The other hit Strawberry Switchblade

If you are an avid record collector you will know that it's fairly easy to buy the big hits. All those greatest hits and best of albums are everywhere. And they have the added bonus of including the lesser hits as well. The one that only reached no 60 or something like that.

But what if the artist or group didn't have enough hits to warrant a compilation of their own ? and you don't fancy buying the one album they ever released for only two tracks you know and love ?. Answer, you have to search through those various artist best of the 80`s type compilation things or perhaps the Now that's what i call music series.

Getting that one big hit isn't so bad, but finding the other hit can be a bugger. The one that you sort of remember, but no-one else does until they hear it.

This is Strawberry Switchblade. Rose Mcdowell and Jill Bryson. A mid 80s duo from Scotland who most people remember for the excellent Since Yesterday. a top 5 hit in the UK in November 1985.

They had three runs at the charts, a cover version of Dolly Partons Jolene scraped in at No53, and this one, Let her Go which i thought wan't bad and assumed would be a top 10 follow up to Since yesterday. In fact it did even worse than Jolene and stalled at 59 in March 1985.

If you fancy the album you can buy it here. and there is a Website here.

Record Collection

Records don't have to be round

A one hit wonder from the 70s. Richard Myhill - It Takes two to tango. I know practically nothing about this man. In fact i don't even know what he looks like.
However on doing a little research via the net i find that he went on to produce singles and albums from the likes of Hazel Dean, Matchbox, The Piranhas, & Duran Duran as well as releasing a follow up single called While London Dances.
Obviously this all comes via the web so i could be talking rubbish here, if you know better let me know.
I bought this single because it was Square, so marketing does work. In the late 70's through the 80s releasing music in imaginative ways that had absolutely nothing to do with the record seemed to be a big thing. I'm not sure why this single is square. It's a Tango not a square dance, but hey it got him in the top 20, reaching No 17(UK) April 1978.
That's 31 years ago for anyone who remembers it. (eek)

Sometimes the sleeves can be better than the records

Bow Wow Wow Your Cassette Pet

Supposedly the worlds first Cassette single, a four tracker that didn't set the charts alight reaching No 58 (UK) December 1980.

I was never a big fan of the cassette. The sound quality was terrible, it took ages to rewind the dam things and if they got damp the music sounded like it was being played underwater. You had to use Tape head cleaners constantly and every now and then your best tape got chewed up by the machine. In fact there was only one saving grace for these things and that was you could tape your own stuff, make your own compilations and nick things off the radio. I wonder what we would have made of the Digital quality audio and copying facilities we can create nowadays ?.

I only bought this for the sake of it and played it rarely, Louis Quatorze was the only track i liked and it was issued on vinyl a couple of years later reaching No 66(UK) in July 1982. I seem to remember it was a one sided single, but i can't remember. It might be better researching my subject before i start typing in future instead of doing it off the top of my head.
Anyway for your listening pleasure i give you their first hit. C30, C60, C90, Go. You would have thought this would have been a better choice for a cassette single, but no.

It does show thought how time can fog the memory. I remember it being some sort of big hit single, but in fact it only managed No34(UK) in July 1980
With possibly the worst lyrics to any single known to man. check it out here

Week in Pictures

A Slide show of pictures from my mobile. As you can see i live an exciting life

Four Favourite Forgotten Oldies for Friday

JJ72 Formulae, Blue Oyster Cult Don't fear the reaper, The Sundays Can't be sure & Wedding Present why are you being so reasonable now. Not massive hits but still being played on my Pod.

And a couple of extra ones for good measure

Trash Can Sinatra's Obscurity Knocks 1990

Jellyfish The king is half undressed 1991

In loving memory of H from Steps

21 Years ago today Sept 1988

Associates Heart of Glass
Reached No 56(uk)
Sept 1988
Buy it

Strange cover versions

I wonder what Van Mccoy would have thought of this ?.

Jacko & ET

I’ll never have any money me, even when I have things of value I stupidly throw them away, Sell them off cheap, or keep them too long.

