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70's, 80's 'Feel Good' Music
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"Eye in the Sky" is a 1982 song by the British rock band The Alan Parsons Project from the album Eye in the Sky. It hit No. 3 on the Billboard charts in the U.S. in October 1982, No. 1 in both Canada and Spain, and No. 6 in New Zealand and was their most successful release. The instrumental piece entitled "Sirius" segues into "Eye in the Sky"' on the original recording.
In 2019, Alan Parsons recorded a version in Catalan of this song, under the title "Seré els teus ulls al camí" ("I'll be your eyes on the road"), for the CD edited by La Marató de TV3, a telethon devoted to raise funds for the research of incurable diseases.
The 1:54 minute instrumental piece entitled "Sirius" immediately precedes "Eye in the Sky"' on the original recording, which then segues into "Eye in the Sky". On the single release, "Eye in the Sky" appears on its own, with "Sirius" edited out; this is the version that was usually played on pop radio at the time. However, album-oriented rock and classic rock stations almost exclusively include the "Sirius" intro.
In 2019, Alan Parsons recorded a version in Catalan of this song, under the title "Seré els teus ulls al camí" ("I'll be your eyes on the road"), for the CD edited by La Marató de TV3, a telethon devoted to raise funds for the research of incurable diseases.
The 1:54 minute instrumental piece entitled "Sirius" immediately precedes "Eye in the Sky"' on the original recording, which then segues into "Eye in the Sky". On the single release, "Eye in the Sky" appears on its own, with "Sirius" edited out; this is the version that was usually played on pop radio at the time. However, album-oriented rock and classic rock stations almost exclusively include the "Sirius" intro.
Alan Parsons Project - Eye In The Sky
"Keep On Loving You" is a soft rock power ballad written by Kevin Cronin and performed by American rock band REO Speedwagon. It features the lead guitar work of Gary Richrath. The song first appeared on REO Speedwagon's 1980 album Hi Infidelity. It was the first REO Speedwagon single to break the top 50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, reaching the number-one spot for one week in March 1981. The single was certified Platinum for U.S. sales of over one million copies. It peaked at number seven in the UK Singles Chart. "Keep On Loving You" has been a mainstay on 1980s soft rock compilations and has appeared on dozens of 'various artists' compilation albums, as well as several REO Speedwagon greatest hits albums.
evin Cronin stated that he wrote "Keep On Loving You" as a more traditional love ballad, and the band as a whole developed it into its final arrangement as a power ballad. He recounted:
evin Cronin stated that he wrote "Keep On Loving You" as a more traditional love ballad, and the band as a whole developed it into its final arrangement as a power ballad. He recounted:
In 1981, the music video of the song was the 17th played on the first day of broadcast of MTV, on August 1. It was framed by a scene of Kevin Cronin talking about his relationship troubles with a female psychiatrist and contained a shot where a woman picked up a telephone connected to Gary Richrath's guitar, referencing the live version of "157 Riverside Avenue.
REO Speedwagon - Keep on Loving You
"When You Say Nothing at All" is a country song written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz. It was a hit song for three different performers: Keith Whitley, who took it to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart on December 24, 1988; Alison Krauss, whose version was her first solo top-10 country hit in 1995; and Irish pop singer Ronan Keating, whose version was his first solo single and a chart-topper in the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand in 1999.
Overstreet and Schlitz came up with "When You Say Nothing at All" at the end of an otherwise unproductive day. Strumming a guitar, trying to write their next song, they were coming up empty. "As we tried to find another way to say nothing, we came up with the song", Overstreet later told author Ace Collins. They thought the song was OK, but nothing special. When Keith Whitley heard it, he loved it, and was not going to let it get away. Earlier, he had recorded another Overstreet-Schlitz composition that became a No. 1 hit for another artist - Randy Travis' "On the Other Hand." Whitley did not plan to let "When You Say Nothing at All" meet the same fate.
RCA released "When You Say Nothing at All" as the follow-up single to the title song of Whitley's Don't Close Your Eyes album. The former song already had hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, his first chart-topper after three prior singles made the top 10. "When You Say Nothing at All" entered the Hot Country Singles chart on September 17, 1988, at No. 61, and gradually rose to the top, where it stayed for two weeks at the end of the year. It was the second of five consecutive chart-topping singles for Whitley, who did not live to see the last two, as he died on May 9, 1989 of alcohol poisoning. "Keith did a great job singin' that song," co-composer Schlitz told author Tom Roland. "He truly sang it from the heart." In 2004, Whitley's original was ranked 12th among CMT's 100 Greatest Love Songs. It was sung by Sara Evans on the show. As of February 2015, the song has sold 599,000 digital copies in the US after it became available for download.
In 1995, Alison Krauss covered the song with the group Union Station for a tribute album to Whitley titled Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album. After Krauss's cover began to receive unsolicited airplay, BNA Records, the label that had released the album, issued Krauss' version to radio in January 1995.[8] That version, also featured on Krauss' compilation Now That I've Found You: A Collection, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, and a commercial single reached No. 2 on the same magazine's Hot Country Singles Sales chart.. The B-side of the single was Keith Whitley's "Charlotte's in North Carolina", which was another previously unreleased track featured on the Tribute album.
Its success, as well as that of the album, caught Krauss by surprise. "It's a freak thing," she told a Los Angeles Times reporter in March 1995. "It's kinda ticklin' us all. We haven't had anything really chart before. At all. Isn't it funny though? We don't know what's goin' on....The office said, 'Hey, it's charting,' and we're like, 'Huh?'
While Krauss' version was on the charts, Mike Cromwell, then the production director at WMIL-FM in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, concocted a duet merging elements of Krauss' version with Whitley's original hit version. The "duet" garnered national attention, and it spread from at least Philadelphia to Albuquerque, and has been heard on radio stations in California as well. This "duet" was however never officially serviced to radio and has never been available commercially.
Krauss' recording won the 1995 CMA award for "Single of the Year". The song has been featured a couple of times in the soap opera The Young and the Restless. Krauss' version was also used in the 1999 motion picture "The Other Sister". The song has sold 468,000 digital downloads as of May 2017.
TUE, MAR 03, 2020
Irish singer Ronan Keating removed a social media post about ships near Singapore not being allowed to dock because of the coronavirus after several online users said it was misleading.
PHOTO: MELISSA WYATT
[SINGAPORE] Irish singer Ronan Keating removed a social media post about ships near Singapore not being allowed to dock because of the coronavirus after several online users said it was misleading.
"You say it best when you say nothing at all," Instagram user Gweezilla commented on Keating's post, referring to his hit song made famous by the romantic comedy film Notting Hill.
Keating, who shot to prominence in the 1990s as a member of boyband Boyzone, posted a photograph of about two dozen ships anchored off the city on Instagram and Twitter, with a caption that said the traffic was related to the coronavirus.
But ships at sea off the world's second-busiest port are a common sight and many social media users were quick to tell him so.
The city-state's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) also responded to Keating's post on Monday, saying a ship arrives or leaves Singapore every two to three minutes and that there can be about 1,000 ships there at any one time.
"#WeCouldntSayNothingAtAll," the MPA added.
Keating's posts were not available on Tuesday. Keating on Saturday performed at an event in Jakarta, Indonesia, but it was not immediately clear if he was in Singapore.
Singapore has had just over 100 cases of the coronavirus.
REUTERS
Overstreet and Schlitz came up with "When You Say Nothing at All" at the end of an otherwise unproductive day. Strumming a guitar, trying to write their next song, they were coming up empty. "As we tried to find another way to say nothing, we came up with the song", Overstreet later told author Ace Collins. They thought the song was OK, but nothing special. When Keith Whitley heard it, he loved it, and was not going to let it get away. Earlier, he had recorded another Overstreet-Schlitz composition that became a No. 1 hit for another artist - Randy Travis' "On the Other Hand." Whitley did not plan to let "When You Say Nothing at All" meet the same fate.
RCA released "When You Say Nothing at All" as the follow-up single to the title song of Whitley's Don't Close Your Eyes album. The former song already had hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, his first chart-topper after three prior singles made the top 10. "When You Say Nothing at All" entered the Hot Country Singles chart on September 17, 1988, at No. 61, and gradually rose to the top, where it stayed for two weeks at the end of the year. It was the second of five consecutive chart-topping singles for Whitley, who did not live to see the last two, as he died on May 9, 1989 of alcohol poisoning. "Keith did a great job singin' that song," co-composer Schlitz told author Tom Roland. "He truly sang it from the heart." In 2004, Whitley's original was ranked 12th among CMT's 100 Greatest Love Songs. It was sung by Sara Evans on the show. As of February 2015, the song has sold 599,000 digital copies in the US after it became available for download.
In 1995, Alison Krauss covered the song with the group Union Station for a tribute album to Whitley titled Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album. After Krauss's cover began to receive unsolicited airplay, BNA Records, the label that had released the album, issued Krauss' version to radio in January 1995.[8] That version, also featured on Krauss' compilation Now That I've Found You: A Collection, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, and a commercial single reached No. 2 on the same magazine's Hot Country Singles Sales chart.. The B-side of the single was Keith Whitley's "Charlotte's in North Carolina", which was another previously unreleased track featured on the Tribute album.
Its success, as well as that of the album, caught Krauss by surprise. "It's a freak thing," she told a Los Angeles Times reporter in March 1995. "It's kinda ticklin' us all. We haven't had anything really chart before. At all. Isn't it funny though? We don't know what's goin' on....The office said, 'Hey, it's charting,' and we're like, 'Huh?'
While Krauss' version was on the charts, Mike Cromwell, then the production director at WMIL-FM in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, concocted a duet merging elements of Krauss' version with Whitley's original hit version. The "duet" garnered national attention, and it spread from at least Philadelphia to Albuquerque, and has been heard on radio stations in California as well. This "duet" was however never officially serviced to radio and has never been available commercially.
