Endless Road

I know it's been a while. I don't think I've ever taken this long between posts. So I thought I better dazzle with this one.

This time it's Endless Road by the Time Bandits. A dutch alternative band who scored a few pop hit and dance hits around the world. Endless Road from 1985 is the one that tickles me the most. Probably due to it's status as a morning music classic at The Saint. It has that morning music x factor that always gets to me. It's got a bit of the melancholy mixed with yearning and wonderment. Moody to say the least. Not really sure how it became a huge pop hit in Australia and Belgium but kudos to them.

In my zip I include an edit from my dear friend the DJ Paul Goodyear who also happens to be an Aussie. And interestingly enough the B side Fiction which is also the name of the album in which Endless Road is culled yet the single didn't make the cut onto it. Check out the video. Especially if you love Sydney. It was filmed during their 1985 tour of Australia.

The Dance Music Community has lost a great Mark Thomas DJ Extraordinaire and all around nice guy

I've added links to this post about 10 times, keep an eye on it for more.

An amazing D.J. and a true friend.  Mark Thomas passed away Monday, January 26th.  He was always so generous and kind to me.  I feel pretty awful right about now.  We last chatted in Facebook on the 21st and it was a lot longer then usual but most importantly I felt close to him and I'm glad we had a chance to share.

A fellow Gemini Mark was born May 31, 1959.  Way too freaking young to leave us already.  Up until this past summer he was still spinning the yearly event Sun Dance in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  And always up for sharing.  Whenever I wanted something from his collection all I had to do was ask and a .wav file would appear for me within hours.

In the coming days I would like to share some of his mixes.  I'd especially like to post some of his mixes from The Saint or The Saint at Large.  So keep your eyes on this space as it will be updated.

Download this one with the link below.

our boy in Mykonos 1989

Mark began spinning at The Hippo 1980 and went on to even more D.J. fame at The Saint during it's duration from 1980 to the closing party in 1988 in which he was one of the featured DJ's. He was one of the house D.J.'s at The Hippo and Cignel in Baltimore.  I was also present during that great night when he spun New Years Eve for the Saint at Large on December 31, 1990 at The Roxy.

SOME MORE MUSIC COMING VERY SOON

THE SAINT TONIGHT 1984 MARK THOMAS

THE SAINT ON FIRE MAY 26, 1985
HEARTS 4 20 1985

IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME MORALES, MUNZIBAI AND MARK THOMAS DISCONET MIX
PRIDE '94
RED PARTY ZIP
AFTER DARK

Saturday March 16, 1985
The Black Party | Rites VI
Music: Chuck Parsons
Lights: Richard Tucker


Sunday March 17, 1985
Sunday Tea
Music: Mark Thomas
LISTEN TO THE BLACK TEA

SUNDANCE 2006 REHOBOTH BEACH

SAINT AT LARGE NEW YEARS EVE AT THE ROXY 1990-1991

SUNDANCE AUCTION 2009

Don't miss the download for this party just above the invite.

This is from the 12 gods party in Mykonos September 1996.  I was there but we weren't friends yet.  So I even have a memory that I didn't even realize was a memory.

From Mandate magazine in the mid 80's.

With a girlfriend in Maryland in the 80's.

When he died the record on the turntable was Divine's Shoot Your Shot.  It was still spinning when he was found.  I'd like to think he went with a smile on his face if this tune was on.

Changin' Ms. Sharon Ridley the ultimate morning music song

  Refreshed links from a 2009 blog post.  Enjoy!







In 1978 Ms. Sharon Ridley's Full Moon l.p. was released. Just the fact that Sharon required the Ms. in her name proves that extra attention was deserved. She's been getting it from vinyl collector's and Garage heads ever since.


Clearly there was no official 12" release but the song found it's way onto many important dj playlists especially those who embraced the sleaze, morning music genre such as Larry Levan, Lary Sanders and Robbie Leslie just to name a few.

The dates for the actual 12" presses are unclear. But in 1979 the Canadian label Singles, Ep's and eX-Hits release a 12" backed with the sublime Jean Carne song Was That All it Was. Kinda of a sleaze double whammy.


Then there are these test pressing promo's which don't have any writing on them and a black cover sleeve. Sort of like the one that John Davis Bourgie' Bourgie' white labels had but without writing on the black sleeve.


