14th July 1984, price 45p
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Record Mirror 14th July 1984, price 45p |
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| Page 1 · Page 3 · Page 15 · Pages 34 & 35 · Page 45 · Page 57 |
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Front Cover Features BLANCMANGE (photo). Other features: Nik Kershaw, Big Country, Young Ones, Melle Mel, Kane Gang, Prince, Duran Duran. |
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Contents page 14 LOVE WARRING; WOMACKS 34 LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN 45 BIG COUNTRY LIVE 57 UK CHARTS |
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Page 15 HALF-PAGE PICTURE: Womack & Womack HALF-PAGE ADVERT: Bruce Foxton SOS NEW 7" & 3TR 12" SINGLE REMIXED FROM THE ALBUM 'TOUCH SENSITIVE' |
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Pages 34 & 35 The league of gentlemen as told to JIM REID AN EXTRACT from 'Highland Travels', Sir Public House's soon to be published diary: "While journeying through the beautiful Celtic countryside one is bombarded by a frightening cacophony of sounds. These are the battle cries of the lesser spotted Sauchiehall Street drunk, a creature well known to London tube travellers. 'One wee dram,' they cry or 'see you Jimmy, you wanna a good gubbin the noo'. Listening to such sounds reminded me of the nights I'd spent with Reid and the nation's pop fraternity. Guzzling large amounts of bubbly we'd carouse the night away in the company of Mick Jagger, Nona Hendryx, Jools Holland, Elton John, Stuart Adamson, Richard Butler, John Taylor, Sunny Ade and Stevie Wonder. On reflection I think I prefer the lesser spotted Sauchiehall Street drunk." Pic of Jools Holland, Stuart Adamson & Elton John by Justin Thomas |
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Page 45 BIG COUNTRY 'THE SUMMER OF '84 CONCERT' WEMBLEY STADIUM THERE ARE 72,000 people at Wembley Stadium, and most of them seem to be in the Special Enclosure bar, which makes getting a drink a task of the most hazardous nature. So we get several in at once. I'm supposed to be reviewing Paul Young, but the same sore throat that caused him to miss 'The Tubew has also caused his withdrawal from today's 'extravaganza'. Big Country have stepped in as last minute replacements, but as I make my way to my seat, I see they're having trouble winning the heart of the crowd. The kids in the seats next to me are so unimpressed they're having an elbow-fight, Natalie (11) likes Nik Kershaw, but got here too later Nicholas (12) has Seen Big Country before, at the Hammersmith Odeon and preferred the atmosphere there. The big video screen up above shows more detail, but you can watch TV at home (and anyone who can afford a ticket for this can afford to rent a video). But then, you can never underestimate the perverse need of the average Joe to stand for 10 hours in the company of X thousand other sunstroke victims... The band start up with 'In A Big Country', and get a mildly excited reaction from the crowd, who start waving peace-signs at the stage. It's like Woodstock with short hair. The sound is a mesh of metallic guitar-noise, which doesn't even achieve a high enough decibel count to excite with sheer volume. Big Country skip about frantically, flashing white socks, trying to fill the stage and come over against the odds. But as Nick points out, fierce sunshine makes stagelights redundant, and does nothing for atmosphere. Instead, we get to look at a drab, dirty black stagemouth, backed by what appear to be giant vertical strips of pastel-shaded toilet paper. I can see that even the cavernous, bouncer-plagued Odeon would be a better friend to a group than this place. Smokey Robinson's 'Tracks Of My Tears' gets a good reception, partly because the group do it justice, but mostly because it means the set is closing, and Elton John will soon be onstage. It's a pity there are no prizes for trying hard... Nick and Natalie come to show me their collection. They've got some of the people I've seen, plus Judie Tzuke, Bronski Beat, and... Brian Tilsley!? I steal a guest list which shows they missed Jermaine Stewart, Pamela Stephenson and Simon Le Bon. An American named Tom reads it over my Shoulder. What did he think of the show? "It was a a party!" A party? My advice to Big Country is, save your stadium-rocking for the USA, where they seem to appreciate it. A party!? Next time they throw one like this, I hope I'm with Paul Young. Somewhere else! STEVEN GRAY |
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Page 57 UK Albums Week ending July 14, 1984 (This week; last week; weeks on chart) 3, 3, 3 - BREAKING HEARTS, Elton John, Rocket. γ 23, 28, 2 - REWIND, Rolling Stones, Rolling Stones 28, 36, 14 - LAMENT, Ultravox, Chrysalis σ 36, 29, 7 - CAFE BLEU, Style Council, Polydor γ 38, 53, 39 - COLOUR BY NUMBERS, Culture Club, Virgin ℘ 44, 49, 58 - TOO LOW FOR ZERO, Elton John, Rocket. ℘ 51, 65, 33 - UNDER A BLOOD RED SKY, U2, Island. ℘ 52, 73, 50 - THE CROSSING, Big Country, Mercury 74, 47, 5 - HYAENA, Siouxie And The Banshees, Wonderland 87, 85, 22 - SPARKLE IN THE RAIN, Simple Minds, Virgin 98, /, / - FUGAZI, Marillion, EMI MRL1 σ 100, 74, 5 - STAY HUNGRY, Twisted Sister, Atlantic Compiled by Gallup ℘ Platinum (300,000 sales), γ Gold (100,000 sales), σ Silver (60,000 sales) Music Video (This week; last week) 3, 2, - SERIOUS MOONLIGHT, David Bowie, Videoform. 4, / - UNDER A BLOOD RED SKY, LIVE AT REDROCK U2, Virgin. 4, / - A KISS ACROSS THE OCEAN Culture Club, Virgin. 11, 7, - LIVE, Big Country, Polygram 18, / - NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC VIDEO II, Virgin/PMI Compiled by Video Week |