I keep getting Emails from people asking me to re-upload the links and music etc. I think people are just getting to those particular pages so are not reading the reason for the dead links.
So I am putting this in place so hopefully people will read it and stop Emailing me about it.
The reason the links are dead is that my account with Media Fire has been closed with all 11,000 files lost. That is why you can not download the things and No I can not re-upload them.
Eventually I will start doing that again when I have found something suitable. In the meantime this blog will be information only blog.
Thank you all
Michaael
New Blog Forum
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'Love Games' was the first single to be released from the bands first self titles album.Released in 1981 the single became a successful jazz–funk and dancefloor hit for the band, reaching number 38 on the UK Singles chart.
In the UK the single was released in the cover oposite as a 12 inch but with no other picture cover. In Holland a proper picture cover was released in the same style of the album cover but with the words Love Games over it. This has become one of the first pictures covers to be released for Level 42's singles.
'Love Games' has figured in both Leve; 42's and bassist Mark King's solo live appearances to this day and is one of my fav's oon the band.
Click the link below to download the following: TOTP performance Rockpalast Performance Single Version Album Version 12 inch Version Forty Two - B-Side
'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"' is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958. Although Decca released it in both 1958 and again in 1959, it did not sell well until Lee became a popular star in 1960; that Christmas, it hit number 14 on the US Billboard pop chart and turned into a perennial christmas favorite.
The single continued to sell well during the christmas time, hitting number 5 on the Christmas chart as late as 1984. Brenda Lee's recording still receives a great deal of airplay. Despite the song's title, its instrumentation also fits the Country genre which Brenda Lee more fully embraced as her career evolved.
Kim Wilde recorded this track together with Mel Smith in order to raise money for Comic Relief in 1987. Some extra comedy material was added to the track, written by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones. The duo named themselves 'Mel & Kim' after the then popular duo Mel & Kim.
Click the link below to download the following: Video Single Version
'Last Christmas' is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1984, on a double A-side with 'Everything She Wants'. The single was written by George Michael, one half of the duo.
Wham! had been a dominant force in the UK Singles Chart in 1984 and news that they were planning a Christmas single meant that a battle for the coveted Christmas number 1 spot in the UK seemed set to be between Wham! and the year's other big act, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who had achieved a third number 1 in early December with 'The Power of Love'.
However, the Band Aid project, helmed by Bob Geldof, produced the number 1 single. Wham!'s offering peaked at number 2 for much of the period, although George's involvement in Band Aid meant that Wham! still had an input. Wham! subsequently topped the monies raised by Band Aid by donating all of their 'Last Christmas/Everything She Wants' royalties to the Ethiopian famine appeal. However 'Last Christmas' did make number 1 in various other countries.
The single sold well over a million copies and became the biggest selling single in UK chart history not to reach number 1. A year later, it was re-issued for Christmas again (this time without a billed flip-side) and got to number 6. A second re-issue at Christmas 1986 - by which time Wham! had split - stalled outside the top 40.
The song gradually sold in Japan, and finally became the best-selling single that did not reach that country's top-10 chart, selling more than 600,000 copies and peaking on the chart at number 12 in 1992.
Since 1997, the song enters the German Single charts every year and peaked at number 4 in 2007. In the airplay charts the songs enters every year the Top 5.
In 2007, the track re-entered the UK Top 20 and hit the UK iTunes Top 10.
In 2008, the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart again, this time at number 36 and peaked at number 26.
Due to perceived similarities between 'Last Christmas' and the song 'Can't Smile Without You' as popularised by Barry Manilow, an out of court settlement was reached in which the first year's royalties were donated to the one-year-old "Band Aid" charity.
The video to 'Last Christmas' saw George and partner Andrew Ridgeley accompanying girlfriends to see friends at their home in an unspecified ski resort, although the cable-car that can be seen in two shots is from Saas-Fee, Switzerland. It became clear early on, however, that Andrew's girlfriend had previously been in a relationship with George, and it was to her character the song was aimed. The video also featured the duo's erstwhile backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie and Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp, the boyfriend and future husband of Shirlie Holliman.
