Tag: John Leven

My Sunday Song – “Let The Children Play” by Europe

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For My Sunday Song #475, we are talking about “Let The Children Play” by the band Europe. Don’t think this is an 80’s Europe song…you’d be wrong. This is a more mature and even better sounding band. The song is from their 2006 album, “Secret Society” which might be one of their best albums EVER!! The song was not a single, but it was one of the best songs on the album, if not the best song on the album. It is the fifth song on the album and when you get to it, you realize just how good this whole thing really is.

The song was written by Joey Tempest and Mic Michaeli even though I’ve seen it basically credited to the whole band too. Regardless, the message is something we all need to hear. We get advice from everyone in our life, our mom, our dad, our siblings and even God. The lyric below says it all…

It’s not where we’re coming from
It’s how we turn from here
We know where we want to go
We just need a line, to get us there.

The best advice is simply let the children play and be kids. Maintain that innocence as long as you can. You can only guide them, give them that line to follow. It is up to them to find their own way. They will make bad decisions along the way. It is how they move from that decision that will make them who they are…good or bad.

The song is a rocker, with some gritty riffs, a killer solo and a driving rhythm section with the bass and drum. John Norum’s guitar are definitely a highlight giving us the melodic feel and great guitar sound. Joey Tempest vocals have never sounded better. He gets stronger as he ages. It is such a powerful, catchy chorus that it sucks you right in. The coolest moment is towards the end when the children’s choir comes in with the chorus. It really ties it all together and leaves you wanting more.

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Europe – “Let The Good Times Rock” – 7″ Single

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We now on the final of the 6 singles bought at Repo Records and the fourth and final one from the band Europe. The single this time around is “Let the Good Times Rock” from the 1988 album ‘Out of This World’. The song was the third single from the album and was released in January 1989. As far as charting, well, it did chart at #85 in the UK, but don’t see the chart info otherwise.

The song was written by Joey Tempest and the song is basically about a relationship that is going well and they should celebrate it and let the good times rock. A simple meaning behind a relatively simple song.

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Europe – “Cherokee” – 7″ Single

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In the batch of singles I found at Repo Records a couple months back, we are now to our fourth single of 6 and second from the band Europe. This one is the fourth single off ‘The Final Countdown’ and is a song that would catch a lot of grief today as the song is “Cherokee”. With today’s over sensitive, my feelings get hurt easily culture, “Cherokee” would probably be frowned upon with a bunch of white guys singing about Native Americans. “Cherokee” was released in November 1987 and didn’t do as well as their other singles, It only went to #72 not getting anywhere close to the Top 40.

The song was written by Joey Tempest. It was inspired by a book the wife of the album producer had. He had read through it and was inspired to write about the plight of the Cherokee nation as the U.S. government relocated them to Oklahoma from their native land of the lower Appalachian Mountains. Over 4,000 died on that march. It was the last song written for the album.

The copy I have is the standard U.S. version with the single being the album version and not the shorter edited version. The B-Side being “Heart of Stone” off the same album. I also have a “demonstration-not for sale” stamp on this one as well, but it is backwards and on the B-Side so not sure what is going on with these. Maybe they were used for Promo purposes…and maybe not.

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Europe – “Rock the Night” – 7″ Single

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After reviewing the two Winger singles, we are now to a set of four singles all coming from the band Europe. I found these all at Repo Records here in Charlotte and they always seem to have a some great stuff. This time around we have the single “Rock the Night” from the 1986 smash album, ‘The Final Countdown’. “Rock the Night” was originally released in 1985 for a movie soundtrack, but was re-recorded for this album. The single was released in the U.S. in April 1987 and saw it break the Top 40 landing at #30 at its peak. It was the second single off the album.

The song was written by Joey Tempest and is basically talking about how some times you go through some tough times, some pain, but you have to fight and keep going. Take all that energy and just rock the night! Simple enough.

My version of the single is the standard U.S. version, so I thought. But after pealing a price sticker of the vinyl, I noticed there is a stamp saying, “Demonstration-Not For Sale” which leads me to believe this might have been used as a promotional copy. The B-Side is a re-recorded version of the band’s first single called “Seven Doors Hotel”.

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