Mostly German Old Used 45s That Metal Mike Saunders Mailed To Me

Chilly - "Have Some Fun Tonight"/"We Are The Popkings" (Polydor 1979) Same group, except the black guy in the band looks more like a transvestite on the cover this time, and the white guy and black woman have more space-age type outfits. This might be even better! The A-side is basically a megaphone vocoder type chant thing (the whole lyric appears to be the title) with a Bo Diddley beat underneath, and "We Are The Popkings" is more of glam-rock songs, with a catchy fuzzy guitar riff and a silly lyric brag about the fact that the pop kings are in town and it is then in an uber-macho Tom Jones type "rock" voice, and tinkly keyboards come in and then a radio announcer voice sneaks in from behind and starts namedropping Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison and Billy Joel and rock stars like that.

The Buggies - "Julie July"/"All Right She Said" (Philips, year unknown) Boring ballad on the A-side, but a good Ides of March/Looking Glass-style macho fake boogie-rock pop song on the B-side. A keeper!

http://hitparade.ch/cdimg/chilly-we_are_the_popkings_s.jpg

Yay Scott! That's the best sleeve so far, too!!

Baccara - "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie"/"Cara Mia" (RCA, 1977) Two overmadeup ladies jumping on the Silver Convention Teutonic disco bandwagon, near as I can figure. You can't blame them, and they do it good, even if the meaning of boogie has changed since then!

Oops, actually maybe "We Are The Popkings" was the A-side not the B-side of the 45 Scott pictured -- oh well! Both sides are still excellent!

http://www.czejarek.pl/baccara/bacc190.jpg

i was in amoeba a few weeks ago and heard a Supermax track over the system and found it they were playing a comp called DISCO DEUTSCHLAND DISCO Disco, Funk & Philly Anthems From Germany 1975-1980. i actually didn't like most of the rest of the cd, but man, supermax is one of my faves right now.

http://www.marina.com/images/ma68.jpg

http://www.marina.com/ma68notes.htm
click on the image and you can listen to clips of all the songs.

i didn't know that Silver Connection were german, and also didn't know that Penny McLean (who's record i have) was in that group

Silver Convention were very German! They were almost Kraut-rock, when you really think about it!

Anyway:

Alexandra "Sensucht"/"Was Ist Das Ziel" (Philips, year unknown.) I didn't like this much. Just some traditional cabaret lieder thing, or whatever it's called. The Alexandra on the cover, who is strumming an acoustic guitar, looks rather androgynous.

Graham Bonney "Scheneewittchen"/"Wahle 3 3 3" (Columbia, year unknown) This is slightly sillier and catchier and less traditional than the Alexandra one, but still not silly or catchy or untraditional enough for my tastes. Pretty dull, in fact. Wasn't Graham Bonney some kind of huge star somewhere?

http://www.werkverzeichnis.de/004/141.jpg

http://www.abcrecords.ch/webyep-system/daten/172-116-im-Cover-5693.JPG

Chicory Tip "What's Your Name"/"Memory" (CBS, 1972) They have some huge crazy proto-Haysi Fantayzee or whatever European hit that I totally love on some German K-Tel-like compilation that I own, but I can't think of its name right now. This isn't nearly as zany as that one -- in fact, the B-side, which is a too serious protest-like ballad seemingly about demonstrating in Trafalgar Square if I heard it right (though wasn't that a few decades later??), is kind of boring. But the comparatively energetic singalong A-side is a keeper by virtue of its undeniable Chicory Tipness, I guess. Though I don't really understand what Chicory Tip were -- proto disco bubbleglam guys or something? (Weird note: the back of the picture sleeve is an ad for their version of "Son Of My Father," which was a small early proto-disco hit for Giorgio Moroder in the United States. Unless it's a different song!)

http://hitparade.ch/cdimages/chicory_tip-whats_your_name_s.jpg

Giorgio wrote and produced all of chicory tip's big numbers!

Him and Pete Bellotte.

and, um, they kinda were going for glam stardom just a teeny tiny bit:

http://www.glam-rock.de/chicory.jpg

they were basically one of the coolest groups that ever lived.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp2/features/wallpaper/images/800/chicory_tip.jpg

Holy Toledo! I need to hear more Chicory Tip, I guess!

Cyan - "Misaluba"/"My Little Ship Louise" (RCA, year unknown) Boring ballad B-side; TOTALLY FUCKING EXCELLENT Barabas/Kongas-style fake-"Soul Makossa" proto-I assume-disco Euro-Afro drum polyrhythm and chant A-side. Wow! If I ever do a DJ night again, I think I'll play this!! Plus two of the guys have Afros, ha!

xpost
that dreaded picture again

http://www.mitscher.de/records/c/384.jpg

Fox - "He's Got Magic"/"The Juggler" (GTO, 1975) Eh, this is okay, but just barely. Passable Top 40 pop/soft-rock, with a girl singer plus five guys in the band and false endings. Both songs about how great some guy is -- he is apparently a magician and a juggler. Actually, the vaguely reggae rhythmed B-side sounds kind of ominous I guess, thanks to the scat singing by the lady singer (who is actually pretty good). I dunno. I'll come back to this later to decide whether I should keep it. (The magic song says he has magic and his lips and in his fingertips, and he can turn some kind of other animal into a whale. But why would you want somebody to do that? Heart's magic man was more interesting.)

http://www.mitscher.de/records/nov/166.jpg

Future "Isabelle"/"Pubertat" (Teldec, 1986) Wacky cover! Four verge-of-teenage boys dressed up like a "rock band," except the sax player (who appears to be the eldest memeber of the group) has his hair greased back '50s style and is wearing a leather jacket. Both of the songs sound fake '50s too (like, I dunno, Showaddywaddy? Is this what they sounded like? I get the idea this sort of revivalism is popular in foreign countries. Like somewhere between Sha Na Na and pub rock maybe, with the singer always trying to get a little bit growly in totally unconvincing way, maybe because real rockabillies never actually sounded like that.) Anyway, totally generic (if this is a genre) but still vibrant and catchy and lots of fun, especially the B-side, which I'm guessing is about puberty but I can't translate the German lyrics. Also, every one of the band members autographed the back of my picture sleeve! Or somebody pretending to be them did, anyway.

http://i7.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/a7/dc/941d_1.JPG

Gloria Gaynor "Reach Out I'll Be There"/"Searchin'" (MGM, 1975) Hey, she's not German! I don't think! (Donna Summer was, right? Or at least I think she was born there.) Anyway, early disco, obviously. A-side is a Four Tops cover given a very cool beat (it hadn't yet been decided what "the disco beat" would sound like, not that it was totally decided later either of course, but in '75 things were really up for grabs, as long as you could dance to it.) B-side's sort of orthodox, not super memorable, but 1975 disco = historical artifact by definition, right?

http://www.iwillsurvive.ru/photoalbum/disk-covers/single-06.jpg

(Gaynor single still has a price sticker on it -- 6 Deutschmarks at Woolworth, apparently. Not sure how that would translate exchange-rate wise. Or 6.00 something, since maybe it was bought in a different country. And somebody named "Andy" has inked his name on the front and back of the sleeve, in a heart. So I assume it belonged to Andy at some time.)

Spookily enough I heard 'Yes Sir, I can Boogie' in a shop th eother day for the first time in several years. Not fading it about a minute earlier killed the good vibe I had when it came on.

