“Blow Job (It’s Hard To Be President)” is a 1987 New Beat single by Belgian trio Musical Reporters which consisted of Jos Borremans (aka Chris Inger), K. Hendrickx (aka Harry Van Oekel), Maurice Engelen (aka Praga Khan). They only released one single, which managed to get some club play in America.
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Originally posted November 3, 2011
“Point of No Return” is a single by the American pop group Exposé. Written and produced by Lewis Martineé.
Exposé was initially formed in 1984 when Lewis Martineé, a Miami disc jockey and producer, decided to form a dance-based group. Working with his partners Ismael Garcia and Frank Diaz at Pantera Productions, talent scouts hired Sandra Casañas (Sandeé), Alejandra Lorenzo (Alé), and Laurie Miller as the group’s lineup, under the title X-Posed. The next year, the trio recorded “Point of No Return” for Pantera Records as a 12-inch vinyl single, which became a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song helped to introduce a still-popular genre of music that became known as freestyle, which often features keyboard riffs, a sing-along chorus, and electro-funk drum-machine patterns in the music arrangement. The success of “Point of No Return” quickly led Exposé to sign with Arista/BMG Records, which promptly assumed distribution of the 12-inch vinyl single.
During the recording of the group’s first studio album Exposure, the personnel of the group changed. Reports vary based on the source. According to People magazine, one of the original singers quit while two of the girls were fired midway through the recording of the first album, but according to Billboard, all three were fired. Arista Records felt that the three original singers lacked star potential. Martinee states that he made the decision himself to replace the three girls, while Miller maintains it was all their choice, and Jurado confirms that Lorenzo wanted to leave. Shortly thereafter, Casañas pursued a solo career and Lorenzo pursued other ambitions; they were replaced by Jeanette Jurado and Gioia Bruno. Miller began a solo career; she was replaced by Ann Curless.
In February 1987, the new lineup of Exposé released its debut album, Exposure, on Arista Records. Notably, unlike many classic girl groups, Exposé alternated lead vocals among its members. During the summer of 1987, a re-recorded version of “Point of No Return” was released, with Jurado performing lead vocals, and it topped out at #5 on the Hot 100 in July 1987. While the initial distribution of Exposure to Suppliers contained the original 1984 version of that song, subsequent pressings contained the new vocal version; this has led to the original pressings of the album being considered a collector’s item.
“It’s just a little song about loving somebody to the point of no return,” said songwriter Lewis Martineé when asked if there was a deeper meaning to the song. “I just liked the title ‘Point Of No Return,’ so I decided to write a song around that. Then I started coming up with the beats and the synthesizer lines and then both melody and words. I wrote that song so fast it was crazy, like, literally 15 minutes. But then I didn’t like the bridge and I changed it. I’m glad I did because the bridge actually came out really good at the end.”
The music video for the song was directed by Ralph Ziman, and included the new 1987 lineup of Jeanette Jurado, Gioia Bruno and Ann Curless receiving heavy rotation on MTV and VH-1.
“Dub Of No Return (Strikes Again)” was not included on the 2015 Cherry Pop CD Deluxe Edition of the LP “Exposure”.
“American Dream” was the first single taken from the second studio LP “Never Never Land” by British musician Simon Fellowes (Simon F) on Reprise Records in 1987. “American Dream” made a short two-week run on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #91 before disappearing. The single was co-produced by Phil Thornalley (Johnny Hates Jazz, The Cure), and Tom Lord-Alge.
The “Extended Version” was only released on 12″ single in Australia.
The video for “American Dream” was directed by Peter Care and was banned by MTV for its portrayal of an interracial romance.
SIDE A: American Dream (Extended Version) 8:47
Producer, Engineer – Philip Thornalley*
SIDE B:
Love Bomb 4:03
American Dream (7″ Version) 4:53
Producer – Simon F.*
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Tom Lord-Alge
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
Year
Single
Chart
Position
1987
American Dream
U.S. Billboard Hot 100
#91
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Reprise Records – 0-20800
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single, 45 RPM
Country: Australia
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
“Good Intentions” is a 1987 single by American singer and model Ava Cherry. She collaborated with English musician David Bowie between 1972 and 1975; the two met in New York City when she was a nightclub waitress and Bowie was touring for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Afterwards, they began a period of personal and artistic collaboration that heavily influenced the Young Americans “blue-eyed soul” era. Following this, she struck out as a solo singer and backing artist for musicians such as Luther Vandross and Chaka Khan.
“Good Intentions” was the first single taken from her third and most successful studio LP “Picture This” (1987). “Good Intentions” debuted on the Billboard Dance Chart on August 8, 1987, peaking at #16 after spending eight weeks on the survey.
