Sardonicus reviews a bunch of old 45s (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Sardonicus
- Start date
jyxz
User
Should have saved this for a future ASFM
Sheena
ROMANCE
- Pronouns
- he/him
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2004
- Messages
- 135,961
I do, however, and probably more obviously, own The Ten Commandments of Dance. There’s not much beyond the singles really, but Requiem and London Nights are top drawer.
You’re the love of MY LIFE!
MY LIFE!
MY LIFE!
AND it must have sounded so much better in a popper fuelled nightclub haze
You’re the love of MY LIFE!
MY LIFE!
MY LIFE!
AND it must have sounded so much better in a popper fuelled nightclub haze
jyxz
User
‘Requiem’ is pure ART
And London Boys were another act with a 1989 megamix
And London Boys were another act with a 1989 megamix
Sheena
ROMANCE
- Pronouns
- he/him
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2004
- Messages
- 135,961
Requiem IS art. It transcends what they were as an act, really. High camp of the highest order. It's also got a surprising place amongst my group of straight mates who all absolutely ADORE it, though if I try a drunken 1-2 with London Nights, generally that gets skipped unless me and OLD ELLEN are quick enough to get to the NEWLY FANDANGLED IPOD MACHINE first.
Sheena
ROMANCE
- Pronouns
- he/him
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2004
- Messages
- 135,961
I can't believe no one has replied to this with, so I'm fixing that right now:
MY LIFE!
MY LIFE!
jyxz
User
Have you seen the ‘straight’ roller skating disco troupe Dennis was a member of in 1979? Puts the Village People to shame.
Sardonicus
WHADDA YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER
The Cure - Boys Don't Cry (Remix) b/w Pillbox Tales (1986)
UK chart peak - Number 22
From maybe the sunniest, cheeriest LADS LADS LADS in pop history, to the group with a (not always) fair reputation as gothic MUSICAL MISERIES.
Now, OK, I can see how The Cure have ended up with that perception over the years. As brilliant as their album "Pornography" is, it's also an unremittingly dark, bleak howl of anguish from a man in the middle of a full on breakdown. As a SINGLES ACT, though, The Cure have had tons of upbeat pop goodness, from the origins of indie dance in "The Love Cats" to the breezy drivetime commerciality of "In Between Days".
"Boys Don't Cry" isn't one of those moments though. Their debut single in 1979, it flopped on release & this version is a little faster, a little more polished, a little better mixed & sung from the perspective of someone with a few more years experience of the UNIVERSITY OF LIFE behind them. Recorded again to promote a Greatest Hits compilation in 1986, this version only exists on this single as the compilation contained the original. So potentially this random pile of OLD 80s SHITE may well have thrown up a single that's worth a FEW BOB. Its tale of a man trying to disguise his real emotions at the end of a relationship still rings as TRUE A NOTE in 2025 as it did back then, but I've never got fully on board with it - chiefly as it's a little too MAUDLIN but also not that MUSICALLY INTERESTING. It's a simple song that's very much the sound of a band finding their feet - I just always want to jump on ahead to the more interesting MUSICAL AVENUES The Cure were exploring shortly after.
It's the same with the B side, another recording of a song previously unreleased - it's a not bad but bland run through of various Cure concerns that would be honed to better effect as the 80s progressed.
Trying to summarise the career of a band with a now nigh on 50 years together would be ludicrous & impossible (unless @octophone wants to give it a try as a distraction from today's unfortunate news) but The Cure have long ago proven themselves as one of the greatest British bands, ploughing on through ups & downs, countless personnel changes, from in trend to out of fashion, always there, doing their own thing, a massive back catalogue of fantastic music that's still being rediscovered by new generations. Their latest album "Songs From A Lost World" is amongst their best, a truly astounding achievement from a band who could have long ago slipped into the Rolling Stones approach of soundalike albums & lucrative tours - instead they're still here, still doing their bit to remain musically fresh & still have something to say 40 odd years in - there's not many that could do the same.
UK chart peak - Number 22
From maybe the sunniest, cheeriest LADS LADS LADS in pop history, to the group with a (not always) fair reputation as gothic MUSICAL MISERIES.
Now, OK, I can see how The Cure have ended up with that perception over the years. As brilliant as their album "Pornography" is, it's also an unremittingly dark, bleak howl of anguish from a man in the middle of a full on breakdown. As a SINGLES ACT, though, The Cure have had tons of upbeat pop goodness, from the origins of indie dance in "The Love Cats" to the breezy drivetime commerciality of "In Between Days".
