Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Put The Needle On The Record - Week #39

Put The Needle On The Record Week #39 The Silicon Teens - Music For Parties

For this weeks feature we go back to September 1980 and the Silicon Teens album "Music For Parties".

This is one of my all time favourite albums and was the 2nd ever album to be released on Mute Records and features electronic versions of classic rock 'n' roll tracks from the 1950s and 1960s, the album also included 3 original songs too. The project was the creation of Mute Records founder Daniel Miller, he created the band that included 4 ficticous members! Daniel Miller himself played all the instruments and provided all the vocals.

The album is best described as bonkers and fun, the idea to create a record like this was pure genius by Miller.

If you don't have this album in your collection you need to get it!

The album featured 3 singles "Memphis Tennessee" (which failed to chart), "Judy In Disguise" (which didn't make the UK Singles chart, however it did reach number 4 on the UK indie chart) and "Just Like Eddie", my favourite track off the album (again it didn't make the UK Singles chart but did reach number 7 in the UIK Indie chart). A re-recorded version of "Red River Rock" was used in the film "Planes, Trains and Automobiles and was released as a single in the UK and the states in 1988.

The album was a success chartwise, however, it performed well in the Indie charts, reaching number 4.

Track Listing

Memphis Tennessee
Yesterday Man
Doo Wah Diddy Diddy
T.V. Playtime
You Really Got Me
Chip 'N Roll
Do You Love Me?
Let's Dance
Oh Boy!
Sweet Little Sixteen
State Of Shock (Part Two)
Just Like Eddie
Red River Rock
Judy In Disguise

If you have this album in your collection, dig it out and give it a spin!

Sunday, 22 September 2024

i-Select #110 (Part 2)

 Welcome to part 2 of edition #110 of i-Select on White Lion Radio

This is a series of shows dedicated to electronic/synthpop bands that are unsigned, signed to a small independent label or self release their material.

Listen to the show on Mixcloud here

Playlist

Supercraft - Asleep
Octolab - Friend Or Foe
Second Complex Ft Brian Belknap - Treatment
eLxAr - Demons - Influencers
Cold Connection - Voices Of The Night
Woren - Cruise Control
Lunar Plexus - Take Your Time
Linda Jo Rizzo & Milo Blue - You're The One (Radio Edit)
Muricidae - Sold My Soul
Ironic Sweden - Mordor
Nostalgia Deathstar - Human Resource
Split Vision - Hit That Perfect Beat
Supercraft - Nothing More
Sjoblom - Dead For Years
Woren - Never Forget This Moment
Of What Remains - Thorn
SIXMIXSIX - Phone home
Cold Connection - Degraded Life
Melo - Cut Me Loose
eLxAr - Demons - The Dividing Line
Carnivali - Electric Blue
Second Complex Ft Color Theory - Surrender
Covered In Snow - Cemetery Club
Supercraft - This Time Is Mine
Francesca e Luigi - Brand New Start
Capital X - Ever
Danne Machmar - Kissing In The Moonlight
Woren - Infinite
Alan Dreezer - We Have Come A Long Way
Arpraxis - City Heat

Saturday, 21 September 2024

Put The Needle On The Record - Week #38

Put The Needle On The Record Week #38 ABC - The Lexicon Of Love

For this weeks feature we go back to June 1982 and the ABC album "The Lexicon Of Love".

Without a doubt one of greatest albums of the 1980's and an album I still play on a regular basis, superbly produced by Trevor Horn and a ground-breaking album on so many levels and quiet different from any album released in the 80s.

I was on a family holiday with my parents and brother in Llandudno, it was my brother that bought the album on cassette from Woolworths whilst we were on holiday, I had taken my cassette player with me on this holiday so we played this album to death, much to the annoyance of our parents, I forgot to take the mains lead for the cassette player and so we spent a fortune on batteries, probably more that the cost of the album!!

This was ABC's debut album and we had heard the first 3 singles released before the album came out and we were really looking forward to hearing athe full album and we weren't disappointed. Naturally when we returned home I bought the album on vinyl.

