Album Of The Week: Yes - Pet Shop Boys

I was only 18 when I met with this album. It was July or August. I was looking for new songs to discover because I was going to start university. I needed change and some new music. I remember seeking that in Depeche Mode, The Bird And The Bee, Empire Of The Sun & Placebo (Again what was I thinking?!) It's been only a few months since Yes was released and it was one of the albums I've downloaded. Any of these groups above satisfied me because their style didn't meet my taste in music. They were too indie and ''rock'' for me. Depeche Mode's Sound Of The Universe album was too dark for me. Placebo had nothing to do with me. I think it was Love Etc. that I've listened to first. I got caught in it's retro but fresh sound immediately. It was just right for me. Sounds like it came from the 80s yet still fresh.

After falling in love with Love Etc. I gave the rest of the album  a try. Listened to some of the songs from the album briefly and I've said ''Right! This album is going in my iPod!'' Till then the only Pet Shop Boys song I knew was In Denial all because of it was a duet with the one and only Kylie Minogue.

After 4 years, I've added the LP to my vinyl collection. The design was so simple but it had many references inside. All those squares outside and inside the sleeve were reflecting the feel of the album in the most clear way. The cover was desinged by the group's long time designer Mark Farrow along with the boys. Inspired by the work of Gerhard Richter for the Cologne Cathedral's stained glasses the cover is very reminiscent of the church. To me it's one of the most iconic album artworks of Pet Shop Boys.

Produced by Brian Higgins and his production Team Xenomania (who produced Kylie's iconic songs Giving You Up & Made Of Glass), the album has the feel of the 80s almost like their first two albums Please and Actually. Lyrics are written by the boys as usual. Most of them have hidden messages and references from the British history which proves Tennant & Lowe still can write.

The album begins with the first single off the album; Love Etc. Talking about falling in love and comparing it to buy and consume system in a metaphorically with the lines ''Don't have to buy a house in Beverly Hills, don't have to have your daddy paying your bills'' and ''Don't have to be beautiful but it helps'' the song makes us think about today's degenerated relationships.

The second track All Over The World can be classified as a traditional Pet Shop Boys song with it's music and lyrics.

Beautiful People is the only Pet Shop Boys song that includes harmonica in it. ''City life just leaves me weak. All this maddness on the street. Need to get away today, live my life a different way'' Isn't it something that we all think about? Feeling like being stuck in our random lives and needing a change to get away.. ''Is it only a fantasy to dream about a perfect me?'' No it is not Mr. Tennant.

Did You See Me Coming is my most favourite song off the album along with Building A Wall. Another classic PSB song that makes you want to dance. The guitar solo in the beginning catches you instanly and you can't stop until the next song kicks in. The song also includes my favourite lines which reflects my thoughts. ''I'm not superstitious or really religious. Just 'to thyself be true'. But now I think I'm starting to believe in fate because it delivered you.''

Vulnerable is like a song that you came across at the disco in the eighties. A little melancholical but catchy. As always the lyrics are personal, reflecting the one's vulnerability. If the boys made the song back in the 80s the intro wouldn't be any different.

More Than A Dream is lyrically different to traditional PSB songs. It's optimistic and it makes you feel hopeful. ''I believe we can change. We can make it more than a dream'' Sounds nothing like ''Everything I've ever done, everything that I ever do, every place that I ever been, everywhere I'm going to; it's a sin!''

Building A Wall is the first song of Side B and the second half of the album. Pete Gleadall (the third Pet Shop Boy) is the genius behind the song just as always. The lyrics have so many references from the history. Just proves how clever Neil Tennant is. ''Jesus and the man from U.N.C.L.E. Ceasar conquered Gaul. Scouting for centurians on a Roman wall'' It only took one smart man to put all these together in a song.

King Of Rome is the only song that I usually skip because of it's dark lyrics and production. It's not as personal and dark as It's A Sin but I feel like they're related.

Pandemonium has an interesting story since it was made in late 2006 or early 2007 for Kylie Minogue's then comeback album X. The boys composed the song as a demo and sent to Parlophone, to Kylie's production team. We don't know why Kylie never got back to them but I think it was a BIG mistake because it could be another classic Kylie anthem. After hearing nothing back from Kylie they recorded the song for the album and said ''I think every songwriter in London wrote songs for Kylie's last album. When we were on tour, we had two male backing singers and both had submitted songs for Kylie's album as well. They never heard anything either. We won't be doing it again.'' That should be very unfortunate for the both sides cause they could make a brilliant pop album together and many demos which belongs to the X era were dull.. I can't deny that the Boys have done a stunning job with the song. 

The Way It Used To Be is another traditional Pet Shop Boys that includes 'New York' in its lyrics. After Pandemonium, the song takes things down before closing the album with Legacy. 

Legacy is another underrated masterpiece. Once again the song has many references to past with its retrospective lyrics. Like the album Actually, Yes comes to conclusion with a dark song that leaves the listener in many thoughts. 

