Glenn Williams
MUSIC WRITER IN JAPAN
BOX SET
KIM WILDE
THE RAK YEARS 1981 - 1983
Cherry Red
Fact: Kim Wilde is the highest charting British female solo artist of the 1980s.
It’s hard to describe the impact Kim Wilde had on the British music scene and record buyers in the 1980s. When her debut single, Kids In America, was released in January 1981, music lovers were used to The Police, ABBA, Ottowan and Barbra Streisand. John Lennon’ assassination was still on everyone’s mind, it having happened just a few weeks earlier and although Blondie were still putting out great records, they were seemingly inaccessible to you and me – Pop Royalty. Nothing wrong with any of them but the kids needed someone to relate to. Enter Kim, the girl next door blonde bombshell with an icy look that melted your heart, an attitude that said ‘Don’t you dare!’ and a voice that we could relate to. To say she turned heads is akin to Noah saying ‘It looks like rain’.
Kim recorded three albums with Rak Records and then moved over to MCA. They are here, complete with B-sides, outtakes and the singles that were not on albums, the discs being housed in gatefold sleeves with album replica artwork. There is also a bonus disc of remixes done in the spirit of the eighties that pushes your hi-fi to the max, a whopping 48 page booklet with all the lyrics, extensive liner notes and some unpublished photos, the latter of which will make you fall in love with her all over again. That lot is all housed in delightful lift-off lid box with a gorgeous print finish.
There have been Kim compilations before of course but nothing like this. Cherry Red have gone to town on this set and it is unlikely ever to be bettered – certainly not in my lifetime – and with Kim now out and about again, singing her greatest after a long hiatus, this box is testament to her beginnings and enduring popularity.
Track List (*Non-album Bonus Tracks)
Disc 1 - Kim Wilde
Water On Glass
Our Town
Everything We Know
Young Heroes
Kids in America
Chequered Love
2-6-5-8-0
You’ll Never Be So Wrong
Falling Out
Tuning In Tuning On
Shane*
Boys*
He Will Be There*
Disc 2 - Select
Ego
Words Fell Down
Action City
View from a Bridge
Just a Feeling
Chaos at the Airport
Take Me Tonight
Can You Come Over
Wendy Sadd
Cambodia
Cambodia – Reprise
Child Come Away*
Bitter Is Better*
Watching For Shapes*
Just Another Guy*
Disc 3 - Catch As Catch Can
House of Salome
Back Street Joe
Stay Awhile
Love Blonde
Dream Sequence
Dancing in the Dark
Shoot to Disable
Can You Hear It
Sparks
Sing It Out For Love
Rain On*
Back Seat Driver*
Disc 4 - Special Disco Mixes († 2024 Mix)
Kids in America (Luke Mornay Remix)
Chequered Love (Matt Pop Extended Version)
Water on Glass (Project K Soundtrack) †
Cambodia (Matt Pop Extended Version)
View from a Bridge (Project K Soundtrack) †
Take Me Tonight (Luke Mornay Profondo Giallo Mix) †
Child Come Away (Matt Pop Remix)
Love Blonde (Project K’s Limelight Mix) †
Dancing in the Dark (Luke Mornay Moonlight Mix) †
House of Salome (Luke Mornay Mix of the Seven Veils) †
BOX SET
JOE MEEK COMPILATION
GIRL GROUPS AND POP CHANTEUSES
Cherry Red
The latest release from Joe’s Tea Chest Tapes is a compilation of female artists and hence the first of the releases that doesn’t concentrate on one specific band. It’s a remarkable collection that shows how adept he was at capturing a woman’s voice and giving her the right backing. It also shows how Joe’s sounds and atmospheres changed in those crucial British Pop years of 1960 – 1966.
Reading through the artists, you will be forgiven for not recognising the names of many of them and that’s because either they were one-off singles - as in the case of Jenny Moss - or artists that never even had their recording released at all such as The Halos, a group so obscure that not even Meek experts know who they were. Quite why some of the recordings were never released only Joe would know as there are certainly some great recordings here that if released, could well have been hits. Was it the at whim of the madman or that his genius was distracted elsewhere?
The musicianship is delightful to hear. The clarity of the recordings is quite stunning given their age and the circumstances that they were recorded under and whilst a few tracks seem to be closer to demos than finished product, even those showcase the talent that Joe had assembled for his backing bands - there’s more Ritchie Blackmore nuggets for his fans to admire and add to their collection. A lot of these recordings unknowingly define our aural image of the sixties in that whenever a film or TV show wants to evoke the sound of the sixties without having to pay a band for their music, they will recreate something very close to the Joe Meek sound so although you’ve never heard them before, they sound hauntingly familiar. It’s a trip down Memory Lane, it’s just that you can’t quite recall where it was on the map.