Krauss' recording won the 1995 CMA award for "Single of the Year". The song has been featured a couple of times in the soap opera The Young and the Restless. Krauss' version was also used in the 1999 motion picture "The Other Sister". The song has sold 468,000 digital downloads as of May 2017.
Keith Whitley - When You Say Nothing at All
Say nothing at all: Ronan Keating chided for Singapore coronavirus post
TUE, MAR 03, 2020
Irish singer Ronan Keating removed a social media post about ships near Singapore not being allowed to dock because of the coronavirus after several online users said it was misleading.
PHOTO: MELISSA WYATT
[SINGAPORE] Irish singer Ronan Keating removed a social media post about ships near Singapore not being allowed to dock because of the coronavirus after several online users said it was misleading.
"You say it best when you say nothing at all," Instagram user Gweezilla commented on Keating's post, referring to his hit song made famous by the romantic comedy film Notting Hill.
Keating, who shot to prominence in the 1990s as a member of boyband Boyzone, posted a photograph of about two dozen ships anchored off the city on Instagram and Twitter, with a caption that said the traffic was related to the coronavirus.
But ships at sea off the world's second-busiest port are a common sight and many social media users were quick to tell him so.
The city-state's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) also responded to Keating's post on Monday, saying a ship arrives or leaves Singapore every two to three minutes and that there can be about 1,000 ships there at any one time.
"#WeCouldntSayNothingAtAll," the MPA added.
Keating's posts were not available on Tuesday. Keating on Saturday performed at an event in Jakarta, Indonesia, but it was not immediately clear if he was in Singapore.
Singapore has had just over 100 cases of the coronavirus.
REUTERS
"Enola Gay" is an anti-war song by the British synth-pop group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) and the only single from the band's 1980 album Organisation. The track addresses the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, toward the conclusion of World War II. It was written by vocalist/bass guitarist Andy McCluskey.
"Enola Gay" has been described—along with 1986's "If You Leave"—as OMD's signature song. The single was an international success, selling more than 5 million copies, while the track became an enduring hit.
Typical of early OMD compositions, the track does not feature a vocal chorus, and is recognisable by its strong, distinctive lead synthesizer hook and ambiguous lyrical content. Most of the melodic parts were recorded on a Korg Micro-Preset, and the drum machine sound was "about the last thing to go on" the recording. The song is based on the 50s progression, which repeats throughout the entire song.
Keyboardist Paul Humphreys and OMD manager Paul Collister were not fans of "Enola Gay" (the latter originally threatened to resign if it were released as a single). Collister did, however, believe it was a surefire hit – a view that drummer Malcolm Holmes did not share. Initially proud of the song, McCluskey's confidence wavered: he re-recorded his vocal, but was dissatisfied with the final mix of the track
The song is named after the Enola Gay, the USAAF B-29 Superfortress bomber that carried Little Boy, the first atomic bomb to be used in an act of war, dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, killing more than 100,000 of its citizens. The name of the bomber itself was chosen by its pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets, who named it after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets (1893–1983), who had been named after the heroine of the novel Enola; or, Her fatal mistake.
The lyrics to the song reflect on the decision to use the bomb and ask the listener to consider whether the bombings were necessary ("It shouldn't ever have to end this way"). The phrase, "Is mother proud of Little Boy today?", is an allusion to both the nickname of the uranium bomb, as well as the fact that pilot Paul Tibbets named the aircraft after his mother. The phrase, "It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been", refers to the time of detonation over Hiroshima at 8:15 am JST; as many timepieces were "frozen" by the effects of the blast, it becomes "the time that it's always been". The song was also released during controversy surrounding Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decision to allow US nuclear missiles to be stationed in Britain. McCluskey stated that he "wasn't really politically motivated to write the song", which was informed by a fascination with World War II bombers. He hoped the track "conveyed an ambivalence about whether it was the right or the wrong thing to do"
"Enola Gay" met with enthusiastic reviews on release; Lynden Barber of Melody Maker called it "the perfect follow-up to 'Messages'." It was, however, misperceived by some as a homosexual love song. As such, the track was banned from being played on popular BBC1 children's programme Swap Shop.
The BBC noted that despite its dark subject matter, the single was released at "a time of passionate anti-nuclear feeling", and became an "unlikely", "long-lasting" hit. A sleeper success, the track entered the UK Singles Chart at number 35, but climbed 27 places over the next 3 weeks to reach a peak of number 8, thus becoming the group's first Top 10 hit in their home country. It topped the charts in Italy and in Spain. Worldwide sales reached 5 million.
In a retrospective review, Dave Thompson of AllMusic called "Enola Gay" a "perfect synth-dance-pop extravaganza". Colleague Ned Raggett lauded the track as "astounding... a flat-out pop classic – clever, heartfelt, thrilling, and confident, not to mention catchy and arranged brilliantly". It featured in a 2009 list of "The 40 Greatest Synth Tracks Ever" by MusicRadar, who noted that the song "includes some of the biggest synth hooks of all time". In 2012, NME listed the track among the "100 Best Songs of the 1980s", describing McCluskey's vocal as "brilliantly quizzical" and the song as a "pop classic".
"Enola Gay" has been described – along with 1986's "If You Leave" – as OMD's signature song. The track was selected by Danny Boyle for use during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London
The music video begins by showing speeded-up footage of clouds passing through the sky. After the opening riff, which is shown as just the keyboardist's hands playing it whilst being animated using digital rotoscoping, it shows a transparent video image of McCluskey vocalising and playing a bass guitar. The still photo from the Organisation album cover is taken from the video.
"Enola Gay" has been described—along with 1986's "If You Leave"—as OMD's signature song. The single was an international success, selling more than 5 million copies, while the track became an enduring hit.
Typical of early OMD compositions, the track does not feature a vocal chorus, and is recognisable by its strong, distinctive lead synthesizer hook and ambiguous lyrical content. Most of the melodic parts were recorded on a Korg Micro-Preset, and the drum machine sound was "about the last thing to go on" the recording. The song is based on the 50s progression, which repeats throughout the entire song.
Keyboardist Paul Humphreys and OMD manager Paul Collister were not fans of "Enola Gay" (the latter originally threatened to resign if it were released as a single). Collister did, however, believe it was a surefire hit – a view that drummer Malcolm Holmes did not share. Initially proud of the song, McCluskey's confidence wavered: he re-recorded his vocal, but was dissatisfied with the final mix of the track
The song is named after the Enola Gay, the USAAF B-29 Superfortress bomber that carried Little Boy, the first atomic bomb to be used in an act of war, dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, killing more than 100,000 of its citizens. The name of the bomber itself was chosen by its pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets, who named it after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets (1893–1983), who had been named after the heroine of the novel Enola; or, Her fatal mistake.
The lyrics to the song reflect on the decision to use the bomb and ask the listener to consider whether the bombings were necessary ("It shouldn't ever have to end this way"). The phrase, "Is mother proud of Little Boy today?", is an allusion to both the nickname of the uranium bomb, as well as the fact that pilot Paul Tibbets named the aircraft after his mother. The phrase, "It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been", refers to the time of detonation over Hiroshima at 8:15 am JST; as many timepieces were "frozen" by the effects of the blast, it becomes "the time that it's always been". The song was also released during controversy surrounding Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decision to allow US nuclear missiles to be stationed in Britain. McCluskey stated that he "wasn't really politically motivated to write the song", which was informed by a fascination with World War II bombers. He hoped the track "conveyed an ambivalence about whether it was the right or the wrong thing to do"
"Enola Gay" met with enthusiastic reviews on release; Lynden Barber of Melody Maker called it "the perfect follow-up to 'Messages'." It was, however, misperceived by some as a homosexual love song. As such, the track was banned from being played on popular BBC1 children's programme Swap Shop.
The BBC noted that despite its dark subject matter, the single was released at "a time of passionate anti-nuclear feeling", and became an "unlikely", "long-lasting" hit. A sleeper success, the track entered the UK Singles Chart at number 35, but climbed 27 places over the next 3 weeks to reach a peak of number 8, thus becoming the group's first Top 10 hit in their home country. It topped the charts in Italy and in Spain. Worldwide sales reached 5 million.
In a retrospective review, Dave Thompson of AllMusic called "Enola Gay" a "perfect synth-dance-pop extravaganza". Colleague Ned Raggett lauded the track as "astounding... a flat-out pop classic – clever, heartfelt, thrilling, and confident, not to mention catchy and arranged brilliantly". It featured in a 2009 list of "The 40 Greatest Synth Tracks Ever" by MusicRadar, who noted that the song "includes some of the biggest synth hooks of all time". In 2012, NME listed the track among the "100 Best Songs of the 1980s", describing McCluskey's vocal as "brilliantly quizzical" and the song as a "pop classic".
"Enola Gay" has been described – along with 1986's "If You Leave" – as OMD's signature song. The track was selected by Danny Boyle for use during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London
The music video begins by showing speeded-up footage of clouds passing through the sky. After the opening riff, which is shown as just the keyboardist's hands playing it whilst being animated using digital rotoscoping, it shows a transparent video image of McCluskey vocalising and playing a bass guitar. The still photo from the Organisation album cover is taken from the video.
OMD - Enola Gay
"The Power of Love" is a song co-written and originally recorded by American singer Jennifer Rush in 1984. It has been covered by several artists, most notably by Air Supply, Celine Dion and Laura Branigan.
Rush's original version, released in her native United States in late 1984 and in Europe during 1985, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in October 1985 and became the biggest-selling single of the year in that country. It also topped the charts in several other European countries, as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Dion's version peaked at number one in the United States, Canada and Australia in 1994. The song has been translated into several languages, becoming a pop standard.
"The Power of Love" was first recorded by Jennifer Rush for her 1984 eponymous album. It was released as a single in West Germany in December 1984. In June 1985, "The Power of Love" was issued as a single in the United Kingdom, where it topped the chart for five weeks in October 1985 and became the best-selling single of the year. As of March 2017, it had sold 1.45 million copies in the UK.
