Today's Song: Absolute - Scritti Politti

It's been ages since the last time I took the time to write here. Been busy with many things but one of my friends told me that I should keep on blogging. This post is dedicated to him. Thanks for the enthusiasm mate! :)


I've been taking a look at my record collection the other week and I've realised that I have handful of records that I've bought but  never listened to them ever. Some Level 42 albums (Ewww!), Milli Vanilli (What was I thinking?!), Erasure (Can't stand them! They're a cheap copy of Pet Shop Boys), Marc Almond (I hate him cause he's slagged Kim Wilde off) & Scritti Politti's Cupid & Psyche 85. I've forced myself to listen to them and I couldn't stand any of these albums but Cupid & Psyche 85. I knew Green Gartside has a small part in Kylie's song Someday. So I wanted to give the album an extra try. Most of the songs are far from being synth-pop. They're more Blue-eyed soul. But there are two tracks that made me spin the album for two weeks. Small Talk and my all time favourite: Absolute.

I could easily say it's a classic 80s synth-pop track. Green's vocals go with the lyrics in a perfect harmony. You get that it's a feel-good song which has a tad serious side. I wish they made similar songs in the album rather than soul oriented sophisti-pop tracks. I'm usually concentrated on the music instead of the lyrics when it comes judging a song but Absolute has caught me on many ways. Green's stunning vocals, drums, synths and of course lyrics. I'm pretty sure they wrote the song in the mood for love. ''Holy girl you kiss away the meaning of the working day for love.'' They're one of the most clever lyrics I've ever heard in a pop song.

Released on 29 May 1984 before the release of Cupid & Psyche 85 Absolute peaked on #17 on the UK Singles Chart which is highly unfair for the song. I can't imagine another song being in the top 5 at that time but then Scritti wasn't so successful when it comes to singles charts.

Ps. All my Level 42, Marc Almond & Erasure records have been traded for much better records such as Emotional by Falco, Red by the Communards & Into The Gap by Thompson Twins :)

Today's Pick: Select - Kim Wilde

Now I'll really struggle to describe my feelings for this masterpiece. Select is the album that made me love new-wave and shaped my taste in music. Analog synths, raw and natural vocals, lyrics with stroies to tell, Kim with her perfect hair style, a simple artwork that goes perfect with it's title... Words fail me to praise this perfection! I put this on my turntable every time I hear today's shitty music on the radio just to keep me going.


After making a debut with her self titled album and taking the UK, Europe and US by storm in 1981; Kim didn't lose any time to record her second album. His father Marty Wilde and brother Ricky Wilde wrote all the lyrics. Using more synthesizers and less guitars than the first album; Select is more agressive than her debut album. From air disasters to police brutality, apparent suicide, the nervous situation UK was in then and war circumstances Select lyrically has a darker side which reflects Marty and Rick's dark side. With all those coming together, Select is more of a new-wave and synth-pop album than her previous pop-rock album by including more snyths and electronic elements.


On the cover we see Kim Wilde with her breath taking beauty. Her signature hairdo with almost no make up makes the album's artwork very iconic. Every single detail from her pose to hair, from the graphics to the font reflects the 80s perfectly. It's one of the most famous album covers of the 80s and also one of my most favourites hence it's on the header of my blog with Miss Minogue. On the front of the cover, Kim stands before a white background and on the back, we see her before the black background. I think they tried to describe the feel of the album. Mostly dark and sometimes bright, like her vocals, Sometimes agressive and confident but sometimes fragile and blue; hence the title is Select.


Unlike the three minute songs produced to be played on the radio, the songs on the Select have good bridges, instrumental breaks and long endings. The songs give us all a sense of resolution. They just don't start and finish in 2 minutes and 45 seconds.


