SotD82 - Part 15
Find Jimmy's other SotD82 articles here
Well, he got me hot!! [I see what you did there – Ed] I may have mentioned this before about Billy Idol but I really did/do like his music. Despite the heavy-ish rock intro to this, don’t be fooled – he’s moving to more pop/funk than punk or rock. But it’s a good record, although I’ve never thought that his voice quite fitted the music. Perhaps that’s part of the charm? I’ve always wondered what his music would’ve been like if he had not moved to L.A. when he did.
It’s My Party was an old record even by 1982 and Lesley Gore’s original managed to get some airplay out of this rehash release. Just as the Eurythmics began to take off, Dave Stewart does this, er, bizarre cover with Barbara Gaskin. Commercially it did well in the UK and I did buy it [no, really??? – Ed] but it seems a tad silly now. However, Gaskin was already an accomplished and successful (folk) singer who’d not long returned from living in the far east, becoming romantically involved with Stewart. They got married last year. Aw.
One of the many good things about writing these articles is I can go back to a record or artist and challenge my original views. This record provided me with just that chance: I never really “got” Thomas Dolby and thinking about it now it does surprise me given my interest in synth and prog rock. I’ve spent some time revisiting Dolby’s music and I’m glad I have – Windpower is a great example of new-wave-synthpop creativity and it’s a shame that it’s not what first seems to come to mind when people think of Dolby. There’s a really hooky, repetitive lyric:
Of a continent, a continent, a continent, a continent, a
He may not have scored many commercial hits, but he did go onto become an incredibly successful film-score composer and business man within the music industry. Still performs too.
You need to bear with me [we always do! – Ed]. New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84 is one of my all-time favourite albums and one which generates many, many powerful memories of this time of year in 1982. The second of three singles in 1982, late summer / early autumn, saw Glittering Prize ascend the charts, teasing the release of the forthcoming album. Jim Kerr has talked about his early influences many times and here, with a soul/funk edge to what’s essentially a new wave track, we hear a driving bass from Charlie with a good, hooky melody on top. Not necessarily my favourite from the album, Glittering Prize is a really good record [is that it? – Ed] that carries you along easily and somehow leaves you wanting more.
and here’s the extended club mix:
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