Gitte "Freu'Dich Bloss Nicht Zu Fruh"/"Sheldon Bloom" (Global, 1980) Ick - more post-lieder cabaret ballad schlock by a short haired fraulein. Okay, not that short I guess. Only that one word in the title is not really "Bloss"; the - er - "ss" part is one of those cool letters (called an "esset", I think?) that look sort of like a cursive capitol B. And "fruh" has an umlaut. And the B-side has a sax part, and in the A-side Gitte keeps saying "es tut mir lit" or however you spell "I apologize" auf Deutsch. But sorry, I still don't like the record. (Both sides written by A. Lloyd Webber, I now see.)

Dschinghis Khan "Himalaja"/"Rocky Marciano" (Jupiter, ) I vaguely remember these guys (three male--two with insane mustaches--plus two girls) already having some kind of cult following on ILM, but maybe I'm confusing them with somebody. Never heard them before myself. Anyway, I kind of like this, though the slowed-down art-rock disco Europop or whatever the hell it is of the song about the mountain is better than whatever you call the song about the boxer. (The latter is also slow, but with less of a beat, and a sort of space blastoff at the end.) Worth keeping for the titles, the band's name, the facial hair, the mystery, and maybe the music.

(The year on Dschinghis Khan is unknown, too.)

Andrea Horn "Ring-E Ding-E Dong"/"Mrs. Hooligan" (Decca, year unknown.) A major disappointment; those are really promising song titles! I thought this would be like Abba or something. But it is not even catchy at all. I guess I am just a lieder hater.

Hot Shot "I Can't Stand It No More"/"Love Is A Drag" (Polydor, 1983) A-side is mediocre dancey '80s pop; B-side is very good dancey '80s pop of the post-Eurodisco/post-early-MTV-hit fake-rock kind that I frequently heard in Bad Kreuznach and Mainz between 1982 and 1985, with whipcrack electronics and very pretty and energetic hooks. Like say F.R. David or whatever that guy's name was. ACtually it reminds me of some big early '80s hit I'm having trouble placing -- Um, I think maybe the melody is similar to "In A Big Country" or something, but I feel like there might be some synthier hit that it sounds like more than that, even. (This is clearly not a guitar and bagpipe band.) Picture sleeve has two bubbly girls in tight gym clothes and one guy in a leisure suit, and the colors of all the aforementioned clothes are very bright (blue, yellow, and purple).

Hot Shot "Fire In The Night"/"Fire In the Night (Instrumental)" (Strand, 1981) Better sleeve than the other single by them (they look a lot less wimpy on this one), but despite some nifty electronicizing and a lyric so early-'80s cliched and histrionically sung (by one or both of the two girls) it would make Survivor, Loverboy, and Bryan Adams all run for cover, this isn't too good a record. Better than the other one's A-side maybe, but not as good as the other's B-side. Also, the instrumental version has almost as many vocals as the non-instrumental, weird.

Siw Malmkvist "Harlekin"/"Prinz Eugen" (Metronome, 1968) I kinda knew I wouldn't like this one just by looking at it, despite Siw's pyschedelic bodysuit that looks like a box of Crayolas melted on her. But actually, compared to most of the other liederen I've hated in this pile so far, the A-side of this single actually has a smidgen of oompah to its rhythm. Still not nearly enough, though. (And I have no idea, really, if I'm using the word "lieder" correctly. I'm taking it just to mean "slow showtune-like ballads sung in German with no influence from rock'n'roll or any music after rock'n'roll." Which might totally be the wrong way to define the stuff.)

Jeanette "Porque Te Vas"/"Seguire Amando" (Polydor, 1974). Was pretty sure, and correct in thinking, I wouldn't like this one, either. But at least the A-side has horns. And Jeanette has sort of a sweet voice. Also, they're not lieders! More like sub-par Janis Ian album tracks or something. But, um, in a foreign language. (Actually, maybe more Joan Baez than Janis Ian. But I've never really listened to Joan Baez, I just realized, so I really wouldn't know. Also, this kind of record has as much to do with Jane Birken or Brigitte Bardot as folk-rock, so forget I mentioned Janis and Joan entirely, okay? And I'd expect that Jane and Brigitte had German equivalents that I've never even heard of as well. Though come to think of it those titles don't look German. Not that I'm sure what language they are. But either way, I'll never play this record again.)

John Kincade "Till I Kissed You"/"Pie In The Sky" (Bellaphon, 1973) Man, we are totally on a losing streak of shitty ballads now. Also, John is not a handsome man, and I'm not so sure being kissed by him would be a good thing, but I hope he found someone regardless. Anyway, this really sucks, but at least the A-side starts with a promising riff.

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/178446.jpg

http://www.siw-malmkvist.de/harlekinbunt.jpg

Jeanette looks cool!

http://www.newlog.com.ar/7AL/Jeanette-Estoy-triste-PS.jpg

http://hitparade.ch/cdimg/jeanette_%5Bes%5D-porque_te_vas_s.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/Picnic.jpg

Amanda Lear "Rockin' Rollin' (I Hear You Nagging)"/"I Am a Photograph"/"Follow Me"/"Run Baby Run" (Amiga, year unknown though probably circa 1977 or so) An EP by a flat-voiced Eurodisco singer beloved by Michael Freedberg, and only one of the four songs (the second one) is on the only LP I own by her, neat! She sounds extremely...Teutonic. Like, so much an Aryan ice queen she makes Grace Jones sound like Sylvester in comparison. I kind of hate the vocal style, but I appreciate her in theory. And EPs are always cool -- especially 7-inch ones. The "Rockin Rollin" song is my favorite cut so far, I think. Also, her name rhymes with chandelier. And she is probably a lot better than Madleen Kane.

you guys are so cute together. chuck writes, scott pics..

i really like what i've heard of Fox. super cute bubbleglam. posted a track to my site http://www.robotsinheat.com/trax/SssingleBed.mp3 I found one of their LPs recently, but it was totally scratched and kind of expensive.

Siw Malmkvist looks like Jerry Blank

http://www.indiewire.com/ots/StrangersWithCandy.jpg

Jeanette is kinda hott.

kinda very fucking hott.

the guy at my favorite record store told me that a lot of people thought Amanda Lear was a tranny, so inside the cover of her album Sweet Revenge, she's posing topless. from wiki:

Despite modelling nude for Playboy Magazine in 1977 and the photos very effectively proving that Lear was all woman, she was and still is widely rumoured to be either a transsexual or an intersexual because of her height (6ft/183 cm), her masculine facial features and most of all her exceptionally low baritone-like vocal timbre.

also, didn't realize until right now that she was the model on the cover of Roxy Music's "For Your Pleasure"

funny, i also recently posted a track by Madleen Kane to my site too. this is a really sexy, sleazy, slow disco/soul number.
http://www.robotsinheat.com/trax/CestSiBon.mp3

In another spooky, but not so much I guess, coincidence I downloaded that Amanda Lear album from this blog: http://jimicaramail.blogspot.com/ just the other week.

Have to say I was a tad underwhelmed by it, the Grace Jones comparison is a good one, but sounds a lot like Broken English period Marianne Faithfull. I remember Jimmy Somerville picking one of her songs as one of his desert island discs and it had a more definite sleazy hi-nrg/eurobeat vibe to it and I was hoping it would be something like that, but I suspect it was from later in her career. He has another Lear album on his blog which I'll probably check out, hopefully that'll be the one.

Lear spent 15 years with Salvador Dali, supposedly the originator of the tranny joke which stuck, that she later used for publicity, any kind being good as is well known.

From M.I.A. Kala thread, about what's probably my favorite track on the album:

I can already tell Jimmy is going to be awesome.

ha ha, you've gotta be kidding. sounds like a campy "Dschinghis Khan" cover. ouch.

-- Jeb, Monday, 28 May 2007 23:44 (3 months ago) Link

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dschinghis Khan" > Half the shit that gets <rep>ped around here.

