Singapore in January 1988 at the Marina Mall – that’s where I first heard “Heaven Is A Place On Earth”. I had joined Citi on India a few months earlier and was sent off to the regional office in Singapore for a two-month project. Phoren trip, $30 per-diem to spend along with a serviced apartment to stay in, a great project and tons of time on my hands – major fun was had ! Of course, I did everything that an Indian tourist did in Singapore those days – McDonalds, Komala Vilas on Serangoon Road after shopping at Mustafa, Newton Circus Hawker center, Pepper crabs at Jumbo East Coast (lots of food!)….…..wandering the Malls, wide-eyed at the idea of these glorious collections of shops. And that is where I first heard Belinda Carlisle. Sheltering in Marina Mall from a typical Singapore afternoon shower, I heard “Heaven Is A Place On Earth”. Remember thinking “nice song”. And then for the next few weeks, I then heard “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” and “Circle In The Sand” played incessantly, everywhere, all the time. It got to the point where I couldn’t bear the songs anymore, nice enough though they were.

“Heaven Is A Place On Earth” is of course Belinda’s signature song. A perfect 80’s Pop song, it was a smash hit for Belinda. It’s a really nice pop tune and one of the first few that used the very successful formula of starting a song by belting out the earworm chorus……charming song that I can take in small doses, I think because of the fact that it was crazily overplayed when it was released. For me, it’s the not-as-famous “Circle In the Sand” from the same album that stands out. Maybe because that’s the song that the band at the Hyatt on Scott’s Road used to sing (and yes the lead singer was very pretty 😁). But more than that, the chorus on this is fantastic – haunting and very singable. It paints a picture – “circle in the sand”- ephemeral joys that get washed away by the tide. An entire life, an entire philosophy even, told in just four words. Love it! The other song of her’s I really like is Summer Rain – now that’s a proper, mature pop song. It came a few years after HIAPOE and you can tell the difference in her as an artist.

The problem with discovering singers mid-career is that one doesn’t necessarily track what they did before they burst out with their latest music. I will always remember Belinda for HIAPOE and Circle…and didn’t discover till much later that she had been the lead singer of the Go-Go’s, “New Wave” pioneers with a music style pretty much 180 degrees to the music of Pink Floyd, Queen et al – and that is probably why I completely missed them 😇

Anyway, for a brief period of time, Belinda Carlisle took over the public consciousness and my mind. She was everywhere and then she was gone….like…a circle in the sand (see what I did there 🤓). Hope these songs ring a bell for you too !