'Last Christmas' has been covered by a number of artists. One that I have included here is by Billie Piper. After 'She Wants You' was released in late 1998, the cover of 'Last Christmas', featured as a B-Side on the single, received some airplay. Due to this, a CD Single was released in Europe and charted at number 47 in Sweden. The Single was also released as a promotional Single in the UK, limited to 500 copies and therefore could not chart there. It is one of Billie's most notable songs, although it was not included on The Best of Billie.
'Last Christmas' was also recorded in 2007 by Cascada. It was released on iTunes in November, 2007. The single had only a Digital release but 6 days later it was released on the single/EP 'What Hurts the Most' which was the first single from their second album. The download version made it to number 111 on the UK Singles Charts. However it did make it to number 10 as part pf the 'What Hurts' release. In the UK, despite it being a B-side track, the song is regularly played throughout music channels during the festive season.
Click the link below to download the following: Video Single Version Long Version Pudding Mix Matt Mix DJ Johny Spirit Mix DJ T.I.M Remix Benny Benassi Remix
Billy Piper Version Cascada Singe Version Cascada Video
'The Power of Love' is the third single from Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in November 1984. It is taken from the album 'Welcome To The Pleasuredome'. The track was first featured during the John Peel Sessions the band performed on during 1983, which was slower and emphasized the track's original camp ironic content (such as the Hooded Claw being from cartoon The Perils of Penelope Pitstop).
'The Power of Love' followed its two predecessors, 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes', to the top of the UK singles chart, scoring the band an early December Number One, being pipped at the post by Band Aid for Christmas chart topper.
To commemorate the Christmas release, Godley & Creme directed a nativity themed video for the single, and the artwork for the single also used traditional Christian iconography. The original showing of the video on The Tube the nativity occupied the whole screen. The record company did not like this as they wanted the band to feature in the video so the borders of band members was added for later showings. This went against the bands wishes as they were happy with the original video.
The 12" mix of the song featured actor Chris Barrie's aping DJ Mike Read's banning of the single 'Relax'.
The single also featured a Christmas message from the band, entitled "Holier Than Thou".
On the cover it is reproduced the Assunta by Titian, a XVI century painting in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari of Venice.
Click the link below to download the following: Original Video - Without Borders 2nd Video Release - with Borders 2000 Video Version Single Version Extended Version Instrumental Version Rob Searle 2000 Club Version The World Is My Oyster (Scapped) - B-Side The World Is My Oyster (Trapped) - B-Side Holier Than Thou - B-Side
'Everything She Wants' was a song by British pop duo Wham!, released in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with Last Christmas'. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo.
Upon release, 'Last Christmas' took the majority of the attention and airplay as it was appropriate in early December as Christmas approached. However, the presence of an equally-billed flip side meant that radio stations had something else to play once 'Last Christmas' had lost its topicality.
A five-minute song (there also exists a six-and-a-half-minutes-long version with an added bridge), 'Everything She Wants' is written from the angle of a man rapidly approaching desperation at the material demands of his partner which seem to be coming to a head, despite the amount of work he does to keep them happy. In a twist, the second verse takes the story a step further by revealing that the woman is pregnant but the man cannot find any happiness in the announcement because of the extra pressure a baby will put upon him.
The presence of the Band Aid project meant that the double A-side peaked at number two in the UK singles chart, although in the process it became the biggest selling record not to get to number one. However, in the USA, the song did reach the summit of the Billboard Hot 100, and became the third number-one song in a row from 1984's Make It Big album.
Wham! would go on to have two more number-one hits in the UK before splitting at their height in 1986.
Although Michael bemoaned much of Wham!'s material as he began his solo career, 'Everything She Wants' remained a song of which he was proud, and he continued to perform it in his shows. Furthermore, Michael remarked in an interview (to promote 25 Live tour) that 'Everything She Wants' is his favourite Wham! song.
The song was remixed and re-released as 'Everything She Wants '97' for the greatest hits album If You Were There in 1997.
Cick the link below to download the following: Video Radio Edit Long Version Remix 12 inch Remix 1997 Hot Tracks Mix Todd Terry Club Mix
Shep and the Limelites was a popular American doo wop group in the early 1960's. They recorded the original version of 'Daddy’s Home' on February 1st, 1961. 'Daddy’s Home' reached number 2 on the US Billboard pop chart in May - one of the highest charting doo wop songs of all time. It was later covered by Jermaine Jackson in 1972 and in 1981 in an outstandingly respectful rendition by Cliff Richard.