-- The Reverend, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 03:31 (3 months ago)

Manuela "Prost, Onkel Albert"/"Mir Gefalt Die Welt" (Telefunken, year unknown) First off, she is a long-haired brunette wearing a gingham blouse, and there is something very crooked about her smile. Second, this is the closest thing to a lieder (see "lieder" definition caveats above) that I've liked enough to keep -- Both sides have plenty of forward motion and swing, almost, in their polka/oompah beats, and the A-side goes even further by sounding halfway like a hardy ale-drinking sea chantey, which would explain the "prost" (= toast, right?) in its title. But what's even cooler in that tune is that the staticy maritime voices seeping in from the background going "ha ha ha" and "aye aye sir" remind me of, like, "I Am the Walrus" or something, which might explain why the guy being toasted is Uncle Albert, who showed up in a martime Wings song once, right?

I meant "maritime" (and "hearty", perhaps.) And maybe it should be noted that the background voices are male, and sound old enough to be Manuela's dad.

Manuela "Das Haus Von Huckleberry Hill"/"Morgen Kommt Der Tag" (Telefunken, year unknown) Manuela (who has a competent but not noticeably distinctive voice) looks prettier on the cover of this one, but she slows down in these songs and I don't like them anywhere near as much. B-side does have wobbly horn orchestrations though, so not a complete stinker.

but Dahl was apparently in some early version of the Angry Samaons, not to mention

He was in a mid-period version of the Samoans, after Saunders first decamped for the Bay Area.

The only thing he's still on is a live recording -- very rare-- Return from Samoa, which was a Euro bootleg which pressed a Samoans show in NYC, at the Mudd Club, if memory serves. I have it. It's not very good.

I had a 7 inch of "Permanent Damage" which the Samoans played while he was in the band. Another version of it, or perhaps only a slightly different mix, wound up on the Powertrip record, which was reissued as a CD a few years ago.

Quite a bit of Jeff Dahl, as a solo artist, was released through Triple X and Sympathy for the Record Industry well after he left the Samoans.

My favorites from Dahl were the Powertrip record and his "I was a teenage glam fag," self-releases, of which there were two. The "Glam fag" releases were cover versions of his favorite glam rock tunes, most of which he did justice to.

Dollar, "Takin' A Chance On You"/"No Man's Land" (WEA, 1981) Okay, I'm pretty sure we're back to a bunch of 45s that Metal Mike did send me, albeit a few years ago. Even more than the Tight Fit people mentioned above, I'm pretty sure these guys were part of some mysterious early '80s post-Abba "pop revival" (in England, at least, and maybe all of Europe) forefronted by Bucks Fizz (who I think I still have a good LP by.) Anyway, both sides of this sound lighter than air and whiter than that. Pretty downbeat, actually. B-side concerns being haunted by somebody's memory. A-side has a title that sounds like an answer record to a big Abba hit, and has "ba ba ba" parts chiming like bells. Cover has a boy and girl, both extremely blonde and fully blow-dried and fresh from the ski slopes. Even the boy's shirt is white. You hear them both, and they are impeccably produced and entirely free of germs.

Dollar "Mirror Mirror"/"Radio" (WEA, 1981) Both of these Dollar singles have small holes on them, by the way. "Radio" has a more bell-chime vocals and a more Abba-worthy bounce than either of the sides of the previous one, but "Mirror Mirror," which I'm pretty sure was their big U.K.-maybe-transcontiental hit, is produced by Trevor Horn has lots of ornate little sounds filling it out and bringing it to life; some parts are weird and artsy in an almost pop-pomp 10cc kind of way. The vocals are layered like crazy, a house of mirrors I guess, especially when the boys says "the mirror always echoes... echoes.... echoes ...echoes". So: onomatopoeia pop.

Dolly Dots "We Believe In Love"/"Who Is That Waiting At Your Door" (WEA, 1980) Definitely got this one and the next Dolly Dots 45 from Metal Mike. This one's a Dutch pressing, and Dolly Dots, judging from the cover, are six girls -- two black haired, two brown haired, two blonde. Prettiest one is the black haired one who looks like Kate Bush. Anyway, A-side of this one sounds like a cross between Boney M "El Lute"/Abba "Fernando"-style Spanish revolution Euro- bubblegum and some old hymn that used to get sung at Catholic church, but the words are about neither Spanish revolution nor anything especially saintly. B-side, though, is a truly angelic girl-group rip. Picture on the back cover shows the cover of Dolly Dots' album, whereon they wear roller-derby uniforms (or some kind of uniforms, anyway. I was thinking hockey, but then I noticed one of the album's songs is called "Rollerskating," so roller derby it is.)

Dolly Dots "P.S."/"So That's Why" (WEA, 1981) Dolly Dots get funky! "P.S." has a propulsive "Rapper's Delight"/"Another One Bites the Dust"-type funk groove (not a "Good Times" bassline, exactly, but close), and the six girls (Spice Girls prototypes, maybe?) ride it just fine, telling you to "get up!" until you do and eventually doing a cute little rap -- pretty early in the game for white girls (or, to be precise, five white girls and one possible woman of partial color, juding from the photos), though I think "Rapture" had been '80s and "Square Biz" was also '81. B-side's more Abba-bop, very very catchy.

(Latter 45's made in West Germany. Not sure which country, if either, the gals actually come from.)

Dyn-O-Mite De Luk "Mon Nom C'Est Dyn-o-mite"/"Mon Nom C'Est Dyn-o-mite (Version Instrumentale)" (Able, 1977). Not from Metal Mike, I don't think. Early funktional disco indebted to Isaac Hayes and Jimmy Walker. Slight African tinges. Some wah-wah. Not bad.

Earth & Fire "Twenty Four Hours"/"In A State of Flux" (Polydor, 1981). Yeah, that's right -- no Wind. They don't look like Earth Wind & Fire, either, though it's true some of them (the Raffi-like one with the scarf for instance) have darker complexions than other ones. One of them, also, is a girl, posssibly wearing pajamas. The one with the longest hair also has the most receding hairline, and is leaning on his keyboard on the cover. One of the guys has a song sheet on his lap (so I'm going to guess he might be the songwriter), and the guy with the drumsticks has an Afro and looks a little crazy. (None of this is remotely getting across how wacky they all look, but I'm trying.) At any rate, they all also look like they'd be good neighbors. Pressing says West Germany, but the back sleeve says "Benelux," which I know from Armed Forces Radio weather forecasts means Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Oh yeah, the music's good, too. A-side is fun and silly post-Abba polka-pop; B-side is much less happy sounding, almost prog-rock-leaning, instrumental. Weird. And definitely from Metal Mike.

Earth & Wire "Weekend"/"Answer Me" (Vertigo, 1979) Same formula, more or less: Bubblegum polka-pop backed with wordless prog-fusion movie soundtrack possibility. Both less energetic than their counterparts on the other Earth & Fire single, but that's okay. "Weekend" allegedly "Nr. 1 in Holland," according to the sleeve.

(Earth & Wire was obviously a mistake. To my knowledge, Earth have never collaborated with Wire at all, and probably never will.)