TRACKLIST:  

1. Ego
2. Words Fell Down
3. Action City
4. View From A Bridge
5. Just A Feeling
6. Chaos At The Airport
7. Take Me Tonight
8. Can You Come Over
9. Wendy Sadd
10. Cambodia - Reprise


The album makes an energetic start with Ego. Containing electronic synths and a fast rhythm, Ego is about someone that Marty Wilde knows. It's a perfect example of 80s new wave - electronic music. On the second track, Words Fell Down; we see Kim Wilde with her confident vocals. It's a classic pop song in it's stand-out ways.
Action City was written during UK going through social unrest and it reflects the unsafe position Marty Wilde feels. The sythns and electric guitars literally supports the title and lyrics of the song. It's one of the strongest and definitive tracks of the album with it's sound.
The fourth track, one of the fan favourites, View From A Bridge is one of the darkest songs of the album with it's lyrics about a girl commiting a suicide and jumping off a bridge. The almost sad intro of the song leaves itself to a moving and swinging kick accompanied by Kim's sometimes insane and affective vocals. I can feel the insanity when Kim shouts ''But then a voice said jump! And I just let go.'' Such a perfect track before ending the first half of the album with a stunning love song.
The last song on the Side A; Just A Feeling is my all time favourite Kim Wilde song. The chanting beginning of the song joined by analogue synths and drums makes a perfect start for this masterpiece. When I read what Marty Wilde said about the song I was highly disappointed. ''This is just a simple love song and the only line that I really love in the song is that line that says "I always looked on the touch of your love as a warm stream running over me". Even the critics called the song ''Stunning'' while the album was suffering from bad and unjust reviews. The lead synth pads, basses and Kim Wilde's fragile vocals just gets me every time I listen to the song. The electric guitar solo and the fascinating outro that lasts more than a minute are my favourite parts. I turn up the volume every time the outro comes and it just hypnotizes me. There's just no other perfect way to end a song. I get the chills every time the captivating synths kick in suddenly while Kim silently chants. It just reflects the feeling the song wants to give in a perfect way.  Sadly, we don't get such a song today.
The second half of the album begins with Chaos At The Airport. It has it's definive electric guitar throughout the song which fits with the feel of the song. It gets you allerted and nervous in a good way. The lyrics are about the air disasters and the fear of flying which makes the song very unique and personal. Like most of Kim Wilde songs, Chaos At The Airport is very underrated and unappreciated.
Take Me Tonight is the second track on the Side B. Having an intro with synths. The song has a funny story. After finishing his gig, Marty Wilde goes to a bar in the disco and silently watched everybody and thinks about what plans are they having for that night. Then he writes this song imagining what Kim Wilde would think and say if she was one of the people in that crowd.
Can You Come over is the most rock oriented song in the album and my least favourite song on the album. This song has a funny story too. The vocals were recorded in Kim's bedroom, in her house. Because they were behind the recordings of the album. So they needed a RAK MOBILE which was a long lorry, converted to a recording studio. They extended the cables to Kim's room and recorded the song there. Maybe this was the reason why Can You Come Over sounds slightly different than the rest of the songs that are on the album.
The second last song on the album, Wendy Sadd is one of the best songs Kim has ever done in her career. It's about police brutality that takes place in the US (how surprising!!). It was written by Marty and Ricky Wilde like the rest of the songs. The song has one of my most favourite lines: ''Lost in the night, somebody said go easy on the girl. You'll never get a confession if you treat her that way''. Wendy Sadd is a real person that Marty met at Top Of The Pops but she's not related to the story of the song. Her name was used because Marty loved the name and wanted to write a song about it. Wendy Sadd is another dark song that leaves the listener nervous. And the nervousness reaches it's climax at the end of the song when Kim shouts ''Wendy Sadd'' and leaves the listeners with one of the most tense ending a song could ever have which makes me fall in love with the song. It gets you so nervous it's almost like you're stressed and filled with anxiety. It's just pure perfection.
We close the album with Cambodia which is the perfect example for a new wave song. It was released months before the release of Select as a lead single. The lyrics are about an airforce wife who was Thailand based and how the ugly face of the war changed her husband. The storyteller lyrics were supported by a sad music filled with synths and sound effects. Marty says he's wrote the song while thinking about an American pilot flying in a F-4 Phantom II and getting shot down by an air missile. The song includes helicopter noises as well. It's another masterpiece that satisfies the listeners both with it's music and lyrics. The song ends with Kim Wilde chants ''She won't see his face again'' magically while the album comes to an end with the Reprise of Cambodia kicks in a little after Kim Wilde finishes her lines and leaves the listeners. Beginning with on and off sytnhs repeating itself, the drums kick in fastly and it goes on with Kim sadly chanting to reflect the whole air of the album. The whole Reprise built on fast drums with synths which makes it electronic yet so symphonic. It's just the best way to finish an album and to make it a masterpiece.


