Vinyl #46 - Spandau Ballet

"The Freeze" (12" single)

No-one can begrudge a band commercial success and popularity, but there was a time when they first released records that Spandau Ballet were incredibly hip and were leading lights in changing the musical landscape in the UK, 

The 'New Romantics' were a new movement and Spandau were a key part of it; I didn't follow the fashion but the initial rush of music was great; Gary Kemp has always had a great sense of melody and when coupled with the force of a new youth movement it sounded and felt great - the early Spandau singles were fantastic.

"The Freeze" was their second single and I bought the 12" version, the remix on the B-side is still a terrific dance track; a great slab of electronic dance-funk; it's easy to forget how synth-orientated they were in the early days, the Kraftwerk and Bowie influences clear for all to hear. I remember requesting this song repeatedly at parties and the subterranean club I used to frequent in Portsmouth on Thursday nights in 1981.

I stopped buying Spandau Ballet records after this - they chose the mega-stardom route and by definition the music softened and appealed to me less and less. 

But for a few months, Spandau's music hit the spot. Here's the remix in all it's glory:

https://youtu.be/gCHVAFq3UT0

Vinyl #45 - Gruppo Sportivo

"Beep Beep Love" (12" single)

I bought this in Focus Records in Waterlooville in 1977 after hearing it on the John Peel radio show. The promotional price of 99p for a 12" single would have been a big factor in the purchase for this 15 year-old.

Apart from Peel playing them regularly (and I think having them do a session for his programme) I knew nothing about them except that they were a Dutch band, but what I did like was this very catchy, off-kilter pop gem that doesn't take itself too seriously. Playing it again for the first time in years, those endearing traits still shine through and I have to say this 57 year-old is still very fond of it! 99p well spent me-thinks.

Research tells me that the record was produced by some Dutch bloke out of Golden Earring (of 'Radar Love' fame), and that the main bloke behind Gruppo Sportivo (which is a great name for a band) was and still is slightly strange.

Here's the music:   https://youtu.be/tYtua6piTuU

Vinyl #44 - Blondie

"Heart of Glass" (12" single)

I'd liked Blondie since their first album and their brilliant early singles. But when this came along it was a step up and it gained them (and Debbie Harry especially) superstardom.

It's just a perfect slice of Moroderesque disco, and this is the full near-six minute version. What I've always loved about this record - and still love - is Clem Burke's brilliant drumming - especially on the extended outro. Quite simply superb.

Here's the music - enjoy!

https://youtu.be/VtEu_SKE1Gc

Vinyl #43 - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

"The Message" (12" single extended remix)

It was July 1982 and I'd moved out of my parent's home, and was a 19 year-old sharing a house with some lads in central Portsmouth when this came out, I remember buying it and then realising I'd have to carry it to Fratton Park to watch Pompey play, hoping that it would survive the crush on the terraces (in those days the Fratton End was a terrace and we all swayed around rather a lot!). Thankfully it did survive.

It's safe to say that this is an all-time classic - the first rap song with a social message - THE message - it made a massive impact at the time and it's been sampled and copied ever since. The music is secondary, it's not particularly inspiring but the lyrics - printed in full on the FRONT of the picture sleeve - were what mattered. A huge slice of reality for America and on the 12" you got a full 7 minutes plus.

Although credited to the Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five the song was c0-written and sung by only two of them - Duke Bootee and Melle Mel. It's on the brilliant Sugar Hill label which at the time could do no wrong and was a guarantee of quality (it's biggest hit being "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang)  

Listening to it again today, it still sounds fresh and the Message still resonates. Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/vsmp-TYjxp4

Vinyl #42 - Womack & Womack

"Love Wars" (12" single, extended remix)

New year, slightly new approach. I've decided to delve into my 12" single stock - and certainly in the early 1980s I bought a lot of 12" singles, after all this was the time of the remix and extended versions, with possible bonus tracks not on the 7" version.

I'm starting with this super slick slice on 1983 American disco-funk (I went slightly soul boy at this time of my life as you will discover over the coming months). This is just a fantastic song which is impossible to keep still to or not sing along to. Listening to it again it now, it does get slightly repetitive over the 12" format and probably works better over 7", but back in the day you HAD to have the extended remix.

Womack & Womack were husband and wife duo Linda and Cecil Womack and they were steeped in American musical history  - Linda was Sam Cooke's daughter and Cecil had previously been married to Mary Wells of The Supremes. Before singing their own material they had worked with people like James Brown and as a songwriting duo had written hit songs for many artists.

When I bought this single I was working in a bank in central Portsmouth and my mate Ian and I would spend every - and I mean every - lunch hour in the local record shops looking for the latest releases. We were lucky to have a large HMV store, plus a Virgin Megastore in the (now gone) Tricorn Centre and a local independent store Subway Records. Heaven!! Getting our fix of buying a new vinyl record certainly helped the afternoon go quicker, and the boring commute home felt better knowing that I had some new vinyl to whack onto the turntable as soon as I got home.

Here's the music:

 https://youtu.be/fajfqEgj9BI

Vinyl #41 - The Pretenders

I Go To Sleep - 7" single

I've always had a soft spot for The Pretenders, but usually their rockier stuff.

This is at the other end of the spectrum completely, not like their usual stuff. The clue is that it's a cover of a Ray Davies song who, of course, was Chrissie Hynde's partner at the time. It's a powerful and intense ballad.

Interestingly The Kinks never released a version, it was originally released by a band called The Applejacks (never heard of them!)

Here's the music: https://youtu.be/uIpfsMdf0LQ

Vinyl #40 - Sheila Hylton

"The Bed's Too Big Without You" (7" inch single)

I always liked The Police song "Bed's Too Big Without You" but in 1980 - a year after the original - this version was released on the always-reliable Island Records and I fell in love with it. 

I didn't know Sheila Hylton, not many people did as she was only a part-time singer when not working as an air hostess for Air Jamaica, but there's something about this version that works for me. The clue to that may be in the credits - arranged by the crack Jamaican rhythm team of Sly & Robbie; I've always loved their work whether it's Black Uhuru or Grace Jones. Produced by Harry J - again a legendary producer (remember 'The Liquidator' by Harry J's Allstars?).

So great song by Sting, no doubt about that, and I love both versions but this one just nips ahead.

Here's the music:  https://youtu.be/MHG-hI5tMbE