The massive success of "The Power of Love" in the UK followed with widespread international success for the single in the last months of 1985 and the first of 1986, including a German re-release with a resultant number-nine charting. Eventually "The Power of Love" reached number one in Australia, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa and Spain (where Rush topped the chart with a version in Spanish called "Si tú eres mi hombre y yo tu mujer", translated as "If you are my man and I'm your woman"), number three in Switzerland, Sweden and Belgium, and number seven in the Netherlands.
CBS held off on releasing "The Power of Love" in North America feeling the disc was too European. It finally saw release in the United States and Canada in January 1986 but despite rising to number one in Canada, "The Power of Love" failed to become a significant US hit, stalling at number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending of 5 April 1986 and spending 13 weeks within the Hot 100. The song was performed by Rush on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in March 1986 and American Bandstand in April 1986.
Pop Rescue described the song as a "fantastically classic power ballad" that is "flawless" in their review of Jennifer Rush. They added that Rush's vocals are "rich, strong, and wonderfully spine tingling as she reaches for those 'cause I am your lady' vocals. The drums are gentle, the bass tip-toes through with the bass drum, and the 80's synths give you a sense of a string section beneath."
Rush's original version, released in her native United States in late 1984 and in Europe during 1985, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in October 1985 and became the biggest-selling single of the year in that country. It also topped the charts in several other European countries, as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Dion's version peaked at number one in the United States, Canada and Australia in 1994. The song has been translated into several languages, becoming a pop standard.
"The Power of Love" was first recorded by Jennifer Rush for her 1984 eponymous album. It was released as a single in West Germany in December 1984. In June 1985, "The Power of Love" was issued as a single in the United Kingdom, where it topped the chart for five weeks in October 1985 and became the best-selling single of the year. As of March 2017, it had sold 1.45 million copies in the UK.
The massive success of "The Power of Love" in the UK followed with widespread international success for the single in the last months of 1985 and the first of 1986, including a German re-release with a resultant number-nine charting. Eventually "The Power of Love" reached number one in Australia, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa and Spain (where Rush topped the chart with a version in Spanish called "Si tú eres mi hombre y yo tu mujer", translated as "If you are my man and I'm your woman"), number three in Switzerland, Sweden and Belgium, and number seven in the Netherlands.
CBS held off on releasing "The Power of Love" in North America feeling the disc was too European. It finally saw release in the United States and Canada in January 1986 but despite rising to number one in Canada, "The Power of Love" failed to become a significant US hit, stalling at number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending of 5 April 1986 and spending 13 weeks within the Hot 100. The song was performed by Rush on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in March 1986 and American Bandstand in April 1986.
Pop Rescue described the song as a "fantastically classic power ballad" that is "flawless" in their review of Jennifer Rush. They added that Rush's vocals are "rich, strong, and wonderfully spine tingling as she reaches for those 'cause I am your lady' vocals. The drums are gentle, the bass tip-toes through with the bass drum, and the 80's synths give you a sense of a string section beneath."
Jennifer Rush - The Power Of Love
Sky were an English/Australian instrumental rock group that specialised in combining a variety of musical styles, most prominently rock, classical and jazz. The group's original and best-known line-up featured classical guitarist John Williams (Australian), bass player Herbie Flowers, electric guitarist Kevin Peek (Australian), drummer Tristan Fry and keyboard player Francis Monkman.
In 1971, John Williams released the fusion album Changes, his first recording of non-classical music and the first on which he played electric guitar. Among the musicians working on the album were Tristan Fry (an established session drummer who was also the timpanist for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and had played Timpani on the Beatles "A Day in the Life") and Herbie Flowers (a former member of Blue Mink and T. Rex, as well as a busy session musician who, among other things had recorded the bassline for Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side").
The three musicians became friends, kept in touch and continued working together on various projects during the 1970s. One of these was Williams' 1978 album Travelling, another substantially commercially successful cross-genre recording. As well as Fry and Flowers, the record featured former Curved Air member Francis Monkman (who in addition to his progressive and psychedelic rock background as guitar and synthesiser player, was a trained and accomplished classical harpsichordist).
In 1979, Monkman performed on Louis Clark's album (per-spek-tiv) n., on which he collaborated with Australian session guitarist Kevin Peek. Peek was a musician equally adept at classical guitar and pop/rock styles, having built a reputation both as a chamber musician and as a long-standing member of Cliff Richard's band, as well as for working with Manfred Mann, Lulu, Tom Jones, Jeff Wayne, Shirley Bassey and Gary Glitter.
The success of Travelling inspired Williams and Flowers to set up Sky, their own long-term cross-genre band. The band name Sky was suggested by flautist Pinuccia Rossetti, a member of the Carlos Bonell Ensemble, and a friend of Williams. Fry and Monkman were swiftly recruited, with Kevin Peek being the final addition. The band began writing and recording instrumental music drawing on their collective experience of classical, light pop, progressive and psychedelic rock, light entertainment and jazz. After a protracted search for a record company, Sky signed with the small European label Ariola Records.
Although Sky was run democratically (with all members contributing music and/or arrangements), the presence of John Williams in the line-up was regarded as the band's biggest selling point and was emphasised in publicity. Williams' concurrent solo instrumental hit – "Cavatina – Theme from The Deer Hunter" – also helped to raise the band's profile. However, this selling was counterbalanced by some negative reviews from critics accustomed to Williams' classical performances, who remained unimpressed by his new direction with Sky.
Sky's self-titled debut album (released in 1979) was highly successful in Britain and Australia, quickly reaching gold record status and eventually topping out as a platinum record. The album featured versions of Eric Satie's "Gymnopedie No. 1" and Antonio Ruiz-Pipò's "Danza", as well as original compositions by Monkman and Flowers. Monkman's 'Cannonball' was a minor hit single, and the keyboard player also contributed the twenty-minute second-side composition "Where Opposites Meet" (intended to combine and display the band's diverse influences). The band toured the UK in summer and autumn 1979, particular triumphs being sold-out concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and the Dominion Theatre in London (the latter a five-night sellout).
In 1980, Sky recorded and released their second album, Sky 2. This was a double album that built upon its predecessor's success, becoming the tenth highest selling album in Britain that year. The album included Monkman's side-long rock suite "FIFO" (a piece inspired by computer information processing techniques, stands for "First In, First Out") and four classical pieces including three established chamber music pieces (played entirely straight) and the band's souped-up electric treatment of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor". The latter was released as a single (under the name "Toccata") and reached number 5 in the national pop charts, giving the band the opportunity of performing on Top of the Pops. Other tracks included a Williams conflation of Spanish folk tunes, a Fry-penned tuned percussion piece, a cover of Curved Air's "Vivaldi", Peek's Arabic-influenced "Sahara", the psychedelic faux-Spanish folk dance "Hotta", and several cheerful Flowers compositions including his tuba showcase "Tuba Smarties" and "Scipio" (which Flowers described as "the first piece of music to have Parts I & II running simultaneously.").
In 1971, John Williams released the fusion album Changes, his first recording of non-classical music and the first on which he played electric guitar. Among the musicians working on the album were Tristan Fry (an established session drummer who was also the timpanist for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and had played Timpani on the Beatles "A Day in the Life") and Herbie Flowers (a former member of Blue Mink and T. Rex, as well as a busy session musician who, among other things had recorded the bassline for Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side").
The three musicians became friends, kept in touch and continued working together on various projects during the 1970s. One of these was Williams' 1978 album Travelling, another substantially commercially successful cross-genre recording. As well as Fry and Flowers, the record featured former Curved Air member Francis Monkman (who in addition to his progressive and psychedelic rock background as guitar and synthesiser player, was a trained and accomplished classical harpsichordist).
In 1979, Monkman performed on Louis Clark's album (per-spek-tiv) n., on which he collaborated with Australian session guitarist Kevin Peek. Peek was a musician equally adept at classical guitar and pop/rock styles, having built a reputation both as a chamber musician and as a long-standing member of Cliff Richard's band, as well as for working with Manfred Mann, Lulu, Tom Jones, Jeff Wayne, Shirley Bassey and Gary Glitter.
The success of Travelling inspired Williams and Flowers to set up Sky, their own long-term cross-genre band. The band name Sky was suggested by flautist Pinuccia Rossetti, a member of the Carlos Bonell Ensemble, and a friend of Williams. Fry and Monkman were swiftly recruited, with Kevin Peek being the final addition. The band began writing and recording instrumental music drawing on their collective experience of classical, light pop, progressive and psychedelic rock, light entertainment and jazz. After a protracted search for a record company, Sky signed with the small European label Ariola Records.
Although Sky was run democratically (with all members contributing music and/or arrangements), the presence of John Williams in the line-up was regarded as the band's biggest selling point and was emphasised in publicity. Williams' concurrent solo instrumental hit – "Cavatina – Theme from The Deer Hunter" – also helped to raise the band's profile. However, this selling was counterbalanced by some negative reviews from critics accustomed to Williams' classical performances, who remained unimpressed by his new direction with Sky.
Sky's self-titled debut album (released in 1979) was highly successful in Britain and Australia, quickly reaching gold record status and eventually topping out as a platinum record. The album featured versions of Eric Satie's "Gymnopedie No. 1" and Antonio Ruiz-Pipò's "Danza", as well as original compositions by Monkman and Flowers. Monkman's 'Cannonball' was a minor hit single, and the keyboard player also contributed the twenty-minute second-side composition "Where Opposites Meet" (intended to combine and display the band's diverse influences). The band toured the UK in summer and autumn 1979, particular triumphs being sold-out concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and the Dominion Theatre in London (the latter a five-night sellout).