Having only two ballad-like songs Yes is another classic Synth-Pop masterpiece with Electro influences. I'd say the it's the last masterpiece that the Boys have done all thanks to Pete Gleadall and Xenomania because after the follow up album Elysium the duo started working with Stuart Price and every single song sounds like unbearable electronic noise. Despite the fact that it was released in 2009 we can say that the album belongs to the eighties. Mainly happy but sometimes dark and foggy.

Released on 18 March 2009, Yes sold 27.639 copies on its first week. Almost made it to #1 on the charts, the album suffered with distrubition problems which resulted the album to peak on #4 in the UK Albums Chart.

Australian Albums (ARIA): 32 

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria):  5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders): 69
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia): 49
Croatian Combined Albums (HDU): 16
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI): 6
Danish Albums (Hitlisten): 9
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts): 34
European Albums (Billboard): 3
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista): 28
French Albums (SNEP): 64
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100): 3
Greek Foreign Albums (IFPI): 3
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ): 24
Irish Albums (IRMA): 34
Italian Albums (FIMI): 40
Japanese Albums (Oricon): 32
Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico): 40
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista): 16
Scottish Albums (OCC): 8
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE): 10
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan): 12
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade): 7
UK Albums (OCC): 4
US Billboard 200: 32
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard): 3

EU LP

EU LP Back

EU LP Inner Sleeve Front

EU LP Inner Sleeve Back

EU LP Side A 

EU LP Side B

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 :)

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 Pick: Love Moves - Kim Wilde

I'm going to write about one of my favourite Kim Wilde albums this week. Even though it was released in 1990. The decade I can not stand!! I've always hated the 90s because everybody who made their debut in the 80s went indie, grunge or r&b and tried to ignore what they've done in the 80s. Suddenly everybody started to feel embarrassed about the 80s, what they've done, how they looked and what they sang and tried to create a new image to fit in with the new trend so they could make people forget about the 80s. Madonna pushed herself and chose the r&b path with Erotica & Bedtime Stories, Kylie went indie and mocked her PWL days with Impossible Princess, A-ha went rock with East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon, Bananarama got more daring but lost their soul with Pop Life. The Human League tried new sounds with Romantic?. There were also new acts who got big with their ''fresh'' sounds which were the ''trendsetters'' of the music scene. None of my favourite acts could maintain their success through the whole decade. And arguably, one of them was Kim Wilde. Since the beginning of the the 80s, she's had a successful yet on and off career. She was cool, she was in her twenties and she was the most popular female singer in the UK and rest of Europe. After releasing Close in 1988 she's reached the top of her career. Every single she released from the album was a hit. She's toured with Michael Jackson as his opening act around Europe and had two busy years. After the tour was over, she's got back in the studio for her seventh album in late 1989. After Close taking people by the storm, she's rised the stakes. Everybody was waiting something huge, something similar to Close but stronger and bigger. Being close to 30, Kim was starting to see things differently. Especially after finishing her relationship with the lead singer of Johhny Hates Jazz; Calvin Hayes. Being so popular and having not much time to herself because of the tour pushed Kim to loneliness and exhaustion.


When all that came together, Kim lost the sight while she was recording the album 7 in their studio. She was close to stop everything and cancel the whole project while she was halfway. Learning from her experiences; Kim had a different point of view to life now and she's reflected it to her lyrics perfectly. All the tracks were composed by Kim herself and her brother Ricky Wilde which makes the lyrics very personal. That's why the album was called Love Moves. When asked about the reason why the album was called Love Moves, Kim said ''Because it's true. Love makes you do even bigger things'' in one of her interviews.


Almost just a month before the release of Love Moves, Kim Wilde released It's Here as the first single of the album on 26th March 1990. It was about Kim Wilde looking at things differently and finally seeing what was there all the time. We still don't know what's it and where it is though. The single wasn't successfull as her previous releases from Close.


Finally, Love Moves was released on the 1st of May 1990. The songs were personal, strong and confident. The album's had a Middle Of The Road feel like her previous albums. The album saw Wilde talking about her having a new point of view, how she feels about love, enviroment problems and the plastic life of Hollywood celebrities.


There are many underrated songs in the album as usual. Love (Send Him Back To Me) is certainly one of them. I used to despise the song because of it's sound and also because it wasn't like any traditional Kim Wilde song. It was far away from being a new wave song. But the more I listened to it, the more I loved it. It's one of the strongest songs on the album. Sounding similar to Paula Abdul's Straight Up, Love was written about Kim begging love to have his lover back. Even though it sounds very 90s, I love Love (Send Him Back To Me) a lot. It could easily top the charts with a good video. The third track Storm In Our Hearts was a dark love song with some jazz elements. It was also a stand out track with it's strong and deep lyrics. World In Perfect Harmony and Who's To Blame? were written about what's happening to people, what are they doing with our world and how we can lose our future with our ways. World In Perfect Harmony sees Kim' seeking for a world in peace and harmony while  she questions what are we doing to our world in Who's To Blame. Someday is one of two ballads of the album along with I Can't Say Goodbye. The sixth song on the album; Time was about Kim Wilde falling in love. The strongest song on the album with a lovely video, Time failed to be in top 40 in the UK charts and makes it her most underrated single. With perfectly produced drums and synths; Time sounds so much like a Stock Aitken Waterman song. Especially like Kylie's Better The Devil You Know which makes Time my most favourite song on Love Moves.
After the concerning track Who's To Blame?, comes Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love) which has some rock and Hi Nrg elements. With being almost a classic Kim Wilde song, Can't Get Enough is a fan favourite. The lyrics are a bit personal as usual. On the 9th track In Hollywood, we hear the names of some celebrities like Mike Tyson, Donald Trump (unfortunately) and her then wife Ivana (what a nightmare!). The last song on the album is I Can't Say Goodbye which is another love ballad.

