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Subject: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Marty McFly on 05/30/08 at 9:09 pm

There's lots I could think of, but one that stands out in particular is "Somebody's Baby" by Jackson Browne.

It was one of my mom's favorite songs back in the day (and just one of many I associate with childhood and early Elementary school). She'd recorded it off the radio in the late '80s on one of our family mixtapes, and that was the ONLY copy of it that we had. I guess the Fast Times soundtrack went out of print not too long after it came out 'cause I can remember mom always looking for it in stores to no avail, lol. A few years later that mixtape bit the dust too, so I didn't have it again until like '98ish when I got my own copy of the soundtrack. They must've reissued it 'cause I just casually noticed it in a music store one day when I was in high school.

It was so cool for me to be like "Holy crap I haven't been able to listen to this song for like 5 years" (back then). ;) It's great to have stuff way easier to get ahold of now, but it kinda takes the magic away from experiences like that. In a way it made you appreciate it more...that would never happen today with YouTube, downloading and all.

Did something like that ever happen with anyone else here, and do you miss the "adventure" of things like that? Even as far up as high school in the late '90s, there was lots of music (or other things) which I liked but didn't own. Now it's like I'm almost spoiled 'cause there's less I can surprised by now.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: coqueta83 on 05/30/08 at 10:57 pm

^^"Somebody's Baby" was one of those songs I had a hard time finding, too, until I found a used CD copy of the "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" soundtrack at a secondhand music store about 7 years ago. I think the soundtrack was reissued for a time, but I haven't seen it since.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: bookmistress4ever on 05/30/08 at 11:08 pm

Three I had a hard time finding were:

Yo Little Brother by Nolan Thomas, I finally found it on a freestyle CD a couple years ago.  And now it's on youtube

Captain of her heart by Double was a hard find for me

as was, a song called "Immenene Front" by The Who.  I loved it when it first came out, but forgot what it was called or who did it (ironic isn't it...Who did it...well they DID!)  Finally, I asked the folks over on the imdb message boards, and they found it for me.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Marty McFly on 05/30/08 at 11:21 pm


^^"Somebody's Baby" was one of those songs I had a hard time finding, too, until I found a used CD copy of the "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" soundtrack at a secondhand music store about 7 years ago. I think the soundtrack was reissued for a time, but I haven't seen it since.


Oh wow, I wonder if it's gone out of print again? It's a really good soundtrack, and I'm actually surprised Browne's song was the only one that was a hit (at least from what I know).

In retrospect it's weird that such a popular song was so hard to find! At least around here, it was on the radio quite a bit (one of those '80s songs that kinda had more longevity) and lots of people seemed to still like it.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: whistledog on 05/30/08 at 11:28 pm

As a kid, my mom had these K-Tel collections.  One titled 'High Voltage' (from 1981) had a song called 'If You Should Sail' by a duo called Nielsen/Pearson.  Another one titled 'Night Flight' (also from 1981) had a cover of 'The Sun Ain't Gonne Shine Anymore' by that same duo Nielsen/Pearson

I don't exactly know the critera K-Tel used for choosing songs for their compilations, but neither of these songs were hits in Canada, but according to these tapes, they were popular.  One day, I found a complete listing of every song to chart in the US Hot 100 during the 80s, and these two songs were in there, the former actually reaching the US Top 40 so I knew that these songs existed, but getting good quality copies?  I never expected to, but ...

On a previous 80s messageboard I once belonged to, I decided to post a topic asking if anyone had these songs.  The response I got led me to some guy from Texas who apparently had an mp3 of every single song to chart in the US Hot 100 during the 80s.  So I e-mailed him asking if I l could have those two songs, and he sent them to me over e-mail :)

At the time, he told me that he could send me individual songs, or if I want, he could snail mail me a complete set of CD-Rs with all the songs on it.  Unsure of whether or not I trusted that, overtime I just e-mailed him asking for certain songs, which he sent me.  Eventually I decided that it would be awesome to have all those songs, so I gave him my home address, and for free, he mailed me a 26 CD-R set with every single US Hot 100 hit on it (over 4126 songs) which I still have.  To this day, they are the most valuable CDs that I own

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: coqueta83 on 05/30/08 at 11:34 pm


Oh wow, I wonder if it's gone out of print again? It's a really good soundtrack, and I'm actually surprised Browne's song was the only one that was a hit (at least from what I know).