CHARTS: 

Sadly Select couldn't make the impact that Kim's debut album did. But that couldn't prevent it to be a fan favourite album. Critics only favoured Cambodia, Just A Feeling and View From A Bridge and called the rest of the album ''dull''. Just unbelievable!

Australia: 7
Austria: 4
Belgium: 4
Denmark: 1
France: 1
Germany: 2 (26 weeks)
Ireland: 15 (8 weeks)
Netherlands: 2 (12 weeks)
Norway: 3
South Africa: 2
Sweden: 1 (22 weeks)
Switzerland: 1 (11 weeks)
United Kingdom: 12 (12 weeks)

Select Germany LP (1C 064-64 787) 

Back Cover

Inner Sleeve Front

Inner Sleeve Back

Side A 

Side B

Thanks so much to Wilde Life for the information and facts. Visit www.wilde-life.com for further information about the album and Kim Wilde. 

This Week's Pick: Stay On These Roads - A-ha

I was out for some record shopping yesterday. I was so lucky to find UK 7'' singles of The Sun Always Shines On TV & Stay On These Roads. After making a perfect debut with Hunting High And Low and raising the stakes, the second LP Scoundrel Days didn't satisfy me with it's heavily influenced rock sound. It's a great album but it never sounded A-ha to me. It doesn't fit between Hunting High And Low & Stay On These Roads. If I didn't know A-ha I'd say they made their debut with Hunting High And Low, released Stay On These Roads as the second album and then released Scoundrel Days cause their fourth album East Of The Sun West Of The Moon sounds more similar to it. When I was reading about the album on Wikipedia, it says that they chose the Alternative Rock sound over Synth Pop because Synth Pop begun to fall out of style. Synth Pop will NEVER EVER lose it's style and uniqueness. Alternative Rock? Really? We're not rebellious teens anymore! Rock music lost it's thing after the 70s and they tried to shove Rock in our faces throught the 90s and it was just not right.  Anyway, Stay On These Roads was a BIG RELIEF after Scoundrel Days. It's more synth oriented and  it's classic A-ha with it's deep lyrics and synth pop sounds. Plus we can clearly see how hot the trio looks unlike the depressing artwork of Scoundrel Days.


TRACKLIST:

1. Stay On These Roads
2. The Blood That Moves The Body
3. Touchy!
4. This Alone Is Love
5. Hurry Home
6. The Living Daylights
7. There's Never A Forever Thing.
8. Out Of Blue Comes Green
9. You're The One
10. You'll End Up Crying


The album is produced by Alan Tarney, and it was recorded in RG Jones Studios, Wimbledon between 1987-1988 and released on 3rd of May 1988. After the dark and haunting air of the Scoundrel Days, Stay On These Roads has a deeper and spiritual feel with some strong lyrics. To me, we can see it on the two top points of the album: There's No Forever Thing & Out Of Blue Comes Green.
There's Never A Forever Things is deep enough with it's title and the lyrics will eventually make you cry with the music. Morten tells us not to cry but his voice touches the most hidden spot in us so it's hard not to feel affected while listening to it. Is it because of his voice and the song that makes me feel blue or is it the fact that there's really never a forever thing?..
After There's Never A Forever Thing, Out Of Blue Comes Green is like a sunlight appearing between the dark clouds. There's still clouds, it's still dark but there's something to enlighten the spirit and push the clouds away. ''Father! My wings are clipped. See the steps that made me drip. Now I'm so lonely.'' Written by Pal Waaktaar the song must be very personal since his wife Lauren Savoy is the one behind the title of the song. Of course Morten Harket is very successful to deliver the vocals and reflect the feel of the song.


