Propaganda ‘Duel’
An instrumental section of this song was used as the music for TV coverage of the British Rally for many years on BBC television and I heard it on the radio a few times in my youth. Remembering only a few of the lyrics made the track impossible to pin down. Yet I loved it. One of my primary goals when I first became plugged into the web was to find this song.
Eric Clapton ‘Behind the mask’
This one came as a surprise when I finally found out who was singing ‘Who do you love? Is it me babe?’ It was an even bigger surprise to find it was a superior cover version of a song by the Japanese synth pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Deee-Lite ‘What is Love?’
When I heard this track on the radio, I was immediately struck by its obvious Kraftwerk influence. Yet I had no idea who the track was by for a few years (in retrospect the lyric ‘How do you say Deee-Lite?’ should have told me really). This track was a double A side with ‘Groove is in the Heart’ in the UK but was ignored by almost everyone.
Wax ‘Building a bridge to your heart’
I actually knew who recorded this track but was unable to get hold of it until the internet came along. In my youth I had a cassette with a recording of this song from the radio; complete with the ubiquitous over compression added by FM radio broadcasters. In the heady days of Napster I downloaded this one.
This subject popped into my head the other day following a seemingly meaningless series of actions: I was listening to a radio show a few days after it had originally been broadcast via the internet. I heard a song I liked. I checked in the play list on the website and proceeded to amazon.co.uk and bought the track. Within a minute I had my own copy of the song. Doesn’t sound too exciting does it? Yet when I consider this in the context of the years I spent not knowing who created some of my favourite, barely heard tracks, I feel very grateful for the internet.
