SFTBH

FATAL CHARM - CHRISTINE

So here is the other song from the Midge Ure produced Fatal Charm single.

I’m working diligently to find the rest of the stuff Midge produced during this period. I’m dying to get the album “Concrete Scheme” by Modern Man. Midge produced that entire album and it contains the song “Wastelands,” which he later recorded himself on his first solo album. I have the song he produced for Peter Godwin and I will post it at a later date. The song he did with Ronny I have but I don’t own on vinyl. (I try to only post my own stuff on this blog and not stuff I’ve found online.) I already posted a Strasse song…check the archive! There’s a song he produced for the band The Atrix, but I heard it and don’t like it. :-( Anyway, I will keep you posted, fellow Midge Ure fans!!!

And on a side note, shortly after posting the first Fatal Charm track earlier this week I actually received a Twitter correspondence from Midge Ure himself!!! (He’s in town near where I live and I asked if he was playing any gigs.) You’ll be happy to know that he said the NEW Ultravox album is almost finished and they will be putting the final touches on it once his vacation ends and he returns to the UK! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for this new album!

FATAL CHARM - PARIS

Now for a really rare track… I’ve mentioned before how much I love Midge Ure during his early 80’s Ultravox/Visage period. Well, he was quite a busy man then because he produced several other acts during this period as well. Fatal Charm is one of them. He produced this 7” double-A side single for them back in 1981. They were an opening act on tour with Ultravox, which is presumably how Midge got involved in producing the single. Fatal Charm went on to release two full-length albums in the 80’s, neither of which contained the two songs from this single. (Nor were they produced by Midge.)

Several months ago I finally found this single in a record shop. Sadly, I had to pay a small fortune to obtain it, but I think it was worth it. I enjoy both songs from the single, but “Paris” is my favorite. I will post the other track later this week.

THE BLOW MONKEYS - WILDFLOWER

The Blow Monkeys are probably most well known for their hit single “Digging Your Scene,” which came from their brilliant sophomore release “Animal Magic.” This song comes from their hard-to-find debut album “Limping For a Generation.” It’s my favorite song on the LP. The Blow Monkeys recently regrouped and released an album of new material in 2008 and a live album/DVD in 2009.

Back in the 80’s I had a friend named Julie who was obsessed with this band. She dragged me to see Robert Palmer in concert because The Blow Monkeys were the opening band. I think she was the only one standing and dancing through TBM’s set. And she made us leave half-way through Robert Palmer’s set because she was bored with him and he was ruining her Blow Monkey’s buzz. (I couldn’t complain, as she had paid for my ticket.)

CAMOUFLAGE - LOVE IS A SHIELD (12” MIX)

There were several Depeche Mode wannabe bands that came out in the late 80’s [Red Flag, Cause & Effect, etc.], but my favorite was always Camouflage. They were a German band and, in my opinion, were pretty darn good. You might remember them from their biggest hit “The Great Commandment.” This particular song was the lead single off their second album “Methods of Silence.” As much as I liked them I never followed them after that second album. (Why? I don’t know.) A quick search on Wikipedia shows that they released 5 albums after that between 1991 and 2006. Hmmm…Might have to check those out.

[Side Note: I saw Red Flag perform on New Year’s Eve at an 18-and-over club back in, I believe, 1988/89. It was a double-bill with the band Voice Farm. I dare you to remember that band!]

JOHN TAYLOR - I DO WHAT I DO…(THEME FOR 9 1/2 WEEKS) [THE SINGLE MIX]

“9 1/2 Weeks” was a very popular, but truly terrible movie that came out in 1986. John Taylor, otherwise known as bass player for Duran Duran and The Power Station, got involved in doing the soundtrack for the film (with Johnathan Elias). This “theme” from the movie was his first time singing lead vocals. I don’t think he has a terrible voice, but I actually prefer Andy Taylor’s voice more. (Andy, of course, also from Duran Duran & The Power Station.) I do love this song though. I wanted to post the extended version, but the file size was too big. Darn.

John Taylor is generally considered to be the one member of Duran Duran that the ladies love most. Why? I don’t know. Roger is far more attractive. (Let the Durannie arguing begin… LOL!) John Taylor has released some solo albums in the past, mostly during the time that he had left Duran Duran, but I have yet to hear any of them.

PS: I forgot to mention… John was in the audience the night I got to appear onstage during the Broadway production of “Monty Python’s Spamalot.” It still thrills me that he was in the audience that night! :-)

EURYTHMICS - MINISTRY OF LOVE (EXTENDED VERSION)

I’m still in a Eurythmics mood. This track is a little bit more rare. “Ministry of Love” comes from Eurythmics’ album “1984 (For the Love of Big Brother),” their soundtrack to the movie “1984.” This music is a good example of how something can grow on you. When I first bought the album back in 1984 I hated it and was pissed the band had released something so crappy and I had wasted my money. Now, I consider it to be their finest work, second only to their masterpiece “Savage.”

The director of the film, Michael Radford, famously dismissed Eurythmics’ score for his film, publicly disdaining it and removing as much of it as possible from the final release. Clearly, this man is an idiot. Supposedly, there is a version of the film out there that includes the complete Eurythmics score, but I have yet to see it. The current version you find on DVD is the theatrical release, which used very little of the Eurythmics’ music (which, apparently, was commissioned by the studio behind the director’s back and without Eurythmics’ knowledge of that fact).

In 2005, when all of Eurythmics’ back catalog was remastered and re-released with bonus tracks, “1984 (For the Love of Big Brother)” failed to make the cut because of rights issues. This still pains me to this day. In fact, this album isn’t even commercially available in the USA anymore, not even on iTunes! (Although you can always buy an import CD.) It’s not fair that this brilliant piece of work has been turned into the ugly stepchild of Eurythmics’ oeuvre.

Anyway, this remix appears as the b-side to the 12” single for the song “Julia,” which was the second and final single from the album. The mix itself isn’t too different from the album version. It has about 1:30 of extra chanting at the beginning of the track and then it segues into what sounds just like the album version. I love it though. And I am so happy to have found this to complete my “1984 (For the Love of Big Brother)” collection.

EURYTHMICS - BEETHOVEN (I LOVE TO LISTEN TO) [DANCE MIX]

“Beethoven (I Love to Listen to)” comes from Eurythmics’ album “Savage.” This is my personal favorite album of theirs. Most Eurythmics fans I’ve spoken to agree with me. The album is a masterpiece. This particular song was never actually released as a single in the USA, although it was a single elsewhere in the world. They did feature it as a double-A side on the 12” single of “I Need a Man.” This particular remix was not included on the 2005 remastered re-release of the album. Eurythmics filmed videos for every single song off the “Savage” album and released it as a video LP. It is fantastic and I am TIRED of waiting for it to be released on DVD!

KRISTY & JIMMY MCNICHOL - HOT TUNES

I excitedly found a Kristy & Jimmy McNichol album in a dollar bin a few months back. I was a huge Kristy fan when I was a kid, primarily due to her performance in “The Pirate Movie” which was one of my favorite films. The cheese factor on this album is extensive. Some of the tracks are cover versions (like Kristy singing “My Boyfriend’s Back”) and some are original songs. I’ve decided to post my favorite track off the album, “Hot Tunes.” Miraculously, two original inserts that came with the album were still included in the copy I found in the bargain bin. I’ve attached photos of them below.