Mr. Mondo

And do not forget ‘Hey D.J. I Can’t Dance To That Music You Are Playing’ by ‘The Beatmasters’ that was an excellent track too. I cannot remember any of her records from her time in the ‘She Rockers’ (before legal problems forced her to drop the ‘P’), though I would not mind tracking some of these records down as they were supposed to be the ‘British female Beastie Boys’ and a better rap crew than the ‘Wee Papa Girl Rappers’. Actually, Betty was a schoolboy crush of mine ‘back in the day’ alongside stars such as Nance Coolen, Vicky Perks and Laura Vasquez. Actually I have still got the cardboard cut out of her head that was used to promote the second album, though the actual album was donated to hospital radio way back in the mid 1990s. I kept hold of her video collection and I have still got the first album on vinyl somewhere in my house. I think it is in a box with albums by ‘the Cookie Crew’, ‘Bomb the Bass’, ‘Coldcut’ and ‘Eric and he Good Good Feeling’.

Great band, great artist. If I remember correctly ‘Roachford’ referred to the name of the band for the first few albums (from the debut to ‘A Permanent Shade of Blue’) and then Andrew Roachford was marketed as a solo artist under the 'Roachford' name for the ‘Feel’ album even though many of the previous members of the band appeared on that record too. In fact I think it was Sony Columbia’s intention to market him as the black Robbie Williams around the mid to late 1990s. I think it was a single off the ‘Feel’ album called ‘Naked Without You’ which was supposed to be his ‘Angels’ and would re-launch the parent album with a massive top ten hit. However I think the single stalled at about number 58 and I think that was the last ‘regular’ release on Sony for him. I think he has been releasing quite a number of albums on his own independent record label over the last ten years. I haven’t heard any of his more recent albums, but I believe he has taken a more ‘Britsoul’ approach to his work rather than the old ‘funk-rock’ sound that everybody knew from the debut. I think he probably sounds more like ‘Lynden David Hall’ or ‘Eternal’ now than someone like ‘Lenny Kravitz’ or ‘TTD’.

Yes, one of the best 'punk' icons ever.

I have not heard that record yet, but I liked 'Wires'. A great pop record.

Duran Duran always said that their sound was "part Sex Pistols, part Chic". I guess that 'Timberland' is the modern day equivalent to 'Chic'.

Only a few records could be as good as Ordinary World. That record is a pop classic.

I would have to say, due to my age, that Duran Duran is my choice. Take That do make good records as well.

Yes. I bought the last one and it was very good.

Is there a difference between euphoric trance and standard trance (like 'the KLF' for example).

I would like to see this as well.

I used to love recording Round Table as well.

My top five is: 1. Satellite (X) 2. Deliver Me (X) 3. Tome After Time (Happiness) 4. Hello (Happiness) 5. It’s Alright Now (Blissed Out)

Thank you.

25 YEARS OF RECORD COLLECTING: MUSICAL MEMORIES 1982 - 2007 5. BREATHE “As I watch you move across the moonlit room, there's so much tenderness in your loving” “So raise your hands to heaven and pray that we'll be back together someday” Breathe were one of those bands who, whilst perceived as a one hit wonder in the UK marketplace, actually managed a good run of hits in America. However, whatever your opinion on this ‘Blue-Eyed Soul’ band might be, that fact they one had one big hit in the UK is not there to give criticism on the listening habits of either nations in the late 1980s and early 1990s. David Glasper was the lead singer of this 4 piece band who first came to pop’s attention in 1986 (with a record on Siren, the release I think was the one called ‘Jonah’). You might remember the advertising for this record, the cover featuring the 4 band members’ faces positioned so it looked like a mirror image of a side view and front view of just one person duplicated so that the side views looked at each other. Flicking through an issue of ‘Smash Hits’ or ‘Record Mirror' it would really catch your eyes and you would have to look hard to realise that it was more than one man. However this record and a number of other early releases never charted in the UK singles chart and it seemed that Breathe would have no success. Thankfully in America a mini-invasion by British bands was starting to happen at this time, with acts like ‘When In Rome’ and ‘Giant Steps’ beginning to make inroads into the American market and instantly finding themselves more popular over there than here. With ‘Breathe’ it was the fabulous soul-pop single ‘Hands To Heaven’ that started to pick up airplay, which is not surprising as it was a record not to dissimilar to the soul sounds of George Michael that was, at the same time, vaulting towards the number one spot on the Billboard R&B chart. Soon the band became massive in the States with that record, and interest started to pick up back at home. By this time the band had shrunk to a trio (like a ‘Halo James’ with more waist-coat’s) and one new video later, ‘Breathe’ were ready to take there positions as chart charts in the pages of Smash Hits with their top ten single and re-issued ‘All that Jazz’ album. Like their slick ‘blue-eyed soul’ contemporaries ‘Johnny Hates Jazz’, ‘Breathe’ couldn’t keep up the interest going in the UK for their next album. It was now the 1990s and those more soulful highly produced sounds were replaced by a ‘new pop ideal’ of dance based sounds spearheaded by the productions of ‘S/A/W’ and the rap of ‘Snap!’ but also encompassing indie-dance acts like ‘EMF’ for the older (cooler) kids. However, and not surprisingly for such a slickly produced band, America was still interested and the band managed to rack up a few more hits on the billboard charts ranked alongside such acts as ‘Wilson Phillips’ and ‘Jon Secada’. 25 YEARS OF RECORD COLLECTING: MUSICAL MEMORIES 1982 - 2007

