Dire Straits – “Money For Nothing” – 7″ Single

One of the most Iconic 80’s songs is Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” which was a staple on MTV as the song was about MTV. The song was the second single off their smash album ‘Brothers in Arm’. The song was released on June 24, 1985 and went all the way to #1 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It also won Dire Straits a Grammy for Best Rock Performance. It features fellow 80’s icon, Sting, on the background vocals singing the famous line “I Want My MTV”. On a fun note, the song was the first video played on MTV Europe which aired on August 1, 1987.

The song was inspired by a visit to the appliance store by Mark Knopfler. He saw they had a wall of TV’s all on one station, MTV! Standing next to him was an employee and Mark says he actually said some of the lyrics. Mark apparently borrowed a sheet of paper and started writing the lyrics right there in the store. As a result, the song is about an appliance worker bitching about the guys on MTV and how easy they got it. He does real work, they don’t.

My copy is a standard U.S. version with what is called the Long Edit version of “Money For Nothing” which I find humorous as the Album version is over 8 minutes, yet the long edit version is 4:38. So why is it the long edit version, but the single edit version is 4:06. Okay then. The B-Side is the live version of the song “Love Over Gold”. I like the back of the single jacket as it actually lists the band’s North American Tour dates. I don’t know if that was a common thing, but none of my singles from other bands have done that.

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Friday New Releases – November 19, 2021

You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best! The Hottest New Release Day of the Year!! TODAY!!! Man, there are so many great releases today and I can’t wait. I have 3 I will be listening to and one is a Massive Box Set. This also seems to be a day for older established artists releasing new albums or anniversary albums and maybe for you younger listeners you might find some of these older artists totally awesome. Now, go check them out and let me know what you want to hear this week. Also, let us know what we may have missed. My choices are up first and in BOLD! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.

  • 91C7w0t0NLL._SX522_  Kiss – Destroyer (45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) – (Universal Music / UMG): KISS!!! Man, I can’t wait for this to arrive. I hope it makes it today. Kiss is releasing a 45th Anniversary of one of their biggest albums. It is remastered and there are a ton of demos and unreleased tracks and it is about time the band did a Box Set like this. Now, they need to go back and do them all with this special treatment. They’d get my money!!
  • 719ZBpfe0eL._SX522_  The Darkness – Motorheart – (Cooking Vinyl): The Darkness is upon us and that makes for a much brighter day for me! I love these guys. Their love of that old glam rock sound makes for a wonderful listen. They bring that style to today’s market and for that we are lucky. I loved their last album ‘Easter is Cancelled’ and if this is half as good as that one, this will be awesome then!!
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Friday New Releases – March 19, 2021

Another week has gone by and now we are to our favorite day of the week. At least its mine and if you are here looking at what new music came out today, it is probably yours as well. It is always great to see what is new and what you can’t wait to drop a needle on to hear…please don’t drop a needle in your arm…that would suck!! My albums I can’t wait to list are on Blue and when I see albums, I really mean album, singular. I shouldn’t have added that “s” because there is only one I want to hear. Hopefully though, you have a bunch. Let me know what is tickling your fancy and let everyone know if there is something I missed that is out. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

  • 91qon5cb2xL._SX522_  Paul Stanley’s Soul Station – Now And Then – (Universal Music): I am a Massive Kiss fan, so to see Paul Stanley branch out on his own is always a welcome site. This time around he is going old school R&B/Motown style with his band Soul Station. I can’t wait to see what he has in store. This might not be my normal cup of tea, but I will give it a shot as he has earned that much respect from me.

And here are the rest…some really big names starting with Mr. Bieber…

  • A1cXvozizOL._SX522_  Justin Bieber – Justice – (Def Jam Records)
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The Police – The Albums Ranked From Worst to First

Thanks to the You Picked It Post and the readers picking Synchronicity as the album to review, I dove into their catalog and decided to do an Album Ranking so here we are now. What can you say about The Police? This is band that got better and better after each album and had their biggest selling album and then called it quits. This was only 5 albums in and that was it. Who does that?? I guess they do.

The Police started in 1977 and were very punk and had a reggae swag to their music. They transitioned to a more post-punk and pop sound with their later albums and what I liked about their albums were they were all different and their song writing and playing kept getting better. I always thought of The Police as a “Smart” band as they used words I never heard before (just look at some of the album titles). The songs were so intelligent and they based a lot fo stuff off books and things they read. And I think that was also what made them interesting. It was great songs, great musicianship and they had something to say.

