45 RPM: Tears For Fears’ “Sowing The Seeds Of Love” [German 7″]

Here’s your ticket to some of the best (or, perhaps, most infamous) 7″ singles ever released! No adapter is required, although in my opinion the device pictured below is right up there with Hostess Ding Dongs (but only when they were wrapped in tin foil!) as one of the best inventions of the 20th century.

I can still remember the very first time I heard “Sowing The Seeds Of Love.” It was during the summer of 1989, and (of course) it was on 94.5 The Edge. The song came on without introduction, but it didn’t need one– I knew instantly that I was finally hearing new music from Tears For Fears. It had been more than four years since the release of Songs From The Big Chair, which of course was an eternity back then. I was a senior in high school when Big Chair came out, and now I was about to be (sort of, for the most part, practically but maybe still needing a few more credit hours) a senior in college. A lot had changed in that time, but I still knew Tears For Fears when I heard them.

Of course, “Sowing The Seeds Of Love” did not disappoint (the song or the album)– despite its retro-Beatles vibe (especially during the middle section), the song still sounded fresh and new. MTV played the gorgeous video to death, the single hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100…and then the band basically broke up. Curt Smith left Tears For Fears, and it would be another three years before Roland Orzabal returned with new music under the Tears For Fears name. And when he did, it was with a remade version of a song that was originally released as the b-side of the “Sowing The Seeds Of Love” 45. The original 1989 release was entitled “Tears Roll Down,” and the updated 1992 version (now called “Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down”) reached #17 in the U.K. Come to think of it, the first time I heard “Laid So Low” was also on 94.5 The Edge– and once again, I had absolutely no doubt who I was listening to…

Note: Roland and Curt have been back together as Tears For Fears for a long time now, and are currently working on a new record. The Edge isn’t around to play their music any longer, but I’m sure the fact that there will soon be a new Tears For Fears album makes George Gimarc very happy– wherever he may be…

Tears For Fears: Sowing The Seeds Of Love [German 7″]

Fontana Records, 1989

A-side:  “Sowing The Seeds Of Love” [7″ Version] (Roland Orzabal/Curt Smith)

Sowing The Seeds Of Love [7″ Version]

B-side: “Tears Roll Down” (Roland Orzabal/David Bascombe)

Tears Roll Down

____________________________________________________

Bonus Tracks!

The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.

Tears For Fears: “Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)

From the album Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82-92)

Mercury Records, 1992

Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)

Tears For Fears: “Shout [Acapella]” (Roland Orzabal/Ian Stanley)

Taken from the U.S. promo-only 12″ Shout

Original version from the album Songs From The Big Chair

Mercury Records, 1985

Shout [Acapella]