In retrospect it's weird that such a popular song was so hard to find! At least around here, it was on the radio quite a bit (one of those '80s songs that kinda had more longevity) and lots of people seemed to still like it.


Hmmm....I don't know for sure. It's pretty hard to find these days. There were so many terrific songs on that soundtrack, too!  8)

I did see a double vinyl copy of the soundtrack at a thrift store some time ago, but the album cover sleeve was very dog-eared and the LP's itself were pretty scratched up. If it were in better condition I probably would've bought it.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: AmericanGirl on 05/31/08 at 11:16 am

As a one time pseudo-collector and general nostalgia music-phile, seeking hard-to-find songs is a continual quest, as I often go "hunting" for specific songs.  Hmmm, maybe even a hobby...  ;)

If there's one thing that's great about downloading songs, it is being able to occasionally find a hard to find gem.  One such song for me is Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home".

Certain 70's soul can be very hard to find.  A couple years ago I discovered some outlets that sell vinyl 45's on line, and I found some stuff on my wish list.  For example, Johnnie Taylor's "I Believe In You (You Believe In Me)" arrived on a 45.  Plus, sometimes you don't want an artist's entire greatest hits album, only one or two cuts.  Thus I acquired Nilsson's "Coconut" and Don McLean's "Driedel" around that time as 45s.

Used record stores can be a gold mine.  Also "various artists" compilation CDs and/or vinyl, both domestic and import...  :)

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: mach!ne_he@d on 05/31/08 at 11:16 pm

Yes, things have really changed over the last couple of years with the internet. Now finding a song you want can be done at the touch of a button, unlike even 9 or 10 years ago for most people, when you either had to get lucky and find the album with a song your looking for on it in a record store or hope they randomly played it on the radio. Not really sure which way I like better, even though it is nice to have the ability to get songs easily today.

Back in the days before I got the internet, I had the hardest time trying to track down albums by alot of the lesser known '80s alternative bands like The Pixies, Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone, Temple Of The Dog, etc.

Also, songs on lesser known albums by the likes of AC/DC, Van Halen, and Aerosmith were darn near impossible to find even up to 2000 or 2001. Ironically, recently alot of those artists have come out with re-released 'master series' of all there albums on cd, so there not nearly as hard to find today.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: mach!ne_he@d on 05/31/08 at 11:37 pm


Google and You Tube have been a godsend when it comes to tracking down lost songs that have only survive in your head for 10-20 years. The hardest for me was "Addicted" by Dan Seals that came out in 1988. I had forgotten most of the lines and melody except for a couple of scraps. It took me a couple of years but I finally found the song. Although I was probably too young to pay attention to the lyrics, I did remember the song having a moving melody. It wasn't until I finally heard it again that I realized how powerful the song was.   



Heck, Dan Seals is still hard to find today, not much of him even on the p2p networks. That's kind of a shame though, he is very under appreciated. I love "Addicted" and "Love On Arrival" as well :)

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Davester on 06/01/08 at 6:40 pm


  If I didn't know the name of the song or couldn't identify the artist I would to walk up to the check-out counter and sing the dad blasted song to anyone within earshot and I didn't care how it sounded...

  It worked about 60% of the time....

  Yeah but now, thanks to the net, I am not required to publicly humiliate myself...

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Marty McFly on 06/01/08 at 9:38 pm


Yes, things have really changed over the last couple of years with the internet. Now finding a song you want can be done at the touch of a button, unlike even 9 or 10 years ago for most people, when you either had to get lucky and find the album with a song your looking for on it in a record store or hope they randomly played it on the radio. Not really sure which way I like better, even though it is nice to have the ability to get songs easily today.

Back in the days before I got the internet, I had the hardest time trying to track down albums by alot of the lesser known '80s alternative bands like The Pixies, Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone, Temple Of The Dog, etc.

Also, songs on lesser known albums by the likes of AC/DC, Van Halen, and Aerosmith were darn near impossible to find even up to 2000 or 2001. Ironically, recently alot of those artists have come out with re-released 'master series' of all there albums on cd, so there not nearly as hard to find today.


