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Post by ManicKangaroo on Jul 21, 2020 18:03:19 GMT 1
...which I was pretty sure lined up for him anyway, but they gave to Jase instead. I actually sang a version of Nothing Can Divide Us. I didn’t want to be an upstart, but I realised I didn’t think that should be the first single off my album in America. I wasn’t just totally bothered about America but I knew that it was a game-changer. I was being offered Coca-Cola commercials because I’d had two No.1s. We didn’t do it in the end, it’s a long story, but we won’t get into that. I’ll need something stronger for that one…”
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Post by Kingpin on Jul 21, 2020 20:26:10 GMT 1
Wow that's a crazy long list....they didn't just double up, they triple-covered in certain cases!
Is this the earliest example of S/A/W recycling? I know it's a different song, but they lifted the music from this and turned it into Whatever I Do. Would have been about '85 I think.
I think I read somewhere that Michael Prince really wasn't happy when he heard Our Haze's version (probably because it was so superior to this!)
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Post by Kingpin on Jul 21, 2020 20:31:28 GMT 1
I don't know why when I copy and paste they end up bigger and more spaced out than the original. > I don't know why some of Marks posts are blank for me. I don't know why people put earrings on babies. The copy and paste thing happens to me too, especially when I copy stuff in from Word or Excel, it's a bit of a pain. I get blank posts too when I go in via a VPN connection, they miraculously re-appear when I go in 'normally'! I can't help you with the earrings thing though, it is pretty disturbing.....but it's a question that needed to be raised I think! PS love love love your new avatar.!! Those four albums are fab, I think i'm going to listen to them all day on repeat tomorrow while working from home for the 3,000th consecutive day.....
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Post by Kingpin on Jul 21, 2020 20:36:09 GMT 1
I hadn't realised that If It Makes You Feel Good was done by Donna, Princess and Mandy. I'll need to find some time tomorrow to fit in a sing-off too and see which is the best. Wow, I've never been so busy......
I have a sneaking suspicion I know which version I'll rate as being the best though.
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Post by ManicKangaroo on Jul 21, 2020 21:26:11 GMT 1
I don't know why some of Marks posts are blank for me. It's when he posts tweets. I have the same issue when viewing on my phone but they appear on my PC I had a look on support and the best I can find is that it's actually a Twitter problem rather than a Proboards one. Due to the tweet being embedded it's taking too long at Twitter's end to come over possibly due to how busy their server is at the time.
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Post by Smurfie on Jul 22, 2020 7:01:54 GMT 1
I hadn't realised that If It Makes You Feel Good was done by Donna, Princess and Mandy. I'll need to find some time tomorrow to fit in a sing-off too and see which is the best. Wow, I've never been so busy...... I have a sneaking suspicion I know which version I'll rate as being the best though. I know which one I would choose! We also have this level of recycling from this b-side: (I didn’t know Nick Karen also covered Looking Good Diving). That Michael Prince backing track recycling is shameless I’d be pretty furious too. But then I don’t think they gave much original to Our Haze!
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Post by Kingpin on Jul 22, 2020 15:50:58 GMT 1
I knew of Morgan McVey from the Neneh connection and kept thinking I'd come across them on last year's retro-chart as I'd never actually heard this before, but it must've missed the Top 100. Don't think I was missing that much, although the B-side is definitely better than the A-side.
I've been listening to Raw Like Sushi quite a bit recently, I forgot how brilliant it was. Also got hold of Homebrew a couple of weeks ago, it's really good in a more mature/less pop kind of way, it would have been lost on me back in the 90s. I must track down some more of Neneh's albums.
I keep meaning to check out Tell Me by Nick Kamen. Think I only gave it a cursory listen for the retro-chart recently but it was pretty big on the continent. I can take or leave most of his other stuff though.
Anyway, the verdict's in....Donna Summer >> Mandy >> Princess !
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Post by PurpleCareBear on Jul 25, 2020 19:53:06 GMT 1
^^ I'd put the Princess version ahead of Mandy. What a Night (by Dolly Dots) is one of my all time faves but it seems no other act had a crack at it and yet I see that the truly awful Experienced (Worlds Apart/ Steps) was done by a third act. I'm surprised it was ever recorded more than once. Out of the unreleased stuff, I'd most like to hear two Sheila Ferguson tracks as I love the originals by Sequal and Hazell Dean. I always liked Jermaine Stewart so would've liked a SAW /IanCurnow/PhilHarding album from him.