Sir Cliff Richard, a professed Christian, has had several hits with a Christmas theme. This one, backed by 'Shakin' All Over' does not specifically mention Christmas, but it gives you a nice warm fuzzy feeling and I loved it and still do all these years later. It was released at Christmas time 1981, and stayed at number 2 in the UK Singles Charts for 4 weeks, held off the top by the Human League 'Don't You Want Me'.
Click the link below to download the following: Video Single Version
Lewie joined his first group, The Johnston City Jazz Band, while still at school in 1963, and started earning money in the music industry in 1968 as a solo blues singer accompanied by his own blues & boogie piano playing.
Also, showing signs as a singer songwriter, early recordings of his early compositions are sighted on the compilation album 'I Asked For Water She Gave Me... Gasoline', just four months before accepting an invitation to join the already popular cult blues band Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts. This acceptance would elevate Lewie's career, enabling him to play at bigger and better venues and afford more recording opportunities.
Jona stayed with the Bretts until 1973, their mainstream hit single being 'Seaside Shuffle' another early Lewie composition. Despite its roots firmly embedded in cajun and 12 bar blues culture, the band, though not Keef Trouble, felt it was unashamedly commercial and quite at odds with the Thunderbolts usual style, and it was released under the one-off nom de disque Terry Dactyl and The Dinosaurs. The record did little on first release in 1971 but a year later on re-release reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.
However, Lewie looked likely to remain a part of a one-hit wonder group until he was signed up by Stiff Records in 1977. Following appearances on the Stiff package tours, he scored a solo hit with the humorous synthpop number, 'You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties' co written with fellow Thunderbolt Keef Trouble in 1980, which made it to number 16 on the UK Singles Chart.
Click the link below to download the following: TOTP Perforance Single Version Bureaucrats - B-side
'We All Stand Together' (sometimes referred to as the Frog Song or the Frog Chorus) is a song by Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus. It was from the animated film Rupert and the Frog Song and reached number three in the UK Singles Chart in 1984. However, the single was originally released in June 1983, McCartney re-released the single on the Christmas charts in 1984. The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart one year later in 1985, one of three hits to do so, that originally charted in December 1984 ("Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid and "Last Christmas" by Wham! were the other two).
Despite its relative success, the song attracted criticism for its light subject matter, and is sometimes cited as a sign of the decline of McCartney's talents after The Beatles. This I fing crazy as the song and single is just a bit of fun, a novalty.
The "Frog Chorus" backing on the song was provided by the King's Singers choral group and the choir of St Paul's Cathedral. The B-side of the single was "We All Stand Together (Humming Version)" performed by Paul McCartney and the Finchley Frogettes.
Two shaped picture discs were issued in 1984 and 1985, the only difference being a plain clear sleeve on the later version.
Click the link below to downloas the following: Video - Short Version Video - Full Version Single Version Full Video Version Audio Only Humming Version - B-Side
The Weather Girls are an American girl group that formed in 1982
As back-up singers for disco queen Sylvester, Izora Armstead and Martha Wash recorded under the name Two Tons Of Fun. They soon embarked on their own career as recording artists, and after recording what would be their biggest hit, "It's Raining Men", the girls rechristened themselves The Weather Girls. Following on from their success the girls released their only Christmas single in the US. As with all their records this is camp fun and one that I love. Enjoy.
Click the link below to download the following: Video Single Version
'Piece of the Action' is the name of the 2nd single by pop group Bucks Fizz, the follow-up to the Eurovision-winning song 'Making Your Mind Up'.
Released in May 1981, the single reached number 12 during a 9-week run in the UK charts. As a Eurovision follow-up, this was the highest chart placing ever achieved by an artist, the contest being notorious for producing one-hit wonders.
The song was written and produced by Andy Hill and featured on their first album, Bucks Fizz. A demo version of the song was later uncovered and included on the group's 2008 compilation, The Lost Masters 2 - The Final Cut.