Fancy "Wild Thing"/"Fancy" (Big Tree, 1974) This was actually a hit, right? And bizarrely, I also have their 1974 album. But I can't remember anybody ever talking about them, ever. Three guys (one tough guy, one college professor looking guy, one proto-disco Jewfro looking guy) plus a longhaired gal in cutoff shorts on the cover of the LP; single has no picture sleeve, but the LP cover is info enough. ("Fancy, a New Band, great guys, fantastic chick.") Troggs remake has the girl panting suggestively, a proto-disco synth break into a hard funk guitar break, plus the Troggs riff done good. (Big Tree, judging from the album notes, was some sort of Atlantic subsidiary; Brownsville Station were on the same imprint, right?) Self-titled B-side theme song, which is not on the LP, has a good catchy riff and a swings in a decently glammy way with a vaguely sexy whispered vocal from the lady of the house. Not much of a song at all, but it's okay. LP cover indicates the "Wild Thing" cover was already a "chart record" before the LP came out -- so I wonder if these were maybe studio dudes who had to quickly toss an album together to capitalize on their hit single (which capitalizing I assume was never very successful, since it hardly ever is in such cases) -- you know, like (non-studio dudes but you get the idea) M, or the Shop Boyz or whoever. Anyway, I just decided that Fancy (not to be confused with Fanny, who seem more famous) remind me of Ram Jam (on their first LP of course, not their second one) for some reason.

Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders "Game of Love"/"One More Time" (Fontana, year unknown though it would be very easy to look up.) "The purpose of a man is to love a woman, and the person of a woman is to love a man." A huge hit, way bigger than Fancy's, but again, who the hell were Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, and how come, in the many decades I've been paying attention to people paying attention to music, nodody has ever said one word about them? Damn, this song is pretty funky too: Square white guys (squarer than Mitch Ryder or the Soul Survivors, I bet) getting soulful for frat boys, or for bizzers trying to appeal to frat boys, or what? I have no idea. Is it my imagination, or did Phil Collins badly cover this in the '80s? (Or maybe even not so badly?) B-side is convincingly sweet blue-eyed soul, assuming these guys actually had blue eyes. (Maybe they were British??) Anyway, the two main things I know about Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders are (1) In the first review I ever read of an Elvis Costello and the Attractions album, which would have been Armed Forces, probably in a college newspaper (The Varsity News, I guess) at University of Detroit or a high school one (The Spectrum) in West Bloomfield, Michigan, the writer compared the two bands, and then nobody ever has since, as far as I can tell. (With Get Happy that might actually have made sense! But this song is better than anything on that album.) [2]"Game of Love" was definitely a staple on "Cruisin' Music", the Sunday night '60s music show on KCOU at University of Missouri-Columbia in the early '80s. Beyond that, I know about as much as you do about them, and possibly a whole lot less.

Gary's Gang "Keep On Dancin'" (Sam/Columbia, 1978) Okay, another actual hit -- sorry, this is getting ridiculous, but I know nothing about these dudes either, and suddenly I'm curious. Not to be confused with "Keep On Dancing" by the Gentrys, which is probably an even better dance song, and which I wish I also had a 45 of but strangely I don't, though I know nothing about the Gentrys, either. Anyway, this is funky ethereal bubble-disco (same neighborhood as Dan Hartman's "Instant Replay" or Paul Nicholas's "Heaven on the Seventh Floor" maybe), with an excellently polyrhythmic drum break in the middle. I have a '79 LP called Gangbusters by Gary's Gang also, but neither Gary nor his gang are shown on the cover, just a '30s Chicago-style gang murder scene. (There is a gang in the inner sleeve, dressed '30s Chicago style with snazzy striped suits and machine guns and mustaches and molls, but I have no idea if the gang is Gary's or if he's one of them.) 45 is a little odd, too -- a "DJ Reservice" promo with same song on both sides.

Fancy was Ray Fenwick's (guitarist) band of studio hacks. Fenwick was kind of a jazzoid plus rock guy. The project also included Les Binks who drummed for Judas Priest for one, maybe two, albums. Definitely a one-off type act fishing for hits outside what they really wanted to play --which was something tuneless that few wanted to hear.

By explanation: Fenwick subsequently became part of the Ian Gillan Band, the murky, tuneless stumbling funk and jazzoid rock band that did Clear Air Turbulence and a self-titled one which didn't do well with the punters, as opposed to later albums which returned to Gillan's more familiar hard rock/metal roots.

I used to see a CD of Fancy's stuff quite frequently. I remember the single, which was competent, but never had any interest in hearing more from it. Definitely the kind of act that would fit in my Sludge in the 70's scheme if they'd actually have made a few records and become a more real band.

Jimmy Gibson "Oh Why (Sag' Warum)"/"Swing Love" (Disques Motors, 1978) Pretty funky for a German guy, or French guy, or whatever Jimmy is. (45 sleeve says "Original American Version", so maybe he's American, actually. But Disques Motors is sure not an American label.) A-side's a lush sort of Barry White/Isaac Hayes-style seduction-mumble soundtrack; B-side as its title suggests more a swing-era croon done disco style. But on both of them, Jimmy's vocal accrues more red-clay soul depth toward the end.

Thanks, George (and for the Jeff Dahl info up above, too...)

ps (Also the whole idea of Gary's Gang of course reminds me of "I'm the Leader of the Gang [I Am]" by Gary Glitter, which Brownsville Station covered.)

Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders look pretty British I guess:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IWJYMaOwNNg

Gary has a pretty big gang, it turns out:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7iHaP6XIAp4

The Gentrys keep on dancing faster:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=a9ylOFfdRRw

Bay City Rollers version:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fui_R2mVlH0

Dolly Dots:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EOMg3gL6lkA

Dollar:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fqkI2VBiLgg

Chilliwack's big hit:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yahBtp_1jWE

Claudio Cechettto (I guess his song was for aerobics class!):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NOyXvsTA5tQ

Alberto Camerini:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wHoCv1G4Prk

SCTV Chilliwack parody (!?):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ddIq7p-nAVQ&mode=related&search=

Just got another HUGE box of weird old foreign vinyl in the mail from Metal Mike. So here's some more:

Aneka "Little Lady"/"Chasing Dreams" (Hansa UK, 1981) Shares her name with my youngest offspring (now sleeping in this room) and the singer of the Gathering (now not sleeping in this room), but spells it differently. Scottish, with a red Cleopatra haircut. Her song "Japanese Boy" supposedly went #1 in the UK in 1981 (according to words Metal Mike has penned on the sleeve) and this (according to the liner notes) is the followup (not as big a hit -- only #50 sez Mike.) Mike has also attached a post-it note that says "Make It Stop!" I think that's a warning that this is gonna suck. Synthy gurgle, squeaky voice, not real catchy or poppy to my ears: "Treat me like a lady on TV. Leave me alone leave me alone..." Post-early-Kate Bush/Lene Lovich yelping hiccups. Not very good. Ballad B-side is worse.

Cardinal Point "Come Out And Say It"/"I Won't Let You Go" (Phillips, year unknown) Four guys with colorful shirts and jackets and sweaters and Bay City Rollery hair (most of them). The coolest guy is obviously the one in shades. A-side is softy-rocky with slightly good-time-glammy chorus, forgettable. B-side slower, almost liedery (though not German), a snooze.

Jackie Carter "Treat Me Like A Woman"/"Mama Don't Wait For Me" (Atlantic Germany, 1976) Sorry, but I gotta say -- on the 45 cover Jackie (who also sang for Silver Convention I think) is sitting perched on what looks like some kind of antique table, with her legs spread like she's about to relieve herself. With gold platform shoes no less. I guess a toilet wasn't handy. Music on the A is more disco than the last couple singles, but generically and not compellingly so. Second woman out of three 45s who tells you how to treat her. Toward the end of the song she starts gasping and moaning in a suggestive manner. A lot. B-side is sprightlier sub-Abba pop -- "I'm the happiest girl in the world....I'm 16...my homework is done...Don't keep the dinner warm, I'm gonna eat out tonight...I've found someone who knows how to hold me tight." Boys doo wop in the background as she discusses being asked out on a date. Weirdly innocent after the A-side (unless she's lying to Mom), but still not distinctive enough to keep.