In 1980, Sky recorded and released their second album, Sky 2. This was a double album that built upon its predecessor's success, becoming the tenth highest selling album in Britain that year. The album included Monkman's side-long rock suite "FIFO" (a piece inspired by computer information processing techniques, stands for "First In, First Out") and four classical pieces including three established chamber music pieces (played entirely straight) and the band's souped-up electric treatment of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor". The latter was released as a single (under the name "Toccata") and reached number 5 in the national pop charts, giving the band the opportunity of performing on Top of the Pops. Other tracks included a Williams conflation of Spanish folk tunes, a Fry-penned tuned percussion piece, a cover of Curved Air's "Vivaldi", Peek's Arabic-influenced "Sahara", the psychedelic faux-Spanish folk dance "Hotta", and several cheerful Flowers compositions including his tuba showcase "Tuba Smarties" and "Scipio" (which Flowers described as "the first piece of music to have Parts I & II running simultaneously.").
Sky - Toccata
"Let's All Chant" is a song written by Michael Zager and Alvin Fields and performed by the Michael Zager Band. It was based on an idea originally suggested by former head of A&R Jerry Love after he visited clubs in New York and saw people endlessly chanting "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah". Although Zager was first embarrassed when Love asked him to write a song using these chants, he accepted the proposal and later co-wrote "Let's All Chant" with Fields.
The opening track and lead single from the group's eponymous LP, "Let's All Chant" was released as a single in December 1977, with the track "Love Express" as a B-side. An unexpected smash hit, the single reached number one on the disco chart and crossed over to the Soul Singles chart, where it peaked at number 15, and to the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 36. In Europe, the single reached the top 10 in several countries, including the UK, Ireland and France. It eventually sold five million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Recognizable by both its vocal hooks and its classical section, which is featured in the middle of the song, "Let's All Chant" was well received by critics, who have praised its musical arrangement and its catchiness. Many reviewers regard the song as a classic of the disco era. It also became a turning point in Michael Zager's career. As well as being used in many TV advertisements and movies, it has become an influential dance song which has been extensively covered or remixed by numerous artists and has been interpolated or sampled in many other tracks.
When he was still at A&M Records, Michael Zager met Jerry Love, a former head of A&R. After Love subsequently left the record label, he and Zager formed the Michael Zager Moon's Band in 1976. Love frequented Studio 54 and went to clubs every night. One evening, he went to Greenwich Village to visit several clubs and noted that people were continuously singing "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah" to every tune which was played in order to increase their own participation and pleasure. The next day, he described the scene to Zager and suggested that Zager write a song incorporating the "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah" vocals. Zager told Love: "You have to be kidding; that's embarrassing!" Love commented that everybody was doing it and that if Zager wrote a song using these chants, dancers would love it.
In parallel, the group's name was changed to the Michael Zager Band and they signed with the label Private Stock Records. For their forthcoming LP, Zager wrote two songs, "Let's All Chant" and "Love Express", together with Alvin Fields. The co-writer shared lead vocals on "Let's All Chant" with session singers Dollette McDonald and Billy Baker. Zager added a classical section to the track. He later remarked:
"Let's All Chant" is a disco song driven by a repetitive bassline, handclaps and numerous vocal hooks (such as "Ah-ah, eh-eh, let's all chant" and "Your body, my body, everybody work your body"). These typical disco lyrics are about dancing and working one's body. The song's instrumentation also includes Afro-Cuban drums, a "rollicking" piano line and an ensemble of wind instruments, marked by a piccolo trumpet solo which sounds "like it's straight out of the Dynasty opening theme song". The song's tempo is 121 bpm and is very close to the average tempo of a standard disco song (120 bpm). According to AllMusic reviewer Alex Henderson, the combination of the "European-influenced, oddly baroque" feeling with a "catchy disco/funk beat" grabs the attention of the listener and encourages him to discover the rest of the eponymous LP
Critically, AllMusic's Henderson provided a mixed description of the track. Although he criticized the lyrics for being "usual disco clichés", he also called the song "quirky", "infectious" and "interesting" and viewed "Let's All Chant" as one of the most "unorthodox disco hits of 1978". In their book Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco, Alan Jones and Jussi Kantonen described the song as being "supremely catchy and melodic, with a quite miraculous classical chamber music-style break in the middle" and considered the track "a key recording that instantly defines the disco era." They also regarded "Let's All Chant" as the high point in Michael Zager's career. In 2006, Slant Magazine ranked the song number 50 in its 100 Greatest Dance Songs list, describing it as a "deft mix of disco, funk and baroque-pop" and writing that the song's breakdown made it special. The track was also ranked 165th on the 700 Top Disco Songs, a list drawn up by several DJs from all over the world.
The opening track and lead single from the group's eponymous LP, "Let's All Chant" was released as a single in December 1977, with the track "Love Express" as a B-side. An unexpected smash hit, the single reached number one on the disco chart and crossed over to the Soul Singles chart, where it peaked at number 15, and to the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 36. In Europe, the single reached the top 10 in several countries, including the UK, Ireland and France. It eventually sold five million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Recognizable by both its vocal hooks and its classical section, which is featured in the middle of the song, "Let's All Chant" was well received by critics, who have praised its musical arrangement and its catchiness. Many reviewers regard the song as a classic of the disco era. It also became a turning point in Michael Zager's career. As well as being used in many TV advertisements and movies, it has become an influential dance song which has been extensively covered or remixed by numerous artists and has been interpolated or sampled in many other tracks.
When he was still at A&M Records, Michael Zager met Jerry Love, a former head of A&R. After Love subsequently left the record label, he and Zager formed the Michael Zager Moon's Band in 1976. Love frequented Studio 54 and went to clubs every night. One evening, he went to Greenwich Village to visit several clubs and noted that people were continuously singing "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah" to every tune which was played in order to increase their own participation and pleasure. The next day, he described the scene to Zager and suggested that Zager write a song incorporating the "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah" vocals. Zager told Love: "You have to be kidding; that's embarrassing!" Love commented that everybody was doing it and that if Zager wrote a song using these chants, dancers would love it.
In parallel, the group's name was changed to the Michael Zager Band and they signed with the label Private Stock Records. For their forthcoming LP, Zager wrote two songs, "Let's All Chant" and "Love Express", together with Alvin Fields. The co-writer shared lead vocals on "Let's All Chant" with session singers Dollette McDonald and Billy Baker. Zager added a classical section to the track. He later remarked:
"Let's All Chant" and "Love Express" were both recorded at the Secret Sound Studios, in Manhattan. Once the tracks were recorded, Zager told Fields: "I'm gonna kill you if this isn't a hit!"
"Let's All Chant" is a disco song driven by a repetitive bassline, handclaps and numerous vocal hooks (such as "Ah-ah, eh-eh, let's all chant" and "Your body, my body, everybody work your body"). These typical disco lyrics are about dancing and working one's body. The song's instrumentation also includes Afro-Cuban drums, a "rollicking" piano line and an ensemble of wind instruments, marked by a piccolo trumpet solo which sounds "like it's straight out of the Dynasty opening theme song". The song's tempo is 121 bpm and is very close to the average tempo of a standard disco song (120 bpm). According to AllMusic reviewer Alex Henderson, the combination of the "European-influenced, oddly baroque" feeling with a "catchy disco/funk beat" grabs the attention of the listener and encourages him to discover the rest of the eponymous LP
Critically, AllMusic's Henderson provided a mixed description of the track. Although he criticized the lyrics for being "usual disco clichés", he also called the song "quirky", "infectious" and "interesting" and viewed "Let's All Chant" as one of the most "unorthodox disco hits of 1978". In their book Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco, Alan Jones and Jussi Kantonen described the song as being "supremely catchy and melodic, with a quite miraculous classical chamber music-style break in the middle" and considered the track "a key recording that instantly defines the disco era." They also regarded "Let's All Chant" as the high point in Michael Zager's career. In 2006, Slant Magazine ranked the song number 50 in its 100 Greatest Dance Songs list, describing it as a "deft mix of disco, funk and baroque-pop" and writing that the song's breakdown made it special. The track was also ranked 165th on the 700 Top Disco Songs, a list drawn up by several DJs from all over the world.
The Michael Zager Band - Let's All Chant
Knights in White Satin is a 1976 album composed, produced and performed by Giorgio Moroder.
Side A of the album consists almost solely of a disco version of Moody Blues' 1967 hit "Nights in White Satin", interrupted by a Moroder/Bellotte composition called "In the Middle of the Knight". The track is typical of the disco era in that it covers an entire LP side, but atypical as it is quite slow, only 110bpm, and not what was usually considered the standard at the time, 120bpm.
The primary bass line figure used in the "Knights in White Satin" track was re-used, at a faster tempo and with additional delay effects, in Chase, recorded for Moroder's 1978 soundtrack of Alan Parker's film, Midnight Express.
Side A of the album consists almost solely of a disco version of Moody Blues' 1967 hit "Nights in White Satin", interrupted by a Moroder/Bellotte composition called "In the Middle of the Knight". The track is typical of the disco era in that it covers an entire LP side, but atypical as it is quite slow, only 110bpm, and not what was usually considered the standard at the time, 120bpm.
The primary bass line figure used in the "Knights in White Satin" track was re-used, at a faster tempo and with additional delay effects, in Chase, recorded for Moroder's 1978 soundtrack of Alan Parker's film, Midnight Express.
Giorgio Moroder - Knights in White Satin
"Walking on Sunshine" is a song written by Kimberley Rew for Katrina and the Waves' 1983 eponymous debut full-length album. The re-recorded version was at first released on the band's 1985 self-titled album as the album's second single (see 1985 in music) and reached No. 4 in Australia, No. 9 in the United States, and No. 8 in the United Kingdom. It was the Waves' first U.S. top 40 hit, and their biggest success in the UK until "Love Shine a Light" (1997). Conceived of as a ballad, Katrina decided to belt the song out.
Royalties from airplay and advertisements of "Walking on Sunshine" have been extremely high. Katrina and the Waves kept the publishing rights and the royalties that typically go to the songwriter have been divided among the band members. Estimates are the song has earned $1 million per year for the ten years ending in 2010. According to a former employee of EMI, "Walking on Sunshine was the crown jewel in EMI's catalog," and that it was one of EMI's biggest earners from advertisers.