25 YEARS OF RECORD COLLECTING: MUSICAL MEMORIES 1982 - 2007 4. The Big Dish Some people may have only heard of the singer-songwriter Steven Lindsay’s name in passing, probably as a result of his cover of the classic Pixies track ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’ on his recent ‘Echo Records’ album ‘Kite’. However Steven has been releasing quality pop/melodic rock records since the mid 1980s, when he was the leader of the underrated Scottish band called ‘The Big Dish’. Singed to ‘Virgin Records’ for a number years in the Mid 1980s they released the album ‘Swimmer’ and became a cult act on the Scottish rock scene, appearing regularly in the pages of that intelligent Scottish rock monthly called ‘Cut’ alongside acts such as ‘Deacon Blue’ and ‘Hue & Cry’. The ‘Swimmer’ album was followed up in 1988 with the ‘Creeping Up On Jesus’ album, packaged in a luxurious gatefold cover, but unfortunately this wonderful album did not propel Lindsay into the big league with those fellow song writing geniuses Paul Buchanan, Paddy McAloon and Roddy Frame. At the start of the new decade ‘The Big Dish’ moved to TimeWarner’s newly revived ‘eastwest Records’ imprint, joining such acts as ‘the Beloved’ and ‘the Fat Lady Sings’ on the roster. In 1991, ‘The Big Dish’ finally reached the UK Top 40, charting their debut ‘eastwest Records’ single called ‘Miss America’. Personally I preferred the band’s previous material as this single (and accompanying album) were just a bit too slick, a bit too mid-Atlantic and a bit too American, but this was not just the bands fault as this was the trend within this ‘quality pop’ genre at the time, with loads of other bands’ material being slickly over-produced. Anyway those slight niggles aside, if you liked ‘the Big Dish’s songs then, are a big fan of ‘the Blue Nile’ or love ‘intelligent adult pop’, then may I recommend his last album ‘Exit Music’. It is a stunning piece of work, a slice of a ‘perfect adult pop’ genius that should be in everybody’s album collection alongside a copy of ‘Hats’, ‘Swoon’ or ‘Raintown’.

25 YEARS OF RECORD COLLECTING: MUSICAL MEMORIES 1982 - 2007 3. Dr Robert’s Springtime For The World This is the great lost LP by one time indie-popsters turned chart soulsters and ‘Style Council’ contemporaries: ‘The Blow Monkeys’. In fact since the mid 1980s Robert Howard’s career has strangely been parallel to that of ‘the Modfather’ Paul Weller’s, though solo ‘the good doctor’ has been more of a cult success in the Stephen Duffy mould rather than challenging ‘Ocean Colour Scene’ for the position of Number One R&B (rock) act. However at the turning point where the 1980s became the 1990s, both acts were getting into the new house music sounds coming over from Detroit and Chicago in America and so this form of black urban music replaced the soul and funk influences on their previous records. Following the monster house hit that featured Kym Mazelle called ‘Wait’, as well as the remixed ‘This Is Your Life’ and two Sylvia Teller collaborations called ‘Choice’ and ‘Slaves No More’, the first single from the album was a complete misdirection to the feel of the LP seeing as this title track was more suited to the first summer of love than the second. However after this single Dr. Robert and co. would release a Balearic classic that still, to this day, gets put on Ibiza classics LPs alongside such tracks as Oakenfold’s ‘Jibero (Come On Let’s Go)’, this was the song ‘La Passionara’. A great piece of recorded dance music that didn’t need Dr. Robert’s distinctive vocals put onto the mix. A great song to this day. Other great tunes on this LP include the funky opening ‘In Too Deep’, the deep house grooves of ‘If You Love Somebody’ and ‘Fruits Of the Earth’ as well as the ‘Cheb Khaled’ collaboration ‘Be Not Afraid’ and the Margaret Thatcher starring ‘Reflections 89’ which evolved from the previous ‘Vibe Alive!’ instrumental track. If you are a fan of dance music and can find a copy in your local second hand record store, then this is an essential purchase.