Jackie Carter "Stay For The Night"/"Let's Have A Party" (Global Germany , 1979) Three years later, same Jackie, more disco still. More NRG, too. Still not grabbing me. A-side outwears its welcome quick, even though her vocal inflections recall Elton John once, and there's some mini-orchestrations and sax during a break. She sounds breathier on the B, still sounds like she's going through the motions. More so-what sax. Not much of a song, or groove, or hook. Nobody's gonna stay the night for this party. A ways in she starts whispering sweet French nothings, but by then it's too late.

Chanter Sisters "Talking Too Much About My Baby"/""Just Your Fool" (Safari Germany, 1977) One curly haired brunette sister, one long-haired blonde sister. Light-rocking, slightly countryfied smooth-jazz Euro-soul on the A-side. Pretty harmonies. One of the singers reminds me of Maria Muldaur, I think; groove might even have a little "Midnight At the Oasis" (from 1974) in it. Weird lyric -- they say they're talking too much about their baby, but they never really tell us anything about him. Warmer sax than the last song, though, and the song is nicely short: 2:45. B-side is more upbeat, a Donna Summer move, and it's clearer that both girls have rich voices, but one of them sounds a lot huskier than the other one -- in a rock (like, post-Joplin) way almost. Boogie woogie piano, just real propulsive in general.

Tina Charles "I Love To Love (But My Baby Loves To Dance)"/"Disco Fever" (CBS UK, 1976) Tina looks kind of tomboyish, and this is catchy like Kiki Dee or somebody going disco. Plus the predicament with her dance-loving boyfriend is kind of cute too: "Instead of going downtown, we'll stay at home and get down." Still sounds kind of like disco-by-numbers (real early in disco's tenure for that, I would think), but by more likeable numbers than most of the previous songs. Then the first line in "Disco Fever" is "walking sideways like a crab"! And there are macho men behind Tina chanting the title ("disco fever! disco fever! everybody got disco fever!") and having a boogie party, and there's some Rufusy funk to the horn and bass parts. And the song stretches out its groove pretty well, and the guys start grunting "hungh!" Goofy enough to keep. (Though maybe not -- I just took it off the turntable and noticed the vinyl is cracked, totally split in half, almost across the whole side. Must have
played right through it.)

Tina Charles "You Set My Heart On Fire"/"Fire (Instrumental)" (CBS Germany, 1975) This one sounds even better! And older! With lots of old time rock'n'roll "bop she bop she bop"s! Yet still totally disco! And apparently not cracked! And Tina has a real big nose on the 45 sleeve, which gives her lots of character! Her life was a room full of gloom, then a "knight in armor shining" came along, to set her heart on fire and take her higher. Wow, Europeans really caught on to disco early. Assuming she was one. B-side instro retains the doo-wop, the horns, the syncopation, and Tina repeatedly saying "fire! fire! higher! higher!" And now I'm realizing it sounds kind of like "Rock The Boat" by the Hues Corporation (1974 again), rhythmwise. Somebody should have rapped over it.

Why is Saunders sending you stuffs?

No idea. Just a generous guy, I guess. I assume lots of them are duplicates, or maybe just records he's tired of taking up space, who knows. Seems like I mysteriously get a big box about once a year; it just shows up, no explanation. This year's (mostly LPs, actually) was the biggest yet.

Anyway, here are more:

Fox "Only You Can"/"Out Of My Body" (Gema Germany, 1974) A couple other Fox singles are discussed upthread, first by me, later by Frank Kogan. I think they came up on some other thread lately, too. Assuming this is the same Fox. Metal Mike post-it note says "#3 UK early 1975: Is this were guitar rock took downers, rolled over and croaked?" Maybe -- it's pretty slow, and weird as fuck -- but I'm not sure this is "guitar rock." Teutonic proto-gothic possible love child of an affair between Nico and Yoko (possibly the woman with the tassels and metal snake bracelet on her bare skin on the 45 sleeve) tells you that "only you have a right to be you," plus something I couldn't quite catch about gyros. Is this what Savage Rose sounded like? How the hell was this a hit, especially in a place where people supposedly speak actual English? Rhythm is a soporific approximation of reggae, sort of. And that's only the first side. The second side is still Teutonic (she's talking about switching on her TV set, plus something I keep mistaking for "take me out to the ballgame"), but has more skips and pops on it. Probably not great for my stylus, so I'm gonna take it off, but this one still belongs on my shelf.

Full House "Standing On The Inside"/"Johnny" (CBS Holland, 1976). Songwriting credit on the A-side goes to Neil Sedaka, who was still writing great songs in the mid '70s, but probably not this one. Full House are apparently five people -- two guys (one w/ big 'stache, one w/ Afro) and three girls. Sedaka song is slightly foreign-accented, keyby post-Brill pop of no notable distinction; would be better if faster. Talks about it being bad times for rock'n'roll, which it wasn't, really, but I don't see how this would have helped even if it was. "Johnny" switches to one of the girls singing, about a little boy who will be a star if he practices his guitar, then meets a girl named Marlene. Chorus is sorta drink-worthy, if not exactly rousing, about how we'll be your friend if you need one. A little oompah to it. Actually like it better than the A, but not enough.

Pete Heyn & The Fleet "Holland Disco"/"The New Dutch Organ Group" (Gip Holland, 1979) Awesome band name and song titles, obviously. Three guys (all dressed in white, a couple with actual guitarish instruments) and three girls (in sparkly outfits, and dancing awkwardly with their hands) on the sleeve. "Holland Disco" is not disco, in any way I can tell, but is a wacky instrumental with lots of windup grandfather clock noises stuck in there over the obligatory oompah. After an introduction three times as long as the actual song part, the Euro ladies start chiming in like automatons: "We love disco dancing in Holland. Disco dancing in Holland. Disco dancing in Holland. Dancing in the street." Only I swear to God I thought they were saying HARLEM, instead of Holland. Flipside is, well, organ-y. Another semi- instrumental, and unfortunately the girls don't start chanting about being the new Dutch organ group. But they do say "The silver fleet is coming in" as as the rhythm starts to get a
little more boing to it. Neat!

Kincade "Dreams Are Ten a Penny (Jenny Jenny)"/"Counting Trains" (Bellaphon Germany, year unknown) Think I already hated a single by this over-mustached guy upthread. And the A-side here is pretty sappy -- a guy remembering the girl next door (who has apparently since gone astray, or maybe not, though that seems implied in the don't-give-up type advice he gives her), and the tree they used to play under as kids, which I guess is now dead -- though the tune does have half a smidgen of early '70s Edison Lighthouse/Spiral Staircase bubblegum to it. Or maybe even Terry Jacks writing a suicide note to Michelle his little one who gave him love and helped in find the sun, but really, not nearly that good. "Counting Trains" is a sort of flatly sung fake-country wanderlust ballad that starts out talking about "feeling as if the bomb has dropped," with a capella wah wah parts later. Every train Kincade misses is a lost chance to escape. So okay...has the potential of pushing my Lee Hazlewood buttons, maybe. Worth another listen sometime, at least. Just not right now.

Also been liking these 12-inch singles from the new Metal Mike box this morning:

Dalla Morandi "Dimmi Dimmi"/"Pomereggio In Uffico" (RCA Italy, 1988) beautiful spacey dreamy Italo air-disco; songwriting of A-side partially credited to M. Malavasi, which I assume means Mauro Malavasi, the Change guy.

