Vinyl #37 - Holly and The Italians

"Tell That Girl To Shut Up" (7" single)

Don't know a lot about this group, just a great catchy pop/rock single released at the tail end of 1979, I have a faded memory that I saw them supporting The Clash but I might be wrong.

I didn't buy anything else by her/them, but this single still stands the test of time.

I do know that Transvision Vamp recorded a version of it which became quite a big hit in the 1980's.

Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/mhV39CSf3CA

Vinyl #36 - Dead or Alive

"You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" - 7" single

A classic single that I liked the minute it was released in 1984. I was aware of Pete Burns from the Liverpool punk scene in the late 1970's but he never found fame until he wrote and sang this dance pop jewel.

It eventually went to number 1 in the charts and the key to it's catchiness is the names of the producers - the genius hit factory that is Stock, Aitken and Waterman (although it's mostly Pete Waterman who was responsible for this one). This was their first number one record before they went on to Kylie, Jason et al.

Of course Pete Burns could never really follow this tune (an impossible task) but he continue to find fame on TV and for other reasons until he died in 2016 aged just 57.

On a personal level, I remember dancing at clubs and parties to this record, it never failed to get people on the dance floor (that's still the case today). And I've always had a soft spot for song titles that (have parentheses).

Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/PGNiXGX2nLU

Vinyl #35 - John Lennon

"Nobody Told Me" (7" single)

Choosing between Lennon and McCartney is a bit like choosing between lager and bitter - sometimes I like one, other days I like the other. I've always admired Macca's purer pop writing, the sheer brilliance of the hooks; but on the other hand Lennon's agit-pop protest songs always had a deeper meaning and expressed his inner feelings with less shiny varnish.

So...this song is a strange one, it combines Lennon's poppier side with his usual lyrical dexterity. Recorded not long before his death, but not finished and released until some four years later, it did pretty well in the charts as I recall. I wouldn't call it typical Lennon, it's just a cracking tune.

I've never listened to the B side I'm afraid as I don't rate Yoko as a musician.

Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/cuuhsqA95iA

Vinyl #34 - Bob Marley & The Wailers

"Could You Be Loved" (7" single)

This single sparks a lot of memories. Specifically​,​ dancing to it on a Saturday night at Nero's, the premier (ahem) nightclub in Portsmouth, located opposite the pier in Southsea (since pulled down and replaced with a development of apartments on the land apparently owned by one Mr H​.​ Redknapp).

​This song was where Bob Marley broke ​out of the reggae-only brigade, cleverly maintaining his roots, but adding a gloss of commercialism which significantly widened his audience.

Anyway, I didn't care about all of that, I just danced to it on the multi-coloured uplit floor (think Saturday Night Fever) at Nero's. Happy daze.

It's a difficult song not to at least shake a leg at.

Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/g3t6YDnGXAc

Vinyl #33 - The Jam

"When You're Young"/"Smithers-Jones" (7" single)

Back in the days when bands regularly recorded and issued singles that were not included on albums, The Jam were one of the finest exponents of this fine thing to do.

'When You're Young' is arguably their finest 'stand-alone' single (although 'Strange Town' may run it close). A brilliant slab of Weller's anger-pop, a paean to youth, a celebration of not-being-old. 

Released in August 1979 just before my 17th birthday, it spoke directly to me and I lapped it up. Look at the picture sleeve, how young do Paul, Rick and Bruce look? The latter in classic mod black Fred Perry polo, Paul in paisley shirt a la Small Faces.

This was The Jam at their prime.

The B-side 'Smithers-Jones' is unusual in that it was written and sung by bassist Bruce Foxton (apart from the coda which Weller barks out). It's a very endearing tale of work and commuting, apparently based on his father as he undertook the daily slog to London only to be made redundant. This is the band version of the song, interestingly an orchestral (yes, orchestral!) version appears on The Jam's seminal near-concept album 'Setting Sons' released some three months later.

Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/kX2HHGIP3io

https://youtu.be/PMqm_UfONlE

Vinyl #32 - Patti Smith Group

"Because The Night" (7" single)

I'm not and never have been a great fan of Patti Smith's sonic output (the best thing she has done was her excellent memoirs book 'Just Kids').

However...her biggest hit is the exception - probably because it's co-written with Bruce Springsteen. It was actually a Bruce reject (he recorded a version for one of his early albums but rejected it, although since Patti had a hit with it he's since played it live) but Patti wrote a different set of lyrics and hey presto, a bona fide top 5 hit in the UK in 1978.

In fact it sounds like The Boss but with a woman's voice, the music is just like the E Street band, the driving melody keeps going and then lifts even higher. It's without doubt Patti Smith's best vocal performance and really is an all time classic single. Nice picture sleeve as well. Here's the music:

https://youtu.be/c_BcivBprM0

Vinyl #31 - Adam & The Ants

"Car Trouble" (7" single)

I'd really enjoyed Adam & The Ants 1979 album 'Dirk Wears White Sox' (I remember listening to it over and over at a girlfriend's house - she owned the album, I didn't). This was before Adam Ant hit the big time with his run of radio-friendly, chart-topping singles and albums. And before the make-up and tassles - dandy highwayman indeed!!

'Dirk Wears White Sox' is darker, seedier and much more left-field.

'Cartrouble' was one of the tracks on the album, and the single is a re-recorded version released in March 1980. It's much more radio-friendly and you can start to hear the mellowing of Adam into the pop star he became. The re-recording on the single is played by a different set of Ants than were on the album; it's the Ants who played on the big hits. So I've always seen this single as the sound of a band in transition - from cult act to mass market.

It's still a cracking song though, here it is:

https://youtu.be/moyoi0ysiE8