Walking on Sunshine is a 2014 British musical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini. The film features covers of hit songs from the 1980s and was released on 27 June 2014. It is also a debut role for singer-songwriter Leona Lewis. The trailer was released on April 9, 2014.
The music video opens with a Docklands alley, the Waves huddling whilst Katrina dances about above them. The video proceeds to depict the band performing live at a United Kingdom concert. Katrina herself is either with or not with them, but either dancing in a disused Docklands warehouse, or walking through Hyde Park on a cloudy day, past a churchyard, Tower Bridge, and the south bank of the Thames. She catches up with the others and feeds ducks (one of them eats the leftovers, referring to the Waves). The four all repair to a backstage dressing room and prepare for a concert.
Royalties from airplay and advertisements of "Walking on Sunshine" have been extremely high. Katrina and the Waves kept the publishing rights and the royalties that typically go to the songwriter have been divided among the band members. Estimates are the song has earned $1 million per year for the ten years ending in 2010. According to a former employee of EMI, "Walking on Sunshine was the crown jewel in EMI's catalog," and that it was one of EMI's biggest earners from advertisers.
Walking on Sunshine is a 2014 British musical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini. The film features covers of hit songs from the 1980s and was released on 27 June 2014. It is also a debut role for singer-songwriter Leona Lewis. The trailer was released on April 9, 2014.
The music video opens with a Docklands alley, the Waves huddling whilst Katrina dances about above them. The video proceeds to depict the band performing live at a United Kingdom concert. Katrina herself is either with or not with them, but either dancing in a disused Docklands warehouse, or walking through Hyde Park on a cloudy day, past a churchyard, Tower Bridge, and the south bank of the Thames. She catches up with the others and feeds ducks (one of them eats the leftovers, referring to the Waves). The four all repair to a backstage dressing room and prepare for a concert.
Katrina & The Waves - Walking On Sunshine
Dominique Rijpma van Hulst (born 7 September 1981) is a Dutch singer known by her stage name Do /ˈdoʊ/. She is best known for singing the vocals of DJ Sammy's worldwide top 10 hit in 2002-2003, "Heaven", a cover of the 1980s hit by Bryan Adams. She has released two albums, Do and Follow Me.
Although she had been singing throughout most of her childhood. Dominique Rijpma never considered a music career. She was a gifted tennis player and at the age of 15 started preparations to compete in Wimbledon, but was forced to end her tennis career early because of an injury.
Her first musical performance in café Old Dutch in Valkenswaard led to a record label deal with Sony Music BMG.
[/QUOTE]
Although she had been singing throughout most of her childhood. Dominique Rijpma never considered a music career. She was a gifted tennis player and at the age of 15 started preparations to compete in Wimbledon, but was forced to end her tennis career early because of an injury.
Her first musical performance in café Old Dutch in Valkenswaard led to a record label deal with Sony Music BMG.
DJ Sammy & Yanou feat. Do - Heaven
"Heaven" is a song by the Canadian singer and songwriter Bryan Adams recorded in 1983, written by Adams and Jim Vallance. It first appeared on the A Night in Heaven soundtrack album the same year and was later included on Adams' album Reckless in 1984. It was released as the third single from Reckless and reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in June 1985, over a year and a half after the song first appeared on record. The single was certified Gold in Canada in 1985.
Heavily influenced by Journey's 1983 hit "Faithfully", the song was written while Adams served as the opening act on that band's Frontiers Tour, and features their drummer, Steve Smith. It provided Adams with his first number one single and third top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The track placed number 24 on Billboard magazine's Top Pop Singles of 1985.
Adams had played over 100 dates with Journey during 1983, serving as the opening act on their Frontiers Tour. During that time, he and Jim Vallance co-wrote "Heaven", which was inspired by Journey's hit "Faithfully". It was recorded at the Power Station in New York City on June 6 and 7, 1983. Halfway through the recording session, drummer Mickey Curry – who had warned Adams about his limited availability that day – announced that he had to leave since he had committed in advance to a Hall & Oates session. Since the recording session for "Heaven" was running behind schedule, Adams called Journey drummer Steve Smith, who happened to be in New York City at the time and he filled Curry's drumming position. The song first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1983 film, A Night in Heaven, although it was not released as a single at that time.
Adams was unconvinced that "Heaven" was suitable for his next studio album, Reckless, a feeling that was echoed by producer Jimmy Iovine, who was working with Adams at the time. Iovine thought the song was too 'light' for the album and recommended that Adams not include it. But at the last moment, Adams changed his mind.
For All Music Guide, Stewart Mason called the song "the power ballad that transcends the inherent cheesiness of the style to become a genuinely effective single." Mason also praised the "solid melody" and "appropriately bombastic arrangement...over which Adams delivers his most effective vocal performance ever."
In 1984, "Heaven" won the Procan Award (Performing Rights Organization of Canada) for Canadian radio airplay, in 1985, it won the BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) Citation of Achievement for U.S. radio airplay and ten years later, it won a Socan Classics Award for more than 100,000 Canadian radio performances.
"Heaven" first appeared on the A Night in Heaven soundtrack album in 1983 and received substantial airplay on album-oriented rock radio stations, reaching the number nine on Billboard's Top Tracks chart in February 1984. It was released as the third single from the album Reckless in April 1985 and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the highest-charting single from "Reckless". The song also re-entered the Top Rock Tracks chart at that time, peaking at number 27. "Heaven" also peaked at number 12 on the Adult Contemporary chart during its second run, becoming Adams' second single to reach that chart after "Straight from the Heart" in 1983, and his biggest AC hit until 1991.
In Canada, "Heaven" reached number 11 on the RPM Singles Chart.
The song was released in Australia, Europe and New Zealand in 1985. "Heaven" peaked at number 38 in the UK. In several mainland European countries, "Heaven" was the first hit for Adams. "Heaven" reached the top 10 in Sweden and Norway and then the top 20 in Austria, Ireland, Switzerland and Sweden, it was a moderate top hundred success in Germany where it peaked at number 62. In Australia, it peaked at number 12.
There were two videos, one shot at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and directed by Steve Barron. That video includes appearances by Lysette Anthony and Garwin Sanford. The second video was shot in London, England, and features Adams singing the song in a live concert setting; behind him, stacked video monitors show his band playing along. Video monitors also occupy each seat of the otherwise empty theater. The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography .
Heavily influenced by Journey's 1983 hit "Faithfully", the song was written while Adams served as the opening act on that band's Frontiers Tour, and features their drummer, Steve Smith. It provided Adams with his first number one single and third top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The track placed number 24 on Billboard magazine's Top Pop Singles of 1985.
Adams had played over 100 dates with Journey during 1983, serving as the opening act on their Frontiers Tour. During that time, he and Jim Vallance co-wrote "Heaven", which was inspired by Journey's hit "Faithfully". It was recorded at the Power Station in New York City on June 6 and 7, 1983. Halfway through the recording session, drummer Mickey Curry – who had warned Adams about his limited availability that day – announced that he had to leave since he had committed in advance to a Hall & Oates session. Since the recording session for "Heaven" was running behind schedule, Adams called Journey drummer Steve Smith, who happened to be in New York City at the time and he filled Curry's drumming position. The song first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1983 film, A Night in Heaven, although it was not released as a single at that time.
Adams was unconvinced that "Heaven" was suitable for his next studio album, Reckless, a feeling that was echoed by producer Jimmy Iovine, who was working with Adams at the time. Iovine thought the song was too 'light' for the album and recommended that Adams not include it. But at the last moment, Adams changed his mind.
For All Music Guide, Stewart Mason called the song "the power ballad that transcends the inherent cheesiness of the style to become a genuinely effective single." Mason also praised the "solid melody" and "appropriately bombastic arrangement...over which Adams delivers his most effective vocal performance ever."
In 1984, "Heaven" won the Procan Award (Performing Rights Organization of Canada) for Canadian radio airplay, in 1985, it won the BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) Citation of Achievement for U.S. radio airplay and ten years later, it won a Socan Classics Award for more than 100,000 Canadian radio performances.
"Heaven" first appeared on the A Night in Heaven soundtrack album in 1983 and received substantial airplay on album-oriented rock radio stations, reaching the number nine on Billboard's Top Tracks chart in February 1984. It was released as the third single from the album Reckless in April 1985 and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the highest-charting single from "Reckless". The song also re-entered the Top Rock Tracks chart at that time, peaking at number 27. "Heaven" also peaked at number 12 on the Adult Contemporary chart during its second run, becoming Adams' second single to reach that chart after "Straight from the Heart" in 1983, and his biggest AC hit until 1991.
In Canada, "Heaven" reached number 11 on the RPM Singles Chart.
The song was released in Australia, Europe and New Zealand in 1985. "Heaven" peaked at number 38 in the UK. In several mainland European countries, "Heaven" was the first hit for Adams. "Heaven" reached the top 10 in Sweden and Norway and then the top 20 in Austria, Ireland, Switzerland and Sweden, it was a moderate top hundred success in Germany where it peaked at number 62. In Australia, it peaked at number 12.
There were two videos, one shot at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and directed by Steve Barron. That video includes appearances by Lysette Anthony and Garwin Sanford. The second video was shot in London, England, and features Adams singing the song in a live concert setting; behind him, stacked video monitors show his band playing along. Video monitors also occupy each seat of the otherwise empty theater. The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography .
March 21, 2020
Vocalist Kenny Rogers, who dominated the pop and country charts in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of sleekly tailored hits and won three Grammys, has died. He was 81. Rogers “passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family,” a representative for the singer said in a statement. Due to the national COVID-19 emergency, the family is planning a small private service at this time with a public memorial planned for a later date.
"The Gambler" is a song written by Don Schlitz, recorded by several artists, most famously by American country music singer Kenny Rogers.
