Of note today -
Have to admit to somewhat childish sniggers at the "company was gay" line in the song by Herman's Hermits ( but how where they to know that back in 1968 ?? )
Then we have the Australian version of "Knock Knock Who's There ?", by Liv Maessen, whereas I guess the rest of the world would be more familiar with the Mary Hopkin version from ( as label on the single vividly points out ) 2nd place in the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest ) ( incidentally beaten by Dana singing "All Kinds Of Everything" ) ( which of course went on to infleunce "Dana International", the trannie Isreali singer who won Eurovision in 1998 )
A quick Google I just did on Liv Maessen reveals she in fact won the 1970 "Logie" for Best New Talent. The "Logies" for the non-Aussie readers are our "awards for TV shows" - I guess what you'd call the Australian "Emmys", possibly of a lesser "mark of quality" than the Emmys and usually a bit "hokey" and always attended by an American celebrity or two who always seem to be drunk when they hit the stage to present an award...part of the tradition of the Logies.
Anyhow I was Googling Liv to see which country the surname Maessen seems to be from and got bored trying to work it out but I surmise probably Scandinavian ( ?? ). I have vivid memories of hearing this song one afternoon in 1976 when I was sick in bed with a head cold and home from school and listening on a small transistor radio ( broadcast on 2UW ).
Actually the page which mentioned the 1970 Logie for Best New Talent also mentions the writers of this song and some of the other songs they wrote which is worth a quick look.
Moving on to China Crisis, this single featured here is the "radio" version of Working With Fire & Steel, sans the swearing, with the line "things get stuck and we're to blame" as opposed to "things get f**ked and we're to blame", as heard on the 12"/album version. Hearing this today reminded me of a few other "bowlderised" versions of songs that in hindsight make me laugh at all the effort they went to record alternate lines in the songs - ie "Living On The Ceiling" by Blancmange on the video clip we always saw here in Australia said "I'm up the cuckoo tree" as opposed to "I'm up the bloody tree" ( from the single ) and in "Beautiful People" by Australian Crawl in the video they replaced the words "Cocaine cough" with some other words I could never understand. Bizzare !!
The Korgis was a record I got 2nd hand sometime in the 90's and for some reason the previous owner had spilt white paint on the vinyl !! I didn't get it all off but whatever.
The Normie Rowe single is one of Normie's "Gold records" ( according to this page ) and it's also one of the very first songs I can remember liking as a child and remember roaming around the house ( aged approximately 3 ) singing this song...like...well... a crazy 3 year old ( and loving it ).
The Spandau Ballet record is absolutely a Trevor Horn production from the time and you could almost bump Mr Kemp out of the vocal booth and drag into Mr Fry and it would be an ABC song.
Anyway that's all to report on today's lot...enjoy :)
Podcast 46 link for mp3
Podcast 46 link for text file tracklisting
Sideroom 7 Inch Singles Podcast #46
1. No Milk Today - Herman's Hermits ( Columbia Germany 1968 ) ( 0.00 - 2.48 )
2. Knock Knock Who's There - Liv Maessen ( Fable Aust 1970 ) ( 2.48 - 5.14 )
3. Favorite Waste Of Time - The Leslies ( American Pop Project 200?) ( 5.14 - 7.35 )
4. Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime - The Korgis ( Rialto 1980 ) (7.35 - 11.05 )
5. Working With Fire & Steel - China Crisis ( Virgin 1983 ) ( 11.05 - 14.39 )
6. Like Wow Wipeout - Hoodoo Gurus ( Big Time Aust 1985 ) ( 14.39 - 17.46 )
7. Ooh La La - Normie Rowe ( Sunshine Int Aust 1968 ) ( 17.46 - 20.06 )
8. So Often Dreaming - The Sparklers ( Mighty boy Aust 1986 ) ( 20.06 - 22.57 )
9. Burnt So Low - The Falling Joys ( no label Aust 1986) ( 22.57 - 26.16 )
10. Instinction - Spandau Ballet ( Chrysalis 1982 ) ( 26.16 - 29.48 )
( duration 30 mins, 320kps mp3 )
