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