Time Bandits (band)

Time Bandits are a Dutch band from the 1980s, best known for their hits "I'm Specialized in You", "Endless Road" and "I'm Only Shooting Love".

The band

The band was formed in 1981 by Dutch born Alides Hidding, who wrote all songs and sang lead vocals. The band's four albums made the charts all over the world. Time Bandits established a presence on the American music scene with two entries on the dance charts with the number 6 dance hit "Live It Up" in 1982 and "I'm Only Shooting Love", which peaked at number 2 in 1985.^[1]

By the mid-1980s, Time Bandits had also achieved great success in Australia, where "I'm Only Shooting Love" and "Endless Road" (where its music video was filmed) were both Top 10 hits and are now widely considered '80s classics. These singles and other hits such as "Listen to the Man with the Golden Voice", "Dancing on a String" and "I'm Specialized in You" were also successful in the Netherlands, Germany, France and New Zealand (where "I'm Only Shooting Love" hit number one in June 1984).

After moving to Los Angeles from Europe in 1989, Alides' songs have been recorded by such artists as Jennifer Rush, The Nylons, and various European performers. He has established songwriting collaborations with such writers as Charlie Midnight (producer of Alides' last album Can't Wait for Another World together with Dan Hartman), Jackie DeShannon, Pamela Phillips Oland, Dwayne Hitchings, Donny Markowitz, and Todd Smallwood.

The versatility of Alides Hidding is reflected in his capacity to adapt to a wide range of songwriting and producing styles. His works vary from R&B, blues, dance, rock and pop.

Other band members were Marco Ligtenberg (keyboards), Guus Strijbosch (bass) and Dave van den Dries (drums).

After an absence from the stage, Alides began touring with his new band in 2006.

Discography

Albums

• Time Bandits (1982) (CBS Records – CX 85543)

1. "Lookin' Out" – 4:50
2. "Live It Up" – 4:50
3. "Power" – 3:43
4. "Sister Paradise" – 6:30
5. "Good Timin'" – 4:44
6. "Rumours" – 4:10
7. "Cues Part 2" – 3:45
8. "A Man's Heart" – 5:15
9. "In Town" – 4:40

• Tracks (1983)

1. "I'm Only Shooting Love" – 4:54
2. "Ushi Girl" – 4:10
3. "Right or Wrong" – 3:03
4. "Holiday Heartbreaker" – 3:57
5. "Listen to the Man with the Golden Voice" – 5:10
6. "Friends" – 3:58
7. "Only Lovers Will Survive" – 3:58
8. "Don't Let Your Love Go Bad" – 4:28
9. "How Does It Feel" – 6:12

• Time Bandits (1984)

1. "I'm Only Shooting Love" – 4:32
2. "Only Lovers Will Survive" – 3:17
3. "Listen to the Man with the Golden Voice" – 3:54
4. "Power" – 3:43
5. "A Man's Heart" – 4:14
6. "Crazy World" – 4:24
7. "Live It Up" – 4:23
8. "I'm Specialized in You" – 3:50
9. "Right or Wrong" – 3:23
10. "Holiday Heartbreaker" – 3:49
11. "Lookin' Out" – 4:50
12. "How Does It Feel" – 6:11

This combination of tracks from their first two albums plus "I'm Specialized in You" and "Crazy World" served as the group's worldwide debut. An edition with 10 tracks and an altered track listing was released in the US in 1984, while the version listed above is the worldwide edition.

• Fiction (1985) (CBS Records – 25987)

1. "Dancing on a String" – 4:17
2. "I Want to Live" – 5:08
3. "I Won't Steal Away" – 4:43
4. "You Are Every World" – 4:27
5. "Runaway" – 3:52
6. "Only a Fool" – 5:00
7. "Back Against the Wall" – 4:52
8. "Endless Road" – 4:20
9. "America" – 4:19
10. "I'm Only Shooting Love" (special remix; CD bonus track) – 7:19
11. "I Won't Steal Away" (special remix; CD bonus track) – 7:14
12. "Star" (CD bonus track) – 4:13

Fiction was released on CD in 1985 by CBS Grammofoonplaten B.V France. This is the only known release on CD and is extremely rare.

• Can't Wait for Another World (1987) (CBS Records – 4508782)

1. "Wildfire" – 3:46
2. "We'll Be Dancing" – 4:02
3. "Pasadena Dreamworld" – 4:16
4. "True Love" – 4:07
5. "Earthlings" – 5:50
6. "Every Heartbeat" – 4:11
7. "Can't Wait for Another World" – 4:05
8. "Sail" – 5:17
9. "Wherever We Go" – 4:25
10. "You're Not at Home" – 2:05

• Greatest Hits (1990)
• As Life (2003)
• Out of the Blue (2012)

Singles

Trivia

• The "Endless Road" music video was filmed in Australia during the band's 1985 tour.^[6] The band are seen driving in a Toyota Tarago minivan, driving on country roads and through the streets of the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, where the the pedestrian overpass and exterior of the Paradise Centre and the waterslides at Grundy's^[7] in Surfers Paradise, and shots of the band performing at the Seagulls Club in Tweed Heads are featured. Other brief shots show them at the Big Pineapple, in a banana plantation, and viewing the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge from a boat on Sydney Harbour.

References

External links

• Official site of the band (in Dutch)