Paso Doble "Comupterliebe" (WEA Germany, 1984) beautiful sad dreamy Kraut-disco from co-ed duo with excellent Aryan cheekbones but an un-German name

Mamie Van Doren "State Of Turmoil" (Corner Stone, 1984) Autographed!! Though I have no idea how I'd check to find out whether that's Mamie's real signature. Also, I never even knew she ever made a record. Surprising thing is, it's actually good, in a decadent halfway-between-Marianne Faithful circa Broken English and Cyndi Lauper circa She's So Unusual new wave war-zone post-disco sung in a wordly weathered seen-it-all-and-been-all-over-the-world kind of way.

Band I'm most curious about so far from all the European K-Tel-type albums Mike sent: Sailor, whose "Stiletto Heels" really does sound like a less arty version of Roxy Music. Can't believe I never checked them out before.

Favorite Heavy Metal Kids song so far on all the European K-Tel-type albums he sent (almost every one of which seems to have one): "Chelsea Kids."

footnotes:

* Paso Doble actually sound more synth-pop than disco (their A-side reminds me of A-Ha or Alphaville), and the single also has a B-side (unmentioned on the sleeve) called "Stadthyăne", which is more upbeat but not as good. Perhaps that short-vowel hash mark over the "a" is an indication of their nationality.

* "Only You Can" actually is the Fox 45 discussed by persons other than me upthread, where it is explained that their strange Teutonic woman singer was actually from Australia.

* In the other Kincade single upthread, he has a first name (= John.)

Claudio Cechetto "Gioca-Jouer"

Later translated into English in the Black Lace Euro-hit "Superman," according to Mike T-Diva on this very related thread:

I Have Never Heard Entire Albums By These Bands Who Have Excellent Songs On Late '70s/Early '80s European K-Tel-Style Compilations

Otherwise, I decided that Kincade's "Jenny Jenny" does (inexplicably) have enough 1910 Fruitgum in its sound to get by. And the lovely whirligig rhythm of Pete Heyn etc.'s "Holland Disco" totally pulls me in.

Anita Karlsen "Bli Med"/"Natt Of Dag" (Slager Norway, 1986) The hole of the 45 is little not big, and Anita is riding a motorbike (or scooter, maybe? She doesn't look dangerous at all, despite her slight overbite, so probably) on the sleeve. Music is...pop! With sparkling synths working as drama more than rhythm. Sounds very sweet and sparkling, with massed-vocal verses. Chorus seems to have Anita coo-ing the line "Mr. Hard Booty" in a slightly husky voice, but I'm probably hearing her wrong. Flipside starts out slower, spacier, with plenty of echo on the drum machines. Eventually it picks up in, um, a '80s teaming Euro-studio-pop ballad sort of way. Eventually a sorry excuse for a "rock guitar solo" enters the picture. Not bad! Though the songs are probably duller than the sounds, to be honest.

Daliah Lavi "Wer Hat mein Lied So Zerstort, Ma?"/"Akkordeon" (Polydor West Germany, year unknown) Figured out the title was an Aryanization of "Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma" (always secretly loved that song ever since my secretly emo childhood, though for some reason I keep thinking it's by Melanie or Yvonne Elliman when really it's by the New Seekers) just by reading the sleeve; good for me! And long-haired pensive beauty Daliah schaglerizes it wunderbar; some dark Nico ice-queen cabaret stuff in there, neat. Also deduced that the B-side would somehow involve accordions, but didn't know it would start out like a cross between "Love is Blue" and, well, either "The Windmills Of Your Mind" or "As Tears Go By" I guess. Which is to say...dark! depressive! in the afternoon! yikes! And actually, the accordion is way back in the background, though it's there.

Olivia Molina "Das Lied"/"Antwort Auf Alle Fragen" (EMI West Germany, 1973) More rainy Mittwoch afternoon fraulein schlager, in a mod speckled dress no less! After a while these songs start to make me sleepy, even when they pick up halfway through and get all bombastically orchestrated and stuff. Too much emotion for me, or something. Second song has "warum"s and "blumen"s and "fragen"s and "sonnenschein"s (all of which I am probably gespelling wrong) in it, but this still bores me more than the previous two.

Monica Morell "Ich Fange Nie Mehr Was An Einem Sonntag An"/"Ice Weine Nicht" (Columbia West Germany, 1972) That last record apparently was made in Koln, this one in Munich; wonder if that makes a difference. Well, this one, on the A-side anyway, has some horns. And a choir. And a really long title. And the singer looks more like Marcia Brady, but it's still making me want to reject the tone-arm. Which I did, only to find some toy-shop sounds opening the other side, then the music slowing down for more words about sonnenschein that sadly don't sound sonnescheiny at all to me. Zzzzz.

Nanna "Call Me"/"I Love You" (Replay, 1983) Okay, whew, this one looks way less morose and suicidal. And more '80s! She even has a nice smile. Nation of origin unknown, but published by "Great Dane Music," so maybe Holland. "Baby don't you have a phone?" she sarcastically asks (in English), over cute little synth beats. She could call him, but says (in a very friendly and non-egotistical tomboy voice) that she won't. A few minutes in, completely unexpectedly, Nanna starts making lots of popcorn hiccups with her mouth that sound like Lene Lovich under the influence of Hot Butter, cool!! "I Love You" has just as simple a title, and is an even more upbeat and bopping slice of Eurobubblemotown pop, with whipcrack studio effects and sexy catching-of-breath parts and the kind of post-Elton teeny-rock guitar you'd hear...where? Kim Wilde records, maybe? Rick Springfield records? Somewhere like that. Somewhere good. I totally-otally love this one.

(Wait, "Great Dane Music" would imply Denmark not Holland, right? Duh.)

Nanna pop >>> Anita Karlson pop btw; Anita's just keeps going in one and ear out the other. Doesn't cut it. But the Nanna one is loaded with cute hooks.

Daliah Lavi's New Seekers cover thankfully balances its ice-cold Nico schtick with warmer Al Jolson phrasing (if Al Jolson was German and rolled his r's), at least whenever she says "mama." And her accordion song has a palpable...wurlitzeriness? hurdy-gurdiness? caliopiopity? or something to its rhythm. None of which might come from the squeezebox (which doesn't do a whole lot til the song's end.)

Nena "Leuchtturm"/"Kina" (CBS Schalplatten West Germany, 1983). Yeah, that Nena. And boy is she cute. No one dances on logs in videos about nuclear annihilation like Nena does, I'll tell you that. The boys in her band are pretty cute, too, though they're not my type despite looking almost as girly as she does. Anyway. This is the year before "99 Luftballons," and Nena and her Nena-boys are still hungry, and "Leuchtturm" starts with plenty of post-Kraut-rock dub echo before the guitar hooks and synth bubbles kick in and Nena manages to be entirely nonchalant and entirely exuberant at the same time. "Kina" is more conventional synth pop, but with that pretty pretty pretty gurgle the Krauts were so much better than the Limeys at putting in there at the time (do I believe that? well it sounded opinionated either way) and Nena says "All ist klar" (but not "Der Kommissar") and "Cary Grant" and "mitternacht" and stuff like that. Yay!

Nena "Feuer Und Flame"/"Woman On Fire" (CBS Schalplatten West Germany, 1985) Now on the other side of luftballon stardom, Nena delivers a concept single. She and her band look significantly more alternative (scarves! new wave haircuts!) and jaded (sitting on the floor! surrounded by candles!) on the 45 sleeve; fame has clearly taken its toll. "Feuer Und Flame" has her mainly repeating the title over and over and over, over intermittently bumptious Killing Joke tribal drums and noisy dance-metal riffage. "Woman On Fire" is a translation, it turns out, though clearly not a literal one, and Nena seems less assured singing in English, obviously not her native tongue, though the stuff about "body heat" recalls Olivia Newton-John circa "Physical," and of course the title rhymes with "danger and desire," this being the '80s and all. "And the woman on fire...is me." Hot!