Yeah, it's really a tradeoff in the sense that I wouldn't want to go back to the way it was before about 2005 when youtube and limewire started really getting big (the late '90s until then was transitional), but I kinda miss the old ways at the same time. It did make finding songs feel more of an accomplishment when you got lucky enough to tape it off the radio or found it in a used music store.

You know what's weird about AC/DC? They STILL don't have any kind of greatest hits compilation and they've been around over thirty years! Limewire is great for that. For instance, I love the song "Who Made Who" off that Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive (it's like typical for them, with an '80s pop feel, almost like it could've been out of a video game). That and a couple other smalltime hits like "Let's Get it Up".

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: mach!ne_he@d on 06/02/08 at 12:07 am


Yeah, it's really a tradeoff in the sense that I wouldn't want to go back to the way it was before about 2005 when youtube and limewire started really getting big (the late '90s until then was transitional), but I kinda miss the old ways at the same time. It did make finding songs feel more of an accomplishment when you got lucky enough to tape it off the radio or found it in a used music store.

You know what's weird about AC/DC? They STILL don't have any kind of greatest hits compilation and they've been around over thirty years! Limewire is great for that. For instance, I love the song "Who Made Who" off that Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive (it's like typical for them, with an '80s pop feel, almost like it could've been out of a video game). That and a couple other smalltime hits like "Let's Get it Up".



Yeah, I have noticed that too. The closest they have ever come to a greatest hits album is a few 'live' albums that have songs from the the Bon Scott and Brian Johnson era's. It would be nice if they came out with at least one, but the upside is, alot of groups sort of overdue the whole 'greatest hits' concept. It seems like Aerosmith has at least 10 or 11 GH compilations.

P.S. when did the p2p sites like Limewire start to appear anyway? I don't have much knowledge of what the net was like before we finally got access in 2000, and I had only used it a few times before that. As far as I know, Napster was the first in 1998 or '99. 

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Brian06 on 06/02/08 at 12:22 am



Yeah, I have noticed that too. The closest they have ever come to a greatest hits album is a few 'live' albums that have songs from the the Bon Scott and Brian Johnson era's. It would be nice if they came out with at least one, but the upside is, alot of groups sort of overdue the whole 'greatest hits' concept. It seems like Aerosmith has at least 10 or 11 GH compilations.

P.S. when did the p2p sites like Limewire start to appear anyway? I don't have much knowledge of what the net was like before we finally got access in 2000, and I had only used it a few times before that. As far as I know, Napster was the first in 1998 or '99. 


First I knew of Napster was in 1999 I believe.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Foo Bar on 06/02/08 at 1:44 am


P.S. when did the p2p sites like Limewire start to appear anyway? I don't have much knowledge of what the net was like before we finally got access in 2000, and I had only used it a few times before that. As far as I know, Napster was the first in 1998 or '99. 


non-Napster P2P started shortly after the RIAA lawsuits that brought down Napster.  The technology was fundamentally the same, it was just a matter of using the same protocols, but decentralizing the bit about "I have file XYZ" to the individual peers, rather than using a centralized (Napster's legally-fatal flaw) server to advertise song availability.

Obligatory Rarity:  Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy, Kiss Me (Mixe Plural)".  I'd had the 7", the 12", and the Razormaid mix, but the one I heard on radio in 1984 was the Plural Mix, which was the only one that started off with the lyrics "Cosmic Forces! Sex! Trash! James Joyce! Sex!" at 0:10-0:40, and featured the weird backwards-masked (reminds me, I gotta play that backwards someday) chirpy vocal sounds from 1:20-1:40 and so on.

The annoying thing was that the Mixe Plural was 7:57... the same length as the 12" mix.  I didn't find the Mixe Plural until 2006, and that 22-year hunt is probably my longest successful hunt. 

I still have a couple of tracks that could beat it, though.  Speaking of which, does anyone recognize the Moog-esque samples in the background of the "The information he gets" and "And, it changes" samples in Consolidated's Our Leader?  I'm sure I could find that track, if I only knew what it was, but it's an instrumental, and so it goes...

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Davester on 06/02/08 at 1:58 am



I still have a couple of tracks that could beat it, though.  Speaking of which, does anyone recognize the Moog-esque samples in the background of the "The information he gets" and "And, it changes" samples in Consolidated's Our Leader?  I'm sure I could find that track, if I only knew what it was, but it's an instrumental, and so it goes...