 Although the songs were promising the album couldn't maintain the success of Close. It was one of her lowest selling albums in the UK. Although reaching top 10 in the Scandinavian countries,it peaked at #126 in Australia. Being disappoint of the failure, ''I think the album itself still stands, it was a very strong album, and it was very disapppointing that it didn't do well. But it didn't really come too much as a big surprise, because my career before then had always been very up and down. So it wasn't a complete shock, but it was very disappointing.'' said Kim Wilde. I don't know if Kim Wilde will ever read this but I'll give it a shot. Love Moves was a brilliant and eclectic album. Your true fans appreciate the songs and the obvious effort you've put into them. So please forgive the album and perform it's songs on your future tours!


Love Moves was released on LP, Cd and cassette. The UK LP has the title in the middle while the German pressing has it on the top right corner. There's not a reissue of  Love Moves unlike her previous albums but I hope we get it one day with some unreleased tracks, remixes and instrumentals.


TRACKLIST:

1. It's Here
2. Love (Send Him Back To Me)
3. Storm In Our Hearts
4. World In Perfect Harmony
5. Someday
6. Time
7. Who's To Blame?
8. Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love)
9. In Hollywood
10. I Can't Say Goodbye


CHARTS:

Germany: 24
Netherlands: 35 (7 weeks)
Sweden: 10 (6 weeks)
United Kingdom: 37 (3 weeks)

Love Moves German LP (2292 -57225-1)

Love Moves German LP Back

Love Moves German LP Inner Sleeve Front

Love Moves German LP Inner Sleeve Back

Love Moves German LP Side A

Love Moves German LP Side B

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

My Very First Pick: Close - Kim Wilde

ABOUT CLOSE

Close was released by Kim Wilde on the 1st of June 1988 as her sixth studio album. Produced by her brother Ricky Wilde & Tony Swain the album was her most well ballanced album with pop, ballad and rock sounds. The songs were concentrated on love (Hey Mr. Heartache, Four Letter Word, Love In The Natural Way, Love's A No, Lucky Guy), what's going on around the world (Stone, European Soul) and her nephew coming into her life (You Came). Promoting the album, its singles and videos as being an opening act on Michael Jackson's Bad World Tour, Close sold over 2 million copies worldwide, making it her best-selling album of her entire career. Many critics praised the album with its successful producing while some critics finding the album sounding similar to Bananarama's famous album WOW which was produced by the well known producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman. Other than that critics gave the album such favorable reviews with the success of the album and its singles.

TRACKLIST: 

1) Hey Mr. Heartache

2) You Came

3) Four Letter Word

4) Love In The Natural Way

5) Love's A No

6) Never Trust A Stranger

7) You'll Be The One Who'll Lose

8) European Soul

9) Stone

10) Lucky Guy

SINGLES

1) Hey Mr. Heartache, released on 18th of April 1988 in the UK & Europe; Heartache featured the vocals of Junior Giscombe whom worked with Kim on her previous album Another Step. Heartache wasn't a big hit in her native country, debuting at #31 although it was successful in Norway (#3), Sweden (#6) & Italy (#7)

2) You Came, released on the 4th of July 1988, was the biggest selling of Kim Wilde. Charting #3 in the UK, #1 in Denmark and #3 in Irelan, You Came showed a major success all around the UK & Europe. It was written with Kim Wilde and her brother about the birth of Marty. 

3) Never Trust A Stranger, released on 19 September 1988 it was her 3rd single off the album. It was another big hit around the UK & Europe. With its Hi-NRG sound Never Trust A Stranger is one of my favourite tracks of Kim Wilde. 

4) Four Letter Word, released on 21 November 1988. It was another hit in the UK & Europe as a naive love ballad. It became her third top ten hit in the UK from her album Close. 

5) Love In The Natural Way, released on 20 February 1989 it was her last release in the 80 which she was one of the biggest selling artists then. Although it was produced very well and promoted it only charted in the UK & Ireland. Love In The Natural Way was also the final release from the album Close.

EU LP (255 588-1)

EU LP Back

EU LP Inner Sleeve Front

EU LP Inner Sleeve Back

EU LP Side A 

EU LP Side B