Pat & Paul "Beim Kronenwirt"/"Wenn Der Toni Mit Der Vroni" (Telefunken West Germany, 1973) Paul is prettier than Pat (the girl) (blonde) on the cover, a nice touch. At first I thought they were both wearing knit sweaters, but it's just that Pat's arm is around Paul so you can't see his suit. Anyway, this is schlager. But heartily tuba-farting schlager, at least in "Beim Kronenwirt"'s case. with lots of singalongable "yoo-biddy-yoo-biddy-yoo"s and "ya-ha-ha-ha"s in the singing. In fact, that's mostly all it is. And the singing isn't even much in the way of singing -- hell, I can sing better than that, and the nuns used to make me lip-synch in church not to throw off the rest of the class (true story), but it kinda doesn't matter. Big fat ugly German guys nostalgic for anti-Semitic passion plays drank so much bier to this song they couldn't see straight, I can tell. Which is interesting, because Pat & Paul are young people. B-side goes a little too far in the "we're all having so much fun aren't we" department to be convincing (Pat's "yoo hoo!" exclamation give you the idea she's not all that into it), and falls apart when it slows, blegh.

Actually, the A-side of that Pat & Paul single sounds like a totally forced brand of "fun", too, the more I hear it. Maybe old Germans didn't drink to it after all. Perhaps they tossed their steins of beer in the annoying couple's faces instead.

And it's my civic responsibility to point out that, despite my eternal infatuation with Nena, none of those four tracks above has hooks anywhere near as undeniable as "99 Luftballons." (Few songs, do, but still.) Still wonder, though, what Alex In NYC would think about the very Killing Joke opening to "Feuer Und Flamme" (which Nena and band pretty quickly turn into actual pop music, of course.)

Metal Mike, via email:

the only truly odd thing is that in Berlin, when i dug through close to 1,000 (or way more -- had to be 12 to 15 "boxes" stacked w/45s straight up, easy to flip straight through) 45s at the store where most of the 45s came from (they're stickered with yellow -- i think -- typed/printed stickers that read like

e 0.50 ( = 75 cents last spring)
or e 1.00 ( = 1.50)

there was NOTHING by Arabesque, nothing! now, the pricier (like slade, sweet in good condition) stuff was in equally massive boxes behind the counter/back room, which i didn't even have time to put in "want this act" queries for (save Slade, for our guitarist who now wears an old Slade design at every gig on stage) -- but gonig by Ebay , Arabesque is decidedly NOT collectible, not even vaguely. they just have nominal value (except maybe a little moreso for the endless Japanese pressings/lps which are many more albums than the german/euro issues).
((ALSO, nothing by the Newton Family, huh)

some clever guy who likes their stuff, cleared it all out at that store years ago! some disco-music dance music fan richfuck from Japan on a leisurely european vacation huffing drugs in amsterdam and taking pictures of the old Berlin Wall! (which is my favorite neighborhood in the whole world, the bohemian old Keuzberg and Friedrichshain neighborhoods, especially the former. now that is one trippy/spooky/trippy-assed little section of god's green earth. i don't think there's anywhere in america that compares to it -- except maybe one of the deep south towns/areas razed to the ground by the North in the Civil War. (we hiked Civil War trails in mississippi, ponds/lakes that had been filled with blood, but i always say = no tanks, no credibility!)

i have a rough Youtube checklist (of the best, supposedly, per my hacking around) on Arabesque and (also) the Newton Family if you want to put some interns on it to find those goddamn 45s that weren't there in Berlin.

(i did pick up a $2 copy of the very first Arabesque lp in Oslo, a norway pressing with the early disco-era hits, not half as interresting as their shortly-later ABBA-clone poppier/dancier/rockiers hits)

ReBop -- "I Werd Des G'fuhl Net Los"/"Dagegen Is Koa Kraut G'Washen" (EMI West Germany, 1985) Their name reminds me of Lester Bangs writing about Jethro Tull. And I like their song titles because one almost has the words "net loss" in it, and the other one has the word "Kraut" in it. Their pop is only slightly sprightly, though, despite hints of sax and doo-wop. Boy and girl, yellow shirts, her in plaid suspenders, both having a really bad hair day. Meh.

Roby & Brina "OK Disco Italia"/"Canta Anche Voi OK Disco Italia (Instrumental)" (Baby Germany, 1986) OK, this is more like it. This duo looks cuter, for one thing. He's pretty nerdy looking in his glasses and all, but with an ironic Confederate flag truckers' hat (?) a couple decades early almost, and she's got a short bob haircut and an oversized T-shirt that says "BOY" on it in really big letters like in one of those old Wham! videos. And they have Italian flag colors behind them, and the music is Italo disco. But not what would be called Italo disco now, probably. It's a medley of hits, in Italian -- starts with a short snippet of "Gloria" which Laura Branigan had covered, followed by a snippet of "Ti Amo" which Laura Branigan had also covered, but they don't boom the song out like Laura would have, and then there are other songs I never heard before, one of which goes "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma Maria" or something, and in between there's a chorus about it all being "OK! Disco Italia!", just like the title says. And the B-side is the same thing, except with no words beyond the chorus, though it does keep the tune parts to "Gloria", et. al.

Roxette "Soul Deep"/"Pearls Of Passion" (EMI Sweden, 1987) I interviewed these two for Request magazine back in the early '90s (Per was completely friendly; Marie more an ice queen), but I swear I never realized until a few minutes ago that they actually had a Swedish (and Canadian, and other places) album before Look Sharp! (Actually a couple album, apparently -- one a remix album, according to Wiki.) Anyway, it was called Pearls Of Passion, and these were both on it (in some form -- the "Soul Deep" here says "remix"), and though I'd have to go back to the U.S. debut to make sure, off hand I'd say both cuts seem possibly rawer and definitely punchier than what they first showed up here with. Especially "Soul Deep," which I might take over the Box Tops song of the same name -- just a really cool glam-rock/blue-eyed-soul hybrid, with a tough, hard, non-icey vocal from Marie, and "hey hey hey"s in the background taken blatantly from some soul classic I can't place right now. B-side's more a power ballad, and has Per singing lead about December feeling like July, but there's a sort of '80s Springsteen feel to it, somehow, and when Marie comes in, some Scandal or Benatar. Neato.

Amusing tidbit about "Soul Deep" from Wiki: "The song was originally written in Swedish and was called 'Dansar ner för ditt stup i rekordfart' but that title was considered too silly." No kidding!

(TS: Roxette Look Sharp! vs. Joe Jackson Look Sharp.)

So, just noticed (not sure how I missed this before) that that Roby & Brina 45 breaks down the elements of its medley on the back: "OK Disco Italia/Gloria/ Ti Amo/La Bombola/L'Italiano/Felecita/OK Disco Italia/Mamma Maria/Sara Perche Ti Amo/OK Disco Italia." The eat keeps pumping ("Stars on 45"/"Hooked On Classics" style sort of) and Brina keeps things happy and chirpy throughout, but gets especially joyous on the OK!" parts, as she should. My favorite part otherwise is probably "Mamma Maria"; need to track down the original someday.

Realized that the song Roxette's "Soul Deep" (and especially its hey-hey-hey's) really reminds me of (and this is a huge compliment by the way) is the Osmonds' great own glam/Motown juncture "Yo Yo."
Love it. Favorite line in "Soul Deep" (hey I'm Catholic): "Save a prayer for a sinner and a saint, my baby's coming back." Favorite line in "Pearls of Passion": "Now's the time for weary minds, the moon is northern bound." And Per gets off good concise hearty pop-rocky guitar solos in both songs.