The song concerns a man who is desperate to gain the attention of a woman to be a part of her exciting life. The Promotional Video of the song features the group in a variety of outfits and performing the routine in a night club-like setting
Click the link below to download the following: Video Single Version Demo Version Took It To The Limit - B-Side
'Fairytale of New York' is a song by Anglo-Irish folk-rock group The Pogues, featuring the British singer Kirsty MacColl. The song is an Irish folk style ballad, written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan, and featured on The Pogues' album If I Should Fall from Grace with God. The song features string arrangements by Fiachra Trench. It is frequently voted the Number One Best Christmas song of all time in various television, radio and magazine related polls in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
'Fairytale of New York' was released as a single in 1987 and reached number 1 in the Irish charts and number 2 in the British charts, over Christmas (the time of peak sales). The song has become a festive classic in the UK and Ireland over the years, and was voted the best Christmas song of all time three years running in 2004, 2005 and 2006 in polls by music channel VH1 UK, despite not achieving Christmas Number One when it was released. It was also voted as the 27th greatest song never to reach UK number1 in another VH1 poll, and also voted as the 84th greatest song of all time by BBC Radio 2 listeners in their "Sold on Song" top 100 poll.
The song takes the form of a drunken man's Christmas Eve reverie about holidays past while sleeping off a binge in a New York City drunk tank. After an inebriated old man also incarcerated in the jail cell sings a passage from the Irish drinking ballad "The Rare Old Mountain Dew", the drunken man (MacGowan) begins to dream about a failed relationship. The remainder of the song (which may be an internal monologue) takes the form of a call and response between two Irish immigrants, lovers or ex-lovers, their youthful hopes crushed by alcoholism and drug addiction, reminiscing and bickering on Christmas Eve in New York City. MacColl's melodious singing contrasts with the harshness of MacGowan's voice, and the lyrics are sometimes bittersweet -- sometimes plain bitter: "Happy Christmas your arse/ I pray God it's our last".
The lyric "Sinatra was swinging" is likely an allusion to Sinatra's "New York, New York," which was very popular in Ireland at the time, a reference to the problem of emigration. Others have suggested it refers to an unspecified period after World War II; however, it is possible that the song is actually set in the early 1980s, when one of Sinatra's last chart hits, his 1980 recording of John Kander and Fred Ebb's theme from the movie New York, New York, was a fixture of New York City airwaves and a standard singalong record in the city's many neighborhood bars. The title, taken from author J. P. Donleavy's novel A Fairy Tale of New York, was chosen after the song had been written and recorded.
Twice Shane and Kirsty sing, "The boys of the NYPD choir still singing "Galway Bay". The New York Police Department does not have a choir, but it does have a Pipes and Drums unit that is featured in the video for the song. The NYPD Pipes and Drums did not know "Galway Bay" and so played a different song for the music video, and the editor put it in slow motion to fit the beat. The video featured the actor Matt Dillon as an NYPD patrolman who arrests the intoxicated MacGowan.
MacColl was not originally intended to appear in the song. Instead, the female vocal was meant for the band's bassist, Cait O'Riordan. However, she left the band in 1986, before the song was completed. The Pogues were at the time being produced by Steve Lillywhite, MacColl's then-husband, who asked his wife to provide a guide vocal of the female part for a demo version of the song. The Pogues, however, liked MacColl's contribution so much that they asked her to sing the part on the actual recording.
The song was released in the United Kingdom in early December 1987, and swiftly became a hit. On December 17, 1987, the Pogues and MacColl performed the song on the BBC's popular television show Top of the Pops, and it was propelled to number 2 on the UK charts. For the Top of the Pops appearance, the BBC insisted that MacColl's singing of "arse" be replaced with the less offensive "ass", although as she mimed the word MacColl slapped the relevant part of her body to make it clear what was meant.
Although the song finished 1987 as the 48th best seller of the year despite only a single month's sales, it was denied the Christmas number 1 spot by the Pet Shop Boys' cover of "Always on My Mind". MacGowan commented on this in his typically forthright manner: "We were beaten by two queens and a drum machine."
The song was re-released by The Pogues in the UK in 1991 (reaching number 36), and again in the UK and Ireland for Christmas 2005, reaching number 3 in the UK. All proceeds from the latter release were donated towards a mixture of homeless charities and "Justice for Kirsty", a campaign to find out the truth behind Kirsty MacColl's death in 2000. In December 2006 the song entered the UK Top 10 for the third time, reaching number 6 on that occasion, and returned yet again in December 2007, reaching number 4. It has now made the Top 10 on four separate occasions including three times in successive years, a feat no other single can match. In December 2008 it entered the UK Top 40 for the sixth time, and reached number 12.