"Boys Don't Cry" isn't one of those moments though. Their debut single in 1979, it flopped on release & this version is a little faster, a little more polished, a little better mixed & sung from the perspective of someone with a few more years experience of the UNIVERSITY OF LIFE behind them. Recorded again to promote a Greatest Hits compilation in 1986, this version only exists on this single as the compilation contained the original. So potentially this random pile of OLD 80s SHITE may well have thrown up a single that's worth a FEW BOB. Its tale of a man trying to disguise his real emotions at the end of a relationship still rings as TRUE A NOTE in 2025 as it did back then, but I've never got fully on board with it - chiefly as it's a little too MAUDLIN but also not that MUSICALLY INTERESTING. It's a simple song that's very much the sound of a band finding their feet - I just always want to jump on ahead to the more interesting MUSICAL AVENUES The Cure were exploring shortly after.
It's the same with the B side, another recording of a song previously unreleased - it's a not bad but bland run through of various Cure concerns that would be honed to better effect as the 80s progressed.
Trying to summarise the career of a band with a now nigh on 50 years together would be ludicrous & impossible (unless @octophone wants to give it a try as a distraction from today's unfortunate news) but The Cure have long ago proven themselves as one of the greatest British bands, ploughing on through ups & downs, countless personnel changes, from in trend to out of fashion, always there, doing their own thing, a massive back catalogue of fantastic music that's still being rediscovered by new generations. Their latest album "Songs From A Lost World" is amongst their best, a truly astounding achievement from a band who could have long ago slipped into the Rolling Stones approach of soundalike albums & lucrative tours - instead they're still here, still doing their bit to remain musically fresh & still have something to say 40 odd years in - there's not many that could do the same.
Sardonicus
WHADDA YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER
It does actually adapt SURPRISINGLY WELL. I am adding the album to the list of MUSICAL NONSENSE I must track down & own
Also I happen to LOVE every COMMANDMENT on "The Twelve Commandments Of Dance" even beyond the singles. WHAT A (FIERCELY HETEROSEXUAL) DUO
Sardonicus
WHADDA YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER
Please do come back when you're in a better frame of mind, octy, as I'd be intrigued to get your insight on The Cure's long career. Obviously other worries at the moment *hugs*
octophone
sausage roll thrice
- Pronouns
- she/her
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2004
- Messages
- 63,045
The Cure's lows are truly low, it must be said. There's a couple of later albums when they are a pale photocopy of a parody of themselves. I had low expectations for Songs Of A Lost World but it's a genuinely excellent album.
Shirley
BIG-HEARTED BUNNY
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2004
- Messages
- 35,477
God that's awful and I speak as a HEAVY CONSUMER of RUBBISH DISCO
The Cure are brilliant and their albums have done surprisingly well here in the States unlike their singles on the charts.
Boys Don’t Cry is a pretty well played song here radio wise but I don’t see that the original or the updated version charted here. Though they really don’t have a lot of chart success with the bulk of their singles here.
Looks like Friday I’m In Love is their last charting song here and it only hit number 18 apparently.
Spain seemed to love them in 2008 as they had a run of 3 #1s and a #2 singles
Boys Don’t Cry is a pretty well played song here radio wise but I don’t see that the original or the updated version charted here. Though they really don’t have a lot of chart success with the bulk of their singles here.
Looks like Friday I’m In Love is their last charting song here and it only hit number 18 apparently.
Spain seemed to love them in 2008 as they had a run of 3 #1s and a #2 singles
Last edited:
Sardonicus
WHADDA YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER
If I remember rightly, Joe, the outlier was "Lovesong" which got to number 2 in America in 1989
Yeah that song was MASSIVE
Shirley
BIG-HEARTED BUNNY
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2004
- Messages
- 35,477
We didn't get enough SHEILA chatSheila E - The Belle Of St Mark b/w Too Sexy (1985)
UK chart peak - Number 18
View attachment 34622
Confusingly, the label to this single credits only Sheila E as the songwriter, but Wikipedia also lists Prince - perhaps @Ellie can clarify? Either way, this unsurprisingly bears the HEAVY INFLUENCE of the PURPLE ONE, as Sheila E, maybe the most legendary percussionist in the industry, was a key member of Prince's backing band for many years & also, I believe, in a relationship with him for at least some of that time.
