Tag: B-Side

Honeymoon Suite – ‘New Girl Now’ – 7″ Single

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Honeymoon Suite exploded on to the scene back in 1984 with their self-titled debut album all propelled by their debut single “New Girl Now”. The song went to #23 in their home country of Canada and only went to #57 in the U.S. So, maybe they didn’t explode on to the scene and it was more like a whimper. I remember seeing the song on MTV and I thought it was a great tune, but honestly, it didn’t make me run out and buy it. Granted, I didn’t have a job that year so I had no money to go out and get it.

The picture sleeve is really basic as it is a copy of the cover of their debut album. The back cover has a picture of all the band members including Gary Lalonde who plays bass; however, he didn’t play on the album as that was handled by Brian Brackstone. Gary was added to the band after the completion of the album. My pressing is the standard U.S. pressing and no non-album track on the B-Side. But I love saving 80’s picture sleeve singles from sitting in record stores and not getting loved.

The song was written by guitarists, Dermot (Derry) Grehan and the song was semi-biographical as he wrote after ending a relationship and moving off to college. The band started out as a cover band and would sneak their own songs in at the end of the sets and people noticed. They entered the song in to some local contest and actually one. This lead to more demos and eventually a record deal. For now, we are only focusing on the 7″ Single that I found this Summer while on vacation in Florida. It was in decent shape and it look like it needed to be adopted so I grabbed it. I figured my Canadian friends would be mad if I left it behind.

A-SIDE:

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Def Leppard – “Rocket” (1989) – 7″ Single (part 7 of 7) – (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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On August 3rd, 1987, Def Leppard released their fourth studio album, ‘Hysteria’.  Little did they know this ground breaking album would go on to sell over 25 million records, produce 7 hit singles and go to #1 on the Billboard Charts. The final single from ‘Hysteria’ was “Rocket”. It was the 7th single…wow. “Rocket” was released in the UK on January 30, 1989 and went to #15. In the U.S>, it was released in March 1989 where it went to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 so it was yet another successful single.

My version is the U.S. version from the ‘Hysteria’ Singles Boxset and has the B-Side as “Women (Live)” while the UK version’s B-Side was “Release Me” which we saw a couple singles as the B-Side for the U.S. version of “Armageddon It”. Another song (like all the songs on the album) credited to the entire band as well as Mutt Lange the producer.

If you thought “Women” sounded different hold on to your hat. The song was inspired by “Burundi Black” by Burundi Steiphenson Black which had inspired the likes of Bow Wow Wow and Adam and the Ants. What started out as basically an instrumental turned in to a celebration of all the band’s influences from David Bowie, to Elton John, to T Rex, to The Stones and even Lou Reed. Lines from the song constantly referenced lines from or titles of songs from the 70’s. I loved trying to pick them out.

A SIDE:

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Def Leppard – “Love Bites” (1988) – 7″ Single (Part 6 of 7) – (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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On August 3rd, 1987, Def Leppard released their fourth studio album, ‘Hysteria’.  Little did they know this ground breaking album would go on to sell over 25 million records, produce 7 hit singles and go to #1 on the Billboard Charts. The next single we will discuss is “Love Bites” which is the only Def Leppard song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Considering this was the sixth single off the album and with the success of “Pour Some Sugar on Me”, I was completely surprised by that fact (PSSOM did go to #2). The single was released everywhere in July 1988 almost a year after the albums release.

The song was originally brought to the band by the legendary producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange.  The song was a country song at the time and of course the band put their spin on it and turned it in to one of the great rock power ballads of the time.  The title for the song actually came from another song that Leppard was working on and that song later became “I Wanna Be Your Hero” which was the B-Side for “Animal” in the US. The B-Side of this song is actually a live version of the ‘Pyromania’ song “Billy’s Got a Gun”.

What I like about the song is that the guy is so in love with this person that he is actually going a little nuts.  Hell, just touching her drives him crazy.  But he isn’t sure she feels the same way.  He keeps questioning her.  Maybe it is really his own insecurities that are causing him to doubt the relationship.  Or maybe she doesn’t love him and he really senses something missing.It is such a heartfelt, emotive song.  The lyrics paint a great picture that you can visualize exactly what is going through the guys mind and you might have even experienced those feelings yourself. 

A SIDE:

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Def Leppard – “Pour Some Sugar On Me” (1987) – 7″ Single (Part 3 of 7) – (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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On August 3rd, 1987, Def Leppard released their fourth studio album, ‘Hysteria’.  Little did they know this ground breaking album would go on to sell over 25 million records, produce 7 hit singles and go to #1 on the Billboard Charts. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” is the band’s third single in the UK released on September 8, 1987. Here in the States, it was actually the fourth single released on April 16, 1988. The song would change the course of this album for the band and see their popularity rise to heights they had never seen before. The song was written by the band and producer Mutt Lange.

