Wishing ( If I Had A Photograph Of You )

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Click on the artwork to get full size.

 

..... Released in 1983 this was the first single off there second album LISTEN. The photo above is the artwork from the EP ( for those idiot industry people EP stands for Extended Play a.k.a. the 12'inch single...) "Wishing" peaked strongly in Great Britain and in Canada where it reached the Top 10, in the U.S. it reach #26 on the Billboard charts, it also charted in Germany as well. The version above is my personal copy, it's just over 6 minutes long (6:03 to be exact) it's the version that received regular rotation in all the dance clubs, the original version of this song clocked in at nearly 14 minutes. It also holds the rare distinction of having been performed almost entirely on the black keys of a keyboard.

...... In a celebration of early electronic music, digital radio station BBC 6 Music compiled a chart of its listeners' favourite synthesizer riffs in November 2006. "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" came second in the list.

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Wishing ( If I Had A Photograph Of You )

1983 Zomba Productions Ltd.

Jive / Arista

Side A.

Wishing ( If I Had A Photograph Of You )

The Flight Of Yuri Gagarin

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Side B

Rosenmotag

Committed

Classix Nouveaux

A band I always intended to explore more closely but just never found the time. Classix Nouveaux are Sal Solo (vocals/guitar, synthesizers) Mike Sweeney (bass guitar ) B.P.Harding (drums, percussion), and Jak Airport (lead guitar) Airport was replaced by Gary Steadman (guitar). Steadman left in 1982 to be replace by Jimi Suman who played a number of instruments. Categorized as a New Romantic band this group did the bulk of their recording and touring between 1981 to 1983. They first gained popularity in 1981 with the release of their hit single "Guilty" which received extensive airplay in Britain. They did two European tours that year and began to gain a loyal following. Their debut album Night People was also released in 1981, it was actually released in 27 countries and charted in many of them, they spent the remainder of the year on an 11 country tour which included Sweden, Yugoslavia and Portugal to name just a few. Releasing their next album La Verité in 1982, led to their highest UK charting single, "Is It A Dream" the band toured worldwide. In 1983 their final album was released Secret featuring tracks such as "Never Never Comes" and "Heart From The Start". They were one of the first modern bands to perform in communist Poland, they also played other Eastern block countries like Hungary and Czechoslovakia, their largest crowd ever for a concert was in Helsinki, Finland where 25,000 attended . This was truly a band without boarders if ever one existed, in addition to the previously mentioned nations they also played India and became the first western rock group to play Sri Lanka.

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This band changed members like most people change underwear, I've included all member below, at least I think I have.

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Sal Solo - vocals/guitar

Mik Sweeney - bass

Jak Airport - lead guitar

BP Hurding - drums

Gary Steadman - lead guitar

Jimi Sumen - lead guitar

Rick Driscoll - lead guitar

Paul Turley - drums

Pandit Dinesh - percussion

HMV Rant

.....The Pet Shop Boys new album "YES" was released in North America yesterday. I went to my local HMV today to get my copy. As with most bands, when a new album comes out I tend to buy the deluxe or limited two disc addition... Imagine my surprise when they didn't have it.

..... HMV is a funny f**kin store store, when you walk in the first thing ya see is the new release wall, no Bleepin Pet Shop Boys... ya get four bloody rows of Miley Cyrus, four bloody rows of the Jonas Bothers and four rows of Tylor f**kin Swift, not to mention four rows of the new Depeche Mode album, which by all accounts isn't very good... but no f**kin Pet Shop Boys. I went to the back of the store and checked the "P" section under "Pet Shop Boys" but only found two standard one disc additions, I was pissed off to say the least. Here's the thing... If HMV is gonna basically drive every other record store out of business and make themselves the defacto monopoly for new music ( which is essentially what they've done ) then the least they can bloody well do is provide a decent selection of albums for those of us that don't like over commercialized pop. If it was some obcure band I might undersand, but we're talking about a group that has sold more than 50 million records worldwide, a band that's been around as long as U2 and released just as many albums, if not more ( most of which BTW ain't even available at HMV ) the disrespect is mind-boggling...

