“A.E.I.O.U.” was the second single released by British new wave group Europeans formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1985. “A.E.I.O.U.” along with two other singles were released before the group’s first album “Vocabulary”.
There was not a music video released for the single.
SIDE A: A.E.I.O.U. (Alphabet Soup) 6:24
SIDE B: Voice On The Telephone 3:38 A.E.I.O.U. (Album Version) 4:01
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: A&M Records – AMX 113
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single
Country: UK
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop
NEW 2023 Transfer! NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration!
Originally posted March 13, 2013
“Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)” is a song by Scottish singer Sheena Easton, the first single released from her fourth album, 1983’s Best Kept Secret. In November 1984, Easton added “Telefono” to her Spanish album Todo Me Recuerda a Ti for the Latin markets. The song was nominated for a Grammy in 1983 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
The song was most successful in the United States, where it became Easton’s fourth top 10 hit, peaking at number nine for two weeks in October and November 1983. The song was less successful in Easton’s native United Kingdom where it reached number 84.
The music video, shot in black and white, featured Easton in a haunted house and a cemetery, being pursued by Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame before being rescued by King Kong.
Although “Telefone” was released internationally as a single the North and South American markets were the only territories were a 12″ single was released.
SIDE A: Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair) (Club Mix) 6:09
SIDE B: Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair) (Dub Mix) 4:16
NEW 2023 Transfer! NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration!
Originally posted December 19, 2013
“Christmas Wrapping” is a Christmas song by the American new wave band The Waitresses. First released on ZE Records’ 1981 compilation album A Christmas Record, it later appeared on the band’s 1982 EP I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts and numerous other holiday compilation albums. It was written and produced by Chris Butler, with vocals by Patty Donahue. The song received positive reviews; AllMusic described it as “one of the best holiday pop tunes ever recorded”.
In 1981, ZE Records asked each of its artists to record a Christmas song for a compilation album, A Christmas Record. The Waitresses were in the middle of a difficult tour and the Christmas song commission was “the last thing we wanted”, Butler said later.
Butler wrote the song that August, assembling it from assorted unused riffs. He finished the lyrics in a taxi on the way to the recording studio, Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. Butler said the lyrics came from his hatred of Christmas: “Everybody I knew in New York was running around like a bunch of fiends. It wasn’t about joy. It was something to cope with.” The bassist, Tracy Wormworth, was inspired by Bernard Edwards’ bassline on the recently released “Good Times” by Chic.
Written while hip hop music was beginning to gain prominence, “Christmas Wrapping” is “almost rapped” by Donahue. Its title, a pun on “rapping”, alludes to the 1979 song “Christmas Rappin'” by Kurtis Blow. Butler said he also “liked the idea of the word ‘wrap,’ like a wraparound, because the story is circular”.
“Christmas Wrapping” is told from the perspective of an unpartnered woman, who was determined not to participate in the exhausting holiday season after a year that was so busy, she has been unable to go on a date with an appealing gentleman she met months ago. Preparing to dine alone on Christmas Eve, she runs into the fellow in a grocery store, bringing “the year to a very happy ending”.
“Christmas Wrapping” was released as a single in the UK in 1981 on Island Records. It did not initially make the charts, but was reissued in 1982 and reached No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart that December. It remains the Waitresses’ highest-charting single in the UK.
Butler said the reception was a rejuvenating gift for the band: “We do the Christmas song, forget about it and go back on the road. The next thing I know when calling back to New York is that it’s all over the radio and much to our surprise it leaps over our heads and hits all the cities where we’re heading and all of a sudden we’re back on an upswing again.”
** The 7″ Single Version has not appeared on CD as far as I know most compilations use the longer version. 7″ Single Version was taken from the UK 7″ single.
“Two Hearts Beat as One” is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the seventh track on their 1983 album, War, and was released as its second single in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia on 21 March 1983.
The music video was directed by Meiert Avis and was filmed outside the Basilica of Sacré Coeur de Montmartre in Paris in March 1983 and portrays the band performing the song, intercut with scenes of an acrobat and other scenes featuring Peter Rowen (the boy who appears on the album cover). The Parisian church is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Unlike the other videos from the album, it has never been included on any of the band’s video compilations.
It was released as the album’s second single in the US, UK and Australia, as opposed to “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, which was released only in the mainland of Europe. Both singles were released in Japan.
SIDE B: Two Hearts Beat As One (Album Version) 4:03
Two Hearts Beat As One (Edit) 3:52
Engineer – Paul Thomas
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
Year
Single
Chart
Position
1983
Two Hearts Beat as One
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100
#101
1983
Two Hearts Beat As One
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks
#12
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Island Records – DMD 643
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, Promo, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, New Wave
