The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

Bananarama - Nathan Jones
(Single, London, 1988, NANA 18)



A Nathan Jones
B Once In A Lifetime

Venus was Bananarama's own idea, they went to SAW because their old produers didn't like the idea of them doing that song, nor did SAW if truth be known but they agreed to do it after the girls persisted. It was a good decision from their part, it was a huge hit in it's own right and got Bananarama firmly in the SAW camp, which led to loads of chart singles.

Unfortunately for people like me that actually liked the group, it also lead to bland singlr after bland single.

The problem with this is that their voices are n owhere near as good as the Supremes and their arrangement sn't good enough to make it a decent cover. I'd much rather just listen to the original.

The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

Bananarama Lananeeneenoonoo - Help
(Single, London, 1989, LON 222)



A Help
B Help!

Comic relief single, Lananeeneenoonoo were French & Saunders with Kathy Burke.

The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

The Band - AIn't Got No Home
(Single, Capitol, 1973, CL 15767)



A Ain't Got No Home
B Get Up Jake

The Band formed as a group in 1964, although many of the members had played together in Ronnie Hawkins' backing band since 1958. Their big break came touring with Bob Dylan in 1965 to 66 and they recorded The Basement Tapes with him the next year. Their first album came out in 68, and one of the tracks (The Weight) was used in the film, Easy Rider. They als played Woodstock.

By 1973, The Band were struggling with internal pressures caused by antipathy, at least one of the members becoming a drug addict and, guitarist, Roberston, trying to take control of the band. Other members claimed he was authoritatian, he claimed that he was the only person left in the group that was still reliable and he was trying to hold the whole thing together. The result was that their songwriting totally dried up and they ended up releasing an entire album of cover versions, of which this is one. This was originally a hit for Clarence Frogman Henry.

The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

The Bangles - Manic Monday
(Single, CBS, 1985, A 6796)



A Manic Monday
B In A Different Light

Was it REALLY that long ago? The track that got the Bangles known. Prince wrote it and gave it to them after hearing, and being impressed by their previous single, "Going Down To Liverpool" (which featured Leonard Nimoy in the video!). Ironically, it was Prince's "Kiss" that kept them off the number one spot in the US and UK.

The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

The Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian
(Single, CBS, 1986, 650071 7)



A Walk Like An Egyptian
B Not Like You

Their first number one in the US. The song was originally offered to Toni Basil (of Mickey fame) who turned it down. It was temperarily banned from radio iin the US after the 9/11 attacks (along with hundreds of other totally inoffensive tracks).

It doesn't need any introduction, everyone knows it!

The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

The Bangles - Walking Down Your Street
(Single, CBS, 1986, BANGS 1)



A Walking Down Your Street (Remix)
B Return Post

OK, so CBS finally gave them their own catalogue numbers and this one didn't do as well. It was however, their first hit to be written by a band member so that's something.

The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

Barry Crocker / Tony Hatch - Neighbours
(Single, BBC Records, 1987, RESL 210)



A Barry Crocker - Neighbours (Theme From The Grundy Television Production As See On BBC TV)
B Tony Hatch - Neighbours (Instrumental)

The typo on track A isn't mine, that's how it's written on the label.

Why do I have this? Neighbours (like Fraggle Rock) was one of those cult programmes that everyone watched when I was at Uni in the late 80s. I bought this from Virgin Records in Sunderland, they had one of those "50p each or 3 for a pound" type deals on to clear old stock and there was nothing I particularly wanted for the freebie I had left. (the way I bought records back then it's likely I had 14 rather than 2!).

The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

Barry White - You're The First, My Last, My Everything
(Single, 20th Century Records, 1974, BTC 2133)



A You're The First, My Last, My Everything
B More Than Anything, You're My Everything

Ahh, the Walrus of Love. I'm not a huge Barry White fan, I can appreciate his voice, but I'm really not into soppy music. He was brilliant voicing in the Simpsons saving the snakes though "I love the sexy slither of a lady snake".

20th Century Records were owned by 20th Century Fox, it was their foray into the music business. They're not the only film studio to try it, but Warner Bros did it much more successfully. It started in 1958 as 20th Fox Records, changed names a couple of times, folded and redormed but was never really all that successful. They had the Love Unlimited Orchestra on their books and tried a few releases from stars from their movie stable (including a Marilyn Monroe album). They finally gave up and sold out to Polygram in 1981, meaning the back catalogue ended up in the hands of Universal Records, who now own a substantal amount of the old major labels. In 2009, Fox bought the back catalogue back.

The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

Barry White - You' See The Trouble With Me
(Single, 20th Century Records, 1976, BTC 2277)



A You See The Trouble With Me
B I'm So Blue And You Are Too

This was written by Ray Parker Jr, the same bloke responsible for the Ghostbusters theme.

The Fork Me 7" vinyl collection thread

Bay City Rollers - Summerlove Sensation
(Single, Bell, 1974, BELL 1369)



A Summerlove Sensation
B Bringing Back The Good Times

Sometime in the 90s there was a bit of a 70s revival going on among students, not just disco, the whole mid 70s g;am stuff. Not wanting to miss out on an easy cash in, I supplementied the decent disco and glam I had with a load of popular "naff" stuff that students wanted to hear (one afternoon trawling round the second hand record shops) and opened up a nive 70s night called 'Chelles in one of the clubs in the town center. Easy money! We sold out on the very first night.

Anyway, I have this (and the next few in the thread) for this reason.

The Rollers started out as the Saxons in 1966, and changed their name to the Bay City Rollers after throwing a dart randomly at a map of the States. It landed in Bay City, Michigan. They signed their record contract in 71 and had their first hit that year. There was then a three year gap before they charted again.

Nuff, prepare for some horribly catchy "get stuck in the head" type stuff.