John Adams - Through The Eyes Of Love

7" Single, released in 1985

John Adams - Through The Eyes Of Love (A-Side)

John Adams - Don't Turn And Walk Away (B-Side)

Here's the solo 1985 single from Private Lives front man John Adams, produced by Andy Taylor of Duran Duran.

Rent Boys - Kick Down The Door

7" Single, released in 1980

Rent Boys - Kick Down The Door (A-Side)

Rent Boys - Feeling Ice (B-Side)

For quite a long time I thought the Private Lives single, "Where Do I Go", was the earliest by John Adams and the band. Then I read about a year or so ago that "Kick Down The Door" was an earlier single released in the same year under a different name. In my continuing quest* to track down all the John Adams/Private Lives material I've noted the various different styles the man managed to commit to vinyl. Here John and co jump on the Police/pop reggae bandwagon. I believe I now have all the John Adams related singles from 1980 to 1987, so it's about time to put some sort of compilation together. You're welcome.

*like Star Trek, but without any kind of prime directive.

John Adams - Strip This Heart

7" single, released in 1987

John Adams - Strip This Heart (A-Side)

John Adams - Precious One (B-Side)

More from John Adams, lead singer with UK band Private Lives. The single was taken from his first solo album, Strong, but the B-Side was exclusive to this release in the UK.

Private Lives - Where Do I Go

7" single, released in 1980

Private Lives - Where Do I Go (A-Side)

Private Lives - On Your Own (B-Side)

Here is the elusive first single by Private Lives. There seems to be quite a few fans of John Adams and his various outputs which has provided an alternative music soundtrack to the 80's including synth pop, dance pop, moody balladeering and, as here, new wave power pop.

I wrote to Cherry Red a while back suggesting they might like to reissue some Private Lives stuff, especially as the recent chart band Hurts is basically a carbon copy. But, they do not feel there would be enough interest, apparently.

I will continue to feature more Private Lives material as I am able to track it down. Enjoy!

By Request, More John Adams

For Jenny

John Adams - Don't Turn And Walk Away 

Enjoy!

Belated Christmas Goodies

Over the Christmas holiday I was back at home in the US and took the opportunity to rescue my turntable from storage and rip a few more obscure singles.

Some of these were requests, but most were just random picks. I did not have time to scan the covers before flying back to Europe and if there are any problems with the rips just let me know - I went through them quite quickly.

Enjoy!

Search Party - Lost Paradise [new rip, updated link November 2015]

Red Bamboo - Dance of Love

John Adams - Through The Eyes of Love

Delta - Mechanismo

Hitlist - Total Isolation

John Adams - Strong (1987)

As promised here is the solo album by former Private Lives frontman John Adams. It's very dance orientated and typical of the late 80's sound. And he looks very debonair, too.

1. Strip This Heart
2. Passion
3. Strong
4. Stranger Than Love
5. Message To Rudi
6. What Do You Want From Me
7. No Turning Back
8. Don't You Think It's Time
9. Someone To Believe In
10. Hold Back The Tears

Download

[Update Feb 2013] Download from Putlocker

There was also a solo single released in 1985 which I will post later.

Random 80's Wednesday

Fire Next Time - Stay With Me Now (7" Single, 1988)
Ice Cold In Alice - Causing A Commotion (7" Single, 1988)
Black - Have It Your Own Way (7" Single, 1987)
John Adams - Strip This Heart (from Strong, 1987)
The Shine - Shadow Dancing (7" Single, 1985)

Commentary:
I wasn't that thrilled with the last Fire Next Time single I bought, but this one is an absolute belter of a single. I'm still looking for the album, North To South, if anyone has it.

"Causing A Commotion" was, I think, the first single from Ice Cold In Alice, and typical of their sound.

I've been a Black fan for a long time, and while the B-Side "Have It Your Own Way" is hardly his best track, I've been looking for it for a while so I thought I'd share the booty. I'm still missing "My Lover", which was an extra track on the 12" version. Does anyone have this?

I could be wrong but I think that John Adams was previously the lead singer for Private Lives in the UK. This solo effort may have been a USA only release. The production of the track is very reminiscent to me of Donna Allen's "Serious" from the same year, which I would classify as a guilty pleasure of mine.

I don't know anything at all about The Shine.