   Consolidated?!  Wow, that's going back awhile.  Karma for even mentioning them.  I thought I was among the only four or five people in the universe who used to listen to them...

   But I'll be damned if I can remember much about them.  Carnac the Magnificent moment, here: It's sometime in 1990, It's late at night, I'm in Norfolk, VA, I'm sitting in my load in some parking lot somewhere, I'm eating Taco Bell and I'm cranking Consolidated in the tape player...

   Yup, that's it...

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Foo Bar on 06/02/08 at 2:48 am


  Consolidated?!  Wow, that's going back awhile.  Karma for even mentioning them.  I thought I was among the only four or five people in the universe who used to listen to them...


They were pretty obscure.  As a Reaganite, I was diametrically opposed to most of their politics, but I loved their mastery of sampling. One of the best sampler-based industrial groups of the early 90s.  They sampled so much stuff, including rants from their audiences at their live shows, that trying to track down every sample source would be well-nigh impossible.  Everything from John Carpenter's They Live to samples from McDonald's commercials to readings from wacko fundamentalist vegan-feminists, all on one album.  Freaky stuff.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: bookmistress4ever on 06/02/08 at 4:19 am

As great as the internet is to find something, it's equally frustrating when you have something in your sites but can't quite get a lock on it!

My case in point:

There was a song, used in an episode of the television series Dead Zone (episode "The man who never was" - season 2- aired 2003) called "Winter Snow".
They released the song as a one song cd single, and sent it around to alot of Jazz-programmed radio stations and at the same time, USA (the website that belonged to the television network that ran the series) also had the song on it's website (but not as a download).  So you could go there and listen to the song...Until they redesigned the website and poof the song went bye bye. 

I've been in search of it ever since.  What makes it even more harder is, I found it here http://wc02.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jcfrxqraldfe  but have no way of getting it.  :\'(

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Big Nasty on 06/02/08 at 10:04 pm

The one CD that stands out for me as one I had a hard time tracking down was a classic Old School Rap Album...Boogie Down Productions first release "Criminal Minded".  I looked in every record store I could across the country.  I finally found it for the first time in Niagara Falls.  I just remembered that it was released and the co-leader of the group was killed shortly after that.  I finally did find it though and I still have it to this day.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: whistledog on 06/03/08 at 9:05 pm



Heck, Dan Seals is still hard to find today, not much of him even on the p2p networks. That's kind of a shame though, he is very under appreciated. I love "Addicted" and "Love On Arrival" as well :)


Dan Seals songs are very challenging to find, even ones he did in the 70s as England Dan and John Ford Coley.  Pretty much just the really well-known ones like "Bop" and "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" are what's most on the p2p networks

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Foo Bar on 06/03/08 at 10:17 pm


The one CD that stands out for me as one I had a hard time tracking down was a classic Old School Rap Album...Boogie Down Productions first release "Criminal Minded".  I looked in every record store I could across the country.  I finally found it for the first time in Niagara Falls.  I just remembered that it was released and the co-leader of the group was killed shortly after that.  I finally did find it though and I still have it to this day.


Speaking of rap stars that got shot before it was fashionable, anyone remember late-80s Miami bass rappers "Worse 'em" and their one-almost-hit-wonder "Triple M Bass"? 

Speaking of obscure rap tracks that nobody'll ever remember, does anyone remember a track that featured Public Enemy's "Terminator X Speaks With His Hands" as the backbeat, but was overlaid with samples from the Apocalypse Now "tiger scene", (namely "f*ckin tiger!", "never get out of the boat", "never get outta the f*cking boat", and "I just wanted to learn how to cook")...

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: saver on 06/08/08 at 8:39 pm

Hard to find because I guess they never released any recordingof it(unless someone puts on the preassure): The soundtrack from THE BLUE LAGOON.

At least the theme was memorable and ran throughout certain scenes...or did I miss any release or inclusion on a Movie Theme Collection cd?

