Category Archives: Music

Hail to the kings of movie soundtracks

Posted on Thursday, 22. February 2024 by hmvh

Last Saturday I closed a loop that had started 40 years ago: I saw the movie Footloose. You ought to know that the movie as well its soundtrack were huge hits in 1984; the catchy title song, in particular, was all over the radio and TV. It was almost as big as Flashdance from the year before. Kenny may have been dubbed the “King of Movie Soundtracks” in the eighties but it was ultimately Giorgio Moroder and Harold Faltermeyer who were pulling the strings. Continue reading →

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The eighteen-year scratch

Posted on Thursday, 10. May 2018 by hmvh

Every once in a while you happen across an item that launches an entire avalanche of thoughts and memories. One such artefact is the CD above. This is its story. Continue reading →

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A concert in the park

Posted on Thursday, 12. January 2017 by hmvh

It was 32 years ago today that I was here: The Concert In The Park. No, not the Simon & Garfunkel one — this one was held at the Ellis Park Rugby Stadium in Johannesburg on the 12th of January 1985. It was an event of a previously unheard-of scale. Continue reading →

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A thousand contributions

Posted on Saturday, 12. March 2016 by hmvh

Last night I made my 1000th contribution to the Discogs database. It’s a landmark achievement. One thousand new audio entries. It’s also baffling why it took almost 12 years to get to this stage. Continue reading →

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Best-of-the-year radio charts

Posted on Monday, 30. November 2015 by hmvh

Like most teenagers of the eighties, I grew up with one ear permanently stuck to the radio. It became customary for Radio 5 and Radio 702 to count down the greatest singles of the year, and I did my darndest to wake up early and write it all down! Continue reading →

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The art of German party music

Posted on Sunday, 27. September 2015 by hmvh

As someone who’s amassed and “processed” several hundred tapes in recent years, I had the opportunity to take a good look at certain visual cues in the design of the products put out by record labels. As for German party and schlager music, well… let’s just say they make no effort to shake off their gaudy stereotypes. Continue reading →

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What is Cyberia?

Posted on Wednesday, 1. April 2015 by hmvh

“Cyberia” was the name of a long-running series of music mix compilation CDs conjured up in South Africa between DJ friend Rufus Blairgowrie and I. We even created an entire web page dedicated to the series. Continue reading →

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Queen + Adam Lambert live: A review

Posted on Friday, 27. February 2015 by hmvh

About a month ago a personal dream came true: I got to see my favourite band live. Tickets were going fast. Friends and followers of this blog should know that Queen has been my favourite band for over thirty years, even before it became cool to admit to being a fan. Continue reading →

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