Singles...

Rip It Up, Issue 12, 1 June 1978, Page 14

Singles...

This month, there are fewer of the out-of-the-way singles which this column is supposed to cater for. Still, there.are one or two you can request late at night if you want to impress your local D.J. Now that Kate Bush is on the way to emulating her English success here, it will be interesting to see if the other fluke hit of the year : in Britain will catch on. Althia and Donna’s “Up Town Top Ranking” is fairly innocuous reggae as far as I can see, yet it has been selling furiously in the Old Country. The flip side is an introduction to one of the quirks of reggae the ‘dub’. Basically, it is the same backing track with a different mix and most of the vocal removed. The curiosity in this case lies in the fact that of the three writers of "Top Ranking” none are credited on the flip. Not a record for posterity. A little more likely to last is New York band Blondle (the Brigitte Bardot imitator in the band is called Debby , Harry, not Blondie). For their latest single, the band have revived a 60's garage band song, “Denise”, and turned it into''Denis” complete with authentic S6O organ sound, and histrionic lapses into fourth-form French, the song can’t miss. It’s not often you can Hanra and have a Qood weep at the same time. m £ -T~ E The other real standout in this month’s

releases is one you probably won’t need to request, because any station worth its salt should have been playing “I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass” by Nick Lowe for weeks. Lowe was the brains behind Brinsley Schwartz and his production credits include Stick To Me, both Elvis Costello albums and lan Dury’s New Boots And Panties. Breaking Glass’ rides shamelessly on the riff to Bowie's "Sound and Vision” with a few cute tricks thrown in by the rhythm section of Graham Parker’s Rumour. It’s simply irresistable.