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Reynolds1863 on 06/08/08 at 8:43 pm

I've found stuff I've been looking for about 25 years on itunes.  Dan Seals stuff is pretty hard to find if you don't have either itunes or Napster.  I found an extended version of the Munster's Theme on itunes.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Midas on 06/16/08 at 10:41 pm

I have a few 12" singles and tracks that took me a while to find as I didn't buy them when they first came out:

"Boy In The Box" (12") - Corey Hart - found this at a comic book store in San Luis Obispo CA in 2002.  They had a bunch of used vinyl upstairs.
"Dreamtime" (12") - Daryl Hall - Just found this one a few months ago on my trip to Rockzone Records...for $1.00!  :o
"Far Out" - Sonz Of A Loop Da Loop Era - I never got the name of this track until I stumbled upon an old skool techno site back in '99.  I finally got a copy in 2001.
"Voodoo Child" (Contracted) - Voodoo Child (aka Moby) - Again, didn't know the name of this track because the "Poor in N.Y. Mix" sounds a little different.  This was played a lot in 1991.  I finally snagged it about two years ago.

I'm still searching (not very hard though) for a copy of "Blackjack" by DJ Icey, which is the B-Side to the 12" of "This Is How My Drummer Drums".  Maybe on my next trip to Rockzone.  I'd settle for a clean mp3 copy.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: whistledog on 06/16/08 at 10:48 pm

A while ago as I was in Goodwill, they had a bunch of non picture sleeve 45s, and as I dug through them, I was picking out ones that I didn't recognize in the hopes to find some great songs I never knew about.  One such single had the CANCON logo on it, the song was 'Sadness of the Tribe' by Ann Mortifee.  Didn't recognize the name or the song, but one quick listen, and I knew it right away as a song that I loved when I was a kid

Wasn't long after that I found the album, but since my record player doesn't transfer vinyl well to mp3, I was desperate to get a cassette copy of the album.  Not even a few days ago, I found a cassette copy!  Now I just have to get unlazy and transfer the tape to mp3 LOL

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Foo Bar on 11/28/09 at 12:30 am


Obligatory Rarity:  Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy, Kiss Me (Mixe Plural)".  I'd had the 7", the 12", and the Razormaid mix, but the one I heard on radio in 1984 was the Plural Mix, which was the only one that started off with the lyrics "Cosmic Forces! Sex! Trash! James Joyce! Sex!" at 0:10-0:40, and featured the weird backwards-masked (reminds me, I gotta play that backwards someday) chirpy vocal sounds from 1:20-1:40 and so on.

The annoying thing was that the Mixe Plural was 7:57... the same length as the 12" mix.  I didn't find the Mixe Plural until 2006, and that 22-year hunt is probably my longest successful hunt. 

I still have a couple of tracks that could beat it, though.  Speaking of which, does anyone recognize the Moog-esque samples in the background of the "The information he gets" and "And, it changes" samples in Consolidated's Our Leader?  I'm sure I could find that track, if I only knew what it was, but it's an instrumental, and so it goes...


Y'know, you'd be surprised at what shows up when you google stuff after a year or two.  F'rinstance, the entirity of Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy's  Kiss Me (Mixe Plural) can be had from like, the third entry of a google search.

For that matter, so's Consolidated's Our Leader (third track of the album), and I'm still trying to figure out who did the synthy backbeat to the words "intelligence briefing", "as President", or "and the world is moving too fast to forecast with absolute certainty", and "and yet the morning news is often overtaken", and "Now, more than ever, you need...", and "ultimately".

The annoying bit is that over the past 20 years, I've even found a transcript of the original Bush speech, I just don't know who did the synth backbeat as sampled, only that I know I heard the backbeat - without Bush I's speech - back in the early (Reagan-era) 80s, long before Consolidated sampled a (political ad?) with the speech and backbeat mixed together.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Foo Bar on 08/18/12 at 5:21 pm


The annoying bit is that over the past 20 years, I've even found a transcript of the original Bush speech, I just don't know who did the synth backbeat as sampled, only that I know I heard the backbeat - without Bush I's speech - back in the early (Reagan-era) 80s, long before Consolidated sampled a (political ad?) with the speech and backbeat mixed together.


Update - but no solution yet!

I've found the NY Times article dating the speech that got sampled, but I've yet to find the advertisement that sampled the speech, let alone the track that the advertisement sampled. 

