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Athletico Spizz 80 – ‘Central Park’ UK 7″ (A&M Records, AMS 7566, 1980)

‘Central Park’ was initially a non-album 7″ single release by Athletico Spizz 80 in late 1980. if you are not familiar with Atheltico Spizz 80 then you almost certainly be familiar with Spizzenergi and their single ‘Where’s Captain Kirk?’, as it was just about everywhere at one point – famously the very first chart topper of the indie charts, when launched in early 1980 (though that single’s release hailed from 1979).

Athletico Spizz 80 - 'Central Park' UK 7" front cover design
^ Athletico Spizz 80 – ‘Central Park’ UK 7″ front cover design

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Suzanne Vega – ‘Luka’ UK cassingle (A&M, VEGAC10, 1987)

Suzanne Vega is an artist who I happened upon courtesy of the UK BBC television channel’s long running music series ‘Whistle Test’ in October 1985. It wasn’t the kind of style I’d have thought I would normally like, but there was something intriguing and ‘Marlene On The Wall’ proved to be catchy and a minor hit. Intriguing enough that I bought the debut album in early 1986 and became a firm fan from then on. There was a certain cool elegance and mysteriousness to the music on the whole and not the straight ahead folk I was expecting (other than perhaps ‘The Queen and the Soldier’, which I’ve never cared for).

Suzanne Vega 'Luka' UK cassingle - front
^ Suzanne Vega ‘Luka’ UK cassingle – front

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Bill Nelson ‘Youth Of Nation On Fire’ UK 7” doublepack single (Mercury, WILL22, 1981)

A return to a VersionCrazy favourite, the ever wonderful Bill Nelson. It’s good to see news recently about a deluxe box set edition of Bill’s 1981 album ‘Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam’ due for release in late November. The path for the album to gain a release was far from straightforward – Bill Nelson had been signed to EMI imprint Harvest, but with the EMI/Thorn merger that took place, a cull of acts deemed surplus to requirements/the balance sheet saw an exit from EMI and plans for the album shelved. I look forward to what new insights the accompanying text in the super deluxe box set may bring to this backstory, along with the chance to hear a whole new mix of the album, courtesy of Stephen W Tayler.

Bill Nelson ‘Youth Of Nation On Fire’ UK 7” doublepack single front cover design
^ Bill Nelson ‘Youth Of Nation On Fire’ UK 7” doublepack single front cover design

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Colin Newman – ‘Feigned Hearing’ Belgian 7″ (Crammed Discs, CRAM 13457, 1986)

This obscure little gem was a single peeled from Colin Newman’s 1986 solo album, ‘Commercial Suicide’ (which I feel likely will be covered here at a later date) and acted as wonderful summary of the pastoral synthesized pop that I’d likely describe the album as. Well, to be fair, Colin Newman himself used the word pastoral to describe the music on the album, in the accompanying ‘Interview’ 12″ that also appeared in the promotional orbit of this album. But there can be no denying that the sweetly toned synths, absence of familiar drums and percussion does lend this single – and most if not all of the parent album – a particular sound that is quite unlike anything else that Newman had done up to that time (though would revisit to some degree on the following ‘It Seems’ album, arguably).

Colin Newman - 'Feigned Hearing' Belgian 7" front cover design
^ Colin Newman – ‘Feigned Hearing’ Belgian 7″ front cover design

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