Between her Whitney-esque looks, chic fashion sense & amazing percussion skills, OUR SHEE was an obvious candidate for Prince to groom for solo stardom, but unlike some of his other proteges, she had immense musical skills in her own right, so I'm unsure if the PURPLE ONE took the lead on her early solo work, or if Sheila was more in control, or if there might have been a bit of a POWER STRUGGLE going on. Regardless of the background,
This follow up was a more minor success at home (#34), but gave her her only chart entry in the UK, reaching the top 20. Like with other big American successes at the time, I do wonder if the relative floppage here was due to a lack of time available to promote overseas. Accompanied by fab live performances by OUR SHEE & her backing band with them all sauntering around the stage in unison, "The Belle Of St Mark" is all about some FEY, ANDROGYNOUS, ETHEREAL yet SEXY type (it's giving a male Enya) who OUR SHEE falls for, although he sounds a bit MINCY to me, Sheila - watch out & GOD HELP US IF THERE'S A WAR ON.
The zippy backing music is Prince through & through, but it's all done in a more upbeat, cartoony fashion. Absolutely one of the best works related to Prince from that decade & CRIMINAL it wasn't a bigger hit - it's just great! B side "Too Sexy" doesn't seem to have Prince's involvement, but the influence is still all over it, with this mainly instrumental percussion led tune featuring lots of heavy breathing & hints of NAUGHTINESS.
Sadly, despite still regularly releasing albums, Sheila's chart career didn't last much longer after this, but even after her association with Prince ended, she's worked & performed with every big name UNDER THE SUN over the years - her percussion skills have remained in constant demand & she's by far the most well-known musician associated with the percussion. Despite being iconic & pioneering though, has any other female musician of note followed on & cited her as an influence? I can't think of anyone myself, which is a real shame.
"His Paris hair, it blows in the warm Parisian air
That blows whenever his Paris hair is there"
I CAN
I CAN HELP
I CAN HELP YOU
Last edited:
Sardonicus
WHADDA YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER
Morrissey - The Last Of The Famous International Playboys b/w Lucky Lisp (1989)
UK chart peak - Number 6
I think you might have a few CHOICE WORDS to say about THIS ONE, @octophone!
"Everyone grows out of their Morrissey phase, except Morrissey" quipped the late Sean Hughes & it was funny because it's TRUE. I will cover the FALL FROM GRACE of someone who I think many of us may have idolised over the years, but first, I will be fair & give the record the proper overview just as I've done with everything else.
An in between his debut & second albums release, this is actually a TOP TIER MOZZA solo single. Without Marr around to add a touch of genius, & also the friction that i think spurred both on to greater creativity in The Smiths, his solo stuff displayed varying quality from the start - the best stuff easily imagined as being able to fit on to a Smiths album & the lesser stuff, which veered from average to terrible, BETTER BEST FORGOTTEN. "Playboys" is definitely in the former category - it's musically interesting rather than plodding like some of his other solo work, the chorus is catchy & the more easy to parody elements of Mozza solo work, from his vocal inflections to his lyrical subject matter, are instead kept within check. I was surprised to find out that Smiths colleagues Andy Rourke & Mike Joyce both played on this record as I'd always thought they'd had no contact after The Smiths split in 1987, other than Joyce's infamous court case several years later. Maybe this provided him with the push he needed to not be musically complacent & it resulted in one of his best songs. The lyrics refer to the media glamourisation of violent criminals, in particular The Kray Twins & along with the punchy but slightly more forgettable B side "Lucky Lisp" showed a concern for topics somewhat WEIGHTIER than boy meets girl. "Lucky Lisp" urges young gay men to feel empowered by prior gay icons & to see being gay as a positive thing - no easy subject to tackle at a time when the AIDS panic & Clause 28 saw the vilifcation of gay men by the Murdoch dominated media at an all-time high.
This sort of intelligent, well thought out & lyrically witty ripostes to the nasty bullshit spewed by many of the tabloids at the time are a reason why many people, myself included, held Morrissey up as not just a musical icon but as a heroic & principled man taking a stand against the damaging policies & the prejudices of the right wing. I admired & respected him as bringing a voice to the voiceless, the oddballs & the disaffected but it wasn't to last.
