I’ve had this one in the collection for awhile and finally got the urge to write about it. It is from one of my favorite singers, Pat Benatar. The early 80’s saw her on a massive win streak. Everything she touched turn to gold including the lead single to her 1984 album ‘Tropico’ which is “We Belong”. The song did really well and went to #5 on the Billboard charts which tied the success of her massive hit “Love is a Battlefield”. The song was a success all across the world as well and even earning a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. She didn’t win as she was up against some other powerhouses such as Linda Rondstadt, Madonna, Tina Turner and Whitney Houston. Dang that is a pretty impressive category right there.
The song was written by Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro (his first cousin is Dave Navarro if you are interested in knowing that fact). The song was inspired by Dan as he was sitting around lamenting on an old flame. He wanted to get the point across that although there are more important than them, they however belong together. My copy of the single is a standard U.S. release so nothing special, but I like it.
In 1986, one of the biggest movies was ‘Top Gun’ starring then upcoming & coming star Tom Cruise. The soundtrack was just as big thanks to Kenny Loggins’ song “Danger Zone” (which went to #2) and Berlin’s beautiful ballad “Take My Breath Away” (which went to #1). I also loved Cheap Trick’s “Mighty Wings” even though it didn’t chart. Another big song on the album was by Loverboy and the song “Heaven in Your Eyes”. It went all the to #12 so that is 3 Top 40 songs off the same soundtrack and a soundtrack that went to #1 and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Not too shaby. Sadly, today, soundtracks aren’t that popular and we don’t usually get them like they made back in the 80’s and 90’s.
“Heaven In Your Eyes’ was written originally by Mae Moore and John Dexter, however, when the song ended up the soundtrack both Mike Reno and Paul Dean were able to get credits added even though I am not sure how much they contributed. The song is not on any of the band’s studio albums but you can get it on their greatest hits package titled ‘Big Ones’ which is a great one to have in the collection if you see it out and about.
For Record Store Day on Black Friday, November 29, 2019, Cheap Trick was releasing a limited edition 7″ Single of a new song and limited to only 1,500 copies. It was a RSD First Release which means they were going to release it again sometime and wasn’t exclusive, but it didn’t stop me from picking it up. The funny thing is it said it was a new song off it’s latest album which actually didn’t come out until 18 months later, but I am okay with that as I love my 7″ Singles. The song was “Gimme Some Truth” which is a of course, not really a new song as it is a cover of the John Lennon classic. But I guess it is new to Cheap Trick.
The B-Side is a live version of a song that was truly on their latest album at the time which was their Christmas album called ‘Christmas Christmas’. The studio version is on the album and this is live which is cool as the song is the Wizzard cover of “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” written by Roy Wood. Well, Roy Wood is featured on this live version from the band. How cool is that!! And the packaging was great as I like the Uncle Sam on the cover and then on the back is the Cheap Trick logo morphed in to the Union Jack. Cheap Trick was always called the American Beatles and with covering a Lennon song, we get the British side of them as well.
At the latest record show here in Charlotte, I found a handful of great 7″ Singles as there is always this one guy that has an amazing collection of them to sell. I always find a handful of pristine and cool ones to grab and this one is no different. This time I found one by a band I really enjoy called The Alarm. The song was “Presence of Love” off their 1987 album ‘Eye of the Hurricane’. It was the third and final single and just missed cracking the Top 40.
The song “Presence of Love” was written by Eddie McDonald and Mike Peters. The song seems to be about how when you are really in love, no matter how hard things are you can overcome anything. Now, is that love, the love of a woman or the love of God? He mentions all the levels of heaven so part of me feels there is a religious connotation to it all. What do you think?
My copy is awesome even it is the plain old U.S. version. First, I love the I.R.S. labels on the single itself. I find them to be really cool. Second, the B-Side is “My Land Your Land” which is a previously unreleased track recorded during the Hurricane Sessions.
A-SIDE:
The single “Presence of Love” is a ballad as every album back then had to have a ballad. Musically, it sounds a lot like The Police and their song “Every Breath You Take” or at least it has a lot of the elements of that song. Mike Peters is on vocals and his voice is so distinct. When he really gets in some of the lines, his voice sounds so smooth and angelic and then the rest of the verses, he has a nice grit to it. A great combination of styles to have.
B-SIDE:
The B-Side is “My Land Your Land” was written by Nigel Twist and David Sharp of The Alarm and David is actually on vocals. Honestly, I didn’t know anyone else sang other than Mike Peters so this was really interesting to hear. David’s vocals are respectable but don’t have that character of Mike but not many do. The song being written by the drummer and lead guitarist, you do get some great drumming as that is the driving force of the song. There is some great guitar picking throughout but no huge single guitar moment. The song is mid-tempo and plods along not real exciting and I see why it wasn’t on the album, but it actually makes for a spectacular B-Side as this is what I like to get as the B.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the walk through the single “Presence of Love”. I still have a handful more of singles I haven’t been through so more to come. Have a great day and see you real soon.