The album featured 5 singles, "Tears Are Not Enough" (which reached number 19 in the UK Singles chart), "Poison Arrow" (which reached number 6 in the UK Singles chart and number 25 in the Billboard Top 100), "The Look Of Love", their biggest hit (which reached number 4 in the UK Singles chart and number 18 in the Billboard Top 100), "All Of My Heart", my favourite ABC track (which reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart) and "Valentine's Day, which was released as a single in Japan only, something I never realized until I did some research about the album!

The album reached number 1 in the UK Album Chart and also did well in the states, reaching Number 24 on the Billboard Top 100 chart.

Track Listing

Show Me
Poison Arrow
Many Happy Returns
Tears Are Not Enough
Valentine's Day
The Look Of Love (Part 1)
Date Stamp
All Of My Heart
4 Ever 2 Gether
The Look Of Love (Part 4)

ABC released the album "The Lexicon Of Love II" in May 2016 and is as equally good as "The Lexicon Of Love" and definitely is worthy of your attention.

If you have this album in your collection, dig it out and give it a spin!

Sunday, 15 September 2024

i-Select #110 (Part 1)

Welcome to part 1 of edition #110 of i-Select on White Lion Radio

This is a series of shows dedicated to electronic/synthpop bands that are unsigned, signed to a small independent label or self release their material.

Listen to the show on Mixcloud here

For more information about all the shows on White Lion Radio please visit our Official Homepage:

https://whitelionradio.myfreesites.net/

White Lion Radio on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/WhiteLionRadio/

Playlist

Metroland - Co-Operation In A Shortened World
Synthetik FM - Europe After The Rain
Cult With No Name - All In The Mind
Conscience - Lies Like Your Life (Remix)
Stereo In Solo Ft Kay Burden - TV News
MORE - Righteous Foolishness
LonelyKlown - Sunday Papered People
Vaylon - In The Shadows
Zero Corporation - Alive
Katja Von Kassel - Walking In West Berlin
Stereo In Solo - Flowers On The Moon (Fused Remix)
Hyperfield - My Only Light
Mechanical Cabaret - Existential
Proletarian Poetry - To the End
Mayah Camara & Sellorekt LA DREAMS - Showdown
Machine Made Pleasure - Freedom
Spin Klass - Greenfields
Francesca e Luigi - Make Me Sad
STARwave - Bolt From The Blue
MORE - The Way She Goes
Conscience - Just To Win (Radio Edit)
Cult With No Name - Scars
Michael Angelaux - Louise
Battlemode - Just Pretend
Synthetik FM - Turn Around And Count 2 Ten

Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Put The Needle On The Record - Week #37

Put The Needle On The Record Week #37 China Crisis - Working With Fire And Steel (Possible Pop Songs Volume Two)

For this weeks feature we go back to October 1983 and the China Crisis album "Working With Fire And Steel (Possible Pop Songs Volume Two)".

For me China Crisis are one of the most underrated bands from the 1980s, they never got the recognition they deserved, they are still going strong and their most recent studio album "Autumn In The Neighbourhood" is an outstanding piece of work, on a par with some of their best work, they are also a fabulous live act to see. "Working With Fire And Steel" was the bands 2nd album, the follow-up to "Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms Some People Think It's Fun To Entertain", it is an album of pure quality and one of my all time favourite albums and contains some wonderful pop nuggets, such as, "Wishful Thinking", "Papua" (which should have been a single as it is one of their very best tracks), "Here Comes A Raincloud" and "Tragedy And Mystery".

The album was recorded at the Amazon Studios in Liverpool and at The Manor Studio in Oxford.

The album featured 4 singles, "Tragedy And Mystery" (which reached number 46 in the UK Singles chart), "Working With Fire And Steel" (which reached number 48 in the UK Singles chart), "Wishful Thinking", without doubt a classic 80s track and their most successful single (which reached number 9 in the UK Singles chart) and "Hanna Hanna", they should have released "Papua" as the 4th single! which reached number 44 in the UK Singles chart.

The album reached number 20 in the UK Albums chart.