Despite ending his debut album with the disdain for Thatcher that was "Margaret On The Guillotine", album track "Bengali In Platforms" displayed a somewhat PROBLEMATIQUE lyrical concern of life being hard enough "when you belong here", with further songs like "Asian Rut" & "The National Front Disco" approaching issues of racial tensions in a way CLUMSY at best. Flag draped live gigs drew heavy criticism for possible racist connotations, but it was handwaved away by fans who didn't want to see the growing problem - that Morrissey was becoming entrenched in biased & myopic views that would eventually curdle into a world view both unpleasant & within line of the sort of politics he'd once railed against.
Having descended into tired music & crappy puntastic song titles by 1997, his 2004 comeback album saw several big hit singles & a status as a NATIONAL TREASURE was within touching distance, but as he's got older, his views have become more repugnant & extreme, from describing Chinese people as "less than human" to throwing his support behind far right party For Britain. Fans deserted him in droves, & although he's releasing new material still, it's to a dwindling fanbase as his shift to the right wing has tainted so much of his work. EH WELL - this is why you should never have heroes.
UK chart peak - Number 6
I think you might have a few CHOICE WORDS to say about THIS ONE, @octophone!
"Everyone grows out of their Morrissey phase, except Morrissey" quipped the late Sean Hughes & it was funny because it's TRUE. I will cover the FALL FROM GRACE of someone who I think many of us may have idolised over the years, but first, I will be fair & give the record the proper overview just as I've done with everything else.
An in between his debut & second albums release, this is actually a TOP TIER MOZZA solo single. Without Marr around to add a touch of genius, & also the friction that i think spurred both on to greater creativity in The Smiths, his solo stuff displayed varying quality from the start - the best stuff easily imagined as being able to fit on to a Smiths album & the lesser stuff, which veered from average to terrible, BETTER BEST FORGOTTEN. "Playboys" is definitely in the former category - it's musically interesting rather than plodding like some of his other solo work, the chorus is catchy & the more easy to parody elements of Mozza solo work, from his vocal inflections to his lyrical subject matter, are instead kept within check. I was surprised to find out that Smiths colleagues Andy Rourke & Mike Joyce both played on this record as I'd always thought they'd had no contact after The Smiths split in 1987, other than Joyce's infamous court case several years later. Maybe this provided him with the push he needed to not be musically complacent & it resulted in one of his best songs. The lyrics refer to the media glamourisation of violent criminals, in particular The Kray Twins & along with the punchy but slightly more forgettable B side "Lucky Lisp" showed a concern for topics somewhat WEIGHTIER than boy meets girl. "Lucky Lisp" urges young gay men to feel empowered by prior gay icons & to see being gay as a positive thing - no easy subject to tackle at a time when the AIDS panic & Clause 28 saw the vilifcation of gay men by the Murdoch dominated media at an all-time high.
This sort of intelligent, well thought out & lyrically witty ripostes to the nasty bullshit spewed by many of the tabloids at the time are a reason why many people, myself included, held Morrissey up as not just a musical icon but as a heroic & principled man taking a stand against the damaging policies & the prejudices of the right wing. I admired & respected him as bringing a voice to the voiceless, the oddballs & the disaffected but it wasn't to last.
Despite ending his debut album with the disdain for Thatcher that was "Margaret On The Guillotine", album track "Bengali In Platforms" displayed a somewhat PROBLEMATIQUE lyrical concern of life being hard enough "when you belong here", with further songs like "Asian Rut" & "The National Front Disco" approaching issues of racial tensions in a way CLUMSY at best. Flag draped live gigs drew heavy criticism for possible racist connotations, but it was handwaved away by fans who didn't want to see the growing problem - that Morrissey was becoming entrenched in biased & myopic views that would eventually curdle into a world view both unpleasant & within line of the sort of politics he'd once railed against.
