Quoting:
Song: Mystery
Artist: Spyder
When: probably 1981 - 83

Lyrics (random fragments):

'Oooh, it's a mystery don't you know'
'Do you love me, do you care'
'I think I like this new romance'

My memories of this song are dim, but I'd sure like to find the MP3.  I'd be curious to know if anyone remembers the tune.
Thx
Buzz
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As MissInformation discovered, the song is indeed titled "New Romance (It's a Mystery)". However, the correct spelling of the original band that had the moderate hit w/ the song here in the U.S. is "Spider", and that was in the Spring of '80. It was off their 1980 album, simply titled Spider. The album was re-issued on CD here in the U.S. as a 2-on-1 w/ their second album from 1981, Between the Lines. Unfortunately, that CD is now out-of-print. I have both Spider albums on cassette myself - they're fantastic! :-)

Also have Lisa Hartman's album w/ her cover version of the song - let's just say she should've left it alone, IMO. BTW, the Canadian band Toronto also covered "New Romance (It's a Mystery)" on one of their albums...

Quoting:
Interesting stuff re: 'Spider'.  Now that I have correct spellings and song title I can continue my quest for the mp3.  It's ironic that the semi-obscure 'Toronto' would be tied into this, since I just re-discovered their tune 'Your Daddy Don't Know'... classic 80's pop-rock!

Thx,
Buzz
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A little history: There were two women in Spider - lead singer Amanda Blue, and keyboardist Holly Knight, who was also the band's primary songwriter. Knight would later write or co-write many classic hits of the '80s, and Spider was her first group. In addition to Spider's own hits, such as "New Romance (It's a Mystery)", "Everything is Alright", and "It Didn't Take Long", the band recorded a couple of Knight songs on their second album, 1981's Between the Lines, that would later turn into big hits for others: "Better Be Good to Me" (Tina Turner, Fall of '84) and "Change" (John Waite, Spring of '85). So track down both Spider albums - you won't be disappointed... :-)

After Spider broke up in '82, Knight went on to write or co-write the hits "Obsession" (Animotion, Spring of '85), "Invincible" (Pat Benatar, Summer of '85), "Never" (Heart, Fall of '85), and "One of the Living" (Tina Turner, Fall of '85), among others...

In 1986, she then formed a new band called Device, which scored moderate hits w/ "Hanging on a Heart Attack" (Summer of '86) and "Who Says" (Fall of '86)...

That success led to a solo deal w/ Columbia, for which she released her lone solo album, simply titled Holly Knight, in 1988. From that, she scored a moderate hit, "Heart Don't Fail Me Now" (Fall of '88 )...

So I'm sure you'd really enjoy the rest of her work, just as I do... :-)

I, too, am a big fan of Toronto, and agree that "Your Daddy Don't Know" was one of the best songs of the '80s! A shame it was their only hit here in the States. :-( BTW, their album w/ the cover of "New Romance" is 1984's Assault and Flattery, which is actually credited to "Holly Woods and Toronto", in case you want to pick that one up, too...

Quoting:
Well the only Spider I've heard of were a good old British heavy metal band,they were pretty good in a lets go to a festival, drink beer in the pouring rain and boogie to some rock and roll kind of way.I think I have an album somewhere............
End Quote

Yeah they were cool.

Quoting:
(I live in Canada)End Quote

Yep, had you pegged as a Canuck after you mentioned your knowledge of the band Toronto, and for sure after i.d.'ing the Crash Vegas tune on another thread here on the '80s board, lol. (They did nothing here.) Welcome aboard! :-)

Canadian groups/artists happen to be my favorite, after American ones. In fact, I've made quite a few music-buying trips to Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa over the last five years, and I always come back w/ a ton of stuff (mostly non-U.S. releases by Canadian acts). What would the '70s & '80s music scene have been like w/o such excellent artists from the Great White North as Rush, Triumph, Loverboy, Gino Vannelli, Bryan Adams, Chilliwack, Saga, or Bruce Cockburn, among others? :-)

Since you said you just "re-discovered" hard rockers Toronto, I highly recommend also re-visiting The Headpins, Lee Aaron, Coney Hatch, Aldo Nova, Prism, Helix, Honeymoon Suite, Haywire, and Platinum Blonde, for starters... ;-)

Quoting:



Canadian groups/artists happen to be my favorite, after American ones. In fact, I've made quite a few music-buying trips to Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa over the last five years, and I always come back w/ a ton of stuff (mostly non-U.S. releases by Canadian acts). What would the '70s & '80s music scene have been like w/o such excellent artists from the Great White North as Rush, Triumph, Loverboy, Gino Vannelli, Bryan Adams, Chilliwack, Saga, or Bruce Cockburn, among others? :-)

Since you said you just "re-discovered" hard rockers Toronto, I highly recommend also re-visiting The Headpins, Lee Aaron, Coney Hatch, Aldo Nova, Prism, Helix, Honeymoon Suite, Haywire, and Platinum Blonde, for starters... ;-)
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80'sMF,

You must have a hellava music collection!  :)  

It's great to find someone knowledgable about 70's and 80's Canadian rock.  Your list is real nostalgia trip for me.  Prism performed at my high school in the late '70's... oh-oh, I just dated myself <LOL>!  

The Canadian music scene is quite unique.  Canadian broadcasting law requires that all radio stations and video channels play 30% domestic content, so Canadian artists get good airplay to develop a fan base.  We also have access to US pop music via US radio and MTV.  So when you add it up, us Canucks get a interesting variety of music. :)

I'll go thru my music collection and see if I can find some obscure Canadian gems.  If I find anything interesting I'll post it to the list. :)

Later,
Buzz