Track Listing

Working With Fire And Steel
When The Piper Calls
Hanna Hanna
Animals In Jungles
Here Comes A Raincloud
Wishful Thinking
Tragedy And Mystery
Papua
The Gates Of Door To Door
The Soul Awakening

I highly recommend the 3CD deluxe edition of this album that was released in 2017, it includes B sides, live sessions, demo's and more.

If you have this album in your collection, dig it out and give it a spin!

Sunday, 8 September 2024

Maximum 80s #128

Welcome to edition 128 of Maximum 80s here on White Lion Radio, a show that celebrates the 1980s 12 Inch Single!


This a series of shows that features some of the finest 12 Inch Singles from the 80s all in one continuous mix.

The biggest hits in the 12 Inch format from the greatest decade in music history!

Listen to the show on Mixcloud here

Playlist

Secret Service - Flash In The Night (Extended)
Soft Cell - Memorabilia (Extended)
Lionel Richie - Running With The Night (Extended Version)
Wham - Bad Boys (12 Inch Version)
The Associates - Those Forst Impressions (Extended Version)
The Style Council - Have You Ever Had It Blue (12 Inch Version)
Re-Flex - The Politics Of Dancing (12 Inch Extended Mix)
Depeche Mode - Strangelove (Maxi Mix)
Amii Stewart - Friends (Extended Version)
John Foxx - Endlessly (12 Inch Version)
Haywoode - Getting Closer (Extended Version)
Kajagoogoo - Big Apple (Extended 12 Inch Version)

Put The Needle On The Record - Week #36

Put The Needle On The Record Week #36 Wham! - Make It Big

For this weeks feature we go back to November 1984 and the Wham! album "Make It Big".

The 80s wouldn't be the 80s without a bit of Wham! on your turntable would it? This was the duo's 2nd album, the follow up to the album "Fantastic" that me and and my brother had on casette and played it to death in the car at full blast, thinking we were cool!

I prefer "Make It Big" as it definitely has the better songs on it, apparently the album was recorded in France so the duo could top up their tans inbetween recording sessions, why doesn't that surprise me! George Michael also produced the record.

The only drawback for me was the fact the album only contained 8 tracks, however, you can't complain about the quality of the songs, top notch without a doubt. One stand out memory for me about this album was the fact that the video for "Freedom" was on constant rotation in the pubs with video jukeboxes across Manchester, the 12 inch version of the track is superb.

The album featured 4 singles, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (which reached number 1 in the UK Singles chart and number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart), "Careless Whisper" (which reached number 1 in the UK Singles chart and number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart), "Freedom", my favourite track on the album (which reached number 1 in the UK Singles chart and number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart) and ""Everything She Wants", which was a double A side with the Christmas classic "Last Christmas" (which reached number 2 in the UK Singles chart and number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart)

The album topped the album charts in both the UK and the States, as well as,numerous places in Europe and beyond. in the UK Album Chart.

Track Listing

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
Everything She Wants
Heartbeat
Like A Baby
Freedom
If You Were There
Credit Card Baby
Careless Whisper

If you have this album in your collection, dig it out and give it a spin!

Sunday, 1 September 2024

Rubik's 80s Mix #128 (June 1985)

We bring a fresh idea into the Rubik's 80s Mix series, each month we are going to focus on tracks that were in the charts on a specific month in the 1980s, which hopefully will bring back special memories for you, on this show, edition #128, we feature tracks that were in the charts in June 1985.

Tracks by David Bowie, Opus, China Crisis, Tears For Fears, Jaki Graham, Howard Jones, ABC and more are featured on the show.

Listen to the show on Mixcloud here

Playlist

Animotion - Obsession
David Bowie - Loving The Alien
Madonna - Crazy For You
China Crisis - King In A Catholice Style (Wake Up)
ABC - Vanity Kills
Opus - Live Is Life
Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels
Fine Young Cannibals - Johnny Come Home
Howard Jones - Life In One Day
Dead Or Alive - In Too Deep
Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy - Icing On The Cake
Jaki Graham - Round And Round
Katrina & The Waves - Walking On Sunshine
Sister Sledge - Frankie
Paul Hardcastle - Rain Forest