The album begins with the title track Stay On These Roads. It's another big one like Hunting High And Low & Living A Boy's Adventure Tale. The vocals of Morten are lush! The songs is a living proof against the people who say pop music can't reflect any emotions. The album continues with The Blood That Moves The Body. The song talks about teen suicides in Japan and paying it's tribute to Eyes Of A Blue Dog, a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez with the line ''Red Stains on Eyes Of A Blue Dog''. Touchy! is the third song of the album. The most uplifting song on the album along with You Are The One. Yamaha DX7 was used during producing the song. It was released as the third single off the album and sold 900.000 copies around the world, reaching #11 in the UK. This Alone Is Love only has three verses but they're deep enough to make the song strong with it's long and catchy outro. The last song on the Side A, Hurry Home is another deep song with some personal lyrics. It's about the self changes that the narrator is having.


The second half of the album begins with the the famous and arguably the best Bond theme; The Living Daylights. Sounding all diferent than the single version, the song remains one of the most known A-ha songs. Always performed in their tours the song has been extended into a sing along with the audience. There's Never A Forever thing slows things down and leaves the listener fragile with Out Of Blue Comes Green as the follow-up track. The second last track of the album You Are The One raises the energy and makes us move as a feel-good song. I've always found You Are The One as another attempt to make Take On Me 2. The ''aaaah'' vocals that performed by the trio on the backing vocals give the song another joy. It's so 80s. It's classic, it's catchy and it makes you happy. You'll End Up Crying is the closing track of the album. The song only includes synth string sessions. Still strong and still effective as a synth ballad.

There is not a single track I skip as I spin the LP. Every single song has a soul and depth. Unlike todays shallow pop songs which written by at least ten people came together, most of the songs on the album were written by Pal Waaktaar and sometimes by the rest of the trio. No wonder it's a successful album like their earlier albums.


CHARTS: 

Australian Albums (Kent Music Report): 52

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria): 9

Canadian Albums (RPM): 55

Dutch Albums (MegaCharts): 5

,French Albums (SNEP): 3

German Albums (Offizielle Top 100): 4

Italian Albums (Musica E Dischi): 2

New Zealand Albums (RMNZ): 36

Norwegian Albums (VG-Lista): 1

Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan): 10

Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade): 6

UK Albums (OCC): 2

US Billboard 200: 48

EU LP (925 733-1) Front

EU LP Back

EU LP Inner Sleeve Front

EU LP Inner Sleeve Back

Lyrics to  Out Of Blue Comes Green taken from the innersleeve

EU LP Side A

EU LP Side B

This Week's Smash Hit: Never Too Late - Kylie Minogue

Another Smiley-Kylie classic Never Too Late, was released on 23 October 1989 as her third single from her second album Enjoy Yourself, making it her last release in the 80s. Such a great closure to the 80s with it's optimistic, feel good lyrics and music. Hitting the charts at #4 in the UK and #1 in Ireland, Never Too Late was another hit. It quickly became a fan favourite. Kylie performed Never Too Late on Enjoy Yourself Tour, On A Night Like This Tour. It was planned to be performed on KylieFever2002 and was in the proposed setlist on the beginning of the act Cybertronica but removed from the revised setlist. Fans wanted her to perform it since On A Night Like This Tour and we've finally got what we wanted on her latest world tour Kiss Me Once Tour. She's got back together with Stock Aitken & Waterman to access the PWL sounds for the Dollhouse section of the tour. So Kylie performed Never Too Late in Dollhouse Medley as the third track after Hand On Your Heart.


COMPOSITION

Never too late was written by Stock, Aitken & Waternan like the rest of the song that were on Enjoy Yourself. The song is about Kylie is being mad about his lover and that it's never too late for them to be together no matter what his lover did to her.


