It seems almost quaint now, but there was a time when most of my purchases came from department stores. Whether Sears, Montgomery Ward, or (at the discount end of the spectrum) Venture, much of my record collection as a kid was bought from those three retailers, two of which no longer exist.
In fact, I’m about 90% certain that my vinyl copy of soundtrack to 1984’s Electric Dreams was purchased at Montgomery Ward when they were clearing out their music department. I saw few films in the theaters back in those days, and while Electric Dreams wasn’t one of them, I wanted the soundtrack for the unreleased songs by Culture Club and Helen Terry, the band’s backing vocalist and unofficial fifth member. The sublime ballad, “Love Is Love,” remains a fave to this day.
Culture Club’s Boy George and Roy Hay also penned “Electric Dreams,” one of the film’s two theme songs, sung by P.P. Arnold. The other, “Together In Electric Dreams,” was written and performed by Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey of The Human League, and was released as a single in the UK, reaching #3.
Today, Wolfette posted a cover of “Together In Electric Dreams” as a free download. Her take on the nearly 28-year-old tune is an absolute delight, if not totally unsurprising that the London-based singer-songwriter (née Dominique Woolf) would choose to re-do the synthpop legends’ collaborative track, as Wolfette’s own music takes inspiration from the work of such retro-electro giants.
Wolfette put together a music video for “Together In Electric Dreams,” which she shot with her phone and edited together using iMovie. How far technology has come since 1984:
Free download of Wolfette – “Together In Electric Dreams” by joining her email list.