For Night Ranger, how do you follow-up your biggest hit, “Sister Christian”. Well, you release another ballad and they did it this time with “When You Close Your Eyes” the third single off their 1983 album ‘Midnight Madness’. It was released on July 14, 1984 as a single and it didn’t do as well as “Sister Christian” as it only went to #14 on the Billboard Charts. Only..right! Most bands would kill for that. It did help continue to catapult the album to well over 1 million copes giving them their first and maybe only Platinum album.
The song was written by Jack Blades with the help of Alan Fitzgerald and Brad Gillis. The song came about from Jack noodling around on the piano and he sang the chorus and thought it was great. He had Alan and Brad help but he couldn’t finish it with all the distractions while recording the album. He flew home and sat around the pool and then was inspired by his ex-girlfriend and wondering if she ever still thought about him. That inspiration turned in to a big hit for the band.
My copy is a U.S. Pressing with the B-Side as “Why Does Love Have to Change” which is also off ‘Midnight Madness’. My copy is the Gloversville pressing as it has this little flower symbol in the runout. Plus it only has the Midnight Madness album cover on the back where later pressing have that plus Dawn Patrol. It is pretty good shape and plays great.
Billy Idol has taken a cover song and made it his own. “Mony Mony” is the song that I think more people related to Billy Idol rather than the original singer Tommy James and the Shondells who had a hit with it back in 1968. Billy first released it on his E.P. ‘Don’t Stop’ back in 1981. But it was the live recording of the song that became a hit while he was promoting his album ‘Vital Idol’ in 1987. The song was massive and live gave rise to the additional chant of “Get Laid..Get Fucked” following the line… “Hey, say what…”. It became such a popular chant, that high schools at the time banned the song from school dances.
When I was out crate digging, I came across this 12″ Maxi-Single a couple years ago, but it was in such bad shape, I passed as I knew I could find a better copy. And a couple months ago, I did. So, I grabbed it this time around. I keep saying I am not a fan of 12″ Maxi-Singles because you usually get several unnecessary re-mixes of the same song over and over again and this one is no different. But, I am a collector and I find something from an artist I like and I collect it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. This 12″ Single is the U.S. version from 1987 and has 4 versions of “Mony Mony” so let’s get to it, shall we.
At a local record show, I found this beauty from AC/DC. It is the U.S. single for their first single off “For Those About To Rock We Salute You” called “Let’s Get It Up”. Hmm…I wonder what this is about?? More on that later. The song never charted in the U.S., but in their home country of Australia, it went to #73 and the Swedes liked it the most as it went to #18 in their country.
The song is typical AC/DC filth, but I mean that in a loving way. “Let’s Get It Up” is about sailing the seven seas and remaining out at sea for a long time, but it also is about, well, getting an erection and keeping it up for a long time. As Brian Johnson said in Kerrang, it is “Filth, Pure Filth, We’re a Filthy band”…yep, that sums it up nicely.
There are two versions of the U.S. Single. One with a gray cannon, like the one I have, and one that has a black cannon. I’ll have to keep that in mind when I’m hunting next time. The B-Side is the same with “Snowballed” also from the album ‘For Those About To Rock We Salute You’.
I found this single out in the wild and being a fan of Billy Squier, I had to have it. “In the Dark” was the second single off his massively successful album, ‘Don’t Say No’. The song was released as a single in August 1981 and went all the way to #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 making it Billy’s second Top 40 Single with the first being “The Stroke” obviously! Like all Billy Songs, they were written by him which goes to show how talented he was. A very underrated artist and terrible he was shut out and basically black-balled over one ridiculous video, but that is a story for another time.
My version of the single is standard US version and has “Whadda You Want From Me” as the B-Side. The picture sleeve is the same picture on both sides which I find to be rather lazy personally but are you buying it for picture, probably not.
A couple months ago I showed off a pretty simple, yet cool, UK Promotional CD for the Needtobreathe single “The Heart”. This time I found another UK Promotional single and this time for their 2012 hit, “Keep Your Eyers Open” off their 2011 album ‘The Reckoning’. This was scheduled to be released on September 3, 2012 in the UK (it was February 14, 2012 in the US) and was a radio edit. On the back of the case is a sticker to the people that the CD single went to…Carrie Curtis & Maree Douglas.
This packaging was not plain and simple like “The Heart”, there was a unique picture on front and back that I believe are exclusive to this release and even the CD itself had some color to it and not a simple CDr burn like the last one. Whereas “The Heart” Promotional Single was on Discogs, this one I can not find which I am assuming that means this one is very hard to find and obviously no one has cataloged it yet.
While out at a new Record Store I found called Mad Jack’s, I picked up this sweet single from Poison’ album ‘Open Up and Say…Ahh!’. This is their first single off the album and it was called “Nothin’ But a Good Time”. It was released on April 6, 1988 and the song went all the way to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it was all over MTV. My version of the single is the standard U.S. version with “Look But You Can’t Touch” as the B-Side. It was in pristine condition considering it is over 30 years old. The B-Side for the single is also off the ‘Open Up and Say…Ahh!’ album and is called “Look But You Can’t Touch”.
The song was written back in their early days when they were living in a warehouse and they had no money. They would talk women in to buying them food and doing all sorts of things for them. I have also read it was about not needing to be depressed working a 9 to 5 job and just live in the moment and live it up. It is a very hedonistic lifestyle and that comes across in the song. They were rock stars living the dream, what more could you want.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 