It was do or die time for the band. The album had been a hit and sold over 3 million copies before this song came on, but the album cost so much to make, that the band still hadn’t broken even. They needed to sell way more. They recorded a video with live footage for the song and when it hit MTV, the album started skyrocketing up the charts and selling millions of records. The song never made it to #1 as it peaked at #2 as Richard Marx’s song “Hold On To The Night” kept it from the top of the charts, but there was no denying this was their biggest hit every and their signature song.

Yes, the song is about sex, but it is it the energy of the song that make this one so good. The song was one of the last ones to be recorded as Mutt still didn’t feel they had that one massive song that was needed. There were to intros recorded for the song. The first had the opening line on the song as “Step inside, walk this way, you and me babe, hey hey!” while the single version opened with “Love is a like a Bomb”, and since this is the Single version that is what this one opened with and it is great. The B-Side for this album is another fantastic track with “Ring of Fire”.

A SIDE:

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My Sunday Song – “Crossing Over” by Van Halen

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For My Sunday Song #393, we are on the third Japanese Bonus Track picked by Mike Ladano. This time around it is the Van Halen song “Crossing Over” off the band’s 1995 album ‘Balance’. The song was written by Van Halen (credited to all the members) and was not just a Japanese Bonus Track, but was also used as the B-Side to “Can’t Stop Loving You”. And if you recently bought the new Van Halen Collection II box set, you got the track on the 4th Bonus LP so that is really cool.

I read somewhere that the song was not actually written during the Balance recording sessions, but originated way back in 1983 when it was titled “David’s Song”. Eddie played all the instruments on the demo. The song wasn’t about Roth, it was about a friend of Eddie’s name David who had committed suicide. If you read the lyrics you can get that from them. Eddie is trying to reach out and see his friend one more time. To touch him one more time before he crosses over. It is a dark song and powerful too.

The song starts off with Eddie and the tone is really eerie and then the bass comes in with a little duh dum, and then the Alex is in on the drums and those drums are unmistakable Alex as he has such a unique sound. There are some electronic drum elements too. It all is very dark. Sammy finally comes in and sings and it isn’t all powerful. It is slow and the lyrics are very deliberate and meant to convey the dark tone to the song. There is an importance to the lyrics, to the sound, to it all. I read somewhere that Eddie’s demo was used for this track and they layered in Alex and Sammy and if that is true, that is cool. The song isn’t explosive and the chorus isn’t very catchy, but this is the mid 90’s and things were not always done the way we were used to hearing things. Overall, a really cool track.

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My Sunday Song – “Scratch” by INXS

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For My Sunday Song #390, we are to the final song chosen by Tim Durling of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions. The song we will go out on is a B-Side for the band INXS called “Scratch”. The song was the B-Side to the song “Just Keep Walking” off their debut, self-titled, album from 1980. The single was released in October 1980 and became the band’s first Top 40 hit in their home country of Australia. This song was never on any album, well, until their 2002 compilation album Stay Young 1979–1982.

The song seems to be about a guy who is pining for a girl. He wants her to listen to his heart as it beats for her. He knows she feels the same way and she has an itch for him too. He wants her to scratch that itch baby!! He even wrote a letter to the Sunday paper telling them of his love for her, but they don’t care.

This is early INXS when the New Wave movement was getting going. It is short at just over two minutes, but it has so much to offer in that short time. Some great guitar riffs that race through with an immediate urgency. The drum beat is his heart pounding for the girl. Micheal’s vocals, man they sound so young, but he takes full command and he sounds great. His annunciation isn’t the best, but damn he is so engaging and has so much charm in those vocals. A high energy, almost punk sound on this one and I hate I am just now hearing this one.

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My Sunday Song – “Run Run Run” by Tesla

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For My Sunday Song #389, we are almost to the end of Tim’s Choices and this time around is a cover song for Tesla called “Run Run Run”. It was originally done by Jo Jo Gunne in 1972 and written by Matt Andes and Joe Ferguson. It was only released as a B-Side on the CD Maxi Single for “Love Song” in 1990 so never on any of the band’s albums.

The song, lyrically, is very simple and seems to be about a guy who might be on the run from the law and needs to get to the border or the state line to get away from them. Nothing more than that. Pretty simple, right!