On December 18, 2007, BBC Radio 1 put a ban on the words "faggot" and "slut" from "Fairytale of New York" to "avoid offence". The words, sung as Kirsty MacColl and MacGowan trade insults, were dubbed out. MacColl's mother, Jean, called the ban "too ridiculous", while the Pogues said they found it "amusing". The BBC said: "We are playing an edited version because some members of the audience might find it offensive." However, that evening Radio 1 backed down and said that after a day of criticism from listeners, the band, and MacColl's mother, they reversed the decision. The unedited version was then played later on that day. Other BBC radio stations, including the typically conservative Radio 2, had continued to play the original version throughout this period, the ban having applied to Radio 1 only. The music channels VH1 and VH1 Classics also subject the song to censorship by removing and scrambling the words "slut", "faggot" and "arse" which results in a messy cut.
However the song is played this remains one of my all time favourite christmas songs that I never tire of playing.
Click the link below to download the following: Video - Uncencored Version The Story Of - Part 1 to 6 Single Version Demo Version Battle March Medley - B-Side
The Specials (sometimes called The Special AKA) are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combined a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups.
After being formed in 1977 by Jerry Dammers, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter (also known as Sir Horace Gentleman), the band was first called The Automatics, and then The Coventry Automatics. Terry Hall and Roddy Byers (also known as Roddy Radiation) joined the band the following year, and the band changed its name to The Special AKA The Coventry Automatics, and then to The Special AKA. Joe Strummer of The Clash had attended one of their concerts, and invited The Special AKA to open for his band in their On Parole UK Tour. This performance gave The Special AKA a new level of national exposure, and they briefly shared The Clash's management.
The Specials began at the same time as Rock Against Racism which first gathered in 1978. According to Dammers, anti-racism was intrinsic to the formation of The Specials, in that the band was formed with the goal of integrating black and white people. Many years later Dammers stated, "Music gets political when there are new ideas in music, ...punk was innovative, so was ska, and that was why bands such as The Specials and The Clash could be political."
Having been rejected by numerous record companies The Specials decided to release a self-financed single after Dammers decided to set up his own record label called 'Two Tone'. If the legend is to be believed the single was recorded for a mere £700 financed by a ‘sort of’ local businessman by the name of ‘Jimbo’. It is said that a piano part on the track took up most of the studio time and as a result only one track, Gangsters, was recorded.
Needing a b-side the band turned to an instrumental track Noel Davis had recorded two years previously in 1977 with drummer John Bradbury and trombonist, Barry Jones. Originally titled ‘The Kingston Affair’ the track got a slight reworking and was re-titled The Selecter. The track also came complete with it's own unique catalogue number, which may seem unusual but was actually quite common with old ska and reggae singles.
The single was initially distributed via Rough Trade Records, who persuaded the band to produce 5000 copies, twice what the band had originally intended. The single was issued a plain white sleeve stamped by the band themselves with the words THE SPECIAL A.K.A 'Gangsters' Vs THE SELECTER. The band then signed to Chrysalis Records, who were more than happy to sign both The Specials and the 2 Tone label. Chrysalis pressed up more copies of the single in the now familiar 2 Tone sleeve resulting in the single making it to number 6 in the UK Singles Chart and the biggest selling independent single of the year.
Original Specials drummer Silverton Hutchinson had left the band just prior to the recording of Gangsters and was replaced by John Bradbury, and as a result Bradbury was the only person to play on both sides of the labels debut single.
Click the link below to download the following: Live Tube Performance Single Version The Selector - The Selector - B-Side
After having hits for a couple of years Shakin Stevens reunited with former producer Dave Edmunds to record an album Lipstick, Powder and Paint and the Christmas smash Merry Christmas Everyone in 1984.
Written by Bob Heatlie, this was Shakin; Stevens fourth, and most recent number one on the UK Singles Chart, making number 1 over Christmas 1985.
The single was original planned for a release in 1984 but was put back by a year to avoid clashing with the runaway success of Band Aid's charity single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', to which he did not contribute, having been out of the country touring at the time of recording.
Despite Stevens's chart domination over the previous few years, he was not invited to perform at Live Aid on 13 July 1985
Ever since it's release it has been included on many top-selling Christmas collections and received airplay every Christmas. In 2007 the song re entered the UK top 30 and reached number 22 on the Christmas chart. This was due to the fact that downloads now make up the UK singles chart; in past years this would have been impossible unless there was a physical re-release of the song.
