Once I Had a Love…

Flashback

This week in 1979 “Blondie” topped the singles chart in the UK with Heart of Glass. Featured on the band’s third studio album, Parallel Lines. The song was originally called ‘Once I Had a Love’ and was inspired by The Hues Corporation’s disco hit, Rock the Boat. A 12-inch single version of “Heart of Glass” was first released in December 1978. Some radio stations in the United States were reluctant to play the song because of the “pain in the ass” lyric, so an edited 7-inch single was released in January 1979. The original album version was released as a single in the UK where the BBC bleeped out the word “ass”. Lead singer Debbie Harry told The Guardian:

“At first, the song kept saying: ‘Once I had a love, it was a gas. Soon turned out, it was a pain in the ass.’ We couldn’t keep saying that, so we came up with: ‘Soon turned out, had a heart of glass.’ We kept one ‘pain in the ass’ in – and the BBC bleeped it out for radio.”

Heart of Glass was a mega hit around the world and, apart from topping the chart in the UK, also made number 1 in the USA, New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland and West-Germany.

New York, New York

Flashback

On the 7th of february 1985 New York’s Mayor “Edward I. Koch” proclaimed Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York the city’s official anthem, although it was never actually made official.

The song was written and performed by Liza Minnelli in the movie of the same name in 1977. In 1979 it was recorded by Sinatra for his album Trilogy: Past Present Future (1980), and became closely associated with him as one of his signature songs. It made the Top 40 in the US and some European Countries and reached Number 4 in Ireland and Number 2 in Canada.

New York, New York was Frank Sinatra’s last hit song.

Those Damn Crows Are Ready

New Music

“Those Damn Crows” are a Welsh rock band formed in 2014. Their 2018 debut album, Murder and the Motive, which had previously been released by the band in 2016 as a self-financed project, reached number 5 on the Official UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart. Their 2020 follow up, Point of No Return, reached number 14 on the UK album chart. Their latest album, Inhale/Exhale, is set for release worldwide on February 17th. The first single, This Time I’m ready, is out now. Frontman Shane Greenhall shares:

“‘𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺’ 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘥. 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 11 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦) 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰… ‘𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺, 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦.”

This Time I’m Ready by “Those Damn Crows” is new this week on RadiJohan.

RadiJohan Top 10 on 04 February 2023

Top 10
TWLWArtistTitle
10NewVisions of AtlantisClocks
9NewJethro TullGinnungagap
88The White BuffaloNot Today
74Cats In Space1,000,000 Miles
69Six60Never Been Tonight
55Jelly RollShe
42Bishop BriggsSuperhuman
36TenThe Tidal Wave
23 RouletteReady For Friday Night
11Tuk Smith & The Restless HeartsEverybody Loves You When You’re Dead

Watch this week’s Top 10 by clicking the play button below.

All Star Gang of 80’s Legends Release New Anthem

New Music

Gonna Be You is a song written by legendary songwriter Dianne Warren for the sports comedy movie 80 For Brady. Dolly Parton has teamed up with fellow megastars Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan, Belinda Carlisle and Blondie’s Debbie Harry for the feel-good song about deep friendship. The movie is based on the true story of a group of friends who take a trip to the Super Bowl in 2017 to see their hero, NFL quarterback Tom Brady, play.

80 For Brady hits theaters in the USA today. Gonna be you, by Dolly and her friends, is new this week on RadiJohan.

DMA’S Release “Fading Like a Picture”

New Music

“DMA’S” are an Australian Rock band formed in Sydney in 2012. They gained popularity in 2014 with their debut single “Delete” and for their self-titled EP. To date they’ve released three albums with the most recent, 2020’s The Glow, charting at number 4 in the UK, number 2 in Australia and topping the album chart in Scotland.

DMA’S next album, How Many Dreams?, is to be released on 31 March 2023. Their new single, Fading like a Picture, is new this week on RadiJohan.

Krezip Releases New Single and Announces New Album

New Music

“Krezip” is a Dutch band from “Tilburg” formed in 1997. They broke through, playing all original songs, at the nationally televised Pinkpop festival in 2000. The band has since had several successful albums and numerous hit singles in the Netherlands, as well as live success, playing at festivals in Belgium and Germany. In 2008 Krezip made headlines when they announced they would be breaking up in 2009. At that point, even though they had been active for 12 years, the band members’ average age was only 27.

On 28 January 2019, news broke that “Krezip” would return to the stage for Pinkpop 2019. That news was followed by a new single the following day and, later that year, a new album.

The band were planning to do only one reunion album accompanied by a short tour, however, the pandemic threw a spanner in the works. While Krezip waited to get back on stage, ideas for new music were born. Accordingly Krezip have announced another new album, called Any Day Now, is due to be released on 7 April 2023. Their brand new single, In The Water, is new this week on RadiJohan.

Tell Me Your Plans

Flashback

“The Shirts” were formed in 1975 in Brooklyn, New York. The group made their record debut in 1976 with three songs on a compilation album, Live at CBGB. Their career really took off after singer “Annie Golden” played a role in the successful musical Hair. Their first album, The Shirts, was released in 1978 and included the single, Tell Me Your Plans. The song became a big hit, but only in the Netherlands, where it reached number 4 in the Top 40, and Belgium, reaching number 6.

The band went on to tour Europe opening for Peter Gabriel, at his request.

RadiJohan Top 10 on 28 January 2023

Top 10
TWLWArtistTitle
104Dea MatronaRed Button
9NewSix60Never Been Tonight
810The White BuffaloNot Today
73Lewis Capaldi Pointless
68TenThe Tidal Wave
59Jelly RollShe
46Cats In Space1,000,000 Miles
35RouletteReady For Friday Night
21 Bishop BriggsSuperhuman
12Tuk Smith & The Restless HeartsEverybody Loves You When You’re Dead

Watch this week’s Top 10 by clicking the play button below.

If You Got a Problem, Billy Can Help

Flashback

“Billy Swan” is an American country singer-songwriter who learned drums, piano and guitar and began writing songs as a child. He is best known for his 1974 single, I Can Help. The story goes that Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge had bought Billy Swan a small “RMI” organ as a wedding present. Billy was fiddling around with it when the chorus of I Can Help “appeared.” Twenty minutes later he had written the lyrics.

In the USA I Can Help topped the “US Billboard Hot 100” as well as reaching number 1 on the Country chart. The song was a hit throughout most of Europe and also reached number 1 in Australia and New Zealand.

I Can Help is generally recognized as being Billy Swan’s only major hit single release. However, he continued to have success as a songwriter for other artists and as a session musician.