So some dj's hand wrote the title on the label. My copy was clean and fetched a respectable $181.00 on Ebay. Though there is a vendor who has it slapped up in his store for something like six months now at over $500.00 with clearly no bites. Probably works well for him though cause when you have a hot record in your store it brings in clicks and those people may peruse your wares.

Anyway for some unknown reason CHANGES is inscribed on the outgroove. Some clown on discogs actually went to the effort of making a post for the song calling it incorrectly Changes. Have you ever tried to post on that site? If they could be any more picky you could tear your hair out. But then they post stuff with errors and those stay up.

So then Tabu realizing they had a hot one on their hands that should have been pressed on a 12" in the first place pressed one to their Mixed Masters re-issue series on CBS.


Then in 1984 Hot Tracks had the great taste to do their own take on this sleaze classic.
HOT TRACKS MIX

So now we've got several different pressings and several different lengths. Course you want them all and that's why I've put them in a zip here.


BIG SHARON ZIP


Finally in 1987 Columbia Records put out the Compilation, Let's Dance! and had the good taste to include Changin' this one a mix by F. Byron Clark running 6:18, probably the shortest version yet.


A Mel Cheron favorite which Larry Levan often played just to please his buddy. In fact Larry was known to simply slip it into a set and dramatically change the tone. But The Paradise Garage was Larry's home and he didn't have to play by the rules

More recently it was brought to the attention of Linda Clifford. Logically Linda flipped over it and it became a release on the newly incarnated West End label in 2001. Given all sorts of mixes by Blaze and even the remix king Tom Moulton it didn't really create that much of a stir. But then again you can't improve perfection. Here below are the Pound Boys (more traditional house) and Tom Moulton's (lavish, dramatic) mixes of Linda Clifford.


LINDA CLIFFORD VERSION

I hear Talk and I'm lovin' it Bucks Fizz morning music classic

Refreshed links from a 2013 blog.  All the Bucks Fizz you could possibly want.

Bucks Fizz was formed in the U.K. to win the Eurovision contest. That's exactly what they did in the 1981 contest in Dublin with Making Your Mind Up which went on to become a huge pop hit everywhere but the United States. Apparently their gimmick was they were two blond couples, not too Abba!  Their campy performance at the contest included a section midway through where the guys ripped off the girls skirts.

BF Zip 1

BF2

They went on to have three #1 singles in the U.K. and to sell over 15 million records.  Their single Land of Make Believe was so huge it actually pushed Human League's Don't You Want Me out of the #1 position in the U.K.   It's widely considered to be their best release.

They had a few other hits, but the one which really sent me over the rainbow was I Hear Talk from their fourth l.p. It was huge in clubs like The Saint and out on Fire Island which is where I first heard it. In fact on the 12" sleeve it looks like they are sitting in the area just behind the beach and forest between Cherry Grove and The Pines. But it's highly unlikely that they are.

Since again I Hear Talk made no murmurs on the pop charts in the states it's not like I could have heard it on Top 40 radio. Nor was it one of their bigger international singles.  But in December 1984 when it was released soon enough it made it's way around.  But who judges validity by pop success?



Unfortunately the group got into an accident in their tour bus coming back from a show in Newcastle and so they were not available to give promotion for the release.  So it only peaked at #34 in the U.K. and #29 in Ireland even though it was a perfect pop record and could have gone much farther.

What a brilliant idea anyway a song about gossip. Whoever Pete Sinfield or Andy Filed is my hats off to to them for writing a camp classic.

I hear talk is deeply cheerful and chirpy so if you don't feel like being happy don't bother to download.  But if you're like me then this song sends you reeling with joy!

It’s never been easy living with you
Dish of the season fishing for truth
But we got it rolling right on the track
Here’s to the future with no turning back
We’re taking half and half in mystery
We’re making love to love so easily
And still I can’t believe what’s going round
I don’t believe you’d ever let me down

I hear talk, I hear the writings on the wall
Too many private eyes and party lines
Secret signs friends who seem to know it all
I hear talk, I hear talk

Talk
I look in your eyes and what do I see
Everything I needed looking at me
Beyond all suspicion dreams on the side
Hold that position ticket to ride
So when it’s all wrapped up 
Like it’s meant to be
The only trap that’s left is jealousy
And still I can’t believe what’s going round
I don’t believe you’d ever let me down

I hear talk, I hear the writings on the wall
Too many private eyes and party lines
Secret signs friends who seem to know it all
I hear talk, I hear talk

Chinese whispers circulate
There’s a news man leaning on the garden gate
If you don’t wanna headline better use your head
‘Cause I heard someone say something you said

I hear talk, I hear the writings on the wall
Too many private eyes and party lines
Secret signs friends who seem to know it all
I hear talk, I hear talk

Talk talk talk



New Beginning, which was not one of their hit singles, is really quite fantastic too but I was just not up to writing an entire Bucks Fizz discography but here's the Mamba Seyra extended version. Check out the choral work. It's rather over the top.  This use of world music vocals was also essential to the Hazel Dean classic They Say it's Gonna Rain.