Click the link below to download the following: Video Single Version With My Heart - B-Side
'Don't You Want Me' is a single by British synthpop group The Human League, released from their third album Dare on 27th November, 1981. It is the band's best known and most commercially successful recording to date and has sold over 1,400,000 copies, making it the 25th most successful single of all time in the UK.
The lyrics were originally inspired after lead singer Philip Oakey read a story in a "trashy tabloid". Originally conceived as a male solo, Oakey was inspired by the film A Star Is Born and decided to turn the song into a conflicting duet with one of the band’s two teenage female vocalists. Susan Ann Sulley was asked to take on the role. Up until then, she and the other female vocalist Joanne Catherall had only been assigned backing vocals; Sulley says she was chosen only through luck of the draw. There are two more realistic explanations: that Sulley was the better singer and/or that Catherall, more introverted, shied away from the role.
Musicians Jo Callis and Philip Adrian Wright created a synthesizer score to accompany the lyrics which was much harsher than the version that was actually released. Initial versions of the song were recorded, but Virgin Records-appointed producer Martin Rushent was unhappy with them. He and Callis remixed the track, giving it a softer, and in Oakey's opinion, "poppy" sound. Oakey hated the new version and thought it the weakest track on Dare, resulting in one of his infamous rows with Rushent. Oakey disliked it so much that it was relegated to the last track on the album.
'Don't You Want Me' was released in the UK on 27th November 1981. To the amazement of the band (and especially Oakey), it shot to number one on the UK Singles chart. This success was repeated six months later in the U.S., with 'Don't You Want Me' hitting number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. Billboard magazine ranked it as the sixth-biggest hit of 1982.
Today, the song is widely considered a classic of its era. Oakey still describes it as overrated but acknowledges his initial dismissal was misguided and claims pride in the track. Susan Sulley is often irritated that she constantly has to refute the mistaken assumption that the song is a reference to her and Catherall.
In 1981 record company Virgin were becoming aware that promotional music video was evolving into an important marketing tool, with MTV being launched that year. Because it was agreed that the video for Open Your Heart had looked "cheap and nasty", Virgin commissioned a much more elaborate and expensive promotional video for "Don't You Want Me".
The video for the song was filmed in Slough in November 1981 and has the theme of the filming and editing of a murder-mystery film, featuring the band members as characters and production staff. Due to it being a "making of" video, both crew and camera apparatus appear throughout. It was conceived and directed by filmmaker Steve Barron, and has at its core the interaction between a successful actress played by Susan Ann Sulley walking out on 'film director' Philip Oakey on a film set. It is loosely based on the film A Star Is Born.
Shot on a cold, wet, winter night, it was shot on 35mm film instead of the cheaper video tape prevalent at the time. Susan Sulley states now that Steve Baron was heavily influenced by the cinematography of the video for the Ultravox single 'Vienna'. Steve Baron was also influenced by François Truffaut and his film Day for Night and because of that the clapper board seen in the video bears the inscription "Le League Humaine" as a tribute to Truffaut.
The video is credited for making Oakey, Sulley and Catherall visual icons of the early 1980s; but became controversial later for a scene where Oakey shoots Sulley with a pistol from a car window (a Saab 99 turbo). The scene is often edited out of the DVD version and on music television. The other car that was used in the video is a gold W-Reg Rover SD1.
The video was released in December 1981, just as the music video culture was becoming a standard in music, and it was a major contribution to the song's commercial success.
Click the link below to download the following: Video Uncut Video Version Single Version 12 inch Extended Mix Instrumental Version Special Extended Dance Mix Ultimix Roboto Nato Mix Derrick Carter Mix Eric Prydz Remix Majik Johnson Original Booty Mix Red Jerry 7 inch Remix Snap 7 inch Remix Seconds - B-Side
'The Land of Make Believe' is a song produced by Andy Hill for Bucks Fizz, with music by Hill and lyrics by ex-King Crimson member Peter Sinfield. Despite the apparent sugar-coated style of the song, Sinfield later claimed it was a subtle attack on Margaret Thatcher and her government's policy at the time.