The band has fun with it. They keep to the spirit of the song but bring in to the 90’s with the sound as the original is very 70’s sounding. Jeff Keith’s vocals have such a cool grit that it really makes the song jump. The guitar work by both Tommy Skeoch and Frank Hannon scream and make the song feel like the song is really racing. The rhythm section of Brian Wheat on bass along with Troy Lucketta on drums also drives the song forward. You can feel the pressure and intensity of the guy running from the law. And then the song ends with a massive build up and bam, it’s done. A great, fun track by an incredible underrated band!

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My Sunday Song – “Heart of Darkness” by Heart

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For My Sunday Song #388, we have Tim’s next pick which is “Heart of Darkness” by the band Heart. The song is the B-Side to “What About Love” off the 1985 album ‘Heart’. The songwriting credits on this one goes to the entire band which did not happen very often and in looking at the album credits, there is only one song on the album that is credited to all of them. 

The song talks about two people lying next to each other making love all night and they don’t want the night to end. But the Heart of Darkness line leads me to believe their love is in secret and they have to hide it. My guess is they are having an affair and don’t want anyone finding out about it. When you listen to it, let me know if you get the same thing from it.

It sounds very 80’s with all the keyboards and the overly polished sound. It is definitely a new Heart. It was like Dreamboat Annie album merged with Journey and produced this fine piece of work. Ann Wilson’s vocals are so powerful and damn she can hit some notes. She is one of my favorite vocalists and this shows why.  it is a hard driving song, quick tempo, fast drumming and an overall rocking track. It is so strange it didn’t make the cut as it as good as anything on that album (if not better than some).  And interesting enough, it was never released ever, not on any deluxe album or compilation that I can find which is really cool.

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My Sunday Song – “Subway” by Aerosmith

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For My Sunday Song #385, we are going with Tim’s next selection which is “Subway” by Aerosmith. This one is unusual as it is simply an instrumental. The song was written by Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer. Yep, no Joe Perry to Steven Tyler on this one. The song was never released on a studio album, but finally was released as a B-Side to “Sweet Emotions” when it was re-released sometime in 1991 for the “Pandora’s Box’ box set. It was also on the Aerosmith ‘Box of Fire’ release on a bonus disc.

The song was recorded during the ‘Draw the Line’ sessions and this was back when Joe Perry and Steven Tyler were so messed up that they wouldn’t show up for days. Meanwhile, Brad, Tom and Joey needed to keep busy so they would write their own stuff and this was a result. This would’ve been during the 1977 ‘Cenacle’ sessions I believe. The band rented an old estate known as the Cenacle, a 300-room former convent near Armonk, NY., where they would be isolated without drugs around so they could focus on writing new songs. However, the drug dealers and the drugs found them!!

The song is an instrumental, as I said above. It sounds like the guys are just jamming away and it is the basic blueprint for a song that is missing vocals and a guitar solo. It is very repetitive repeating that same riff and rhythm throughout. It is a little bluesy and there is a familiarity to it that I can’t place. Maybe that is because it sounds like Aerosmith from the 70’s. Despite no Tyler on vocals or Perry on guitar, this sounds like Aerosmith because the backbone of the band is here and all their glory. I dig when bands finally release this kind of stuff that shows more insight in to the band. Things that they worked on that didn’t get fully developed are precious treats for me.

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My Sunday Song – “You Can’t Fight It” by Rush

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For My Sunday Song #384, we have Tim’s fourth choice with “You Can’t Fight It” by Rush. This is about as early as you can get with Rush and isn’t on any studio album. It is the first professional studio recording the band had ever done. It was done in Toronto, Canada with David Stock producing. In fact, this is part of the very first single the band ever put out with the song “Not Fade Away” which is a great Buddy Holly cover. But we are here to talk about the B-Side which was written by Geddy Lee and then drummer, John Rutsey.

It was written back in 1971 by the two gents, but Geddy ended up getting kicked out of the band, but cooler heads prevailed and John called Geddy and asked him to come back and by March of 1972, the band was set and ready to progress forward. No one would release the record so the band formed Moon Records and released it themselves, mainly in Toronto. It is extremely rare and a probably worth a fortune if you can actually find one. There is one for sale on Discogs as of my writing this for $1,500 if that gives you any idea of the value.

The song seems to be about the band just rocking you hard and you won’t be able to fight it. The song is short at under 3 minutes because according to Alex Lifeson, radio would only play songs that were around 3 minutes. A song that completely and utterly rocks out. A great bar sounding song with some wicked guitar riffs and soloing by Alex. Just Stellar!! John’s drum rolls on this song were killer as well as he would go nuts during his fills. Both Alex and John fed off each other with this one. Geddy’s vocals were perfect for this song as well as he slayed with the confidence and cockiness needed for a beast of a rock song. This might be a new favorite song of mine for Rush. Simply fantastic!!

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