TripleX

15 Aug 2016

14 August 2016

Show 296

Cry by Godley and Creme. 1985 track from English rock duo Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The pair began releasing albums as a duo after splitting from the pop band 10cc.

Girl Afraid by The Smiths. Request.

+Absolutely Fabulous by The Pet Shop Boys. Released as a single for 1994’s Comic Relief, under the artist name ‘Absolutely Fabulous’. The song is based on the BBC comedy show of the same name and features dialogues taken from that show

Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Request.

Warm Leatherette by Grace Jones. Title track to her 1980 album, her 4^th studio album.

+Y.M.C.A. by The Village People. 1978 song by that became a hit in January 1979. The song reached #2 on the U.S. charts in early 1979 and reached No.1 in the UK and here around the same time, becoming the group’s biggest hit ever. It is one of the fewer than thirty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) copies worldwide. Amongst its many other accolades, it is number 7 on VH1’s list of The 100 Greatest Dance Songs of the 20th Century.

Little Girl by Sandra. From her 1985 album, 18 Greatest Hits.

Change Your Mind by Sharpe & Numan. Jazz musician Bill Sharpe of Shakatak and Gary Numan. This track was originally, in 1985, just a one-off single but it did so well (17^th on UK charts) that they released a whole album, Automatic, in 1989 that included this and a bunch of other material.

*That’s the Thing about Football by Greg Champion. Request.

+Don’t leave me this way by the Communards – this song has been a disco hit for 3 different bands: Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in 1975, Thelma Houston hit no. 1 with it just a year later in 1976 and The Communards gave it a high energy boost in 1986 when it topped the UK chart for 4 weeks and was that country’s biggest selling single of the year.

Aussies from 1984:

*Soul kind of feeling by Dynamic Hepnotics. 1984 single from their album Take You Higher. Like the next track, this one has strong tv links in Aus: The song featured prominently in the background in Australian soap opera Neighbours until the early nineties.

*Sweet & Sour by Takeaways. From a 1984 ABC tv series called Sweet & Sour, which followed the efforts of a fictional band, The Takeaways, to break into the Sydney music scene. This title song of the series was written by Sharon O’Neill while Deborah Conway served as actor Tracy Mann’s ‘singing voice’ and sang the track, which hit # 13 on the Australian national singles chart.

*Everybody wants to work by Uncanny X-men. 1984 release from the Beach Party EP, which pre-dated their debut album Coz Life Hurts. Prior to this release they toured Oz with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts; they’ve also toured with Cold Chisel and Rod Stewart. They also featured prominently on Oz for Africa concert, part of the global Live Aid program in 1985.

*Strong Love by Pat Wilson. Husband Ross is there too… 1984 single & title track from their 1984 EP…except in the US where it was called Bop Girl, Pat’s better known song.

*Life’s a Gamble by The Radiators. The title track from this Sydney band’s 1984 album.

*Ghost Ships by The Saints. From A Little Madness to Be Free, the sixth album to be released by The Saints. This time around, frontman Chris Bailey persuaded original members, Kim Bradshaw (bass) and Ivor Hay (drums), to rejoin the band. On the album tour, the bass player was ex-The Birthday Party man Tracy Pew.

+You’re my best Friend by Queen. 1975 single from A Night at the Opera.

Ball Of Confusion by Love & Rockets. Their 1985 debut single. Various mixes have appeared on later albums but I believe at the time it was a non-album single.

Well, did you Evah! by Iggy Pop & Debbie Harry. From 1990’s Red Hot & Blue.

10 9 8 by Face To Face. Their 1984 debut single and most successful track. They were a new wave outfit from Boston.

Good Name by William Onyeabor. Nigerian musician who was really prolific in the late 70s and 80s. This is the title track to his 1983 album.