'The Land of Make Believe' was the second of three UK number 1 singles for the British Eurovision winners Bucks Fizz, staying at the top for two weeks in January 1982. It remained on the charts for 16 weeks.
The song has a rocky edge, mixed with a spooky beginning, which entices the listener. The lyrics are based on a child's dream where ghostly voices lure the child outside to a world where everything is bright and happy, but the child resists. Characters, Superman and Captain Kidd are referenced in the lyrics. The close of the song features a nursery rhyme narrated by Abby Kimber, who was the 11-year old daughter of an executive of RCA Records. This was an original piece, penned by Sinfield, and read:
"I've got a friend who came to tea, And no-one seems to know but me, He came today, but had to go To visit you? You never know!"
At the time, radio stations were instructed to fade the song before the narration, never knew why.
The music video is a parody of many childhood stories. It begins in a black and white bedroom, with Cheryl in bed, before waking up and in a parody of The Wizard of Oz the picture changes to colour, and Cheryl is transformed by a fairy in the style of Cinderella. She then walks from everyday life, through a gap into a winter wonder land and has to push her way through many fir trees, in a copy of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", before joining the rest of the band on stage.
The single was released in November 1981 and became a top 10 hit in December, being popular over Christmas and being placed at No.5 for the Christmas chart. The following week it was placed at No.2, behind The Human League's 'Don't You Want Me', before finally taking over at Number 1 in January.
The song was later included on the group's second album, Are You Ready
'The Land of Make Believe' remains a firm fan favourite and reviews in the press at the time were positive with Smash Hits calling the song "sheer genius" and more recently Q Magazine labelling the song "not half bad" and "an 80s classic". Members Bobby G and Cheryl Baker have both named it as the best of their own songs. The song became the biggest selling single by the group in the UK, outselling their Eurovision winner 'Making Your Mind Up', to finish as the 41st biggest seller of the 1980s in the UK. It also reached Number 1 in The Netherlands and Ireland, while in Germany it also became their biggest selling single. The song became the group's debut single release in the US, but was unsuccessful there
Click the link below to download the following: Video Single Version Remixed Version Now Your Gone - B-Side
Following on from the success of the previous single'Clouds Across the Moon', the RAH Band released their next single titled 'Sorry Doesn't Make It Anymore'.
Released in 1985 this single failed to live up to the success of the previous single as it failed to chart, still loved the single.
Click the link below to download the following: Single Version 12 inch Stretch Mix Night Wind - B-Side
'Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy' is a Christmas song with an added counterpoint performed by David Bowie and Bing Crosby.
'Little Drummer Boy' is a traditional Christmas song written in 1957, while the 'Peace on Earth' tune and lyrics were added to the song especially for Bowie and Crosby's recording.
The track was originally recorded on 11th September 1977 for Crosby's 1977 television special, Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas. The pair exchanged dialogue about what they do for Christmas before singing the traditional song, 'Little Drummer Boy', with a new counterpoint with original lyrics written for the special, 'Peace on Earth'.
Bowie's appearance has been described as a "surreal" event, undertaken at a time that he was "actively trying to normalise his career". He has since recalled that he only appeared on the show because "I just knew my mother liked him." Crosby would die just over a month after recording the special, which aired on 30th November 1977.
According to co-writer Ian Fraser, Bowie balked at singing 'Little Drummer Boy'. "I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?" Fraser recalls Bowie telling him. Fraser, along with songwriter Larry Grossman and the special's scriptwriter, Buz Kohan, then wrote 'Peace on Earth' as a counterpoint to 'Little Drummer Boy'. Crosby performed 'Little Drummer Boy', while Bowie sang the new tune 'Peace on Earth'.
The song was available for some years as a bootleg single backed with 'Heroes', which Bowie had also performed on the TV special. In 1982, RCA issued the recording as an official single, complete with the dialogue, arbitrarily placing 'Fantastic Voyage' from the Lodger album on the B-side. Bowie was unhappy with this move, which further soured his strained relationship with RCA, and he left the label soon after.
The single would climb to number 3 on the UK Singles chart, boosted by a 12" picture disc release, and has since become a perennial on British Christmas compilation albums, with the TV sequence also a regular on UK nostalgia shows.
Click the link below to download the following: Video Full Length Version Edited Version Fantastic Voyage - B-Side
'December Will Be Magic Again' was written and originally recorded in 1979 by Kate Bus. However, the single was not released until 17th November 1980.
