Greetings from the frozen north. I’ve got a confession to make - it’s been over two months since my last 500 singles blog posting. If you find that kind of wait unacceptable, then you can find me on twitter (@boxofpeppers) where I ramble on a far more frequent basis.
To make amends here’s a picture of a classic single that features on our page 12 tonight.
We’re going to concentrate on page 12 this time (from The Rubinoos to Spandau Ballet – singles numbered 363 to 395)
Page 12 goes pretty much as follows;
The Rubinoos – I think we’re alone now and Rock and Roll is dead – I was attracted to The Rubinoos for one reason and one reason only, their records appeared on the same Beserkeley label as Jonathan Richman
Saxon – Wheels of Steel – You can’t say this list isn’t varied!
Scritti Politti – The Sweetest Girl – quite simply one of the best pop singles ever recorded
The Scaffold – Thank U very much – pre-dating the kind of textspeak favoured by Prince almost 20 years later (note also the brief departure from alphabetical order here as seen on the original list)
Jack Scott – My true love – quite simply another one of the best pop singles ever recorded and boasting a b-side (Leroy) that most artists can only dream of as an a-side
Neil Sedaka – Happy birthday sweet sixteen
The Seekers – The carnival is over – the kind of thing that was considered ‘folk music’ back then (when it was really unfashionable to be considered as such!)
The Shadows - Mary Anne and Wonderful land – watch out for a version of Apache by The Sugarhill Gang on the next page
Shakatak – Easier said than done – probably haven’t listened to this single since that day 27 years ago
Shalamar – Friends and There it is (still known as ‘Ferret ears’ around these parts)
Sandie Shaw – (There’s) always something there to remind me
Shock – Angel Face – check out the very 1980 cover below (original by The Gl****r band)
Simple Minds – Chelsea Girl – at this point they were simply brilliant
Skids – Working for the yankee dollar – not their best by any means, but pretty good all the same
Sky – Cannonball – see comment re Shakatak above
Slade – Everyday and Merry Xmas everybody
Slik – Forever and ever and Requiem – Midge never really bettered these two single as far as I’m concerned!
Slow children – spring in fialta – just found it again on the Youtube, a classic lost early 80s single http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGod9lHmHmc if you’re particularly interested
The Smiths – This Charming man and What difference does it make? – it tends to be forgotten now but The Smiths were a great pop band
Sniff ‘n’ the tears – Driver’s seat and Driver’s seat (remix) – with the benefit of hindsight this seems a bit like cheating
Snips – 9 o’clock – a sort of power-poppy kind of thing struggling its way to 1500 YouTube views
Soft Cell – Soul inside, What and Where the heart is – What is a classic pop single, the other two aren’t (sorry Marc and David). Not sure if it was an urban myth, but we heard that Soft Cell’s producer Mike Thorne was the son of our primary school teacher from Chester Road school in Sunderland (just googled him and he was actually born in Sunderland – maybe it’s true!)
Soul Sonic Force – Planet Rock – possibly the most influential single on this page? An classic early hip-hop tune
Spandau Ballet – Chant No. 1 – in many ways time hasn’t been to kind to Spandau Ballet and I wanted to prove time wrong so I listened again to this track and it turns out that time was probably right all along (sorry boys – did enjoy your court case though!)
