Sardonicus reviews a bunch of old 45s

I find it hard to believe that Kate popped down to the PWL Studio for one of their infamous 10 minute vocal sessions.

Surely she would have popped her lovely sanging on a tape and had it biked over from Chateau Bush in Lewisham or wherever it was she was living at the time.
 
Paul Hardcastle - 19 b/w Fly By Night (1985)

UK chart peak - Number 1

20250324_092457.jpg


AKA the song that gave Simon Fuller's 19 Management its name, long before he hit even bigger with the likes of the Spice Girls. It's definitely one of the most oddball 80s records to have become a worldwide hit, topping the charts the world over & reaching number 15 in America, with it likely going higher if it hadn't been for a lack of airplay.

Rather like with the Flying Pickets from earlier on, I feel like there's some VALUABLE CONTEXT I'm missing around why this song became such a RUNAWAY SUCCESS - I'm hoping @octophone can help FILL IN THE BLANKS once again. I don't think there was any Vietnam war anniversary, "Platoon" was a year away from winning at the Oscars, the Falklands War was over & while there may have been some general anti-war SENTIMENT around I can't quite fathom how this managed to snowball into a 5 week chart topper. It's not as though the charts weren't full of competition too, it managed to keep "A View To A Kill" by Duran Duran at Number 2 for 3 weeks when they were likely the biggest band in the world at that time.

It throws together a catchy synth riff, which must have sounded pretty current then but seems rather DATED now, a jittery bunch of samples detailing some CHILLING FACTS around the Vietnam War & some female backing singers singing about the death & destruction of war. The stuttering "19" bit is catchy & stands out, but this really isn't a very commercial record. I can't imagine why it got playlisted amongst Duran Duran, Billy Ocean, Marge & the likes in 1985 & surely Chrysalis were not expecting it to be such a smash. Personally, while I think its anti-war SENTIMENT is timeless & admirable, I have NEVER taken to this song at all. I don't get why it took off, but maybe it sounded more modern & STRONGER in 1985, rather than passè?

The B side, "Fly By Night", is more synthy noodlings very reminiscent of Paul's TOTP theme "The Wizard" - a :disco: track that I still consider the "real" TOTP theme. It provided Paul with one of a small number of top 20 follow-up hits, but generally his instrumental synthy singles missed the top 40 both before & after "19", & he's long stopped bothering the charts at all, but remains musically active, with Wikipedia informing me his most recent FORAYS have been into SMOOTH JAZZ.
 
I was far too young, but I suspect the whole package (spoken word on an electronic dance track) was pretty groundbreaking and the age message wasn't necessarily within the public consciousness. Add to the fact, the novelty of a serious topic within what had been considered a frivolous genre, I think it just gave it legs.
 
Much in the same way The Sunscreen Song came along in 1999, it was a curio that caught people's attention.
 
I kinda unironically love Ferry Aid - an already great song with cheap-sounding 80s production, hilarious oversinging, Paul being annoying in the video and some genuinely good vox from Boy George and Kate sounds like a good time to me. My mum had the 7" because she would buy anything with George on it and I have to wonder if she ever listened to it more than twice

I note that @Sardonicus has the original sleeve with an unflattering photo of Paul, it was soon revised to this for later pressings

LTI4MjQuanBlZw.jpeg


Ferry Aid gets associated in my mind with another supergroup charity record featuring Kate and a lineup that's even more gay interest (though more on the CREDIBLE side) than Let It Be

 
I was far too young, but I suspect the whole package (spoken word on an electronic dance track) was pretty groundbreaking and the age message wasn't necessarily within the public consciousness. Add to the fact, the novelty of a serious topic within what had been considered a frivolous genre, I think it just gave it legs.
That's exactly it. There was certainly interest and precedent for the use of sampling - the top 10 had already had the Art Of Noise's "Close To The Edit", Depeche Mode sampling the bins being collected and Duran Duran's The ReFLE-FLE-FLE-FLE-Flex. 19 is actually a pretty funky tune and war had given Frankie Goes To Hollywood a big ol' 9 week #1 the previous year so it was a clever and effective amalgam of stuff that was in the air. Radio 1 took to it and it broke.
 