I had two copies of the world first CD Single, Dire Straits - Brothers in arms. It was valued at £150 at one point. But then Dire Straits are not exactly hot at the moment are they? And I can see CDs going the way of 78s soon so I’ll be lucky to flog them for a quarter of that amount now.

I was once offered £50.00 for an unreleased special mix of Bros - I owe you nothing. Admittedly from a Bros fan and this was 20 years ago. But stupidly I decided to keep it. What a burk. I probably couldn’t’ give it away now. Oh, and by the way, the reason why it was an unreleased mix was because A. it sampled lots of house tracks without permission, and B, it was crap.

E-bay has destroyed the value of rare records anyway. When in the past you had to search every second hand record shop and market stall you could to find one of perhaps 20 copies of a rare track still out there. Now all 20 are up for sale at the same time in the same place on the internet, which makes it look less rare and far easier to get your hands on.

My latest stupid throwaway came earlier this year when I decide to clear out some of my Michael Jackson stuff. After all, he wasn’t exactly the big thing any more was he? I even envisaged his records being as popular as Gary Glitters when he died and all the crap started come out about his past life, So I thought I may as well flog some of this stuff off on e-bay now.

Then the bugger died and I wish I had saved them just that little bit longer. 30 bloody years I’ve had some of this stuff, and no sooner do I offload them than he pops his clogs and I’m down on the deal.
Ok perhaps Michael Jackson himself came off slightly worse than I did, but how much do you think things like this would be worth now? Promos, special editions, coloured vinyls...... Don’t tell me, I don’t wanna know.

Anyway this album includes actual audio from the movie and the whole story narrated by Michael Jackson himself, as well as two exclusive unreleased (at the time) songs, a full 12" size book and gigantic poster.
Sample Audio here -

Quote of the Day

Pop music is about stealing pocket money from children - Ian Anderson

Nutty Boys Comic

What a performance

We are being pestered at work by the performing rights society to get a licence for playing Radio One over an old fashioned Radiogram to 4 staff.
Two Letters, two phone calls, and a threat that they could turn up to check at any time and if we are caught playing music that is heard by members of the public as well the charge will be even more.

Music licences for playing in staff only areas start at £ 44.00 a year (plus vat) for 4 employees or less, so even if there are only two of you that's still £44.00(plus vat), although we are covered for live bands should U2 drop by.
To me radio is just one mass commercial for their music anyway and they charge radio stations for the privilege of playing these little commercials. But fairs fair, these radio stations are making money out of it as well, commercial radio from commercials, BBC from a licence fee, so why not ?.
But to then charge the listener for the privilege of listening to it at work as well ?.

I'm not sure whether they are trying to corner the market in sound itself or are just getting greedy, but all the boss will do it turn the radio off. And they wonder why they are hated so much.

What the hell is that ?

There is no reason for posting this picture, it's just something i saw on my walk the other day and thought it was either alien or drug like.

If i licked my finger and stuck it in the liquid on the bottom leaf do you think i would have gone all psychedelic ?.

Or just spend the rest of the week on the toilet ?

Special Edition

I've seen some weird ideas for special edition singles but this has to be one of the stupidest. A laser etched vinyl single that looks pretty enough but let's think this through a minute.
A laser Etched pattern dug into the vinyl plastic that a needle has to run along to play the music.
As you can imagine the sound quality on this one isn't quite as up to scratch (excuse pun) as it should be, and it didn't really catch on.

Split Enz was a successful New Zealand band during the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn (Crowded House).

Their biggest and best hit was I Got you which reached No12(UK) in Aug 1980.

Split Enz - History Never Repeats
Reached No 63 (UK)
May 1981

Queen I want it all Promotional single

It's always interesting to see how famous records were promoted when they were originally released so here is a new regular feature on promotional items.
Beginning with the UK release of the Queen single I want it all from 1989

Mobile DJ 1979

It’s 1979 and I’m doing my first gig as a DJ. This was long before Pete Tong and Judge Jules. I’m not playing to a crowd of thousands at the Ministry of Sound. This is upstairs in a pub for a silver wedding anniversary to about 30 people. No banging house music or hip hop, it’s the Nolans I’m in the mood for dancing and Gloria Gaynor i will survive.

