Ugly Kid Joe – Neighbor (Eichstadt/Crane) b/w Too Bad (live) (Crane/Phillips) & Finky Fresh (live) (Crane/Phillips)
1992
Best known for the smash hit Everything About You this crack Californian crew were big business in the early 90s. Going against the hair metal grain and yet perfectly able to match the mega bands of the era with a series of commercially successful tunes. Read the rest of this entry »
Magnum – Days Of No Trust (Clarkin) b/w Maybe Tonight (Clarkin), The Spirit (Live) (Clarkin) & Two Hearts (Live) (Clarkin)
1988
They’re bound to be one of the biggest draws at this weekend’s High Voltage Festival and Magnum fans of a certain era will be keeping their fingers crossed that this gem of a tune gets an airing on the prog stage.
The Midlanders eased into the image-obsessed 80s with a series of made-for-FM radio and MTV classics – Days Of No Trust one of the band’s outstanding offerings at a time when hair metal ruled.
Tony Clarkin’s songwriting expertise meant Magnum never strayed far from their 70s roots but the modern edge to tracks like Maybe Tonight ensured the Brits remained in a position to bother the fringes of the charts. Read the rest of this entry »
Uriah Heep – Easy Livin’ (Hensley) b/w Corina (Box/Lanzon/Shaw) & Gypsy (Box/Byron)
1988 Red Vinyl With Poster
Released to support the Live In Moscow album, these iconic Heep tracks never sounded better than when they were belted out in front of thousands of screaming Russians.
For 10 consecutive nights the band played sell-out shows at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium to a total of 180,000 fans. And Easy Livin’ went down a storm at every one of those historic gigs.
The 12 inch red vinyl devoted the entire B-side to a barnstorming version of Gypsy and this track was only released on the CD version of Live In Moscow. So for those of us who still didn’t own a CD player in 1988 there was every reason to pick up this cracking slice of collectible Heep. Read the rest of this entry »
Vixen – Edge Of A Broken Heart (Marx/Waybill) b/w Charmed Life (Tripp/Paris)
1988 Limited Edition Cut-To-Shape Picture Disc
Now this little gem comes in a 12 inch sleeve and looks like a 12 inch record but the truth is it just isn’t.
As such it nearly missed the cut as far as 12@12 goes. But then we were never going to let the fact that this is an oversized seven incher deny our favourite girl band of the 80s another stab at rushonrock glory.
And now you’ve feasted your eyes on this neatly shaped vinyl set against a garish pink background we’re sure you’ll agree the small matter of five inches shouldn’t spoil our fun. This was the band’s first charting single on both sides of the Atlantic and the super smooth Richard Marx production and arrangement makes Edge Of A Broken Heart a true standard of the hair metal era. Read the rest of this entry »
Whitesnake – The Deeper The Love (Coverdale/Vandenberg) b/w Judgement Day (Coverdale/Vandenberg) & Sweet Lady Luck (Coverdale/Vandenberg)
1990 Special Ltd Edition White Vinyl
Another Top 40 UK hit for DC and the gang and if you thought the six singles culled from 1987 were overly commercial by Whitesnake’s standards then this sugary sweet ballad took the band to a whole new level of pop rock sheen.
Featuring Steve Vai on guitar, The Deeper The Love was the third single taken from Slip Of The Tongue – the title track had failed to chart and the heat was on. Hitting 36 in the UK and charting one place higher in the US wasn’t much of an improvement for the original hair metal heroes but this tune is still a huge favourite with Whitesnake fans of a certain generation – Coverdale’s vocals have never sounded better. Read the rest of this entry »
The Four Horsemen – Rockin Is Ma Business (Haggis) b/w Moonshine (Haggis/Montgomery) & 75 Again (Haggis)
1992 Limited Edition Picture Disc 2122
For a brief period the brilliant blues-soaked hard rock of The Four Horsemen looked set to conquer the world.
This cracking tune was a minor hit and with the major label backing of Rick Rubin’s Def Jam it seemed there was no stopping founder member Haggis, singer Frank C Starr and their buddies.
But the delayed release of their second album Nobody Said It Was Easy – featuring this beast of a track – caused internal strife and external problems. And by the time The Four Horsemen had really hit their stride a combination of grunge and a double tragedy stopped them in their tracks. Read the rest of this entry »
AC/DC – That’s The Way I Wanna Rock N Roll (A Young/M Young/ Johnson) b/w Kissin Dynamite (A Young/M Young/Johnson) & Borrowed Time (A Young/M Young/Johnson)
1988
The second single culled from the Blow Up Your Video album, this raucous track is often overlooked by older members of the AC/DC army and yet it’s just as good as any singalong anthem the band has rolled out over the years.
Backed with Kissin Dynamite – the track which inspired the German metal upstarts of the same name – and Borrowed Time there’s plenty of rifftastic action crammed into the That’s The Way I Wanna Rock N Roll 12 incher.
And while we’d put our mortgage on the fact that none of these tracks will make Friday’s Download set, fans can expect more of the same from the Young brothers and BJ in just six days’ time. Read the rest of this entry »
Manic Street Preachers – Repeat (MSP) b/w Democracy Coma (MSP), Love’s Sweet Exile (MSP) & Stay Beautiful (live) (MSP)
1991
At a time when hair metal was at its commercial peak Manic Street Preachers bucked the trend by joining the likes of Therapy? as leaders of rock’s alternative pack.
This four-track 12 incher was the second major label single release from the rising Welsh stars and proved to be one of five top 40 songs culled from the blistering Generation Terrorists album.
And while Repeat, with its Sex Pistols refrain, was far from radio friendly, the brilliant Love’s Sweet Exile struck a chord with music fans everywhere. Read the rest of this entry »
Dan Reed Network – Come Back Baby (Reed) b/w Come Alive (Reed) & Make It Easy (Reed)
1989
Dan Reed Network’s brand of easy listening funk rock really hit the mark as the MTV generation were hitting their stride and this mixed race multi-talented band delivered two outstanding records at the turn of the decade.
Their self-titled debut preceded Slam and both albums won widespread acclaim.
Support slots with Def Leppard, on the final leg of the Hysteria tour, Bon Jovi and the Rolling Stones reinforced DRN’s status as the musicians’ ban of choice in the late 80s/early 90s. But the onset of grunge and a lack of label support led to an indefinite hiatus in 1993. Read the rest of this entry »
FM – Only The Strong Survive (Goldsworthy/Jupp/Overland/Barnett) b/w Little Bit Of Love (Rodgers/Fraser/Kossoff/Kirke) & Primitive Touch (Overland)
1992
This self-penned tune from FM’s third major label album followed a cover version of Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It Through The Grapevine – the single which was expected to take FM to the next level.
In fact the song wasn’t a hit and the record on which it appeared, Takin’ It To The Streets appeared to lack the commercial appeal of predecessors Indiscreet and Tough It Out. Which is a shame as this track was one of several superb tracks penned by one of Britain’s best-loved melodic rock acts. Read the rest of this entry »
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