New Kids On The Block - You Got It (The Right Stuff) (7" Version b/w Instrumental) (1989)

UK chart peak - Number 1

20250324_144904.jpg


I believe @Ellie is the RESIDENT New Kids fan so I'm tagging her in just in case any of my HOT POP FACTS below are not correct. I'd probably have written an EXCORIATING review if this was one of their GODAWFUL ballads, but fortunately this is the one New Kids tune I've got a lot of time for, partly due to the late 1989 nostalgic feels & partly because it's their only song with a fair bit of OOMPH to it.

The New Kids had been a GOING CONCERN since the mid 80s from INSANELY YOUNG ages. They were put together by New Edition founder Maurice Starr, who's eyes lit up with DOLLAR SIGNS when he thought of putting together a white version of the group. He also had the time to do so when New Edition fired him for EMBEZZLING FUNDS. From the little I've read up on him while writing this review, he sounds like an ALL TIME PRICK.

Fair play to MOZZA though for penning this jaunty little pop tune (with just the slightest R&B influence). Its stop start style & none more 80s twinkly synth breakdowns make it the most interesting New Kids hit & they were duly rewarded with a top 3 hit in America in early 1989. Interestingly, the supposedly instrumental B side is really a longer extended mix with bits of the chorus & the "right stuff" chants still in place, so that's a bit more BANG FOR YOUR BUCK than I was expecting.

Over in the UK, Bros were on the wane by late 1989 & the New Kids swooped in on the gap in the market, sailing all the way to the top with this in November. I vaguely remember watching it on TOTP & they seemingly came out of NOWHERE, but it set the stage for a madcap 1990 as a pile of earlier hits reached the UK charts, along with another album, a world tour & a breakneck promotional schedule the planet over as they became a TEEN IDOL PHENOMENON complete with screaming fans & constant press attention. BAD BOY Donnie would be my choice as the FIT ONE, with the other 3 a bit TWINKY, & nobody ever fancied poor old hatchet face Danny :(

I've no recollection of the majority of their subsequent singles, many of which upped & left the charts rapidly as another replaced it. The only ones to ring a bell were chart topping follow-up "Hangin' Tough" (first UK number 1 of the 90s!), "Step By Step" (not too bad) & "Tonight" (I was never a fan of this with its Beatles aping trumpet).

The hits continued into 1991 as Maurice continued his SLAVEDRIVER antics with the group, but they'd been on a relentless treadmill for years by this point & a break was needed. I've not read up on any of it but I'd not be surprised if they had breakdowns or serious issues after undergoing such a crazed schedule & sudden influx of attention. They came back in early 1994, usurped in their absence in Europe by Take That, although I'm not sure who took over in America, possibly the likes of Color Me Badd & Boyz II Men. Wisely, they decided not to tread over old ground but instead positioned themselves as a more streetwise, experienced old hands alternative with comeback single "Dirty Dawg", but the fans had moved on, it flopped & they called it a day.

Jordan Knight had one comeback hit in 1999 with the :disco: "Give It To You" but despite a top 10 UK & US success, he couldn't follow it up. They've reformed since, I think even released new stuff & have toured very successfully numerous times on a wave of nostalgia. In fact I think our own @Joseph mentioned seeing them recently. They can probably continue packing them in until the old fans can't crawl to the stadia anymore.
 
I don’t think any of them had any breakdowns. Just Jonathan mentioning it being difficult hiding his sexuality, but he was always “the shy one” who didn’t really like performing and tagged on to accompany his brother anyway. I’m surprised he came back and stuck around in the revival tours and albums.

Apart from the financial dealing with Maurice Starr, there’s very little controversy about NKOTB. Most of them found successes elsewhere and they never fell out and seemingly are all still friends.
 
I don’t think any of them had any breakdowns. Just Jonathan mentioning it being difficult hiding his sexuality, but he was always “the shy one” who didn’t really like performing and tagged on to accompany his brother anyway. I’m surprised he came back and stuck around in the revival tours and albums.