Spoons at the Tattoo Rock Parlour March 26 2009

The Tattoo Rock Parlour in Toronto was packed to full capacity last night for the Spoons concert, sorry my picks ain't better, I need to get a decent camera. They put on a fantastic show for the very lively crowd, it's amazing how many hits this band has, no matter how many time I see them I'm always amazed. Its easy to see why after all these years they still command such a loyal following and of course the musicianship is second to none, 30 years of playing together tends to do that... last nights set included a couple of songs I'd never heard live before. Mecurial Girl and Rodeo.

The set list was as follows..
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Trade Winds (Recorded)
Arias & Symphonies
Smiling In Winter
Bridges Over Borders
Romantic Traffic
Like A MemoryWaterline
Mercurial Girl
Old Emotions
Tell No LiesRed Light
No Electrons
One In Ten Words
Nova Heart
When Time Turns Around (E1)
Rodeo (E2)

Bananarama

....Sometimes it's hard to tell were New Wave ends and Pop begins, the line begins to blur and at some point gets crossed. When I was a teenager I might of cared about such things but now I don't give a shit, I'm not that pretentious.

.... This English girls group first formed in 1979 with the original line up of Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin who had all been friends since childhood. In 1981, Bananarama's members were living in a flat above the rehearsal room used by former Sex Pistols members Steve Jones and Paul Cook with their help, Bananarama recorded their first demo "Aie a Mwana" During the early period Bananarama was approached by Malcolm MacLare, the Pistols manger who tryed to sign them, they turned him down which in hindsight was probably a good idea. Their greatest success was during the period from 1982 to 1989 most of there top charting singles were recorded during this time. Their debut album Deep Sea Skiving was released in 1983 and yeilded three UK singles "Really Saying Something" (#5 UK) and "Shy Boy" (#4 UK) — and a cover "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" (#5 UK). Although there have been some line up changes over the years they continue to perform today and have released a total of 9 studio albums.

Hysteria - The Human League

OK, I'm not gonna lie about this one, not a big fan of the album, I guess they can't all be good, I just closed my eyes, reached into my CD collection and pulled out anything. A shinny little gem floating in a sea of mediocrity, that's how I'd describe "The Lebanon" the lead off single from Hysteria. This politically charged tune boasts a killer bass line, meaningful lyrics plus a fusion of guitar and synthesizers that create an energy like few songs can, add to that a great hook and you get what could be considered an almost perfect song. Unfortunately the rest the tracks don't fare quite as well, the album seems rushed, thrown together almost as if Philip Oakey was in a hurry. It's not that the albums bad, don't wanna give that impression, just a bit mediocre and simple. There's a few other tracks I found interesting, namely "The Sign", "So Hurt" and "Life on Your Own" but in general it's a forgettable disc by an otherwise talented band.

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Hysteria peeked at number 62 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.

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The Tracks are as follows...

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1. I'm Coming Back

2. I Love You Too Much

3. Rock Me Again and Again and Again and Again and Again (Six Times)

4. Louise

5. The Lebanon

6. Betrayed

7. The Sign

8. So Hurt

9. Life On Your Own

10. Don't You Know I Want You

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Bonus Tracks on CD Re-master

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1. Thirteen.

2. The World Tonight

3. The Lebanon ( Extended )

4. Life On Your Own ( Extended )

5. The Sign ( Extended )

Express - Love and Rockets

Express is the second album by Love and Rockets, released in 1986 on Beggar's Banquet label and it is the first recording I personally picked up by this phenomenal British band. I believe it is their strongest work in a library that includes seven studio albums over thirteen years, although I must admit I'm still unfamiliar with their final two releases ( Sweet F.A, and Lift ). The album is ingenious and could best be describes as having a post punk, psychedelic sound with a bit of gothic style thrown in for good measure, a remnant from the old Bahause days. I still listen to it on a regular basis, it is a mainstay in my collection there aint nothing better than blasting this album loud. The big single I guess would haved to be "Yin and Yang" but every track is strong, especially "An American Dream" which is my personal favorite. I don't really think this band gave a shit about commercial success, if they had I suspect this album would have been much bigger than it was... it is an almost perfect record. Like Bauhause before them Love and Rockets cared more about the music and the fans, sales seemed be a second priority... It appeared to me at the time ( once again this is only my opinion ) that everyone I knew had this album (in my social circle anyway) but there was very little fanfare during the release nor any real advertising during the initial run, word of mouth seemed to be the order of the day, the band had their cor set of fans that were quite loyal of which I was one of them and that seemed to be sufficient...if you disagree fell free to say so, sometimes I can be quite full of sh*t.....