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Post by Kingpin on Jul 26, 2020 14:44:48 GMT 1
Yeah, for me albums would definitely be Donna>>Princess>>Mandy but for that single, think I just prefer Mandy's pop version over Princess' R&B take on it.
A S/A/W album from Jermaine would have been good. Get Lucky and Don't Talk To Dirty To Me are the stand-out tracks on the Say It Again album, I would have loved an album full of those kind of songs. My favourite from him is The Word Is Out, he'd got such a distinctive voice.
I think I'd have liked a full S/A/W album from Laura Branigan. Given what they did with the brilliant Shattered Glass and with their combined talent I think we'd have had an album to rival the greatness of Another Place and Time.
I like that Dolly Dots song, it's really catchy. The Dutch chart in the 80s has some real gems in it now and again. I don't think any of these are S/A/W but I came across Run For Your Life by Style and Second Chance by Frizzle Sizzle recently. Also really enjoying this one currently:
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Post by Smurfie on Aug 2, 2020 12:49:35 GMT 1
A Jermaine Stewart SAW album would have been excellent - I really liked the Frantic Romantic and Say It Again albums. Kingpin I love Tell Me! Although some of his stuff was pretty rubbish.
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Post by Kingpin on Aug 2, 2020 16:42:37 GMT 1
I think I missed Tell Me when I was doing my retro-charts over the summer, it's definitely the kind of thing I like (probably more now than I would have done then!)
Not sure it warranted nine weeks at number one in Italy, but it's still pretty good. I can remember it spending a couple of weeks at number 40 here, I always found that a bit curious.
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Post by Smurfie on Aug 8, 2020 9:26:48 GMT 1
I don’t think I have ever had the inclination to look this one up ever, but it just so happened to appear on a YouTube rabbit hole today. It’s pretty terrible.
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Post by Kingpin on Aug 9, 2020 18:09:10 GMT 1
I don’t think I have ever had the inclination to look this one up ever, but it just so happened to appear on a YouTube rabbit hole today. It’s pretty terrible. I wonder how that collaboration ever came about. S/A/W + Heavy metal band + cover of 70s R&B ballad....sounds like the recipe from hell but have to confess that after a few listens think I would really have been into that. Did they do a whole album with S/A/W? Would love to have heard more but can't see any other S/A/W JP songs on You Tube.
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Post by ManicKangaroo on Aug 9, 2020 19:16:08 GMT 1
At the start of 1988, JUDAS PRIEST and S/A/W spent four days in a studio in Paris, France and recorded three tracks, "You Are Everything" and two songs penned by S/A/W ("Runaround" and "I Will Return").
Regarding PRIEST's cover of "You Are Everything", the band's guitarist Glenn Tipton told Guitar magazine in a 1989 interview: "I don't know whether it will ever be released. I can tell you I'm pretty sure it will never be on a JUDAS PRIEST album."
Fellow PRIEST axeman K.K. Downing told Guitar about the group's collaboration with S/A/W: "Stock, Aitken and Waterman are very popular producers in England, producing quite a lot of hit songs by people like Rick Astley and BANANARAMA. We did a little work with them for experimental reasons. It was great to work with them because they are very professional and very good producers.'
He continued: "Everybody is very naive and think that just because they produce these pop hit artists that's all they can do. In actual fact, they can do a lot more that than."
Downing went on to say: "We had a bit of spare time and cash and we got together and had many long hours of table tennis. And we did a couple of songs. We [also] did 'Johnny B Goode'. We were asked to possibly do 'Reckless' for the original 'Top Gun', which we missed out on because we didn't want to take anything off the 'Turbo' album. We thought this would be a good opportunity to go in and do some stuff for future movies. It was purely experimental and fun."
Singer Rob Halford told the New York Post that he'd "love to release [the songs], but there's a different consensus within the band. Our rendition of 'You Are Everything' is just beautiful. It's an '80s megarock ballad, with big drums, big vocals, sweeping strings. People are a lot more open-minded now, whereas in those days it could have created a bit of push-back, maybe even some damage to our reputation."
"We signed a piece of paper that says when we're all dead, they can release them," Halford joked to The Aquarian. "I personally love those songs. They're f***ing great. We've never been afraid to try everything. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. And the exercise of those songs totally worked, but they were completely wrong for us, if that makes sense. In the manner of the adventure of going to Paris for three days. … I'm totally responsible for that because I just said to Glenn one day, 'What you think about this deal?' 'Let's do it.' We never shut each other down. Even the most ridiculous things sometimes are ridiculous, but you don't know until you carry the exercise. That's what we did. We went over there and had a blast."