Apart from the financial dealing with Maurice Starr, there’s very little controversy about NKOTB. Most of them found successes elsewhere and they never fell out and seemingly are all still friends.
I'm honestly surprised they didn’t struggle more after such a punishing schedule in 1990. It really looked unrelenting. They must have been worn out - I always figured that's why they went away for a couple of years.
 
I'm honestly surprised they didn’t struggle more after such a punishing schedule in 1990. It really looked unrelenting. They must have been worn out - I always figured that's why they went away for a couple of years.
Donnie and I think Danny had their first children early on, and of course he launched his rather successful acting career. Joe seemed to move to Broadway and some TV films. I have no idea what Jordan did between 1994 and launching his solo album in 1999. They’re all seemingly still with their first wives apart from Donnie who moved on to that anti-vaxxer Jenny McCarthy.

I think they just invested their money well and never became desperate.
 
One of my all time faves. They still put on an amazing show!

They are one of the few boy bands with little-to-no drama and still seem to enjoy each other’s company all these decades later.

Some of the newer songs are really good as well
 
I'm honestly surprised they didn’t struggle more after such a punishing schedule in 1990. It really looked unrelenting. They must have been worn out - I always figured that's why they went away for a couple of years.

Not just the schedule but they were absolutely destroyed by the media as has-beens and flash in the pans the moment the #1s dried up. Honestly they could have a successful run of modest hits even with diminishing returns for another couple of albums at least - no different to every other pop act - but the media seemed determined to drag them down.

It didn’t help that their sound was very much of its time. It seemed to die off as quickly as it came and by 1992 they were already starting to sound dated. They could have adapted but it was like America just wanted them to remain a brief phenomenon.
 
Donnie and I think Danny had their first children early on, and of course he launched his rather successful acting career. Joe seemed to move to Broadway and some TV films. I have no idea what Jordan did between 1994 and launching his solo album in 1999. They’re all seemingly still with their first wives apart from Donnie who moved on to that anti-vaxxer Jenny McCarthy.

I think they just invested their money well and never became desperate.
I was thinking more of the big break they took between late 1991 & early 1994. It always struck me as a bit odd that they went away for so long, so quickly; of course, it was all too late by the time they did return.
 
I was thinking more of the big break they took between late 1991 & early 1994. It always struck me as a bit odd that they went away for so long, so quickly; of course, it was all too late by the time they did return.
That was during the lip-synching fiasco I do believe. It kind of killed their momentum even though they were mainly using just backing tracks BUT they were touring non-stop so it wasn’t unimaginable. The Milli-Vanilli thing had major waves going through the industry.
 
Also Joey McIntyre has a new album out that’s really good *shameless plug*
 
Apart from the financial dealing with Maurice Starr, there’s very little controversy about NKOTB. Most of them found successes elsewhere and they never fell out and seemingly are all still friends.

I guess you're talking about struggling and personal stuff, because we can't forget the scandal that had much to do with the end of their success. In 1992 they were accused of lip-synching at their live performances, what took them to defend themselves on The Arsenio Hall Show. This drama was huge in the US, @Joseph to confirm.

 
The Milli-Vanilli thing had major waves going through the industry.
Exactly this. I also remember in 1993 a backing singer accused Paula Abdul she was the one actually singing in her albums, it was all over MTV back then. She never had a big hit after that, coincidence or not.
 
I guess you're talking about struggling and personal stuff, because we can't forget the scandal that had much to do with the end of their success. In 1992 they were accused of lip-synching at their live performances, what took them to defend themselves on The Arsenio Hall Show. This drama was huge in the US, @Joseph to confirm.


Yeah it was so major they flew in from Australia to do this show and defend themselves. I think the lawsuit was eventually dropped but the damage was done.
 
I guess you're talking about struggling and personal stuff, because we can't forget the scandal that had much to do with the end of their success. In 1992 they were accused of lip-synching at their live performances, what took them to defend themselves on The Arsenio Hall Show. This drama was huge in the US, @Joseph to confirm.