Now that the track has filtered to the Tubes, does anyone recognize the early synthesizer track behind George Bush (Sr.)'s voice, and behind the narrator who says "Now, more than ever, you need...", "And, it changes", and "...ultimately affects you"?  (Hmm, separating out the narrator from the President's samples, maybe it wasn't a political ad, maybe it was an ad for a news network, perhaps CNN?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBx0VZdwwGk
  - Consolidated, Our Leader.

I can date the early electronic backbeat to the 80s.  If you don't recognize the synth track, finding that ad is the next step in the chain.  Does anyone recognize the narrator's voice from an old news commercial or political campaign from 1990-1991?  The speech was made in early 1990. Con$olidated released the album in 1991, so the window in which the samples were broadcast in a commercial with the music is very narrow - January 1990 to January 1991.

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: MaxwellSmart on 08/19/12 at 12:50 am

Remember the song from the infamous ugly woman scene in Silence of the Lambs.  It sounded very familiar, but I couldn't find it anywhere.  It wasn't like nowadays when you can just look it up on IMDb.  I had to watch the credits carefully the second time I saw the film.  I never heard of Q. Lazzarus or "Goodbye Horses" and neither had the record store clerks.  The soundtrack album is only Howard Shore's orchestral music.    A few years later I stumbled on a copy of the "Married to the Mob" soundtrack in a used record shop and there it was Q. Lazzarus "Goodbye Horses."  That's why the song sounded familiar yet I couldn't place it.  I watch Jonathan Demme movies multiple times, but not "Married to the Mob" because it's a POS.  Anyway, I was psyched to finally have the song because it has seventies disco feel with the mechanical beat and the black contralto voice.  I also like the synth line reminiscent of Philip Glass.  Q. Lazzarus is also the singer at the Halloween party in "Philadelphia."  Strange looking woman, don't know much about her.  I suspect she's a tranny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKQQYi11b84&feature=related

Mind you, this is the long version.  The "Married to the Mob" soundtrack version is truncated. 

Another --

Rain by Dragon, Australian group.  They did an eighties album called "Body and the Beat" (1984).  The single "Rain" barely cracked the Hot 100 and disappeared.  All I had for 15 years was a partial recording on an old mix tape.  I always figured the album or the single would show up in a cut-out bin or a second hand store, but neither ever did.  Dragon just never broke into the U.S. market though they were big in Aus/NZ since the early seventies.  The record company gave "Body and the Beat" plenty of promo, but it tanked and was not given a second printing.  It was one of those hard-to-find records nobody was looking for.  I finally ordered the album from Australia in 1999!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuSCiJofGhk

Murray Head's version of "One Night in Bangkok" was pretty hard to find until Rhino released in on the "New Wave Hits of the '80s" series.  I remembered it from the V66 days and went looking for it in the early nineties.  I did get a 7" from Main Street Records in Northampton in 1994, and NWH of the '80s Volume 14 (1996) included the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9mwELXPGbA

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Paul on 08/21/12 at 7:06 am

Different mixes has always been an annoyance for me...

Case in point - Boney M were huge in Britain and the Continent back in the day, but it's a real job trying to locate the original single mixes of their songs (their 'creator', Frank Farian (later of Milli Vanilli fame) had no qualms in tweaking the mixes as it suited him and due to lazy compiling, these mixes are normally the ones you'll find on any given Greatest Hit compilations)...

And unbeliveably, given as it was such a massive hit, Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Relax' has only to my knowledge ever been released on CD once in its original single mix (Volume 13 of the excellent 'Just Can't Get Enough - New Wave Hits of the 80s' series)

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: whistledog on 08/21/12 at 4:56 pm


Different mixes has always been an annoyance for me...

Case in point - Boney M were huge in Britain and the Continent back in the day, but it's a real job trying to locate the original single mixes of their songs (their 'creator', Frank Farian (later of Milli Vanilli fame) had no qualms in tweaking the mixes as it suited him and due to lazy compiling, these mixes are normally the ones you'll find on any given Greatest Hit compilations)...

And unbeliveably, given as it was such a massive hit, Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Relax' has only to my knowledge ever been released on CD once in its original single mix (Volume 13 of the excellent 'Just Can't Get Enough - New Wave Hits of the 80s' series)


That is true about Relax.  There's been so many remixes of that as well as different versions of 'Two Tribes', I don't even know what the originals sound like anymore.

