginary Compilation Album of ten China Crisis gems over at The Vinyl Villain. So good that Martin, who collated the collection, didn't even need to include this song.
By 1984, Wang Chung (formerly Huang Chung) were a core duo of Jack Hues and Nick Feldman and were enjoying greater success on the other side of the pond. Wait was taken from the soundtrack to the film To Live And Die In L.A., starring William Peterson and Willem Dafoe. Depending on which 12" single you bought, the 12" version featured here was variously known as Wait (Special U.K. Remix), Wait (Extended Dance Remix) or just plain Wait (Remix).
If, like me, you knew Kissing The Pink for their 1983 UK Top 20 pop noir single The Last Film, their return as SAW-affiliated pure popsters was a bit of a surprise. Thankfully, no sign of Stock, Aitken or Waterman on the mix here and Phil Harding did have form remixing the likes of Nitzer Ebb and Depeche Mode. Personally, I enjoyed the run of singles from this period, but neither this musical volte face or a rebranding as KTP changed their chart fortunes in the UK. We're an unforgiving lot who dislike change, I guess...!
I'll put it straight out there: if you want to hear the definitive version of Bedbugs And Ballyhoo by Echo & The Bunnymen, then head straight to the B-side of Bring On The Dancing Horses. They re-recorded the song with The Doors' Ray Manzarek at the controls and keyboard. It's good but it's a bit like gilding the lily in my opinion. Being a sucker for an extended remix however, when I was on a family holiday in Florida in 1988 and snuck off to find a record shop, my haul included this 5-track 12" single. Ivan Ivan's a fairly safe pair of hands and he does a fairly decent job on this.
In the week that Depeche Mode announce their return with a new single, Ghosts Again, See You is a nice reminder of their melancholic pop days. The video, directed by Julien Temple, is a pretty cute narrative and a reminder of how much of a social focal point the humble photo booth was. My own photo booth collection, though with several losses and gaps over the years, tracks an intriguing narrative of friends, girlfriends and a variety of frankly ill-advised hairstyles. The video is also interesting in that Alan Wilder had clearly come on board slightly too late to be included in the full video. So, it's mostly Gahan, Gore and Fletcher, with a few blink-and-you'll-miss-them cuts to Wilder in a completely different room!
Happy Friday, everyone.
1) Hey Manhattan! (JFK Version By Tony Phillips): Prefab Sprout (1988)
2) Lost Weekend (Extended Version By Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley): Lloyd Cole & The Commotions (1985)
3) Redneck (Album Version By Gavin MacKillop, Howard Devoto & Noko): Luxuria (1988)
4) Hanna Hanna (Extended Mix By Mike Howlett): China Crisis (1984)
5) Wait (Special U.K. Remix By Stephen Lipson): Wang Chung (1984)
6) Never Too Late To Love You (Kissing The Mix By Mixmaster Phil Harding): Kissing The Pink (1986)
7) Bedbugs And Ballyhoo (Club Remix By Ivan Ivan): Echo & The Bunnymen ft. Ray Manzarek (1988)
8) See You (Extended Version By Daniel Miller & Depeche Mode): Depeche Mode (1982)
Side Two here
Kissing The Pink, now there's a blast from the past. I must go and dig out my copy of "Mr Blunt"
ReplyDeleteI only had the pleasure of a deeper dive into Kissing The Pink's back catalogue with the advent of YouTube and music blogs. There's a fun video for Mr. Blunt which I'd never seen before ... mind that cow pat! https://youtu.be/WtbQbfUCAH8
DeleteAn excellent mix that got me all nostalgic (which i suppose, is the purpose).
ReplyDeleteFun fact. Lost Weekend is one of the few tunes penned by Lawrence Donegan, bass player with the Commotions (and ex-Bluebell). He later admitted that the tune was largely a rip-off of The Passenger by Iggy Pop....have a listen and it becomes clear.
Lawrence, post-music career, became a very successful sports journalist and author. I highly recommend 'California Dreaming: A Smooth-running, Low-mileage, Cut-price American Adventure' about his experiences as a used-car salesman and 'No News at Throat Lake' about the year he spent in rural Ireland as a reporter.
That was a fun fact! I'd never made the connection but you're right, it's obvious once you know...
DeleteThanks for the book recommendations too. What a varied CV Lawrence has had, clearly great source material for his writing.