It’s hardly a scandal considering so many people do it now, but hide it with better mixing and autotune etc. It just wasn’t as well known back then and they got caught up in the fallout of the Milli Vanilli news. Paula Abdul also got clobbered for it. Strangely Janet Jackson came away unscathed.
 
Btw I remember a major radio station running a competition to write lyrics in Spanish for the song*, the winner would get it recorded by NKOTB. They actually recorded it, I think it was early 1990. and the result is so bad, they sound like if they were retarded. It tramautized me.






*I never understood why all the big stars recorded a song in Spanish at some point, because none of them (well, a very few exceptions) were EVER on the radio or released here, except as a bonus track in an album. Most of them sounded so bad, I know some are sung in Spanish because they say so, I can't tell listening to the song.
 
The Art Of Noise featuring Tom Jones - Kiss b/w E.F.L. (1988)

UK chart peak - Number 5

20250325_190536.jpg


Going one place higher in the UK than Prince's original did & also scaling the top 40 in America to become the Art of Noise's biggest hit. One of those irritating examples of a genuinely interesting group getting a smash success with a song that screamed GIMMICK.

Maybe I'm not the best JUDGE because "Kiss" wouldn't make it anywhere near my top Prince tunes either. I can think of AT LEAST 25 singles & album tracks I'd place above it & that's just off the top of my head. The Purple One made the right MUSICAL CHOICE however, with his trembly, high-pitched, SENSUOUS delivery entirely in line with the meaning of the song. Old Tom BARGES IN with his usual BULL IN A CHINA SHOP SCHTICK to give it all some WELLY, & maybe the group chose him to vocalise it as a deliberate contrast to Prince, but it doesn't work. It's just the novelty aspect of Tom Jones BELLOWING through it all & after that element of surprise the first time you hear it, why bother when the original is superior? I'm no fan of Tom's LOUD STYLE anyway - writing this I really couldn't think of a Tom song that doesn't IRK ME a lot. Also I can't explain why but I think the trumpets on this song sound SMUG.

This being The Art Of Noise, a group notorious for constantly fiddling with tracks & updating & remixing them, "Kiss" contains replayed elements of other, earlier, superior hits such as the amazing "Close (To The Edit)", as does the B side, which is more the sort of thing I like & expect from them, being lots of synthy fiddling & samples that sounds like a constant WORK IN PROGRESS. I do wonder what "E.F.L" stands for - English Football League, perhaps? :D

The story of this now defunct band & its individual members is far too long to tell here, but it's an interesting one. As well as providing us with atmospheric classics like "Moments In Love", amongst other things Anne Dudley went on to win an Oscar for the music in "The Full Monty" & I believe most (all?) members remain musically active on different projects. Old Tom is still here of course, after a zillion comebacks & a long running stint as a judge on "The Voice". Shame that a band known for innovation & experimentation got their most well-known moment with this crappy cover.
 
I think this is the song that made me hate Tom Jones for MOST OF MY LIFE

Various clips of him on the Voice in the sort of National Treasure role has softened my feelings towards him. But yeah this is possibly the worst cover ever made.
 
I don't mind a bit of TOM but this is neither one of his finest nor most ridiculous moments so I'm not really there for it
 
Judy Cheeks - Reach b/w Can't Get Enough (1994)

Never listened to any of her songs, but I'm very familiar with this album: bargain bins in second hand shops in Spain were literally packed with this record.

Don-E - Love Makes The World Go Round b/w Mystery (1992)
I recognise his name, reading UK charts back in the day, but no idea either; it doesn't sound bad at all. I'm surprised I'm still discovering 90s music at this point.
 
I have a couple of Don-E songs coming up in my thread shortly in 1992. I think this was one of them but the other song is better. I have no clue either, certainly not someone I knew back then.
 