VIDEO

Directed by Pete Cornish, the video was shot against the blue box with Kylie and two back up dancers. The video showed Minogue in various costumes with her dancers in front of various backdrops – some of the costumes are as a cowgirl, '70s disco, Chinese dress with fans and as a 1920s flapper. It was awarded the Logie for the "Most Popular Music Video" at the 32nd Annual TV week Logie Awards held in 1990 in Australia. It's one of my most favourite Kylie videos ever because it reflects the feel of the 80s with it's images and moves.

TRACKLIST

12'' Maxi Single

Side A:

1) Never Too Late (Extended)

Side B:

1) Kylie's Smiley Mix (Extended)


7'' Single

Side A:

1) Never Too Late

Side B:

1) Kylie's Smiley Mix


UK Cd

1) Never Too Late
2) Never Too Late (Extended)
3) Kylie's Smiley Mix (Extended)


German 3'' Cd

1) Never Too Late (Extended)
2) Kylie's Smiley Mix (Extended)

UK 12'' (PWLT 45)

UK 12'' Back

UK 12'' Side A  

UK 12'' Side B

UK 7'' (PWL 45)

UK 7'' Back

UK 7'' Side A 

UK 7'' Side B

Germany 7'' (246 562-7)

Germany 7'' Back

Germany 7'' Side A

Germany 7'' Side B

UK Cd (PWCD 45)

UK Cd Inside

UK Cd

Germany 3'' Cd (246 561-2 XS)

Germany 3'' Cd Back 

Germany 3'' Cd Inside

My collection of Never Too Late 

This Week's Smash Hit: Take On Me - A-ha

I always say that the Scandinavians make one of the best music in the world. They have the talent in their genes for ages. Aaand the legendary A-ha is the living proof since 1984!

When they first recorded and released Take On Me back in 1984 the result wasn't so bright because the song sounded like an unfinished demo, it didn't chart anywhere. So they've got back in the studio and worked on the track again and finally re-released it in  1985 with probably the most iconic video in the music scene ever.

Written by the entire members of the group Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket and Pal Waaktaar with the famous Linn Drum Machine.


VIDEO 
The video was taken at Kim's Cafe (now called Savoy Cafe) in London in sixteen weeks because the video included sketch drawing animation scenes which made the video iconic and ahead of its time. It made A-ha win 6 awards at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards including Best New Artist in a Video, Best Concept Video, Most Experimental Video, Best Direction in a Video, Best Special Effects in a Video, and Viewer's Choice.

TRACK LIST:

12'' Maxi Single (1985) :

A Side

1) Take On Me (Extended Version)

B Side

1) Love Is Reason

2) Take On Me (Single Version)

7'' Single (1985) : 

A Side

1) Take On Me (Single Version)

B Side

1) Love Is Reason

Record Store Day 30th Anniversary 7'' Picture Disc: 

A Side

1) Take On Me

B Side (AA Side)

1) Take On Me (Live)

EU 12'' (920 336-0)

EU 12'' Back

EU 12'' Side A 

EU 12'' Side B 

EU 7'' (929 006-7)

EU 7'' Back

EU 7'' Side A 

EU 7'' Side B

30th Year Anniversary Picture Disc US 7'' (R7 547285) Side A 

30th Year Anniversary Picture Disc US 7'' Side B

This Week's Smash Hit: True Blue - Madonna

It's been exactly 30 years this year since Madonna gave us her best ever. To me, the most qualified and amazing album she's ever done. True Blue. After releasing her then sensational album Like A Virgin, Madonna gained herself an edgy image but with True Blue she's attepmted to give a girl-next door image with the theme of the album. Unlike her previous album Like A Virgin, she wrote all the songs on her own, inspired by her then husband Sean Penn (she's dedicated the album to him) and her experiences. The album talks about her wanting to keep her child and believing in his lover (Papa Don't Preach), wanting her lover to opening up to her (Open Your Heart), personal worries and fears which leads to one of her most brilliand and personal ballad (Live To Tell), enjoying herself (Where's The Party & Love Makes The World Go Round and true love (True Blue).

