TripleX

12 Apr 2015

12 April 2015

Show 231

Teardrops by Womack and Womack. From the couple’s fourth studio album, Conscience (1988). The songwriters were listed as Dr. Rue & The Gypsy Wave Banner, a pseudonym of Cecil and Linda Womack.

Operator by The Manhattan Transfer. Request from last week that was sort of Easter but I saved it till this week. This was their first single, also a track on their second album, a self-titled affair from 1975.

He’s an On Time God by Dottie Peoples. Request from last week that was sort of Easter but I saved it till this week…

Strawberry Shortcake by Sheila E. Request.

Only You by Yazoo. Request.

Blinded me with Science by Thomas Dolby. Song first released as a single in the UK in October 1982 and then subsequently included on the EP Blinded by Science and the second edition of Dolby’s debut album The Golden Age of Wireless. As his only top 40 hit he’s often considered a 1-hit wonder and often appears on VH1’s list of these songs/artists.

More Songs About Chocolate and Girls by The Undertones. From their second album, Hypnotised, released in 1980. They were from Northern Ireland and featured a young Feargal Sharkey on lead vocals.

Centerfold by the J Geils Band. 1981 hit from their 13th album, Freeze Frame. Though this is the band’s best known song, they’d been around for 14 years at that point, having formed on Worcester, Mass in 1967.

French Kiss by Lil Louis. Released in Oct 1989, it became a major dance club hit in the early 90s in Europe and the US. Oddly, lead vocals on the track were recorded after the track was picked up for distribution by major labels; they were performed by Chicago native and noted female house-music singer Shawn Christopher, although another vocal version exists in Europe with vocal duties performed by a woman named Pasquale. The photo that accompanies the track is of a same-sex kiss between two women…

Aussie bands that became something else…

*Can’t Help Myself by Flowers. This is their debut single from May 1980. They became Icehouse in 1981 when another band challenged their use of the Flowers name.

*Long Dark Night by Separate Tables. 1987 track from this band that became Girl Overboard. It was released as an independent single “Long Dark Night” and was backed with “Wrap Your Arms Around Me”.

*Take it From Me by Girlfriend. This is their debut single from 1992. They became GF4 2 years later with the departure of Robin Loau for a less than stellar solo career.

*Run Rudolph Run by Jo Jo Zep and his Little Helpers. Their only track under this name, they became Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons. This was 1975.

*Tomorrow by Innocent Criminals. The 1993 demo version of what eventually became the debut single by these guys renamed as Silverchair. This version won them a contest on TripleJ that landed them a contract…for some reason they changed the name for the video.

*We are The Vegetables by The Vegetables. Yep, in 1978 The Farriss Brothers played briefly as The Vegetables and recorded this short track…before becoming INXS.

Rock Lobster by The B-52s. The first single and dance club hit (1978) by the band.

Atlantic City by Bruce Springsteen. From his 1982 solo album, Nebraska. The whole album was recorded without all the production bells & whistles of the time and was intended as a demo for the E Street Band, but Bruce decided to release on his own…though he does often perform it with the full band in concert.

Waltzing Back by The Cranberries. From their 1993 album Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?

Sit Down by James. From his third studio album, Gold Mother, released in 1989.

Superfreak by Rick James. Was first released on James’ album Street Songs, his 4^th, in 1981. He lived in my hometown for awhile…and died in 2004 of a heart attack in LA.