Lisa Stansfield - This Is The Right Time b/w Affection (1989)

UK chart peak - Number 13

20250326_110806.jpg


After a few false starts & a guest appearance as vocalist on Coldcut's "People Hold On", this heralded the ARRIVAL of Lisa Stansfield as a MAJOR new British female solo STAR, & served as a taster before follow-up "All Around The World" conquered the charts the WORLD OVER. I do wonder if she ever did FIND HER BABY.

I love both songs, & indeed almost everything on accompanying album "Affection", which was played repeatedly on cassette from when I was a YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPER & is a truly beloved MEMENTO of JOYOUS CHILDHOOD DAYS. I do tend to give "This Is The Right Time" more spins though, as it's been less beaten to death on the radio over the years. Although I often play it a lot CHEZ SARD to THIS DAY, it's also a song that can always put me right back in the seemingly ENDLESS SUMMER DAYS of 1989 & 1990. Close my eyes when listening to it & the memories are almost TANGIBLE.

I'm actually surprised this missed the top 10, as not only does it FEEL like it was a bigger hit back then, it's a clever choice of debut single as it's positioned to appeal to numerous different markets - it's got a dancey appeal for those who got on board with the Coldcut single, there's a definite soulful influence & it's a radio friendly BOP. I love the busy sounding keyboard/synth riff that BABBLES through it all, & the almost rushed way the verses collapse into the chorus with the "there's no doubt about it, you've just got to shout out" bit. It's CHEERFUL & SUMMERY as anything, & even succeeded in plastering a smile back on my face after this WANK MORNING at work.

B side "Affection" is another clever selection, giving purchasers a taster of the then forthcoming album with a showcase of Lisa's versatility with its slower paced soulful style. The music has always brought to mind FLOWERS BLOOMING. Also I used to change the title to sing along to the chorus as "ERECTION - BE IT BIG OR SMALL" & had a right good CHUCKLE doing that again just now, which proves how much I've matured since I were a LAD.

Lisa did go on to become one of the top UK female stars of her generation, & I think is still the last white British artist to top the Billboard R&B chart, in 1991. 2nd album "Real Love" contained further classic cuts like "Change" & SLUTTY GEM "Time To Make You Mine" (one of the most :horny: songs EVER, IMO) but 3rd album "So Natural" was a self indulgent mis-step. It was an INTERMINABLE PLOD of GLOOPY love songs, with even peerless single "In All The Right Places" getting a crappy remix that took all the SEX APPEAL out of it. Even the cover was shit. The project was abandoned after a couple of singles & Lisa never regained the SUPERSTAR STATUS she'd had before it.

A very good comeback album in 1997 bought her more time & a few additional hits, & although she's still releasing music & doing a fair bit of acting, the MAGIC of the 1989 to 1993 period has never been recaptured. Brilliant voice & a fab back catalogue of singles, lots of critical respect too, so not a career to be sniffed at, now if only she could head back to 1993 & HAVE A WORD with herself about that third album...
 
I LOVE This is the right time and I still play it. Affection was one of the first albums I bought, it was a massive hit here too. I think in the rest of the world we got This is the right time after the smash hit that was All around the world.

I love how the American video for This is the right time starts with Lisa happily cutting off her kiss-curls that she profusely DETESTED because of the obsession with it by Americans, that even gave it a name :D
 
@Sardonicus I'm curious, were those 7" hard to find in the 90s, or they still sold in regular record shops like HMV? Because when I started buying vinyls, in 1990, 7" were nowhere to be seen here :( I remember the first one I bought, and actually the only one in a proper music store, Poison's Unskinny bop, totally random because I saw it behind the counter and asked for it. Never saw any other one, and I got them in the only record fair we had, once a year, an years later in bargain bins in second had shops that quickly disappeared. Shame because I always wanted to have a nice 7" collection and I only have like 120 or so, and totally random ones because usually it was more a case of what I could find and not what I really wanted. Oh well!
 