Now, the title of these posts are “Worst to First” and that moniker does not really apply to this list. The band had only 5 albums and each one was absolutely amazing. There is not a bad album in the bunch. Each album has a Classic Police song that is one of their best. I know there might be some disagreements in the list, but I don’t care as this is how I look at them as being best to least best. Let’s get started…

WORST LEAST FAVORITE – ZENYATTA MONDATTA (1980)

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You Picked It! – The Police – ‘Synchronicity’ (1983) – Album Review

Alright…You Picked It! And here it is. The one you picked was The Police – ‘Synchronicity’.  The votes were as follows:

  1. The Police – ‘Synchronicity’ – 11 votes
  2. Patti Smith – ‘Horses’ – 7 votes
  3. The Struts – ‘Strange Days’ – 3 votes
  4. Lauryn Hill – ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ – 1 vote
  5. Prince – ‘Purple Rain’ – 0 votes (this surprised me)

And thanks to being on The LeBrain Train live stream a couple weeks back, we had 2 write-in votes for Tommy Lee’s ‘Andro’ based on my absolute disdain for this new album. The write-in votes are a first for this series and if there was enough votes, it technically could’ve won!!

Thanks to all for participating.  The November choices will be up on Saturday!

THE POLICE – ‘SYNCHRONICITY’:

It turns out, I wrote about this album some 3-4 years ago. I think I need to keep better notes. But, you guys voted for it anyway and therefore I will update my review where my thoughts might have changed or where I have better information.

My first album for The Police was ironically their last.  MTV had played their previous songs quite often and I loved “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” and “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”, but it wasn’t until “Synchronicity II” that I finally decided to actually buy one of their records.

I picked up the cassette for ‘Synchronicity’ back in 1983 and later I did pick up their entire collection on CD by buying their box set which had all their albums.  I have since sold all the previous copies and when I was out vinyl shopping several years back, I found ‘Synchronicity’ and snatched it up.  It cost $8 which was about the same price I probably paid for the cassette back in the ’80’s.

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Friday New Releases – May 24th

Happy Friday.  It is a nice long weekend here in the States with Memorial Day coming on Monday and we get that extra day off to spend with family and remember those who have died serving and fighting for our country.  It is also the unofficial start of Summer break (although the kids still have two more weeks of school.  All I know is I get an extra day to listen to some music.  Not much out this week, but there are a couple I am eager to hear.  They are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what you want and if I missed anything. Thanks and have a great weekend.

  • 714mlGfPWtL._SS500_  SOTO – Origami – (InsideOut Music):  Jeff Scott Soto returns with one of his many bands.  This band is on their third album and the first two were heavy, solid rock band and almost metal.  It isn’t a solo album, it is a band.  These guys kick some major ass.  I have held off from listening to anything like I do on albums I want to hear as I like to take it all in at once.  It makes for a better listening experience.

  • 818qjjRsApL._SX522_  Stray Cats – 40 – (Surfdog):  The Stray Cats are Back!!!  And it is about time.  It has been well over 25 years since their last album and I couldn’t be more excited. I love that Rockabilly sound and we need a little of that now to shake things up as the music scene has gotten a little stale.  Welcome back boys!!!

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Tuesday’s Memes – Gwen Stefani

I am going to do a collection of Gwen Stefani memes whether you like it or not.  With her stint in No Doubt, her Solo work, her fashion sense or the Voice, she has been around a long time and is still in the public eye even if not for the best of reasons.  So sit back and I hope you enjoy it…

The songs…

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Tuesday’s Memes – The Police

It is time to poke fun and praise the band The Police.  Sting and company deserve their own day and today is it.  I hope you enjoy.

The Songs…

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The Police…no the other police…

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Sting…

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The Police – “Roxanne” – The 45 Single (1978)

In the continuing sage of the vinyl filled box I found another 45 single and this one was by The Police.  It was for the song “Roxanne” which is one of their signature songs.  Sadly, I don’t have a cover jacket for it.  The sleeve it was in was for Columbia Records; however, the single was released by A&M so I know it is not the right sleeve.  No matter, the single still plays regardless.  Below are the Original UK cover (left) and the alternate cover in the UK (right – is Stewart picking his nose???).

And here is mine…

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“My First Time” with The Police’s ‘Synchronicity’

My First Time is about the ‘first’ album I received or bought for a band and sadly, my first album for The Police was ironically their last.  MTV had played their previous songs quite often and I loved “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” and “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”, but it wasn’t until “Synchronicity II” that I finally decided to actually buy one of their records.

I picked up the cassette for ‘Synchronicity’ back in 1983 and later I did pick up their entire collection on CD by buying their box set which had all their albums.  I have since sold all the previous copies and when I was out vinyl shopping last year, I found ‘Synchronicity’ and snatched it up.  It cost $8 which was about the same price I paid for the cassette back in the ’80’s.

The Police were not an ordinary pop rock band.  For me, their lyrics were intelligent and not the bubble gum crap that was on the radio.  The songs made you think and look deeper into what they were saying.  At least they did for me.  It was the first time I felt music could be smart.

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