 | SURE WISH THAT HE WASN'T HERE |
| . | Kilopop!'s first hit, reaching #7 in the All-Euro chart in 1966. Trynka: "I was just 15 years old, yet had seen a lot of the world already. All the girls I knew were typical teenagers concerned with dates, their 'reputations', clothes, hair... but my interests were a little more... experimental." |
 | KISS R'N'R GOODBYE |
| . | This 1967 follow-up to "Sure Wish" reached #4.Trynka: "My boyfriend at the time was the son of a very rich Luxembourg banker - a royal too - but although he thought he wanted a pop star girlfriend and a Bohemian life, he really was just gezhnitse (a square)." |
 | RED DRINKS! RED DRINKS! (YOUR LIFE STINKS) |
| . | Released in 1973, with chart action in Finland (#11), Iceland (#24), Belgium (#86) and Ireland (#5). Furk: "I was on holiday in Reykjavik and I went down to the hotel bar for a lager... but it must have been AA night or something, because everyone was drinking cranberry juice. Now, Iceland is a hard-drinking country, yet all these people were looking at me like I was the one with the drinking problem... which I don't have... honest." |
 | SKY MEN |
| . | A UFO encounter tune written by Geoff Goddard and first recorded by the eccentric UK producer Joe Meek in 1963. Kilopop!'s version dates from 1968, and reached #2 in France and Germany. "Spend a little time with my brother Furk," Trynka says, "and you too will come to believe that aliens walk among us!" |
 | TO THE WIND (OR SOMETHING) |
| . | In 1971, a world-weary Trynka ran away to Papua New Guinea to study meditation with a Goilala shaman. "I wrote this song - with the sounds of the jungle all around me - as a sort of 'letter home' to tell Furk why I didn't want to come back." But after chanting to a coconut for 33 days straight, and getting little response, she decided to give modern life another shot. Although never charting, this hypnotic tune became popular with Europe's hippies and gypsy-travellers... with the phrase "To the wind!" replacing "Goodbye" in hostels, squats and campgrounds across the EU. |
 | .HEAVEN CAN HURT |
| . | The one that got away... this arena-rock epic reached #2 all across Europe in 1974, and came in #2 in the Eurovision Song Contest... both times robbed of the #1 slot by ABBA. Trynka: "They are all good friends of mine and I love them dearly, but they had so many hits and so much money already... couldn't they have just taken the year off?" |
 | BEAT OF THE WORLD |
| . | A real rarity - part of a live radio broadcast from the bathroom (!) of a hospitality suite at MIDEM in Cannes, France, '85. Kilopop!'s label hosted an on-air party celebrating the band's 20th anniversary, and when a journalist asked if there were any new songs in the works, the touring band grabbed any available noise-maker (toy keyboards, travel guitars and even a trashcan) and jammed on this work-in-progress... until someone tripped over a wire and unplugged the Codec. "I hate this recording," Trynka says. "They put me in a shower stall, the tune's in too low a key and the French engineer put a silly processor on my voice. And all I could think about during the whole thing was 'I wish everyone would just go away so I could pee.' " |
 | MILLIONS & MILLIONS |
| . | This slice of social realism got to #3 on the All-Euro chart in 1998. "The tune started life as a fast, hard rocker," Furk says. "But all the pop hits on The Voice of America were medium tempo tunes with acoustic guitars, drum machines and cooing backing vocals. Since I really wanted an American success, I went for that kind of arrangement." Never charted in America, but did get used in a commercial for the New Jersey State Lottery. |
 | GONE I GO |
| . | A non-CD B-side from 1984, and Furk's only recorded lead vocal. Furk: "Trynka was in hospital (a bad herring) but the studio was booked so I had to step forward. It's a kiss-off song that I wrote after seeing an old lover in the airport in Rome. The old, old story... boy meets girl, boy loses girl... to another girl." |
 | WHO ARE PARENTS? |
| . | Another B-side dating from 1989. Furk: "Our record company expected a hit, but I'm very contrary and so made a Shaggs cover instead. That's Perry Robinson - an American from New Jersey - on clarinet. We were playing a festival in Denmark, and Perry was also on the bill, so we grabbed some studio time in Copenhagen. Our label hated it, but the tune actually charted in Estonia." |
 | COMING BACK DOWN TO EARTH |
| . | From 1999's "Energie-Fabrik" CD, where Furk added lyrics to 12 of Raymond Scott's instrumental compositions. All the more impressive, since Trynka sings only in phonetic English. |
 | BONUS TRACKS |
| . | Red Drinks! (Sonny and Cher version), Millions & Millions (LP version), Who Are Parents? (instrumental version), Millions & Millions (original 4-track demo) |