Having descended into tired music & crappy puntastic song titles by 1997, his 2004 comeback album saw several big hit singles & a status as a NATIONAL TREASURE was within touching distance, but as he's got older, his views have become more repugnant & extreme, from describing Chinese people as "less than human" to throwing his support behind far right party For Britain. Fans deserted him in droves, & although he's releasing new material still, it's to a dwindling fanbase as his shift to the right wing has tainted so much of his work. EH WELL - this is why you should never have heroes.
octophone
sausage roll thrice
- Pronouns
- she/her
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2004
- Messages
- 63,045
It has to be said, Moz did come absolutely roaring out of the traps, post-Smiths. Viva Hate was a great album, the singles came with ace b-sides and when he made his best solo single to date with everyone except Johnny Marr, it felt like he'd really proved himself to be the 'True Talent' of The Smiths. In retrospect, we now know that this was circumstantial. Marr finished the Smiths out of exhaustion - having been left with writing all the music, managing the band and even producing them, he was taking on far too much of the work of keeping a successful band going. This was because Morrissey kept firing their managers, an early sign of his inability to trust in people, his victim complex and his willingness to just jettison people over the most minor of infractions, many of which were unknown to the other party. He came back fast and brimming with material because he could; he was essentially doing no more work than he was before.
The Last Of The Famous International Playboys is a hinge point in his career. A genuinely great huge glam stomp of a single with an actual point to make - not only that a point which has the room to resonate powerfully now in the age of Andrew Tate and his ilk. Wonky synths sit alongside a terrific vocal performance and, of course, Joyce and Rourke doing What They Do. Moz later claimed that he hoped to lure Marr back by essentially reassembling The Smiths without him. Marr, rightly, spotted the powerplay involved and found it pathetic.
A hinge point, you say? Oh aye. Not only was follow-up single Interesting Drug obviously lesser fare, it was also the start of him using live tracks as other such padding as b-sides. This was partly because he'd managed to annoy Stephen Street by lowballing his royalties - Street had his lawyers intervene and Morrissey dumped him immediately, the first major public demonstration of his inability to take even the slightest pushback. The decline in the quality of his music was immediate and he was soon on the slide in the charts. Once the sheen was no longer dazzling, people began to look a bit more closely and find him wanting. Fair questions around some of his lyrics were rebuffed with childish anger, leading to him, essentially, capitulate by brandishing a union flag on-stage in front of an away crowd (a 30,000 strong London audience for the newly reformed Madness, no less) while singing "The National Front Disco". What was an awkwardly pitched satire on an album, or played at his own gigs, took on a different, ugly hue and people began to reconsider other songs that had previously been excused as clumsy, especially "Bengali In Platforms". His truculence caused him to withdraw and his commercial stock went into decline after the unexpectedly great "Your Arsenal". He split with EMI and made one album each for RCA and Island before disappearing. As @Sardonicus points out, his 2004 comeback was met with genuine enthusiasm and contained his last great single, "First Of The Gang To Die".
Since then, he has made some of his most infamous remarks and ping-ponged around record labels, annoying them beyond redemption because they couldn't somehow magic paying customers out of the ether for his albums - this peaked with the "Fuck Harvest" fandango less than 2 weeks after they'd released his album. Today, he is beyond parody - unsignable, obsessed with 'cancel culture' and with a slew of frustrated ex-managers all of whom came within a hair's breadth of getting him back on vinyl before he pulled the plug, opened his blabby mouth or otherwise fucked it.
He could have been one of those elder statesfolk of music whom we respect regardless of how much we enjoy the music (such as, say, Robert Smith). Instead, he grumbles in splendid isolation, his extraordinary brain throttled by his small mind.
TL'DR - Morrissey? What a prick.
The Last Of The Famous International Playboys is a hinge point in his career. A genuinely great huge glam stomp of a single with an actual point to make - not only that a point which has the room to resonate powerfully now in the age of Andrew Tate and his ilk. Wonky synths sit alongside a terrific vocal performance and, of course, Joyce and Rourke doing What They Do. Moz later claimed that he hoped to lure Marr back by essentially reassembling The Smiths without him. Marr, rightly, spotted the powerplay involved and found it pathetic.
A hinge point, you say? Oh aye. Not only was follow-up single Interesting Drug obviously lesser fare, it was also the start of him using live tracks as other such padding as b-sides. This was partly because he'd managed to annoy Stephen Street by lowballing his royalties - Street had his lawyers intervene and Morrissey dumped him immediately, the first major public demonstration of his inability to take even the slightest pushback. The decline in the quality of his music was immediate and he was soon on the slide in the charts. Once the sheen was no longer dazzling, people began to look a bit more closely and find him wanting. Fair questions around some of his lyrics were rebuffed with childish anger, leading to him, essentially, capitulate by brandishing a union flag on-stage in front of an away crowd (a 30,000 strong London audience for the newly reformed Madness, no less) while singing "The National Front Disco". What was an awkwardly pitched satire on an album, or played at his own gigs, took on a different, ugly hue and people began to reconsider other songs that had previously been excused as clumsy, especially "Bengali In Platforms". His truculence caused him to withdraw and his commercial stock went into decline after the unexpectedly great "Your Arsenal". He split with EMI and made one album each for RCA and Island before disappearing. As @Sardonicus points out, his 2004 comeback was met with genuine enthusiasm and contained his last great single, "First Of The Gang To Die".