When We Were Young

Crying softly on to a clean white pillow
Watch the clock as it slowly crawls around
Rolls around
Is she sleeping? no
Is she dreaming?
Time, it passes without that familiar touch
Familiar touch

Love has gone, tears are here, nothing left
Life has changed, remember when we were young

Were young
When we were young
When we were young
When we were young

She pours a coffee and looks in the mirror
Suddenly she's glad he can't see her face
Can't see her face
Youth, it passes while age is collected
Disappears from behind the wires without trace
Without trace

Love has gone, tears are here, nothing left
Life has changed, remember when we were young

Were young
When we were young
When we were young
When we were young

Love has gone, tears are here
Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing
Life has changed, remember when we were young

Were young
When we were young
When we were young
When we were young...

Another of their big pop hits, this one from 1983.

In 2010 a jazzy reworking of I hear Talk was released.

Rose Laurens, more than just AMERICAN LOVE, or take me to the Night Sky

Another older blog post with freshened download links, the third time I add to this one and re-post for your pleasure.
zip o Rose
LA NUIT DISCONET REMIX
A ZIP O ROSE
Rose Podwojny (name of art Laurens) had her first single release in 1977 with

Je T'Aime...Dis Moi Je T'Aime.   

She broke out in 1982 with the single Africa which became a Top 5 hit in a few European nations.  Africa hit #1 in Austria for two consecutive weeks.  In France it went platinum with sales totaling over 1,000,000 copies.

For a bit of chart trivia the song that was #1 in Austria before Africa was Moonlight Shadow by Mike Oldfield and the song that topped the chart after was Sunshine Reggae by Laid Back.

I just sold my copy on Ebay recently.  

 

It's entertaining, but the Rose I love are her morning music hits Night Sky and American Love.

Rose is not really Italo Disco sort of Euro Dance goes Morning Music.  But her impact on the Fire Island/Saint scene is notable.

I only wish I had been able to see her in one of her many appearances at The Saint.

A little bit of Rose trivia, did you know she sang the original french version of I dreamed a dream?  The song from the Broadway show Les Mis that later made Susan Boyle a household name.  It even made Anne Hathaway win an Oscar.

Rose Laurens has provided me with many hours of listening pleasure but I'd have to admit that most American don't even know who she is.  Not that this should matter.  Maybe this blog will bring her to the ears of a few appreciative new listeners.

Though this remake by Astaire doesn't hold a candle to the original I thought I'd throw it in anyway.

I will say that in general Astaire was a solid Hi Nrg group, I particularly liked the song Love Trap.

 

SOUND OF MY HEART SLEEPING LIONS

REFRESHED LINKS from a 2009 blog
A SLEEPING LIONS ZIP
SOUND OF MY HEART

1983 CBS RECORDS U.K.
SOUND OF MY HEART
THE SLEEPING LIONS

Ordinarily I wouldn't post someone else's story but I think this guy's opinion really sums it up for me too. Cause this record really tugs at my morning heart strings.  There's something about the strings, the harps, whatever they are.  On a good day they bring tears to my eyes, tears of joy.  To anyone familiar with this blog you know I am always going on and on about 1983.

