Merry Christmas!

New posts start again on January 5th!

Band Aid - Do they Know It's Christmas - 1984

Band Aid  - "Do They Know It's Christmas"

"Do They Know It's Christmas" was originally released as a single in November 1984 and reached Number 1 on the U.K. singles chart.  Written by Bob Geldof  and Midge Ure it was released on Phonogram records on  7 inch, & 12 inch Single.

Review by Bucks Fizz from No1 Magazine

 

 

12 Inch Mix

 

 

 

Woolworth Christmas 1982 Ads

Wham - Last Christmas - 1984

 

Wham  - "Last Christmas"

 The 10th Single from Wham was released in December 1984 and reached Number 2 on the U.K. singles chart.  Written by George Michael it was released on Epic records on  7 inch, & 12 inch Single and spent  13 weeks on the chart original backed by "Everything She Wants".  As it has returned to the charts in many years since the original release it has now spent 56 weeks on the chart up to 20th December 2014.

 

 

 

 

Smash Hits Review

 



 

 

Pudding Mix



Now That's What I Call Music!

Jon Webster, co-creator

Before the first NOW came out in 1983, compilation albums were cheap and nasty things with black and yellow sleeves. They were mostly 20 Top Hits! or collections of as-seen-on-TV music from companies like K-tel. Supermarkets sold loads of them.

 

I was working in marketing at Virgin back then. We had hits coming out of our ears: we were the top-selling singles label in the country. One day, my colleague Steven Navin showed me all the telexes – it was before even fax – that arrived every day from companies wanting to buy tracks for compilations. We thought: “Can’t we just do this ourselves?” We did a back-of-a-fag-packet computation and realised we could make an absolute fortune. But we needed more hits. So we went to see EMI, because they had loads of big bands, too, including Duran Duran and Kajagoogoo (we all laughed at them). Virgin was this upstart operating out of a warehouse. EMI were the old establishment. But they said yes.

 

Simon Draper, our boss, had this 1930s poster for Danish bacon in his office, showing a pig listening to a hen singing, with the caption: “Now that’s what I call music.” Richard Branson had bought it for Simon’s birthday from an antique shop on Portobello Road – he’d go there because he fancied the owner, Joan, who later became his wife. We were discussing a name when someone just pointed at the poster. And that was it. The pig even made it to the back sleeve of the first album, and the front of later ones in an attempt to develop the brand, but some people really hated it, and it eventually went.

 

We went to the big HMV on Oxford Street the day it was released. It was madness. The album sold 1m copies in four weeks in the runup to Christmas. Suddenly everyone wanted to have a track on the next NOW, because that meant it was a hit – and they wanted to be side one track one, too. So we ended up with Paul McCartney and Queen vying for the top slot on NOW 2.We left it to EMI to convince McCartney that, as a ballad, Pipes of Peace was an obvious album-closer.

 

NOW albums have stayed successful for many reasons. At the time, they were a cheap way to get lots of great tracks. But they’re also a snapshot of people’s lives. You buy them when you’re young. Then you get to 15 and wouldn’t be seen dead with them because you’re into individual acts. Then you get married, have kids, have a party and you need some music, so you go and buy a NOW. There’s a nostalgia to them. The music tells you what was happening at the time.

 

I remember we had a real struggle to get that first one out before Christmas. We just hadn’t thought about the logistics. We called in our production manager and said excitedly: “We’ve had this idea, we’re going to rush-release this record and we need 200,000 copies in three weeks.” He said: “Can’t be done.” But Richard, like a three-year-old, just kept going: “Why? Why? Why?” Eventually, he called the manufacturers and persuaded them. That’s Richard. He never takes no for an answer. A year later, he said: “Ooh, maybe we could start an airline.”

Stephen Navin, co-creator

 

The 1930s poster that inspired Now That’s What I Call Music

By the 1980s, Virgin was becoming a real force. The Human League had had a monster hit with Dare, their third album, and Phil Collins was huge, as were Culture Club and Mike Oldfield. The company was firing on all cylinders, nudging up against the majors, and the setting up of NOW was the apotheosis of this rise. It made 1983 our Annus Mirabilis.

For a lot of people, the full title, Now That’s What I Call Music, is a bit of a mouthful. But having the word NOW – those three big capital letters shouting out from the album sleeve – is a pretty arresting image. And it’s gone into history as the most successful and longest-lasting compilation series ever. Would it have been so big under another name? My guess is yes – Virgin was so hot, and EMI was a massive force. It raised the bar in terms of what a compilation album was, and of course that first one made an ideal Christmas present.

 

  

OMD Smash Hits Article 1981

Kids From Fame - Songs - Full Album - 1983

"Songs"  is The Kids From Fame's 4th album.  Released in May 1983 on BBC Records. It was produced by Barry Fasman. The album reached No. 14 on the British charts.

Listen to the Full album:




Tracklisting:

Side A:

Be Your Own Hero (Enid Levine) Erica Gimpel

Just Like You (Tom Saviano & Jean Marie Arnold) Debbie Allen

There's A Train (Henry Gaffney) Albert Hague & Debbie Allen

Could We Be Magic Like You (Lee Curreri) Lee Curreri & Debbie Allen

Lay Back And Be Cool (Enid Levine) Gene Anthony Ray

Side B:

Songs (Dennis Scott) Carlo Imperato & Erica Gimpel

Body Language (Steve Sperry & Barry Fasman) Debbie Allen

Beautiful dreamer (Paul Jabara & Jay Asher) Valerie Landsburg

Dancing Endlessly (Julie Davidson & George Tiboni) Debbie Allen

Bet You Life It's Me (Michael Cruz) Erica Gimpel

 

 

Fame Magazine Review

 

 

 

 

 

Kim Wilde - Wilde Life Smash Hits 1981

Depeche Mode A Broken Frame Tour programme 1982

Bros In Australia - Smash Hits 1988