Tipton told Super Channel 88 in 1988: "We went in [with Stock, Aitken and Waterman], we did four days in Paris, we got four days in between Christmas and going back into the studio. It was a mutual thing, an experiment to just see what would come of it. We weren't chasing hit singles; we'd actually finished our album anyway and we had only got mixes left to do."
He continued: "I think what a lot of people don't realize about them is there's far more to them than 'hit' producers. I mean, Mike Stock's a great guitar player and we work really well together.
"The tracks we came up with were very interesting. I don't suppose they'll ever be on a JUDAS PRIEST album, but we've been approached a lot recently to do film soundtracks and things, so maybe they'll be used for that. Who knows? But were really pleased with them. We've never been scared to experiment, so..."
Tipton added: "What I think people thought, you know, it was bizarre because we were surprised at the sudden, almost like a backlash. People thought it was going to be like 'JUDAS BANANARAMA PRIEST' or something, God forbid we should ever do that — we wouldn't compromise the band in anything of that nature. But as it's turned out, we've got a fantastic heavy ballad and we've got two real good rock tracks; but we've got too much material for 'Ram It Down'..."
Halford added in a 1988 interview with Tele 5 Hard 'N' Heavy: "[The tracks are] mixed and they're hidden away in a vault in our office in London, and some day, at some point, people will hear them — it's just getting the timing right. We didn't put them on 'Ram It Down', because we had all the material already written anyway, so there wasn't any real need to include them, but I think a lot of people were worried you know. They think, 'Oh god, JUDAS PRIEST is going to sound like Rick Astley or BANANARAMA!' and we go, 'No! No! No! It's not going to be like that!'
"We would never jeopardize our career. We know what JUDAS PRIEST means to ourselves and we know what JUDAS PRIEST means to the fans around the world, so we'd never compromise ourselves — we'd never do anything less than what people expect from us. So they're three very powerful songs, you know, so maybe you'll hear them in 1990 or the year 2000, I don't know. We would like people to hear them, because I think people are very curious about what's happening and we had a fantastic time with them..."
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Post by Kingpin on Aug 9, 2020 21:18:38 GMT 1
What a bizarre choice of producer for a heavy metal act. By 1988 SAW didn't have much that credibility in the dance world, they'd be last on the list for most rockers.
Seems like it was a bit of a waste of time for all concerned although PW reckons these tracks were some of the best they'd ever done...doesnt he say that about pretty much everything though?
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Post by Smurfie on Aug 10, 2020 13:09:36 GMT 1
Pretty much! It wouldn’t surprise me if he said at some point everything that produced was one of the greatest things they ever done - including the “timeless great” Pat & Mick album.
Not quite sure why JP are so guarded over the songs - unless they really are absolute rubbish.
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Post by Kingpin on Aug 12, 2020 12:07:55 GMT 1
Here's another coming up soon on the Retro-Chart....to chart or not to chart? SAW does Male Stripper with a male stripper - rotten tomato or juicy peach? After a few listens I'm somewhere in the middle:
Not a patch on his biggest hit, which I think SAW also had a hand in:
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Post by Smurfie on Aug 27, 2020 11:46:13 GMT 1
Isn't that the "Maybe" drum track in there as well?
Yeah, not the greatest fan of Fruit Machine, the talky bits are very cringe - without it and just sang would have made it much better. And perhaps not him singing it! It would have worked much better with Sam.
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Post by Smurfie on Aug 27, 2020 11:49:37 GMT 1
Happy 30th to this one:
Not my favourite Lonnie song, but much better than the Sybil version. Still to this day wonder why the record company argued over the follow up single and "How Could He Do This To Me" even got as far as radio play. Strange choice to go with a ballad as a second single, so completely understood why it underperformed - I would have preferred an uptempo track as well!
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Post by Smurfie on Aug 28, 2020 19:03:16 GMT 1
Having a scour back through this thread earlier - I had completely forgotten about this. Absolutely colour by numbers and completely not written for her, and probably stuck on the shelf half written for years for a Kylie or Donna album track at some point as they were way past this sound by the time it was released. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were half a dozen disused demoes from the usual suspects....
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