Track list is as follows...

1. "It Could Be Sunshine"
2. "Kundalini Express"
3. "All in My Mind"
4. "Life in Laralay"
5. "Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man)"
6. "Love Me"
7. "All in My Mind (acoustic)"
8. "An American Dream"

The original CD release also included "Ball Of Confusion"

David Byrne at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre

It's great to see he's still going strong...As a member of the legendary new-wave pioneers Talking Heads, David Byrne has captivated audiences for over 30 years. And now, as a solo he is touring his latest record, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, Byrne pulled into Vancouver for a stop at the Queen Elizabeth Theater last Friday evening Feb 20th. Byrne's latest record is his first collaboration with famed producer Brian Eno in 17 years. He is touring with a four member backing band and three back-up singers this time. During their lengthy set they played material from the new release and also some classics like "Once In A Lifetime" and "Take Me To The River", for those that may not be familiar with his new work. By all accounts it was a great show, the sell out crowd spent most of the night on their feet, I wish I could have been there...

B-Movie

....One of those odd ball new wave bands that I used to like but had a hard time following because the material available was so limited. Two of the most phenomenal club singles from the 80's were released by this relatively unknown band. "A Letter From A Far", which I bought 12'inch single back in 84 still in my opinion one of the best songs of all time, and "Nowhere Girl" their most popular single. Surprisingly the bands most successful single in the UK was "Remembrance Days" which although good is in my opinion the weakest of the three songs.

....From Mansfield England the formed in 1978, active in the first half of the 1980,s they called themselves B-Movie after an Andy Warhol painting of the same name. They were originally signed to the Some Bizzare record label. Bizzare Records was a British independent record label founded in 1981, with the release of Some Bizzare Album , a compilation of unsigned bands including Depeche Mode , Soft Cell , The The and Blancmange. Though B-Movie release a number of singles they didn't actually release an entire album until 1985, the album was called Forever Running ( Sire Records ) unfortunately is was a commercial failure. Shortly after it's release the band broke up, each going their separate ways, most joining with other bands.

B-Movie are...

Rick Holliday.......Keyboards
Steve Hovington..Vocals/bass
Paul Statham......Guitar
Graham Boffey....Drums

Everythings Different Now - Til Tuesday

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An American contribution to the New Wave scene exceeding by far most others, an absolute a tour de force. Released in 1988 it was Til Tuesday's third and final album, much like the second album it was poorly promoted by Epic Records and as a result it finished up at position 124 on the Billboard Top 200. A tradgedy to be sure, and as usual it's the music fans that suffer the most, a gem has been lost to the masses forever. Few, if any below the age of thirty-five will even know of it's existence, much less be inclined to buy it. The only single to be released "( Believed You Were) Lucky" although an excellent song, was far from the best. Four songs in particular " Everything's Different Now", "Rip In Heaven", "Long Gone" and "How Can You Give Up" each stronger than the lead off single should have also been released. Bring me the record executive that is responsible for this debacle, I want his f##kin head on a platter, material like this should not be allowed to fade into obscurity. The whole album is strong, there in no fill on this record at all, once more Aimee Mann shows her incredible singer / song writer ability. I've listened to this album countless time over the years and will continue to in the future...

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Track Listing

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1. Everythings Different Now

2. Rip In Heaven

3. Why Must I.

4. J For Jules

5. ( Believed You Were ) Lucky

6. Limits To Love

7. Long Gone (Buddy)

8. The Other End ( Of the Telescope )

9. Crash and Burn

10. How Can You Give Up

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Til Tuesday Are...

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Aimee Mann............ bassist/vocalist

Michael Hausman......drums

Robert Holm...........guitarist/ background vocalist

Michael Montes........keyboards (replaced Joey Pesce previously on keyboards )

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Below I'll include the video "Lucky", the one single to be released, but as previously stated, although it is a great tune it is far from the best this disc had to offer...