Desperately Seeking Susan

I got this single last year for 10p.  It's my favourite Madonna song, and possibly my favourite pop song of all time.

Madonna - Into The Groove (1985)

It's taken from the 1985 movie Desperately Seeking Susan, co-starring Rosanna Arquette.  It's a story of murder and mistaken identity in which Madonna's acting isn't that bad, mainly because she's pretty much playing herself.

The single was Madonna's first UK no.1 and it stayed there for four weeks.  Here it is.

 

 

I recently got the DVD of the movie and was reminded just how yummy Aiden Quinn (Dez, the male lead) was.  Apparently Bruce Willis was originally up for this part - I'm glad they went with Aiden in the end!

Living To Music October 2011

Join in if you can, this Sunday at 9pm with Greg Wilson's Living To Music worldwide communal listening experience.  This month's album - Nirvana's Nevermind.

http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2011/09/living-to-music-nirvana-nevermind/

Keep the frequency clear

I got this last summer at a boot sale for 50p:

Bomb The Bass - Beat Dis (1987)

This was the debut single from Tim Simenon a.k.a. Bomb The Bass.  Said to contain a whopping 72 samples, it was one of the first tracks to herald DJ and sampling culture going overground and enjoying chart success.

It reached no.2 in the UK and can be found on the 1988 album Into The Dragon, which peaked at no.8 in the album chart.  I was 13 at the time and my big sister had the album on cassette, which I used to borrow.  I recently bought myself a cassette copy via eBay for 99p and the Proustian rush was enormous!

Here's the single on my Dad's old record player:

Beat Dis

Do It In The Name Of Love

This was 50p at a boot sale this summer; Candi Staton's self-titled third album.

Candi Staton - Candi Staton (1972)

I can't find a lot of info about this LP, and don't know how successful it was.  However it has been released recently on CD along with her other recordings on the Fame label.

The only song available on Spotify is her recording of In The Ghetto, so here it is, as well as a youtube vid of another of my faves from the album:

Candi Staton – In The Ghetto

Something In The Night

A few months ago I got this brilliant LP on eBay, for about a fiver, after seeing a documentary about it on TV:

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978)

Fans had to wait three years after Born To Run for it's arrival, due to legal/contractual troubles.  It concentrates on the frustrations of small-town working class life, and many songs are about escapism.  Key to this escape was the car, in particular drag racing and driving at night.

Some songs are about hopelessness, like the beautiful title track, while others are full of hope for redemption through hard work. e.g. Badlands. 

Much has been written about this album, more eloquently than I ever could, so here is Rolling Stone magazine's original 1978 album review:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/darkness-on-the-edge-of-town-19780727

The album reached no.14 in the UK and no.5 in the US.  I absolutely love it, and here are probably my two favourite tracks:

Spotify:  Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – Candy's Room

                 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – Darkness On The Edge Of Town



Break it

I got a couple of breakdance singles last year at different boot sales, probably for about 25-50p each.  The first is the soundtrack to the 80's film 'Breakdance - The Movie' (called Breakin' in the US).  My friend had both Breakdance movies on video and I loved them.  As far as I can remember, they revolved around saving the local youth club somehow through the power of breaking.  No, really.

  

Anyway, here's the video to Ollie & Jerry's UK no.5 single There's No Stopping Us, which also reached no.9 in the US chart.  Prepare for some toprocking, downrocking and power moves.  Plus a lady in legwarmers, obviously.

Ollie & Jerry - There's No Stopping Us (1984)

The next was Break Machine's Street Dance.  This peaked at no.3 in the UK in March '84 and no.6 in the US dance chart.  This video is a tad quieter so you'll need to whack the sound up a bit more.

Break Machine - Street Dance (1983)

The squeak at the start of the film is my cat Ethel meowing.  She loves this song too.

The Filth And The Fury!

I got this for £1 a few weeks back:

Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks (1977)

The Sex Pistols were signed to EMI in Oct 1976, but then dropped on Jan 6th 1977, not long after a controversial TV appearance where some effing and blinding had taken place.  It wasn't their first public controversy, or indeed their last.  After a very short-lived signing to A&M, they finally released Never Mind The Bollocks on Virgin.

My favourite song is the album closer, written about their first record label.  It ends with Rotten blowing them a raspberry:

Sex Pistols - EMI

The former owner of this copy has identified it with their punk name.  Just inside the cover, scrawled in biro, is the alias 'Sick Nick'.  Brilliant.

Spotify:  Sex Pistols – Holidays In The Sun        Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen



Love Me Do

Now it's September and the weather is already taking a turn for the worse, car boot season is coming to an end.  This gives me the opportunity to post about vinyl that I've found at car boots sales and charity shops before I started this blog back in July.

I'll start with my favourite buy of all, a mono copy of the Beatles' debut album Please Please Me (1963), bought for £2 earlier this year.

The Beatles - Please Please Me (1963)

It has a little bit of crackle (just the right amount in my opinion!) and jumps once on Twist & Shout, but I'm as pleased as anything with it 'cos it's a brilliant record, still so vibrant and exciting.  The beginning of an amazing story, too.

Here's a little film of I Saw Her Standing There:

The Beatles - I Saw Her Standing There

The fact that it spent thirty weeks at number one, only to be knocked off by their next album With The Beatles, is incredible.  No artist these days could comprehend such a statistic, unless of course their name is Adele!

Disco diva

On Sunday I popped over to Aldeburgh with two of my sisters.  After stuffing ourselves on chips and ice creams we had a look around the shops and I got this LP in the charity shop for £1:

Gloria Gaynor - Never Can Say Goodbye (1975)

The title track reached no.2 in the UK charts, and features on side 1 as part of an uninterrupted disco mix with the other two single releases Honey Bee and a cover of Reach Out, I'll Be There.  The album reached no.32 in the UK and no.25 in the US pop chart (#21 in the R&B chart).

Just for fun, 'cos I've never used the video function on my camera in all the years I've had it, let alone uploaded one, here's the first song from side 2, All I Need Is Your Sweet Lovin', playing on my Dad's old Dual HS 34.  He bought this record player in Berlin whilst posted there with the RAF in the 70s, and now it's mine after a recent loft clear-out.  You may need to whack up the volume a little, and yes, it does skip at around the 2.50 min mark!

Gloria Gaynor - All I Need Is Your Sweet Lovin'

Under African Skies

Despite going to three boot sales over the Bank Holiday weekend, I only came away with one bit of vinyl:

Paul Simon - Graceland (1986)

Bought for £1, this was Simon's seventh solo album and it reached number one in the UK.  Heavily influenced by South African music and featuring a host of musicians from here, it produced four singles.  The most successful by far was You Can Call Me Al, which featured Chevy Chase in the video and reached number four in the UK.  The others were Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes, The Boy In The Bubble and the title track Graceland, which features the Everly Brothers.

Spotify:  Paul Simon – The Boy In The Bubble      Paul Simon – Under African Skies

Youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq-gYOrU8bA

Linda Ronstadt lends vocals on Under African Skies.