"Medley: Love Songs Are Back Again" by Band of Gold

Song#:  2079
Date:  06/13/1984
Debut:  92
Peak:  64
Weeks:  7
Genre:  R&B, Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  Band of Gold was a Dutch studio group assembled by producers Paco Saval and Pete Wingfield. Saval co-wrote a song titled "Love Songs Are Back Again" and used it to introduce a medley of older Pop/R&B hits such as "Betcha By Golly Wow," "Oh Girl," and "Reunited." Saval's tune would bookend the medley, similar to others of the same ilk like "Medley" by Stars on 45. The song was released in the UK and it charted there getting to #24. When it reached the States, AC picked up on the tune and it reached #34 on that chart. Pop and R&B were less enthused and the single stalled at #64 and #62, respectively. It would be Band of Gold's only single to chart in the US. They would push out two more singles in Europe, a follow-up medley by Saval called "In Love Again," and a medley produced by Stars on 45's mastermind Jaap Eggermont titled "This Is Our Time." Both were very low level performers on the UK chart.

ReduxReview:  Noooooo!!! I thought we were done with these awful medley's. Yet, here is another one from the Netherlands, home of Jaap Eggermont, the guy who started this whole mess with Stars on 45. Like many of the singles from the medley heydays, this one was completely unnecessary. However, I will say that the vocalists are pretty solid. I wouldn't mistake any of these snippets as the originals, but the singers do a good job. This single is part of a 10-minute version that appeared on an album and frankly, these 4 minutes were plenty. It's not as horrible as some of the other medleys, but again, it was kind of pointless. If anything good came from this it would be that folks may go back and buy the full songs from the original artists. If you put those into a playlist, it would be damn great.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  Most times these studio groups are just made up of session performers that lend their talents to the projects. Most remain nameless and/or faceless to the public. Band of Gold were not necessarily that different. Although it did seem to consist of two male vocalists and two female vocalists, not much is known about them. Through searching, it does appear that the two male vocalists were Omar Dupree and Forrest (aka Forrest Thomas). Both were American-born singers that found their way over to Europe to do session work. Both men have released some solo work, but nothing seemed to hit. The identities of the female vocalists remains unknown.

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