I think just about every year, there's a new Boney M mix album out there.  It's getting hard to keep track of the originals.  The recent duo Duck Sauce didn't help that cause with their 'Gotta Go Home' sampled hit 'Barbra Streisand'.  That same duo also sampled 'Rasputin' for their latest single 'Big Bad Wolf' 

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: MaxwellSmart on 08/22/12 at 11:54 pm


Different mixes has always been an annoyance for me...

Case in point - Boney M were huge in Britain and the Continent back in the day, but it's a real job trying to locate the original single mixes of their songs (their 'creator', Frank Farian (later of Milli Vanilli fame) had no qualms in tweaking the mixes as it suited him and due to lazy compiling, these mixes are normally the ones you'll find on any given Greatest Hit compilations)...

And unbeliveably, given as it was such a massive hit, Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Relax' has only to my knowledge ever been released on CD once in its original single mix (Volume 13 of the excellent 'Just Can't Get Enough - New Wave Hits of the 80s' series)


That's interesting because the only version of "Relax" I own is on JCGE-NWHOT80s.  I got all 15 volumes through my radio station.  I told the Rhino promo guy I needed extras for on-air giveaways but I had every intention of purloining the merch.  He knew it too and he didn't care!

I have yet to find the Club Version of "One Small Day" on CD anywhere.  It has a killer bass line.  I had it on a vinyl-to-CD-R mix I made, but the CD-R went bad. 
It's on the b-side of "Dancing with Tears in my Eyes" 12" (4V9 42783 )
http://991.com/newgallery/Ultravox-Dancing-With-Tear-7362.jpg

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: Paul on 08/23/12 at 3:53 am


That's interesting because the only version of "Relax" I own is on JCGE-NWHOT80s.  I got all 15 volumes through my radio station.  I told the Rhino promo guy I needed extras for on-air giveaways but I had every intention of purloining the merch.  He knew it too and he didn't care!


You lucky so-and-so! I didn't pay top dollar for the series, but paid enough...but still well worth it!

The difference between this single mix and what you normally get served on compilations is small, but noticeable if you play 'em back to back...kudos to the Rhino compilers for their insistence in including it!

I have yet to find the Club Version of "One Small Day" on CD anywhere.  It has a killer bass line.  I had it on a vinyl-to-CD-R mix I made, but the CD-R went bad. 
It's on the b-side of "Dancing with Tears in my Eyes" 12" (4V9 42783 )
http://991.com/newgallery/Ultravox-Dancing-With-Tear-7362.jpg


Despite two reissued versions of the album ('Lament' - 1999 and again 10 years later), it still remains elusive...I guess the best you can hope for is that another reissue campaign will be forthcoming, but knowing the trouble EMI are in, I wouldn't hold your breath!  :-\\

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: warped on 11/08/12 at 2:33 pm

Back in the olden ancient days, before the internet, it was difficult for me to find some songs. You heard lyrics from the radio, but the AM radio announcer never mentioned the artist/song title before or after the songs, so I never knew the name of the song when I listended to it.
Eventually when I got internet back in 1997 or 1998, I could look up on yahoo or altavista or another search engine for the song.

They include:

On the way home - Buffalo Springfield
Goodbye, farewell - Abraham's children
Good time and loving you - Roadhouse
Lady Ellen - James Leroy

(the last 3 are quasi obscure Canadian tunes) and maybe 100 more songs.

Youtube also helped me.  :)

Subject: Re: Anyone got stories of tracking down "hard to find" songs in the past?

Written By: bookmistress4ever on 09/28/15 at 2:43 am

Quite awhile ago (pre-internet days), Record stores (I still call them that even if they don't sell many records anymore) used this series of paperback books put out by a company called Muse.  I was always digging through them to try to identify some ear worm that invaded from my memory.

I was haunted by a song called "Drowning in your eyes", but it was a one-hit wonder because the singer was either murdered or commited suicide (depending on whom you believe) not long after the song was released.

I finally found it, called the record store and asked the clerk if they had the CD.  (They did, but when I went to pick it up, the clerk tried to talk me out of buying it, simply because he'd never heard of the singer.)  ;D

So, that was one of my stories of success. 

I'm *STILL* looking for "Winter Snow", as I mentioned earlier in the thread.  So one of these days, I hope to report of my joy of getting a copy of the song.

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