The Frankies - Yo Yo

7" Single, released in 1980

The Frankies - Yo Yo (A-Side)
The Frankies - Holiday Magic (B-Side)

Probably a bit earlier and somewhat atypical of the kind of singles I look for. But look! Doesn't the young lass on the back cover seem familiar? Maybe, if you've watched British TV in the last twenty years. None other than comedienne Caroline Quentin, famous for playing Maddie in Jonathan Creek and Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly. She seems to have kept this gig quiet.

A fairly ridiculous track to be sure, and hardly likely to be officially licensed from Disney, what with all the sexual innuendo apparent. Her collaborator was a well travelled musician, the late Kevin Westlake, who you can read more about here.

Empire - This Is My Word

7" Single, released in 1988

Empire - This Is My Word (A-Side)
Empire - Behind Closed Doors (B-Side)

Empire was a project featuring talented songwriter, the late John Uriel, and Mark Lee Kemp. They released three singles, all very listenable, in 1988 and put together an album which was never released. The group continued to demo songs for a second album before calling it quits.

Martini Ranch - How Can The Labouring Man Find Time For Self Culture?

12" Single, released in 1988

1. How Can The Labouring Man Find Time For Self Culture? (Industrial Mix)

2. Back At The Ranch

3. Fallen Idols

4. How Can The Labouring Man Find Time For Self Culture? (Single Mix)

Download

Martini Ranch was a short lived collaborative project featuring songwriter and performer Andrew Todd and actor Bill Paxton. Apart from two singles, the duo released an album, Holy Cow. This single featured three exclusive tracks unavailable elsewhere.

New Legal Download

I didn't know that Crash Test Dummies had released a new track called "I'll Be Peaceful Then" earlier this year, so I have made it my legal download of the week.

Random 80's Wednesday

Crazy busy at work this week, after a fantastic surprise birthday trip to Denver last weekend. Nothing too mind blowing today, just wanted to put something up for you all.



Breeding Ground - Happy Now I know (1986)



The Hooters - Satellite (1987)



Timbuk 3 - Reverend Jack and His Roamin' Cadillac Church (1988)



Big Dipper - Faith Healer (1990)



Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet (1993)

I'm absolutely shocked I have not, apparently, posted this Crash Test Dummies video before. What a fantastic, creative band they were/are.

Soundtrack - Crazy

7" Single, released in 1982

Soundtrack - Crazy (A-Side)

Soundtrack - Freeze Frame (B-Side)

I posted the other Soundtrack single, Ghosts of Love, a few years back. This one popped up on eBay while I was looking for records by the new wave band Freeze Frame. As is often the case I don't know much about the band. They recorded for Rialto Records and I think the two singles were everything they did.

Fontana Mix - Catwalk

7" Single, released in 1983

Fontana Mix - Catwalk (A-Side)

Fontana Mix - Cherry Lips (B-Side)

I don't know much about Fontana Mix, who recorded for the Compact Organization and released a couple of singles and an album. Although several Compact artists have seen their work reissued, nothing as yet has surfaced from these guys.

Random 80's Wednesday

Let's see what's been playing at MFL Towers these past few days...

Wet Picnic - Cocktailed Sky (from Balls Up, 1982) 

Horizontal Brian - Everybody Wants To Be American (from Vertical, 1983) 

Salvation Sunday - Reservations (Unreleased, circa 1986) 

Z6 - You, Eugene And Me (7" Single, 1983) 

Haven Terrace - In A West Coast Town (7" Single, 1986) 

A Picture Made - God Loves A Hell Of A Man (7" Single, 1986)

Skin Side Out - Pushing You Out

7" Single, released in 1984

Skin Side Out - Pushing You Out (A-Side)

Skin Side Out - Shredding Of The Skin (B-Side)

Random 80's Wednesday

Nacey And Matthew - Jamie (from Electric Stares, 1984)
Sight Unseen - Is This Heaven (from Sounds Eclectic, 1987)
The Other Side - Is It Any Wonder (7" Single, 1987)
Grey Parade - The Empty Room (from The Reason, 1985)
Dan Barr - Bus Full Of Nuns (from WEBN Album Project 8, 1985)

"Jamie" is a terrific little song which I couldn't wait to post. I found the album by scanning through 1984 albums for sale on Discogs, and a quick google search led me to a YouTube post. I knew right away I needed this record, unoriginal it may be for sure, but I'm a sucker for this kind of sound - to me very reminiscent of Jimmy Jimmy and their bright young pop.

Craig Rollright - Young Girl With Chinese Eyes

7" Single, released in 1983

Craig Rollright - Young Girl With Chinese Eyes (A-Side)

Craig Rollright - The Shadow (B-Side)

Haven't found out any information about this one. Very mysterious. I suspect "Craig Rollright" is an alias.

Sam And Galore - Heaven Knows

7" Single, released in 1988

Sam And Galore - Heaven Knows (A-Side)

Sam And Galore - Walk My Way (Live) (B-Side)

Singles like these are why I remain a vinyl obsessive and music aficionado after many years of collecting and poring over websites and eBay listings. A one off privately released single, here is a catchy, pretty tune with all the hallmarks of a classic Deacon Blue or Prefab Sprout offering. The most I could glean from the internet was that the lead singer - of some talent - gave up the band to run his family's music shop in London, and that the drummer Phil Morgan was previously in All Sons Of Allison and hailed from Tyne And Wear. It's interesting that the B-side was a live version of an otherwise unavailable track - not many debut releases did that.

I have just noticed that there are a bunch of S&G tunes on Phil Morgan's YouTube channel - God bless Google - so I'm off to check them out!

Tim Cody - Davey

7" Single, released in 1986

Tim Cody - Davey (A-Side)

Tim Cody - Shallowland (B-Side)

I don't know much about Tim Cody except that the sleeve art reminded me of Woodhead Monroe and it's quite a good little pop tune. This was his second and final single release, I think, and nearly the last one on the Towerbell label which ended not long after. As always, I would welcome further information and enlightenment.

Vaughn Toulouse - Cruisin' The Serpentine

7" Single, released in 1985

Vaughn Toulouse - Cruisin' The Serpentine (A-Side)

Vaughn Toulouse -You See The Trouble With Me (B-Side)

I previously mentioned this very briefly here, but I have to confess I never heard it or knew much about before a few days ago. Vaughn was the charismatic singer with Department S - early '80s one hit almost-wonders and a bit before my time. He was also from Jersey so as a fellow Channel Islander I happened to like that. Sadly he died in 1991 without releasing anything else. From the title and mod-ish sleeve I was expecting something akin to jazzy crooning with a retro feel but I was quite wrong. Actually these are a couple of very contemporary, breezy and poppy concoctions that I feel a bit sad not to have heard before. Nice sleeve notes on the back, also.