Released on 30 June 1986, True Blue became #1 in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and all around Europe, giving her first appearance on Guiness Book Of World Records by selling 25 million records worldwide.

On the cover, we see the queen on the profile posing fiercely with her bleached short hair as she holds her head up against the blue background. The image fastly became one of her most iconic images throughout her career. In the US the artwork didn't include her name and title but they've added the title and her name so they didn't take a chance with her popularity in Europe. On the innersleeve, it reads ''This album is dedicated to my husband, the coolest guy in the universe'' to dedicate the album to her then husband Sean Penn.

The album features my most favourite Madonna song ever ''White Heat'' along with Open Your Heart, True Blue & Live To Tell. With the song White Heat including famous lines of James Cagney from the 1949 movie White Heat, the song is one of the most creative and iconic songs that she's ever done by paying tribute to the good times of Hollywood and proving people that a pop song can be edgy, creative and decent.


TRACKLIST

1) Papa Don't Preach
2) Open Your Heart
3) White Heat
4) Live To Tell
5) Where's The Party
6) True Blue
7) La Isla Bonita
8) Jimmy Jimmy
9) Love Makes The World Go Round

EU LP (925 442-1)

EU LP Back

EU LP Inner Sleeve Front

EU LP Inner Sleeve Back

EU LP Side A

EU LP Side B

This Week's Smash Hit: Kylie - Kylie Minogue

ABOUT KYLIE

No one could ever argue with me about what's the best and most successful debut album in the world. With over 6 milion copies sold worldwide, Kylie was the one and only Minogue's debut album on the 4th of July 1988. Produced by the famous hit producing trio Stock, Aitken & Waterman, Kylie lasts only more than thirty minutes. Although it's short length (35:22), Kylie has a strong dance-pop and synth-pop sound and reflects the brilliance of the 80s perfectly.

Already a big star in Australia with the soap opera Neighbours as Charlene, Kylie performed the big hit of the 60s, Locomotion, everybody was moved by her voice and performance. So she's decided to team with Mushroom Records of Australia and recorded the song and released on July 1988. It became a massive hit in her native OZ easily and launched her singing career. After the success of Locomotion, Kylie wanted to record a new song with Stock, Aitken & Waterman and had an appointment in their studio in London. While she was in the lobby of PWL Records, the trio had already forgot that they've had an appointment with her and they needed to give her something and when Matt Aitken told Pete Waterman that ''There's a girl called Kylie flew here from Australia this morning and she needs something from us.'' Pete replied him ''She should be so lucky! Wait! We can go with that. Change it to I Should Be So Lucky!) and  they wrote one of her most known and loved song I Should Be So Lucky less than thirty minutes with Kylie repeating the word Lucky more than 60 times in a three minute song. Released on 29 December 1987 as the first single of her first studio album Kylie, I Should Be So Lucky debuted at #1 in the UK, Australia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan and Switzerland and quickly became one of Kylie Minogue's signature songs.

The cover of the album features Kylie smiling and wearing her iconic hat as the girl-next door image she's represented on Neighbours.Smiley-Kylie was introduced to world with her big hair, big hat, muslin dress that she wore on the video of ''Lucky''.

During the Kylie era, Minogue released 6 singles to promote the record, one of them being the re-recorded version of her very first single Locomotion.  Every single release was a top ten hit in her native OZ, UK and around Europe.


TRACKLIST

1) I Should Be So Lucky
2) The Loco-Motion
3) Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi
4) It's No Secret
5) Got To Be Certain
6) Turn It Into Love
7) I Miss You
8) I'll Still Be Loving You
9) Look My Way
10) Love At First Sight

UK LP (HF 3)

UK LP Back

UK LP Inner Sleeve Front

UK LP Inner Sleeve Back

UK LP Side A

UK LP Side B

UK Cd (HFCD 3)

UK Cd Back

UK Cd

US Cd (9 24195-2)

US Cd Back

US Cd

UK Cassette (HFC 3), Turkish Cassette (066)