The first Record I play is Heart of Glass by Blondie, the extended 12” version so I can go for a wee after spending hours setting up two speakers and a state of the art lighting system that comprises of a rope light, an ultraviolet strip light and a set of traffic lights. Spectacular I think you’ll agree. Although there were problems with the ultraviolet light. When the happy couple came up to make a speech it made her white dress look see through revealing bra and big pants to the world.

One of the things about being a DJ is learning to have a thick skin. One night It can be a disaster, the next it’s brilliant. On the nights it goes down badly you tell yourself that you will never, ever, do it again. But I did do it again so my first time must have been ok, I don’t really remember.
There were only two types of mobile DJ back then. The personality DJ and the music DJ.

I was more into the music, only talked when I had to, and concentrated on trying to pick the right records to play, in order to keep things going. But I did know others who had the gift of the gab. They were more performers than DJs. They could play almost anything they wanted and still keep the party swinging, they played games, made jokes, talked the punters to death over the mike and generally annoyed the hell out everyone Although I admired this kind of DJ for his work. In reality I thought most of them were tossers. I know this because when I moved away from playing records to selling them I had to deal with a lot of them on a daily basis and they could be just as bad without the aid of a microphone. I have to say not all of them were like that , Just say, about, 99%. Give me a music loving DJ any time (But more on that some other time)

I did quite a few parties, weddings, birthdays & pubs for a while before I was given the opportunity to work in a club. I dropped the Nolans and Blondie. It was New Order Blue Monday and Frankie Goes to Hollywood Relax. I stopped ending the night on Gerry and the Pacemakers You’ll never walk alone (common as muck) and moved on to Frank Sinatra New York New York (a touch of class). Another downside to being a DJ has to be that you are playing for an audience. It’s not what you want to hear, it’s what they want to dance to. As I remember thinking once when I slipped on Goombay Dance Band Seven Tears.

Worlds Worst Record Sleeves Vol 2

Quote of the day

The Beatles are dying in the wrong order - Victor Lewis-Smith

Spinning Rock Boogie Rockabilly

It's amazing how over 30 years later you can still remember when and where you heard a record for the first time.

Paul Burnett was the lunchtime DJ on BBC Radio One and he played this a lot. Usually after 'Fun at One', a section of his show where he aired a comedy record at 1pm daily.

I initially thought this was some kind of Stan Freburg thing with comedy sound effects and over the top guitar playing.

He sounds like he's on something or trying to finish the recording before they throw him out of the studio because his time it up.

In the mid 70`s in the UK there was a rash of Rockabilly revival records from the likes of Hank Mizell- Jungle Rock and Matchbox-Midnight Dynamos.

As much as i liked it, this instrumental always stood out as being a bit weird to me.

Hank C. Burnette - Spinning Rock Boogie
Reached No 21(UK)
Oct 1976

Buy here

The worlds worst Taxidermist

The 1970s Working Mens Club

The Late 70s, early 80s. The Comedians, Opportunity Knocks, Search for a star.
Variety was king, but Working men’s Clubs in the North of England were nearing the end of their hay day.

My Parents considered it essential to spend at least one night a week at these places and who could blame them ?.
Bingo, Pie & Peas, Cheap Beer, snooker, darts, dominoes, a raffle, one arm Bandit and some top class entertainment.
They could sit in the same seat at the same table, week in, week out, with all their friends, filling an ashtray to Mount Everest proportions whilst supping lager & Lime and watching such legendary acts as Huff & Puff, Soya & Bean, Rivers & Rhodes and the hilarious Corky Todd & Bobby Elmut. These two Cards contain a full list of future attractions. Classic 70s Clubland acts. LOL

Record Collection