Since then, he has made some of his most infamous remarks and ping-ponged around record labels, annoying them beyond redemption because they couldn't somehow magic paying customers out of the ether for his albums - this peaked with the "Fuck Harvest" fandango less than 2 weeks after they'd released his album. Today, he is beyond parody - unsignable, obsessed with 'cancel culture' and with a slew of frustrated ex-managers all of whom came within a hair's breadth of getting him back on vinyl before he pulled the plug, opened his blabby mouth or otherwise fucked it.
He could have been one of those elder statesfolk of music whom we respect regardless of how much we enjoy the music (such as, say, Robert Smith). Instead, he grumbles in splendid isolation, his extraordinary brain throttled by his small mind.
TL'DR - Morrissey? What a prick.
octophone
sausage roll thrice
- Pronouns
- she/her
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2004
- Messages
- 63,045
There is definitely a piece to be written about how someone who was seen as anti-establishment and, to a degree, a champion of the oppressed became such a hateful figure but I'd rather read it than write it. I'm sure someone has it in hand.
alla
User
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2025
- Messages
- 142
I'm aware of how big The Smiths were, my first crush was very into them (I remember his face of HORROR when I told him I was more into Wilson Phillips and Mariah 
), but I don't think I ever played any of their songs. And same for Morrisey, I only got the single for his solo US hit (I think in 94?), which I quite like.
Edit: wait, I just checked and I have another 2 cd singles and a Greatest hits + a live concert
I'm confused, where and why did I get all that? Never played them, nice decoration on the shelf 
), but I don't think I ever played any of their songs. And same for Morrisey, I only got the single for his solo US hit (I think in 94?), which I quite like.Edit: wait, I just checked and I have another 2 cd singles and a Greatest hits + a live concert
I'm confused, where and why did I get all that? Never played them, nice decoration on the shelf
jyxz
User
Stolen from the crush. Along with his underwear.I'm aware of how big The Smiths were, my first crush was very into them (I remember his face of HORROR when I told him I was more into Wilson Phillips and Mariah
Edit: wait, I just checked and I have another 2 cd singles and a Greatest hits + a live concert
Sardonicus
WHADDA YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER
Jan Hammer - Miami Vice Theme (Original b/w TV Theme & 12 Inch Edit)
UK chart peak - Number 5
I was too young to appreciate the 80s PHENOMENON that was the "Miami Vice" TV show, although I did watch the DULL AS SUPER SERIOUS film remake with Colin Farrell & Jamie Foxx. The only thing I remember is thinking that the film had suctioned all the life & fun out of what has to be one of the defining shows of the decade. The fashions as displayed on the sleeve are certainly looking like a CHOICE these days, but this look was copied the world over as the show gripped viewers in the mid 80s, with Don Johnson as Crockett getting the girls & gays THIRSTING as he was catapulted, alongside Bruce Willis in "Moonlighting", to TV heartthrob status.
Unlike Bruce though, poor old Don's solo efforts got nowhere, as the Czech keyboardist & producer Jan Hammer scored a rare instrumental number 1 in the USA with the theme in 1985. There can't have been many TV themes to top the charts over the years (I can only think of "Eye Level" by the Simon Park Orchestra, which was a UK number 1 in the 70s as the theme to detective show "Van Der Valk") - so it shows just how much impact the show had from the get go. The soundtrack & fashions seem to have been as integral part of the show's appeal as the storyline & regular car/boat/helicopter chases, so if any theme tune was going to take off as a hit, it was going to be this one. Just like the show, it's the mid 80s in a musical nutshell, all urgent, driving synths, dramatic keyboard stabs & a notably funk/R&B influence. I wouldn't say it's as catchy as I might have expected, but it's got a definite commercial appeal & as the 1 minute TV version on the B side shows, it's an addictive enough theme to leave you wanting a bit more, which OUR JAN amply provides with extended versions for radio & 12 inch mixes.