The single peaked at number 29 on the UK Singles Chart, but due to its early release date had slipped before the Christmas week chart.
No promotional video was filmed for this single, but an alternate recording of the song was performed on Bush's 1979 Christmas television special. In addition to the version on the single release, another very different cut exists (on CD) with bongos and slide whistles on the rhythm track. Neither have ever appeared on a Kate Bush album, except for the This Woman's Work box set but both have managed to find their way on to various Christmas compilations.
The B-side was 'Warm and Soothing', a simple piece of Bush singing with just her piano accompaniment. In this sense it was similar in style to 'In the Warm Room' and 'Feel It' from her first two albums. This was the first song she recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
Initial pressings of the 7" single have "Cut by Chris Blair", "Songs & arrangements by Kate Bush", and "Cover by Nick Price" centered on the rear sleeve. Reissues have these acknowledgements spread out across the bottom. Originals also have "Happy Christmas" etched into the dead wax on Side A. The song was featured on the 12" single of "Experiment IV" and later on the second of two CD editions of the "Moments of Pleasure" single in 1993 and had a slightly different mix. In 2006 the song was included on Elton John's Christmas album, Elton John's Christmas Party.
Each year around Christmas, the song frequently receives airplay on various U.K. radio stations.
Click the link below to download the following: 1979 Kate Bush Christmas Special Performance Snowtime Special TV Performance Single Version Warm and Soothing - B-Side
The RAH Band were a fictitious studio based group - fictitious in that there was no group, as it only contained one person. The letters RAH were taken from the initials for Richard Anthony Hewson, who was te only real member of the band.
'Mystery' was the gropus 4th studio album and was released in 1985. The album eventually made it to number 60 in the UK Album Charts.
The album contained the groups 2nd biggest hit single 'Cluds Across The Moon'
Tracklisting: 01 - Clouds Across The Moon 02 - Night Wind 03 - Sorry Doesn't Make It Anymore 04 - Float 05 - Mystery Boy 06 - Are You Satisfied (Funka Nova) 07 - Shadows Of Your Love
'Stop The Cavalry' is a song written and performed by the musician Jona Lewie.
The song peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart in December 1980, at one point only being kept from number one by two re-issued songs by John Lennon, who had been murdered on 8th December.
The song was never intended as a Christmas hit, but the line 'Wish I was at home for Christmas' as well as the brass band arrangements made it an appropriately styled song to play around Christmas time.
The song's promotional video is set in the trenches of the First World War. However the lyrics of the song mentions cavalry, Churchill (then serving as First Lord of the Admiralty) and nuclear fallout, and the line "I have had to fight, almost every night, down throughout these centuries". Lewie described the song's soldier as being "a bit like the eternal soldier at the Arc de Triomphe".
Click the link below to download the following: Video Single Version Laughing Tonight - B-Side
'Pipes of Peace' is a song written by Paul McCartney, which was first released on his album also called Pipes of Peace in 1983 and was released as a single in December 1983, reaching number 1 in the UK singles chart for two weeks.
In the United States, 'Pipes of Peace' was issued as the B-Side, and its British B-Side, 'So Bad,' was issued as the A-Side. 'So Bad' climbed to Number 23 on the US Billboard charts.
The Video was shot for Pipes of Peace at Chobham Commin, Surrey. The video depicted the famous 1914 Christmas truce between British and German troops. It portrays a British and a German soldier, both played by McCartney, who meet up in No Man's Land and exchange photos of their loved ones while other soldiers fraternise and play football. When a shell blast forces the two armies to retreat to their own trenches both men realise that they still have each-other's pictures. The video was produced by Hugh Symonds, and featured more than 100 extras. For added realism McCartney had his hair cut short especially for the shoot.
Despite featuring on 22 UK number one singles (as a member of the Beatles and Wings), this was McCartney's only number one as an entirely solo artist.
Click the link below to download the following: Single Version Video - MPEG4 Version So Bad - Video So Bad - B-Side
'Love Games' was the first single to be released from the bands first self titles album.Released in 1981 the single became a successful jazz–funk and dancefloor hit for the band, reaching number 38 on the UK Singles chart.
The Weather Girls are an American girl group that formed in 1982
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