A brilliant record, a very good choice

TELEVISION MEMORIES 1. A 1980’s Cartoon show: “Once upon a time… life” Hello everybody, I wonder if anyone here remembers a cartoon show that used to get played in the very early 1980s during the school holidays called, I think, “Once upon a time… life”. I think the show was scheduled for about 9.25am on a weekday morning on Granada TV (ITV1) and might even pre-date the ‘Children’s ITV / CITV’ brand (in the early days when ‘Travelling Matt’ or Tommy Boyd would do a month’s presenting stint between the programmes). I think the show could have been French or Italian and was dubbed into English from the original transmission format as it was very much like those other ‘European’ cartoon shows of the time such as ‘Willy Fogg’ and ‘Dogtanian’ (which was Spanish even though I think the animation was mostly done by Japanese anime firms), though whereas these shows were pure entertainment, “Once upon a time… life” was educational as well. If you cannot remember the show then the best way to think of it is as a kind of ‘Blackadder’ for children as it centred around two characters, that reappeared at various important periods of time throughout history. Starting off in pre-historic times at many years B.C. the duo were joined by in the show by many regular ‘faces’ including a wise old sage who must have taken the ‘Socrates’ role whilst the show was in the period of the Ancient Greeks. Whereas other minor character designs may have been used throughout history in different roles, this philosopher character I think was the only other constant character along with the main duo, this being due to the fact that he was nothing more than one big bushy white beard with arms and legs (think of a cross between ‘Cousin Itt’ and ‘Santa Claus’).

25 YEARS OF RECORD COLLECTING: MEMORIES 1982 - 2007 2. The Sultans of Ping FC “Itchy! Wake Up and Scratch Me” “My brother knows Karl Marx he met him eating mushrooms in ‘The Peoples Park’; he said what do you think about my manifesto? He said my manifesto put it to the test-o, took it right down to the anarchist's party, I met a groovy guy he was arty farty,” “Eat natural foods! Bathe twice daily! Fill your nostrils up with gravy! Don't drink tea and don't drink coffee. Cover your chin in Yorkshire toffee” . “Dancing at the disco Bumper to Bumper, wait a minute Where’s my Jumper, Where’s Me Jumper” “You’re Stupid S-T-U-P-I-D-KID! S-T-U-P-I-D-KID! S-T-U-P-I-D!” Seemingly named as a ‘ironic tribute’ to Mark Knopfler’s iconic 1980s classic track, the Sultans of Ping FC came from Ireland and were signed to an offshoot of the established dance label run by Martin Heath, Rhythm King Records. However this band’s sound was probably the furthest away that you could get, from acts like ‘the Beatmasters’, ‘S ’Xpress’ and ‘Bomb the Bass’, as rather indulging in the club sounds of the time this band was a spiky power punk act (even so I would say that in some indie clubs this was great music to dance to). While the original singles were lo-fi in both recording and cover design, as time progressed the sound and marketing became much more slicker, especially when ‘Rhythm King Records’ entered into a joint venture with Sony’s ‘UK and Ireland’ label group. For their second album, released through ‘Epic UK’, the Sultans of Ping dropped the FC part of their name and went for a Japanese theme in their new project (in a way that I suppose it’s similar to Gwen Stefani) releasing such quality tunes as ‘Mitacho’ and ‘Itchy wake up and scratch me’. After that the band, just like Irish contemporaries ‘the Frank and Walters’, became more serious and less like the cartoon punks the charts had become accustomed to. A few years later they truncated their name even further, so that they were just called ‘The Sultans’ and unfortunately the dumper beckoned. However after many years of in-activity and other projects, news came through to the pages of ‘hotpress’ that they were back, Back, BACK!, and now the band can be found playing on the 90s revival circuit alongside people such band as ‘Northern Uproar’ and ‘Cud’

25 YEARS OF RECORD COLLECTING: MEMORIES 1982 - 2007 Hello everybody, here are some musical memories from the vaults of my record collection... 1. The Beloved “Hello Peter, Hello Paul, Saints and Sinners, Welcome All, Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball, hello, hello, hello” “So welcome to the world all you latecomers just step onboard, I’m happy glad you came” I suppose the Beloved could be categorised along with ‘the Shamen’, as one of the quintessential ‘indie-dance’ bands of the late 1980s and early 90s, especially since they too started out as an indie 4 piece on the ‘flimflam’ label and ended up as a (married male/female dance) duo on ‘eastwest’. Can you believe it is now about ten years since they last graced the pop charts with some new material (well the excellent ‘Deliver Me’ was a ickle hit for ‘John Martyn and Sister Bliss’ a few years ago, but that doesn’t count), and even though you might be able to find Jon Marsh DJing at your local club, it would be great to have his blissful vocals in the charts again. If you are a fan of dance music, then ‘Happiness’ has to be in your record collection, it is a must, as it stands beside ‘Electribe 101’s ‘Electribal Memories’, Pet Shop Boy’s ‘Introspective’ and the KLF’s ‘White Room’ as one of the essential dance albums of that period. Still brilliant after all these years.