Don Schlitz wrote this song in August, 1976 when he was 23 years old. It took two years of shopping the song around Nashville before Bobby Bare recorded it on his album "Bare" at the urging of Shel Silverstein. Bare's version did not catch on and was never released as a single, so Schlitz recorded it himself, but this version failed to chart higher than No. 65. However, other musicians took notice and recorded the song in 1978, including Johnny Cash, who put it on his album Gone Girl. However, it was Kenny Rogers who made the song a mainstream success. His version was a No. 1 Country hit and made its way to the Pop charts at a time when Country songs rarely crossed over. It was released in November 1978 as the title track from his album The Gambler which won him the Grammy award for best male country vocal performance in 1980 In 2006 Don Schlitz appeared in the Kenny Rogers career retrospective documentary "The Journey", where he praised both Rogers' and producer Larry Butler's contributions to the song, stating "they added several ideas that were not mine, including the new guitar intro".
It was one of five consecutive songs by Rogers to hit No. 1 on the Billboard country music charts. On the pop chart, the song made it No. 16 and No. 3 on the Easy Listening chart. It's become one of Rogers's most enduring hits and a signature song. As of November 13, 2013, the digital sales of the single stood at 798,000 copies.
In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."
Vocalist Kenny Rogers, who dominated the pop and country charts in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of sleekly tailored hits and won three Grammys, has died. He was 81. Rogers “passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family,” a representative for the singer said in a statement. Due to the national COVID-19 emergency, the family is planning a small private service at this time with a public memorial planned for a later date.
"The Gambler" is a song written by Don Schlitz, recorded by several artists, most famously by American country music singer Kenny Rogers.
Don Schlitz wrote this song in August, 1976 when he was 23 years old. It took two years of shopping the song around Nashville before Bobby Bare recorded it on his album "Bare" at the urging of Shel Silverstein. Bare's version did not catch on and was never released as a single, so Schlitz recorded it himself, but this version failed to chart higher than No. 65. However, other musicians took notice and recorded the song in 1978, including Johnny Cash, who put it on his album Gone Girl. However, it was Kenny Rogers who made the song a mainstream success. His version was a No. 1 Country hit and made its way to the Pop charts at a time when Country songs rarely crossed over. It was released in November 1978 as the title track from his album The Gambler which won him the Grammy award for best male country vocal performance in 1980 In 2006 Don Schlitz appeared in the Kenny Rogers career retrospective documentary "The Journey", where he praised both Rogers' and producer Larry Butler's contributions to the song, stating "they added several ideas that were not mine, including the new guitar intro".
It was one of five consecutive songs by Rogers to hit No. 1 on the Billboard country music charts. On the pop chart, the song made it No. 16 and No. 3 on the Easy Listening chart. It's become one of Rogers's most enduring hits and a signature song. As of November 13, 2013, the digital sales of the single stood at 798,000 copies.
In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."
Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
Lionel Richie Pens Heartbreaking Note to Late Kenny Rogers and Family: 'I Lost One of My Closest Friends'
By Liz Calvario 5:03 PM PDT, March 21, 2020
It's never easy losing a friend.
Lionel Richie is mourning the loss of one of his closest pals, Kenny Rogers. The 70-year-old singer posted a series of photos of himself and Rogers on his Instagram, remembering their time together. Rogers died on Friday of natural causes at the age of 81.
"Today I lost one of my closest friends So much laughter so many adventures to remember, my heart is broken. My prayers go out to Kenny’s Family." Richie wrote alongside his slideshow. The American Idol judge received a number of sweet and supportive messages on his post.
Richie and Rogers had a decades-long friendship. The "All Night Long" singer wrote Rogers' big hit "Lady," which was released in 1980. Thereafter, the two always maintained a close professional and personal relationship.
Rogers shared memories of his and Richie's time together in their early days during the Lionel Richie and Friends in Concert in Las Vegas in 2012.
"He's not just a friend of mine, but the song he wrote was truly a changing point in my career," Rogers said. "It's one of the most identifiable songs I've ever done. I'd love to have you come up and sing it with me."
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"I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Her country version of the track was released in 1974 as a single and was written as a farewell to her former partner and mentor of seven years, Porter Wagoner, following Parton's decision to leave The Porter Wagoner Show and pursue a solo career.
Parton's version of "I Will Always Love You" was a commercial success. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart twice. It first reached number one in June 1974, and then in October 1982, with her re-recording on the soundtrack of the movie version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Thus, she achieved a number one position twice with the same song, a rare feat that Chubby Checker had done previously with "The Twist" becoming number one in 1960 and again in 1962.
Whitney Houston recorded her version of the song for the 1992 film The Bodyguard. Her single spent 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is one of the best-selling singles of all time. It also holds the record for being the best-selling single by a woman in music history. Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" re-entered the charts in 2012 after her death, making it the second single ever to reach the top three on the Billboard Hot 100 in separate chart runs. The song has been recorded by many other artists including Linda Ronstadt, John Doe , Amber Riley, LeAnn Rimes[8] and Sarah Washington, whose dance version reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
Country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1973 for her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, from whom she was separating professionally after a seven-year partnership. She recorded it in RCA's Studio B in Nashville on June 12, 1973. "I Will Always Love You" was issued on March 18, 1974, as the second single from Parton's thirteenth solo studio album, Jolene (1974). In 1982, Parton re-recorded the song, when it was included on the soundtrack to the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.[ In addition to the 1982 re-recording for the soundtrack album, Parton's original 1974 recording of the song also appeared in Martin Scorsese's film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and the 1996 film It's My Party. The song also won Parton Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1975 CMA Awards.
Author Curtis W. Ellison stated that the song "speaks about the breakup of a relationship between a man and a woman that does not descend into unremitting domestic turmoil, but instead envisions parting with respect – because of the initiative of the woman". According to sheet music published at musicnotes.com by Hal Leonard Corporation, the country love track is set in a time signature of common time with a tempo of 66 beats per minute. (Larghetto/Adagio)[14] Although Parton found much success with the song, many people are unaware of its origin; during an interview, Parton's manager Danny Nozel said that "one thing we found out from American Idol is that most people don't know that Dolly Parton wrote [the track]". During an interview on The Bobby Bones Show, Dolly Parton revealed that she wrote her signature song "Jolene" on the same day that she wrote "I Will Always Love You."
Several times (long before Whitney Houston recorded the song), Dolly Parton suggested to singer Patti Labelle that she record "I Will Always Love You" because she felt Patti could have sung it so well. However, Patti admitted she kept putting off the opportunity to do so and later deeply regretted it after she heard Whitney Houston's rendition.
Parton's version of "I Will Always Love You" was a commercial success. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart twice. It first reached number one in June 1974, and then in October 1982, with her re-recording on the soundtrack of the movie version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Thus, she achieved a number one position twice with the same song, a rare feat that Chubby Checker had done previously with "The Twist" becoming number one in 1960 and again in 1962.
Whitney Houston recorded her version of the song for the 1992 film The Bodyguard. Her single spent 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is one of the best-selling singles of all time. It also holds the record for being the best-selling single by a woman in music history. Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" re-entered the charts in 2012 after her death, making it the second single ever to reach the top three on the Billboard Hot 100 in separate chart runs. The song has been recorded by many other artists including Linda Ronstadt, John Doe , Amber Riley, LeAnn Rimes[8] and Sarah Washington, whose dance version reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
Country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1973 for her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, from whom she was separating professionally after a seven-year partnership. She recorded it in RCA's Studio B in Nashville on June 12, 1973. "I Will Always Love You" was issued on March 18, 1974, as the second single from Parton's thirteenth solo studio album, Jolene (1974). In 1982, Parton re-recorded the song, when it was included on the soundtrack to the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.[ In addition to the 1982 re-recording for the soundtrack album, Parton's original 1974 recording of the song also appeared in Martin Scorsese's film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and the 1996 film It's My Party. The song also won Parton Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1975 CMA Awards.
Author Curtis W. Ellison stated that the song "speaks about the breakup of a relationship between a man and a woman that does not descend into unremitting domestic turmoil, but instead envisions parting with respect – because of the initiative of the woman". According to sheet music published at musicnotes.com by Hal Leonard Corporation, the country love track is set in a time signature of common time with a tempo of 66 beats per minute. (Larghetto/Adagio)[14] Although Parton found much success with the song, many people are unaware of its origin; during an interview, Parton's manager Danny Nozel said that "one thing we found out from American Idol is that most people don't know that Dolly Parton wrote [the track]". During an interview on The Bobby Bones Show, Dolly Parton revealed that she wrote her signature song "Jolene" on the same day that she wrote "I Will Always Love You."
Several times (long before Whitney Houston recorded the song), Dolly Parton suggested to singer Patti Labelle that she record "I Will Always Love You" because she felt Patti could have sung it so well. However, Patti admitted she kept putting off the opportunity to do so and later deeply regretted it after she heard Whitney Houston's rendition.
"You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" is a song written and recorded by Rod Stewart for his 1977 album Foot Loose & Fancy Free. The song proved a popular single, reaching the top ten of many national charts, including number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 2 in Canada, and number 1 for one week in Australia.
The lyrics mention two of Stewart's favourite football teams in the phrase "Celtic, United". The inner sleeve to the album Foot Loose & Fancy Free also pictures artwork with the names Glasgow Celtic and Manchester United drifting out of a car stereo.
The lyrics mention two of Stewart's favourite football teams in the phrase "Celtic, United". The inner sleeve to the album Foot Loose & Fancy Free also pictures artwork with the names Glasgow Celtic and Manchester United drifting out of a car stereo.
Rod Stewart - You're In My Heart
"Wuthering Heights" is a song by Kate Bush released as her debut single in November 1977 and re-released in January 1978. Inspired by the Emily Brontë novel of the same name, it appears on her 1978 debut album The Kick Inside. It stayed at number one on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks, and remains Bush's most successful single. The song received widespread critical acclaim and continues to be highly regarded; in 2016 Pitchfork named it the fifth greatest song of the 1970s.
A remixed version, featuring rerecorded vocals, was included on the 1986 greatest hits album The Whole Story. This version also appeared as the B-side to her 1986 hit "Experiment IV".