The eat keeps pumping

Not eat. The beat. The beat. The beat.

btw, the '80s Springsteen in that Roxette B-side was probably more '80s John Cafferty. Which is fine.

Scool "Roll Baby Roll"/"Downtown Lights" (Telefunken West Germany, 1980). Four cute (or at least cute-ish) white girls wearing roller skates on the sleeve, but only one has a skating helmet on. (One has a pith helmet like she's going on a safari, one has a visor, the one showing the most skin is also hatless.) So, no surprise, roller disco music, about how even the police chief and the businessman roll and skaters wear exotic skintight duds and bathing suits. Real bouncy 1980 disco-pop bounce to it, plus some proto-Aqua deep German guy voice that comes in once in a while to say "rolllllll" with his r's and l's rolling. B-side is actually funkier -- harder bassline, extended sleek disco sax solo -- yet sung with more lightness. Less of a song, too, but good.

Sugar & Candy "Come To The Party"/"Chapel Of Love" (Hansa International West Germany, 1977) Two more cute white girls, somewhere in their 20s I guess, but this time wearing pajama-like baseball uniforms (one sky blue, one red) with stars all over, like they're on a barnstorming women's novelty team. Also a mitt, and a ball. Their vocals are smaller and less assured than Scool's, but they have wackier, more specific words: "Watch the guy with burning hair/He's dancing with a bear/A rocker dressed in black/Has a coffin (?) on his back." (Not really sure if it's "coffin" -- sounds like "com finn," but I assume English isn't their native language.) That image reminds me of those disco LP covers with all kinds of partying freaks and weirdos, like Silver Convention's Madhouse. And Sugar & Candy's deep German proto-Aqua/Toy Boy guy is weirder and freakier than Scool's guy: "velcome to the party!!", very "Barbie Girl". Okay sax and guitar parts, too, and the girls unsuccessully try to rhyme "heat" with "get it." "Chapel In Love" is a cover, with wedding music and disco orchestrations mixed in, and the girls don't seem real into it, but it'll pass.

proto-Toy Box guy, I meant (not Toy Boy).

Shepstone And Dibbens "Shady Lady"/"China Heat" (Polydor West Germany, 1973) Talk about weirdos -- I don't know if these two guys on the cover (one with a receding hairline and sleazy mustache and a fur coat slung over his shoulder and ill-fitting blue-jean overalls over a red T-shirt, and a shorter guy with longer hair and knit sweater under his blue jean jacket and a camera slung over his shoulder) are trying to look like they're in Midnight Cowboy or what, but they really do look like they just got out of prison for some sex-related offense, especially the tall guy. Figured this would be some skiffly kind of schlager mush, and for the first few seconds that's how "Shady Lady" hit me (they're the shady ones! not the lady!), but then I noticed how snotty and slimy the sexist spurned-male vocal over the folk boogie was -- reminds me of "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" or "Hey Little Girl," or (maybe this is more along the lines of what they were aiming for) some Dylan-wannabe garage punks like Mouse and the Traps. I'm betting they were going for Dylan (as in say "Positively Fourth Street"), not the garage bands, but the effect is the same, and it gets me, even if the part where they say they're going to call the FBI and KGB (and CID? what's that?) to hunt down the girl is sort of dorky. B-side is more twee, with pretty semi-racist fake Asian music mixed in.

B-side actually "China Heart" (not "Heat")

Tonight "Money That's Not Your Problem"/""No Sympathy" (Warner Bros. West Germany, 1978) Fake punks! Not in the accidental Shepstone & Dibbens sense, but in the "pretending to be punk rocker" sense, like the Vibrators or early Boomtown Rats, both of whom "Money That's Not Your Problem" reminds me of -- only 2:04, totally energetic and catchy and ridiculous: something like "Money makes the world go black! Money money money makes ya fat! Now tell me what you think of that!" In snotty British accents. I'm not sure why they don't think money is their own problem (maybe they're rich), but it's timely 30 years later nonetheless. B-side is a bit slower, not as catchy, but not bad; vaguely pub-rockabilly -- reminds me of "Work Shy" by the Fabulous Poodles sort of, and might be about the same thing (i.e., hating working). Wikipedia informs that "Tonight were a five piece new wave band, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Although only active from June 1977 to January 1979, they played a small but significant part, in the ever-changing music scene in the late 1970s...Tonight along with The Rich Kids, were the first acts to be described as power pop, a new UK music genre term in 1978, initially mentioned by Charles Catchpole, in the Evening Standard, 'Rock Notes' section, on 17 January 1978. The term was borrowed from Pete Townshend's description of The Who's music in 1967, and in 1978 put forward as a musical genre, by the press/promotion office at WEA in London, to describe their new upcoming acts at that time. As punk morphed into new wave (December 1977 - January 1978) Tonight scored the first hit for the power pop movement in February 1978, with "Drummer Man" reaching No.14 in the UK Singles Chart. Their next single 'Money (That's Your Problem)' charted well outside of the Top 40; but two more singles were released plus an album was recorded." (I'm skeptical about the term "powerpop" being invented in the UK; wasn't it already being used in the States for bands like the Raspberries and Badfinger? Always figured somebody like Greg Shaw had come up with it, but I could be way off.)

Vanilla Ice "Road To My Riches"/"Hooked" (SBK West Germany, 1991). Last one. Not sure if this was a single in the States or not; supposedly off his Extremely Live CD. Can't believe I didn't hear "Road To My Riches" before (or at least never noticed it) -- AC/DC "Back In Black" riff all through, like the Beastie Boys' "Rock Hard," with a Bowie "Let's Dance" hook or two mixed in like Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines." He throws a wet towel and the girlies go wild, and he talks about his "thigh pole" I think I heard him say once. Kind of love his white urban wannabe street-tough voice introducing the song at the beginning -- it's a voice that goes back at least as far as the Belmonts (or even further, in movies), and really not that far from what House of Pain or even Ice's nemeses 3rd Bass were doing a couple years later. (I think he also uses the word "nemesis" somewhere.) On the 45 sleeve, he's sort of lurking in the shadows, flashing a fake gang sign and showing off his rings. Also, says he's not like Milton Bradley (didn't catch why) but is "like Charley, I like the good and plenty." Song is suppposedly live, but doesn't sound live at all except during Ice's intro, and when some hypeman comes in a ways into the song to hype up the non-crowd. B-side, which actually sounds slightly more familiar, has a wobbly "Brass Monkey" sort of horn thing going on, and Ice scolding his buddy who is is hung up on some girl who treats him "like a dirty diaper/Use ya once and then tries to wipe you...out!" Recommends his friend visit a shrink -- helpful advice, what friends are for!

(Fwiw, Tonight do think money is your problem. I got the title wrong the first time. They hence seem to imply that their own problems, assuming they have any, are something other than monetary.)

hey chuck. do you still have that jeanette 7" around? i really want it, but don't want to pay for european shipping costs.

Probably not... Don't see it on my 45s shelf, and if it's one I didn't seem to like on this thread, I most likely donated it to either a thrift store or a waste receptacle before moving away from NY. If it turns up, though, I'll say so here.

ack!

seriously. listen to this shit. so great. and she's still so hot!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLxrrE6wC5I

xhuxk throws away more music than more people keep before 9 AM...

friend compared her to lio, who i already had a crush on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuS1lKnkUWo

her band Pic-Nic recorded some sweet, delicate folk-rock singles and EP's in the late '60s, and some of their songs were re-released under her name once she went solo. love these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoA1LIQ6dfc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdZhFIdza4s