I was AGOG to discover that Jan Hammer is a true one hit wonder in the USA, topping the charts with this & with no further entries on the top 100 afterwards - chiefly because his follow up single, "Crockett's Theme", is by far his better known song here in the UK. Soundtracking the aftermath of Crockett's wife being killed, it's a genuinely emotional, affecting instrumental synth piece that's basically the sound of Tangerine Dream deciding to have a commercial hit single. Only The Bee Gees kept it off the top in late 1987, although I actually know it, as many others from my generation will, as the soundtrack to various NatWest bank adverts throughout the 90s. Thankfully the song is strong enough to overcome its long affiliation with commercials, although I still get images of the wedding cake ad in my mind when I hear it.
Jan would have joined Starship in 1987 as acts to have seen their last charting hit reach number 1 if "Crockett's Theme" had gone one place higher, as subsequent follow ups got nowhere as interest in "Miami Vice" peaked & tailed off, with the show being cancelled in 1989. Other than a re-release in 1991 to cash in on the NatWest adverts (peaking at #47) he's never been seen again on the charts, although, you guessed it, he remains writing & composing to the present day. He's as associated with the 80s as the show is, no bad thing, although hopefully the pastel shirt & white suit look remains firmly at the back of the wardrobe these days.
UK chart peak - Number 5
I was too young to appreciate the 80s PHENOMENON that was the "Miami Vice" TV show, although I did watch the DULL AS SUPER SERIOUS film remake with Colin Farrell & Jamie Foxx. The only thing I remember is thinking that the film had suctioned all the life & fun out of what has to be one of the defining shows of the decade. The fashions as displayed on the sleeve are certainly looking like a CHOICE these days, but this look was copied the world over as the show gripped viewers in the mid 80s, with Don Johnson as Crockett getting the girls & gays THIRSTING as he was catapulted, alongside Bruce Willis in "Moonlighting", to TV heartthrob status.
Unlike Bruce though, poor old Don's solo efforts got nowhere, as the Czech keyboardist & producer Jan Hammer scored a rare instrumental number 1 in the USA with the theme in 1985. There can't have been many TV themes to top the charts over the years (I can only think of "Eye Level" by the Simon Park Orchestra, which was a UK number 1 in the 70s as the theme to detective show "Van Der Valk") - so it shows just how much impact the show had from the get go. The soundtrack & fashions seem to have been as integral part of the show's appeal as the storyline & regular car/boat/helicopter chases, so if any theme tune was going to take off as a hit, it was going to be this one. Just like the show, it's the mid 80s in a musical nutshell, all urgent, driving synths, dramatic keyboard stabs & a notably funk/R&B influence. I wouldn't say it's as catchy as I might have expected, but it's got a definite commercial appeal & as the 1 minute TV version on the B side shows, it's an addictive enough theme to leave you wanting a bit more, which OUR JAN amply provides with extended versions for radio & 12 inch mixes.
I was AGOG to discover that Jan Hammer is a true one hit wonder in the USA, topping the charts with this & with no further entries on the top 100 afterwards - chiefly because his follow up single, "Crockett's Theme", is by far his better known song here in the UK. Soundtracking the aftermath of Crockett's wife being killed, it's a genuinely emotional, affecting instrumental synth piece that's basically the sound of Tangerine Dream deciding to have a commercial hit single. Only The Bee Gees kept it off the top in late 1987, although I actually know it, as many others from my generation will, as the soundtrack to various NatWest bank adverts throughout the 90s. Thankfully the song is strong enough to overcome its long affiliation with commercials, although I still get images of the wedding cake ad in my mind when I hear it.
Jan would have joined Starship in 1987 as acts to have seen their last charting hit reach number 1 if "Crockett's Theme" had gone one place higher, as subsequent follow ups got nowhere as interest in "Miami Vice" peaked & tailed off, with the show being cancelled in 1989. Other than a re-release in 1991 to cash in on the NatWest adverts (peaking at #47) he's never been seen again on the charts, although, you guessed it, he remains writing & composing to the present day. He's as associated with the 80s as the show is, no bad thing, although hopefully the pastel shirt & white suit look remains firmly at the back of the wardrobe these days.
Sardonicus
WHADDA YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER
My favourite TV theme. I am genuinely perplexed why it was never released, it sounds like a hit to me. It needs to be this version with the dirty guitars though, some of the re-recordings don't have the same POWER.