Sound Of My Heart

Well . . . there are so many, but the first that comes to mind occurred on the 1st Sunday night in October of 1983. The DJ was Shaun Buchanan, a young new DJ from England who had recently begun playing Sunday nights. I had gotten there early because I really had nothing to do and just decided to go hear this new guy. The crowd was sparse, but serious. You see, it was about this time when 'Euro-disco', HIGH-NRG, and a lot of what people were calling 'new wave' that later was called 'dance oriented rock' which was causing quite a battle between the 'Disco-classists"' and many of the new younger members. And Shaun was very good with this 'new' music, especially with his Morning Music. For the first part of the evening I just sort of sat around on the banquettes that surrounded the dome, watching the magnificent light show until one of my many 'dance-partners', Will, showed up out of the blue. So here we were dancing where I almost always danced - between 4 and 6 o'clock near the center of the dance-floor - when all of a sudden the most incredible song came out of Sharon Redd's "In The Name Of Love" with strains of what sounded like an entire orchestra of strings climbing higher and higher until the vocals began. The look on Will's face, not to mention the faces of the other dancers on the floor, was sheer astonishment. It was something new, something fresh and beautiful. Of course, when the song was finished, I had to go up into the DJ and lighting booth - something I rarely did - to find out what that song WAS! Shaun, was delightful as ever - he was ALWAYS a very cordial and a delightful man - handed me the cover, and it read "SOUND OF MY HEART" by The Sleeping Lions, a group from the U.K. Within a couple of weeks it was a SAINT standard, being played almost every night THE SAINT was open, being mixed up, down, and every-which-way. And, like so many songs that where played at THE SAINT, it was absolutely incredible and I think of it as a SAINT-song. Also, like so much of the magic music from that time you rarely hear it anymore, except at oldies parties. It's such a shame because, well, one of the things that made The Saint-well THE SAINT. THE SAINT was a place where the DJs were not afraid to play the old songs mixing them with new songs and mixing styles - which became very important in the '80. The other thing that made THE SAINT, THE SAINT was that certain songs where almost always played there from when the doors opened in 1980 to when they closed in 1988. Songs that reached back as far as the early days of disco in the '70s and became classics, like "Take Off Your Makeup" and "Hot Butterfly". Of course, as new music came out, they were added to THE SAINT canon of music (why do you think that THE LAST PARTY took three days?) just as each DJ had his (or her) own style. The people who danced as at THE SAINT expected certain music to be played. They came to know each song inside and out, and that way they could dance to it better. They relied on the DJs to play the music they loved, rather than trying to find the newest music faster - where yesterday's hot song is all but forgotten today -Oh, like, hell, I can't even remember the name of one. It's too bad there isn't a place like that anymore where you can count on the certain that make your night special . . . just like that first Sunday night in October in 1983 . . .

HOLLAND'S MORNING MUSIC, SYNTH POP LEGENDS TIME BANDITS

Here's another one I'm bringing back.  I originally wrote it in 2010.  I've refreshed the zip.  Enjoy!

Dutch men with Big hair, melancholy lyrics, falsetto's, 80's style, on paper it seems like the makings for schlock.  But to me it's morning music sublime.  The Time Bandits had several releases which tugged at my heart strings and warmed the cockles of my very soul.  

From 1981's "Live it Up" to 1986's "I won't steal away" they rode the U.S. dance charts and European pop charts with varying degrees of success. With their two biggest being 1982's Live it Up making it up to #6 and 1985's I'm only Shooting Love making it all the way up to #2. And was a #1 pop hit in New Zealand.

Australia was one of their biggest markets.  Endless Road made it to #5 there in 1984 and became a morning music staple at The Saint and on Fire Island.  It remains my very favorite Time Bandits song.  I'm not embarrassed to say that the yearning in Alides Hidding's voice has brought me to tears. My friend Paul Goodyear did a tasty edit which you can find in the zip.

ZIPPITY DO DA

But when they hit it right they hit home-runs.  Perfect synth-pop that summed up an era and a feeling and will always hold a special place in my heart.

The Bandits remind me that it can feel so right to love a chirpy, poppy, light song.  To love it and to want to hear it again and again and again.

if you can read Dutch this talks about the chart action in their homeland

In the states we had the fortune of never being allowed to feel sick of them.  They never had a U.S. pop hit.  But punters in clubs like The Saint and Danceteria knew them well.

Alides Hidding the main songwriter in the band moved to L.A. in 1989 and had his songs covered by many artists including Jennifer Rush and The Nylons.

Endless Road 


Time can only whisper truth for both of us


All the answers I can find, I put my trust

In a never ending road that leads to my door



I don't want you to go, my love

That's all you have to know

And I want you to help my soul

Somebody show me the way



And I want you to know, my love

It's an endless road till love finally comes our way

My love, uuhhh

My love

It's an endless road till love finally comes our way

My love, uuhhh



Now, we fought against the wall where love was back before

We tried to make it flow but love wouldn't let us go

Crazy us, for all those wasted words



I don't want you to go my love

That's all you have to know

And I want you to heal my soul

Somebody show me the way



And I want you to know, my love

It's an endless road till love finally comes our way

My love, uuhhh

My love

It's an endless road till love finally comes our way

My love, uuhhh