The three discs are housed in a clam-shell box along with a 20-page booklet which contains brief biographies of all the artists. It sits nicely, uniformly, with the other Tea Chest band collections but distinguishes itself by being a mustard colour rather the band favoured black box – Cherry Red have really thought this archive through in that it looks good on your shelf as well as sounds astonishing on your hi-fi. All in all then, a very worthwhile addition to your collection, especially if you are a fan of Girl Groups and Pop Chanteuses.
Disc 1
The Singles
1 Eve Boswell - Sur Le Pont D'Avignon
2 Yolanda - With This Kiss
3 Carol Jones - Boy With The Eyes Of Blue
4 Pat Reader - Cha Cha On The Moon
5 Glenda Collins - I Lost My Heart At The Fairground
6 Jenny Moss - Hobbies
7 The Cameos - Powercut
8 Pamela Blue - My Friend Bobby
9 Glenda Collins - If You’ve Got To Pick A Baby
10 Gunilla Thorn - Merry Go Round
11 Jenny Moss - Please Let It Happen To Me
12 The Sharades - Dumb Head
13 Kim Roberts - I'll Prove It
14 The Cameos - My Baby's Coming Home
15 Glenda Collins - Baby It Hurts
16 Glenda Collins - Lollipop
17 Flip And The Dateliners - My Johnny Doesn’t Come Around Anymore
18 Valerie Masters - Christmas Calling
19 Glenda Collins - Johnny Loves Me
20 Judy Cannon - The Very First Day I Met You
21 Glenda Collins - Thou Shalt Not Steal
22 The Honeycombs - Something I’ve Got To Tell You
23 Diane And The Javelins - Heart And Soul
24 Glenda Collins - Something I’ve Got To Tell You
25 Glenda Collins - It’s Hard To Believe It
Disc 2
1960-1963
1 Eve Boswell - Around The Corner
2 Yolanda - Don't Tell Me Not To Love You
3 Carol Jones - Cinderella Jones
4 Pat Reader - May Your Heart Stay Young Forever
5 Pat Reader - My Kind Of Love
6 Unknown - Say Baby
7 Unknown - Johnny Oh
8 Geri Harlow - Do The Strum
9 Geri Harlow - Mr Right
10 Billie Davis - Merry Go Round
11 Billie Davis - Don't You Knock On My Door
12 Billie Davis – It’s Goodbye Then
13 Billie Davis - Mr Right
14 Billie Davis – I Think I'm Falling In Love
15 Glenda Collins - I Feel So Good
16 Glenda Collins - In The First Place
17 Glenda Collins - Nice Wasn't It
18 Glenda Collins - Everybody's Gotta Fall In Love
19 Jenny Moss - Big Boys
20 Jenny Moss - Please Let It Happen To Me (Alternate Version)
21 Jenny Moss - Keep Away From My Baby's Door
22 Jenny Moss - When My Boy Comes Marching Home Again
23 Jenny Moss - Every Little Kiss
24 Kim Roberts - For Loving Me This Way
25 Kim Roberts - A Girl In the Crowd
26 Kim Roberts - Mr Right
27 Kim Roberts - Everytime
28 Kim Roberts - Love Can't Wait
29 The Cameos - High, Low And Lonesomely
30 The Cameos - Where E're You Walk
31 The Cameos - Only In Love
32 Pamela Blue - Hey There Stranger
Disc 3
1964-1966
1 Gunilla Thorn - Go On Then
2 Gunilla Thorn - Blueberry Hill
3 Gunilla Thorn - Keep Away From My Baby's Door
4 Gunilla Thorn - Alright I'm In Love With You
5 Gunilla Thorn - Come On
6 Gunilla Thorn - Who Started It
7 The Halos - When
8 The Halos - Don't Ever Change
9 Lea And Chess - Little Star (Shine On us Tonight)
10 Lea And Chess - A Long Time Ago
11 Valerie Masters - He Didn't Fool Me
12 The Sharades - Boy Trouble
13 The Sharades - Aren't You Glad You're You
14 The Sharades - Loneliness
15 Flip & The Dateliners - Please Listen To Me
16 Flip & The Dateliners – Bye Bye Baby Bunting
17 Flip & The Dateliners - Mama Didn't Lie
18 Flip & The Dateliners - The Mod
19 Flip and The Dateliners - From Tomorrow
20 Flip (with Riot Squad) - It's Hard To Believe It
21 June Harris - Ma I Miss Your Apple Pie
22 June Harris - Remember Your Love Belongs To Me
23 Judy Cannon - Hello Heartache
24 Glenda Collins - Been Invited To A Party
25 Glenda Collins - Paradise For Two
26 Glenda Collins - My Heart Didn't Lie
27 Glenda Collins - Don't Let It Rain On Sunday
28 Denise Scott and The Soundsmen - Your Love Keeps Me Going
29 Denise Scott and The Soundsmen - Love Me Tonight
30 Diane And The Javelins - Whose The Girl
31 Diane And The Javelins - Cry Baby