Bush wrote the song aged 18, within a few hours late at night on 5 March 1977. She was inspired after seeing the 1967 BBC adaptation of the 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. She then read the book, and also discovered that she shared her birthday with author Emily Brontë.
"Wuthering Heights" is sung from the perspective of the Wuthering Heights character Catherine Earnshaw, pleading at Heathcliff's window to be allowed in. It quotes Catherine's dialogue, including the chorus lyric "Let me in! I'm so cold!" and "bad dreams in the night". Cathy is in fact a Ghost, which the listener may only realise upon reading the novel. Critic Simon Reynolds described it as "Gothic romance distilled into four-and-a-half minutes of gaseous rhapsody".
Bush recorded her vocal in a single take. The guitar solo is played by Ian Bairnson. Engineer Jon Kelly said he regretted not placing the solo louder in the mix. The production team, with Bush, began mixing at midnight and stayed until "five or six in the morning"
Bush's record company, EMI, originally chose another track, "James and the Cold Gun", as the lead single, but Bush was determined to use "Wuthering Heights". The single was initially scheduled for 4 November 1977. However, Bush was unhappy with the cover and insisted it be replaced. Some copies of the single had already been sent out to radio stations, but EMI relented and put back the single's launch until the New Year. This proved to be a fortunate choice, as the earlier release would have had to compete with Wings's latest release, "Mull of Kintyre", which became the biggest-selling single in UK history up to this point in December 1977.
"Wuthering Heights" was released on 20 January 1978, being immediately playlisted by Capital Radio and entering their chart at No. 39 on 27 January 1978. It crept into the national Top 50 in the week ending 11 February 1978 at No. 42. The following week it rose to No. 27, and Bush made her first appearance on Top of the Pops. The song was finally added to Radio One's playlist the following week and became one of the most played records on radio. In 1986, the first pressings of her first compilation album erroneously stated the release date for this single as 4 November 1977.
Two music videos with similar choreography were created to accompany "Wuthering Heights". Bush created the choreography and dance moves to suggest her character is a ghost (as in this scene in the novel), without explicitly stating as such. In one version, Bush can be seen performing the song in a dark room filled with white mist while wearing a white dress (this was for the UK release); in the other, the singer dances in an outdoor environment while wearing a red dress (this was for the American release)
After being delayed for two months, "Wuthering Heights" was officially released in early 1978 and entered the top forty in the official singles chart in the United Kingdom at number twenty-seven on 18 February, and quickly rose to number one three weeks later dethroning ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" from the top spot. Bush became the first female artist to have an entirely self-penned number one hit in the UK. The single release unwittingly pitted Bush against another female vocalist also charting with her first UK hit: Debbie Harry with her band Blondie and their single "Denis". Amid much public discussion about the two singers' respective merits, Bush came out on top, while Blondie stalled at number two. "Wuthering Heights" remained at number one for an entire month until it was replaced at the top by Brian and Michael's celebration of the then-recently deceased artist L. S. Lowry, "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs". Bush's début single finished the year as the tenth highest-selling and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry, denoting sales of over half a million.
Success was not limited to the United Kingdom, as "Wuthering Heights" also hit number one in Ireland.[26] It reached the top ten in Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as the top twenty in Austria and West Germany. "Wuthering Heights" proved to be successful in New Zealand, where it spent five weeks at number one and achieved a platinum status, and Australia, where it stayed at the top of the charts for three consecutive weeks and achieved a gold status. It proved to be one of the biggest hits of 1978 in Denmark.
Following the live performance of the song by Laura Bunting on The Voice in Australia, "Wuthering Heights" re-entered the country's top forty in 2012, 34 years after its original release in 1978
A remixed version, featuring rerecorded vocals, was included on the 1986 greatest hits album The Whole Story. This version also appeared as the B-side to her 1986 hit "Experiment IV".
In 2018, as part of the Bradford Literature Festival, it was announced that Bush had been invited to write an epitaph to Emily Brontë, which would be inscribed on one of four stones erected near the Brontë's home in Yorkshire. Commenting on the unveiling of her poem, entitled Emily, Bush said "to be asked to write a piece for Emily’s stone is an honour and, in a way, a chance to say thank you to her".
A flashmob event known as The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever was officially created in 2016 and is held annually. Fans gather in locations around the world to recreate the "red dress" video.
The song has been interpreted by comedians Steve Coogan and Noel Fielding in 2011 as part of the BBC fundraising telethon Comic Relief. Coogan sang the song in the 1999 show as part of a medley of other Bush material in character as Alan Partridge. Fielding performed to the song in the 2011 series of Let's Dance for Comic Relief, placing in the final of the competition
A remixed version, featuring rerecorded vocals, was included on the 1986 greatest hits album The Whole Story. This version also appeared as the B-side to her 1986 hit "Experiment IV".
Bush wrote the song aged 18, within a few hours late at night on 5 March 1977. She was inspired after seeing the 1967 BBC adaptation of the 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. She then read the book, and also discovered that she shared her birthday with author Emily Brontë.
"Wuthering Heights" is sung from the perspective of the Wuthering Heights character Catherine Earnshaw, pleading at Heathcliff's window to be allowed in. It quotes Catherine's dialogue, including the chorus lyric "Let me in! I'm so cold!" and "bad dreams in the night". Cathy is in fact a Ghost, which the listener may only realise upon reading the novel. Critic Simon Reynolds described it as "Gothic romance distilled into four-and-a-half minutes of gaseous rhapsody".
Bush recorded her vocal in a single take. The guitar solo is played by Ian Bairnson. Engineer Jon Kelly said he regretted not placing the solo louder in the mix. The production team, with Bush, began mixing at midnight and stayed until "five or six in the morning"
Bush's record company, EMI, originally chose another track, "James and the Cold Gun", as the lead single, but Bush was determined to use "Wuthering Heights". The single was initially scheduled for 4 November 1977. However, Bush was unhappy with the cover and insisted it be replaced. Some copies of the single had already been sent out to radio stations, but EMI relented and put back the single's launch until the New Year. This proved to be a fortunate choice, as the earlier release would have had to compete with Wings's latest release, "Mull of Kintyre", which became the biggest-selling single in UK history up to this point in December 1977.
"Wuthering Heights" was released on 20 January 1978, being immediately playlisted by Capital Radio and entering their chart at No. 39 on 27 January 1978. It crept into the national Top 50 in the week ending 11 February 1978 at No. 42. The following week it rose to No. 27, and Bush made her first appearance on Top of the Pops. The song was finally added to Radio One's playlist the following week and became one of the most played records on radio. In 1986, the first pressings of her first compilation album erroneously stated the release date for this single as 4 November 1977.
Two music videos with similar choreography were created to accompany "Wuthering Heights". Bush created the choreography and dance moves to suggest her character is a ghost (as in this scene in the novel), without explicitly stating as such. In one version, Bush can be seen performing the song in a dark room filled with white mist while wearing a white dress (this was for the UK release); in the other, the singer dances in an outdoor environment while wearing a red dress (this was for the American release)
After being delayed for two months, "Wuthering Heights" was officially released in early 1978 and entered the top forty in the official singles chart in the United Kingdom at number twenty-seven on 18 February, and quickly rose to number one three weeks later dethroning ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" from the top spot. Bush became the first female artist to have an entirely self-penned number one hit in the UK. The single release unwittingly pitted Bush against another female vocalist also charting with her first UK hit: Debbie Harry with her band Blondie and their single "Denis". Amid much public discussion about the two singers' respective merits, Bush came out on top, while Blondie stalled at number two. "Wuthering Heights" remained at number one for an entire month until it was replaced at the top by Brian and Michael's celebration of the then-recently deceased artist L. S. Lowry, "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs". Bush's début single finished the year as the tenth highest-selling and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry, denoting sales of over half a million.
Success was not limited to the United Kingdom, as "Wuthering Heights" also hit number one in Ireland.[26] It reached the top ten in Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as the top twenty in Austria and West Germany. "Wuthering Heights" proved to be successful in New Zealand, where it spent five weeks at number one and achieved a platinum status, and Australia, where it stayed at the top of the charts for three consecutive weeks and achieved a gold status. It proved to be one of the biggest hits of 1978 in Denmark.
Following the live performance of the song by Laura Bunting on The Voice in Australia, "Wuthering Heights" re-entered the country's top forty in 2012, 34 years after its original release in 1978
A remixed version, featuring rerecorded vocals, was included on the 1986 greatest hits album The Whole Story. This version also appeared as the B-side to her 1986 hit "Experiment IV".
In 2018, as part of the Bradford Literature Festival, it was announced that Bush had been invited to write an epitaph to Emily Brontë, which would be inscribed on one of four stones erected near the Brontë's home in Yorkshire. Commenting on the unveiling of her poem, entitled Emily, Bush said "to be asked to write a piece for Emily’s stone is an honour and, in a way, a chance to say thank you to her".
A flashmob event known as The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever was officially created in 2016 and is held annually. Fans gather in locations around the world to recreate the "red dress" video.
The song has been interpreted by comedians Steve Coogan and Noel Fielding in 2011 as part of the BBC fundraising telethon Comic Relief. Coogan sang the song in the 1999 show as part of a medley of other Bush material in character as Alan Partridge. Fielding performed to the song in the 2011 series of Let's Dance for Comic Relief, placing in the final of the competition
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is a song by the British new wave music duo Eurythmics. The song is the title track of their album of the same name and was released as the fourth and final single from the album in early 1983. The song became their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. Its music video helped to propel the song to number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was the first single released by Eurythmics in the US.
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is arguably Eurythmics' signature song. Following its success, their previous single, "Love Is a Stranger", was re-released and also became a worldwide hit. On Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time issue in 2003, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" was ranked number 356.[3] Eurythmics have regularly performed the song in all their live sets since 1982, and it is often performed by Annie Lennox on her solo tours.
In 1991, the song was remixed and reissued to promote Eurythmics' Greatest Hits album. It re-charted in the UK, reaching number 48, and was also a moderate hit in dance clubs. Another remix by Steve Angello was released in France in 2006, along with the track "I've Got a Life" (peaking at number 10).
Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart wrote the song after The Tourists had broken up and they formed Eurythmics. Although the two of them also broke up as a couple, they continued to work together. They became interested in electronic music and bought new synthesisers to play around with. According to Stewart, he managed to produce the beat and riff of the song on one of their new synthesisers, and Lennox, on hearing it, said: "What the hell is that?" and started playing on another synthesiser, and beginnings of the song came out of the two duelling synths.
According to Lennox, the lyrics reflected the unhappy time after the break up of the Tourists, when she felt that they were "in a dream world", and that whatever they were chasing was never going to happen. She described the song as saying: "Look at the state of us. How can it get worse?", adding "I was feeling very vulnerable. The song was an expression of how I felt: hopeless and nihilistic." Stewart however thought the lyrics too depressing, and added the "hold your head up, moving on" line to make it more uplifting.
Commenting on the line "Some of them want to use you … some of them want to be abused", Lennox said that "people think it’s about sex or S&M, and it’s not about that at all".
"Sweet Dreams" was created and recorded in two places, first in the Eurythmics' tiny project studio in the Chalk Farm district of London, above a picture framing shop, then in a small room at The Church Studios in North London. The home studio was equipped with a Tascam 80-8, 8-track half-inch tape recorder, a Soundcraft mixer, a Roland Space Echo, a Klark Teknik DN50 spring reverb, a B.E.L. Electronics noise reduction unit, and a single Beyerdynamic M 201 TG microphone. The gear was purchased second-hand after Lennox and Stewart obtained a bank loan for £5000.
Also purchased with the bank loan was a £2000 Movement Systems Drum Computer, one of only about 30 built, with the Eurythmics having to sleep for a few days at the Bridgwater apartment of the manufacturer while their early prototype unit was being assembled. The MCS Drum Computer provided drum sounds, and also triggered sequences on a Roland SH-101 synthesizer, used for the synth bass line. To fill out the complement of instruments, Lennox played a borrowed Oberheim OB-X for sustained string sounds. Their only microphone, a utilitarian model typically used for hi-hat, performed all the acoustic duties, including tracking Lennox's vocals.
Stewart recalls he was in a manic mood while Lennox was depressed. Stewart was upbeat because he had just survived surgery on a punctured lung, and felt like he had been given a new lease on life. Lennox was feeling low because of the poor results from past musical work. She perked up when she heard Stewart first experimenting with the song's bass line sequence. She "leapt off the floor" and started to fill in the song with the Oberheim synth.
According to Stewart, the record company did not think the song was suitable as a single as it lacked a chorus. However, when a radio DJ in Cleveland kept playing the song from the album, and it generated a strong local response, the label decided to release it.
"Sweet Dreams" was Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough in the United Kingdom and all over the world. The single entered the UK chart at number 63 in February 1983 and reached number two the following month. Although it is one of the most successful songs of the genre Synth-Pop of the 80s, it could not reach the first position, since it was blocked by the successful ballad of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, only for a week.
"Sweet Dreams" was the first ever single release by Eurythmics in the United States when it was released in May 1983. The single debuted at number 90 and slowly eased up the chart. By August, the single had reached number two and stayed there for four weeks, kept from the top by the Police's "Every Breath You Take" before "Sweet Dreams" took the number one spot.
The music video for "Sweet Dreams" was directed by Chris Ashbrook and filmed in January 1983, shortly before the single and the album was released. The video received heavy airplay on the then-fledgling MTV channel and is widely considered a classic clip from the early-MTV era.
The music video begins with a fist pounding on a table, with the camera panning up to reveal Lennox in a boardroom, with images of a Saturn V launch projected on a screen behind her, which are later replaced by a shot of a crowd walking down a street. Stewart is shown typing on a computer (actually an MCS drum computer). The camera cuts to Lennox and Stewart meditating on the table. Stewart is next shown playing a cello in a field. The scene then returns to the boardroom, with Lennox and Stewart lying down on the table, and a cow walking around them. Stewart is shown again typing on the computer, with the cow chewing something right next to him. The scene cuts to the duo in a field, with a herd of cows, and Stewart still typing. Lennox and Stewart are then seen floating in a boat, with Stewart again playing a cello. The video ends with Lennox lying in bed, with the last shot being a book on a nightstand bearing a cover identical to the album. The screen then fades to black as Lennox turns off the bedside lamp.
Lennox's androgynous visual image, with close-cropped, orange-coloured hair, and attired in a man's suit brandishing a cane, immediately made her a household name. Her gender-bending image would be further explored in other Eurythmics videos such as "Love Is a Stranger" and "Who's That Girl?".
A second video was also produced, featuring Lennox and Stewart on a train. A close-up shot of Lennox's lips is occasionally seen in the train car's window as she sings the song.
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is arguably Eurythmics' signature song. Following its success, their previous single, "Love Is a Stranger", was re-released and also became a worldwide hit. On Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time issue in 2003, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" was ranked number 356.[3] Eurythmics have regularly performed the song in all their live sets since 1982, and it is often performed by Annie Lennox on her solo tours.
In 1991, the song was remixed and reissued to promote Eurythmics' Greatest Hits album. It re-charted in the UK, reaching number 48, and was also a moderate hit in dance clubs. Another remix by Steve Angello was released in France in 2006, along with the track "I've Got a Life" (peaking at number 10).
Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart wrote the song after The Tourists had broken up and they formed Eurythmics. Although the two of them also broke up as a couple, they continued to work together. They became interested in electronic music and bought new synthesisers to play around with. According to Stewart, he managed to produce the beat and riff of the song on one of their new synthesisers, and Lennox, on hearing it, said: "What the hell is that?" and started playing on another synthesiser, and beginnings of the song came out of the two duelling synths.
According to Lennox, the lyrics reflected the unhappy time after the break up of the Tourists, when she felt that they were "in a dream world", and that whatever they were chasing was never going to happen. She described the song as saying: "Look at the state of us. How can it get worse?", adding "I was feeling very vulnerable. The song was an expression of how I felt: hopeless and nihilistic." Stewart however thought the lyrics too depressing, and added the "hold your head up, moving on" line to make it more uplifting.
Commenting on the line "Some of them want to use you … some of them want to be abused", Lennox said that "people think it’s about sex or S&M, and it’s not about that at all".
"Sweet Dreams" was created and recorded in two places, first in the Eurythmics' tiny project studio in the Chalk Farm district of London, above a picture framing shop, then in a small room at The Church Studios in North London. The home studio was equipped with a Tascam 80-8, 8-track half-inch tape recorder, a Soundcraft mixer, a Roland Space Echo, a Klark Teknik DN50 spring reverb, a B.E.L. Electronics noise reduction unit, and a single Beyerdynamic M 201 TG microphone. The gear was purchased second-hand after Lennox and Stewart obtained a bank loan for £5000.
Also purchased with the bank loan was a £2000 Movement Systems Drum Computer, one of only about 30 built, with the Eurythmics having to sleep for a few days at the Bridgwater apartment of the manufacturer while their early prototype unit was being assembled. The MCS Drum Computer provided drum sounds, and also triggered sequences on a Roland SH-101 synthesizer, used for the synth bass line. To fill out the complement of instruments, Lennox played a borrowed Oberheim OB-X for sustained string sounds. Their only microphone, a utilitarian model typically used for hi-hat, performed all the acoustic duties, including tracking Lennox's vocals.
Stewart recalls he was in a manic mood while Lennox was depressed. Stewart was upbeat because he had just survived surgery on a punctured lung, and felt like he had been given a new lease on life. Lennox was feeling low because of the poor results from past musical work. She perked up when she heard Stewart first experimenting with the song's bass line sequence. She "leapt off the floor" and started to fill in the song with the Oberheim synth.
According to Stewart, the record company did not think the song was suitable as a single as it lacked a chorus. However, when a radio DJ in Cleveland kept playing the song from the album, and it generated a strong local response, the label decided to release it.
"Sweet Dreams" was Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough in the United Kingdom and all over the world. The single entered the UK chart at number 63 in February 1983 and reached number two the following month. Although it is one of the most successful songs of the genre Synth-Pop of the 80s, it could not reach the first position, since it was blocked by the successful ballad of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, only for a week.
"Sweet Dreams" was the first ever single release by Eurythmics in the United States when it was released in May 1983. The single debuted at number 90 and slowly eased up the chart. By August, the single had reached number two and stayed there for four weeks, kept from the top by the Police's "Every Breath You Take" before "Sweet Dreams" took the number one spot.
The music video for "Sweet Dreams" was directed by Chris Ashbrook and filmed in January 1983, shortly before the single and the album was released. The video received heavy airplay on the then-fledgling MTV channel and is widely considered a classic clip from the early-MTV era.
The music video begins with a fist pounding on a table, with the camera panning up to reveal Lennox in a boardroom, with images of a Saturn V launch projected on a screen behind her, which are later replaced by a shot of a crowd walking down a street. Stewart is shown typing on a computer (actually an MCS drum computer). The camera cuts to Lennox and Stewart meditating on the table. Stewart is next shown playing a cello in a field. The scene then returns to the boardroom, with Lennox and Stewart lying down on the table, and a cow walking around them. Stewart is shown again typing on the computer, with the cow chewing something right next to him. The scene cuts to the duo in a field, with a herd of cows, and Stewart still typing. Lennox and Stewart are then seen floating in a boat, with Stewart again playing a cello. The video ends with Lennox lying in bed, with the last shot being a book on a nightstand bearing a cover identical to the album. The screen then fades to black as Lennox turns off the bedside lamp.
Lennox's androgynous visual image, with close-cropped, orange-coloured hair, and attired in a man's suit brandishing a cane, immediately made her a household name. Her gender-bending image would be further explored in other Eurythmics videos such as "Love Is a Stranger" and "Who's That Girl?".
A second video was also produced, featuring Lennox and Stewart on a train. A close-up shot of Lennox's lips is occasionally seen in the train car's window as she sings the song.
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
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