Last edited:
@Sardonicus I'm curious, where those 7" hard to find in the 90s, or they still sold in regular record shops like HMV? because when I started buying vinyls, in 1990, 7" they were nowhere to be seen here :( I remember the first one I bought, and actually the only one in a proper music store, Poison's Unskinny bop, totally random because I saw it behind the counter and asked for it. Never saw any other one, and I got them in the only record fair we had, once a year, an years later in bargain bins in second had shops that quickly disappeared. Shame because I always wanted to have a nice 7" collection and I only have 120 or so, and totally random ones because usually it was more a case of what I could find and not what I really wanted. Oh well!
You could get them in HMV or Woolworths absolutely fine until about 1995, when Woolies stopped stocking vinyl entirely & HMV greatly reduced the shelf space in favour of CDs & cassettes. Within a year or 2 virtually nobody was releasing singles on the format at all (the only record from this period in this thread is "Rotterdam" by The Beautiful South, which was sold in a limited numbered edition as a collectors item). Oasis, Blur & a couple of others did release the odd single in the format as they had the fanbase who'd shell out the cash but it was effectively dead as a way of releasing a single by 1997.
 
I reckon you could still get them until about 1994/5.

Independent record stores and as I recall JOHN MENZIES sold 7" singles.
 
Oh wow, do you mean you could get all (most) 7" that made the singles chart like in 1990!? Thank god we didn't have them here, I would be totally broken. Or stealing at some point to buy them all.
 
Aerosmith - Love In An Elevator b/w Young Lust (1989)

UK chart peak - Number 13

20250326_185722.jpg


"Oh, good morning, Mr Tyler. Going... DOWN?" We'll cover why doing THAT WITH MR TYLER might be a tad PROBLEMATIQUE shortly, but first, I'll give the song a fair review, regardless of the DODGE personal allegations that Mr Tyler has been dealing with of late.

This was a top 5 hit in the US, with Aerosmith having continuously charted hit singles & albums there since the 70s, but was their first EVER top 40 hit in the UK, & for some reason they never charted here at all until 1987. For years this was the only Aerosmith song I knew, due to its inclusion on :disco: 1989 compilation "Monster Hits", an eclectic array of that year's fab music with the exemption of a DIRE Simply Red flop single.

Similarly to Tom Jones, I have a real aversion to Steven Tyler's UNSUBTLE approach to singing. He SCREAMS HIS BASTARD HEAD OFF no matter what, & it all culminated in 1998's HORRIBLE "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing", which squished together the worst of them & songwriter Diane Warren to give them a career biggest hit that's still BELLOWED out towards the end of the night in bars EVERYWHERE. I truly hate it.

Maybe it's my long familiarity with it that influences me, but "Love In An Elevator" is the one time Aerosmith actually WORK for me. The lyrics BEG to be SCREECHED THROUGH, so I can deal with his voice & the hammering guitars repeating a GIANT RIFF during the WHOLE THING add an element of RIDICULOUS DRAMA to the whole silly scenario. It's pop metal taken to a LOGICAL EXTREME, & I do always GUILTILY ENJOY IT.

B side "Young Lust" is a less good VARIATION on the same pace of song, with DUBIOUS LYRICS GALORE - "You'd better keep your daughter inside/Before she gets a dose of my pride" goes one CHOICE COUPLET. The whole thing is rendered even worse when you know that Steven Tyler was appointed the legal guardian of a 16 year old back in the 70s so he could groom, drug & shag her. Despite a lawsuit filed by the victim in 2022, which he tried to get dismissed on the grounds of legal immunity as he was her guardian at the time, Aerosmith are still a GOING CONCERN, which shows that the CANCEL CULTURE screamed about by some sectors of the media really isn't much of a thing. An unpleasant end to things all around.
 
Aerosmith is one of those bands I like in SMALL doses. Love In An Elevator was VERY saucy to 14 year old me and this was another video that was shown on repeat.
 
Sorry for being BEHIND but THIS IS THE RIGHT TIME is quite simply EVERYTHING

What a time to etc etc

And yes TIME TO MAKE YOU MINE is quite the PINNACLE OF FILTH



Time To Make You Mine is my OUR LISA favourite. It’s quite magnificent and you never expect it to be coming out of HER either.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom