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behindthegrooves:

On this day in music history: January 14, 1983 - “Nena”, the debut album by Nena is released (US release is re-titled “99 Luftballons” and is released on February 28, 1984). Produced by Reinhold Heil and Manne Praeker, it is recorded at Spliff-Studio in Berlin, West Germany in Late 1982. The German new wave pop/rock bands debut release includes their worldwide smash “99 Luftballons” (#2 US Pop), which is inspired when the bands guitar player Carlo Karges watches balloons being released at a Rolling Stones concert in West Berlin. He collaborates on the song with the bands’ keyboardist Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen. The songs’ lyrics are a fictional narrative of children releasing balloons that are mistaken for incoming weapons by the East German army, setting off a nuclear war between the east and west. When the album is released in the US thirteen months after its international release, it features three of the songs re-recorded in English, including “99 Luftballons” (re-titled “99 Red Balloons”) and the follow up single “Just A Dream” (#102 Bubbling Under). “Nena” hits number one on the German album chart, with the US version “99 Luftballons” peaking at number twenty seven on the Billboard Top 200.

behindthegrooves:

On this day in music history: January 11, 1982 - “Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?”, the debut album by The Waitresses is released. Produced by Chris Butler, it is recorded at Blue Rock Studios, Greene Street Studios, RPM Studios in New York City and Bushflow Studios in Akron, OH from Autumn - Winter 1981.  Formed by guitarist Chris Butler in 1978 in his hometown of Akron, OH, The Waitresses also includes band members Patty Donahue (lead vocals), Tracy Wormworth, David Hofstra (bass), Billy Ficca (drums) (formerly of Television), Dan Klayman (keyboards) and Mars Williams (saxophone). Featuring Donahue’s instantly distinctive dead pan vocals and Butler’s first rate material, like their post-punk contemporaries Gang Of Four, they also stand out for their unique co-ed line up. Though Wormworth joins the band after recording is completed, she is pictured on the back of the album cover, and appears in the band’s music videos. The Waitresses’ debut album, originally released on independent label ZE Records, is picked up for national release by Polydor Records and includes the bands’ debut single “I Know What Boys Like”. The single is originally released in 1980, but charts on its 1982 re-release (also boosted by the bands’ appearance the first episode of the short lived TV series “Square Pegs”) peaking at #62 on the Hot 100. Regarded as a new wave classic, “I Know What Boys Like” is later featured in the coming of age comedy “The Last American Virgin” and in “I Was A Teenage Zombie”. It is also covered by actress and comedienne Tracey Ullman, The Party, The Hit Crew, and Vitamin C. The songs’ chorus in also interpolated into rap and R&B songs by Jay-Z (Featuring Lil’ Kim & Puff Daddy), and Chris Brown (Featuring Juelz Santana). It is also spoofed on the long running animated series “Family Guy”, when Herbert The Pervert performs “I Know What Boys Like” while auditioning for a job as a church organist. The album is reissued on CD in Japan in 2010 by P-Vine Records, including the long version of the holiday classic “Christmas Wrapping”. The disc comes packaged in a mini replica of the original LP sleeve. “Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?” peaks at number forty one on the Billboard Top 200.

(Source: youtube.com)