Infected - The The

For many years I have procrastinated buying this single by The The. 'Infected' was originally released in a sleeve that was deemed too smutty for the general public, and so it was retracted. Only part of the artwork appeared on the subsequent editions.

When I started frequenting record fairs (25 years ago), I saw the original sleeve many times, but I never bought it. I regret that now, because of course it can't be found anymore. So I finally caved and bought this copy. It's cheap and in great condition. It will do for now, until I do find that other one. Meanwhile, 'Infected' remains a great track, of course. The B-side sounds a bit like a discarded Tears for Fears B-side.

My collection: 7" single no. 5931
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, August 31, 2018
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Infected' / 'Disturbed'

Belly dance - Amina

Before Amina represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1991, she already had a little career of her own. The album 'Yalil' was released in 1989, and featured the single 'Belly dance'. The single was remixed by Paul Oakenfold, who was already a big name in dance circles.

After Eurovision, Amina released one more album in 1992 before disappearing from the scene, only to reappear with another album in 1999. Her success remained limited to France.

My collection: 7" single no. 5928
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, August 31, 2018
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Belly dance (Oakenfold edit)' / 'Belly dance'

Always something there to remind me - Naked Eyes

Record companies can be strange, especially when different strategies are employed in different territories. In the UK, EMI released Naked Eyes' 'Always something there to remind me' in a perfectly great picture sleeve featuring a photograph of the band, but somehow EMI in Germany decided to use the same design while omitting the photograph. I thought the difference was weird enough to make me want to have this version as well.

Of course, the songs remain the same, so this is mainly an opportunity for me to repost the tracks.

My collection: 7" single no. 5927
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, August 31, 2018
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Always something there to remind me' / 'Pit stop'

Dallas - Frank Barber Orchestra

Regular readers of this blog will know that I already posted a version of the 'Dallas' theme two years ago, in a version by the Bobby Patrick Band and the original version by Jerrold Immel. The single here also claims to contain the original version, and despite being quite sure that it wasn't, I was still curious enough to buy this piece.

Sure enough, this single has a decent version of the 'Dallas' theme, but not the original. The B-side features a version of the theme from 'Knots Landing', a 'Dallas' spinoff that I never had the chance to see myself. Perhaps if it is released on DVD someday.

My collection: 7" single no. 5926
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, August 31, 2018
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Dallas' / 'Knots Landing'

The two of us - Earth & Fire

Released in April 1983, 'The two of us' was the last single by Earth & Fire to reach the Dutch Top 40. The band had a lot of hits since 1970, but by 1983, their time was up. They only reached number 32 with this single, and not long after this, they broke up.

There was a brief reunion before the end of the decade, with the single French word for love as a result, but that reunion was short-lived. Later on, singer and frontwoman Jerney Kaagman made a career out of being a jury at inane television talent shows like 'Idols'.

My collection: 7" single no. 5925
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, August 31, 2018
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'The two of us' / 'Love is to give away'

Built for the future - The Fixx

For many years, the Fixx was the band that gave me Stand or fall and Red skies, two singles that ended up in my collection very quickly. Other releases ended up in here years later, and didn't achieve quite that mythical status.

I did become familiar with their album 'Walkabout' when my sister bought it on CD near the end of the Eighties, and the single Secret separation already ended up in my collection nine years ago. This one, 'Built for the future', followed recently. Arguably, the B-side track, 'Camphor', also from the album, is even better.

My collection: 7" single no. 5924
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, August 31, 2018
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Built for the future' / 'Camphor'

Du er fuld af løgn - Trax

Lise Haavik (born 23 February 1962) is a Danish/Norwegian singer, best known for representing Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest in Bergen, Norway in 1986. She is also well-known domestically for her partnership in the duo Trax with John Hatting, her ex-husband. While they were both on the Eurovision stage, only Lise Haavik was credited as she was the only one who sang. Still, this single release is credited to Trax.

The song was successful in the Contest, placing sixth out of 20 entries that evening. This would be the only time Haavik would appear at Eurovision, having tried and failed to represent Denmark in 1984 and 1985. She also made an attempt to represent Norway in 1988.

My collection: 7" single no. 5919
Found: Discogs.com, received August 16, 2018
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Du er fuld af løgn' / 'Du er fuld af løgn (instrumental)'

Once we might have known - Cock Robin

Not content with just the promo 7" single I bought two months ago, I was happy to find the commercially released single of Cock Robin's 'Once we might have known' recently. I didn't actually expect to find it this quickly, but with online ordering you have to be smart about orders: I got a few from these sellers and then one extra disc doesn't matter much for shipping.

This commercial 7" features a B-side, the album version of 'More than willing'. It might be a little underwhelming, but I still think it's a nice addition to my collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 5920
Found: Discogs.com, received August 16, 2018
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Once we might have known' / 'More than willing'

More than words can say - Mel & Kim

Mel & Kim are best known for their four singles released in 1987 and 1988, from Showing out to That's the way it is. It may come as a surprise that another single saw the light of day in 1989. It was this one, 'More than words can say', a track taken from their debut (and only) album. It was released in Scandinavia to support the release of 'Something Special', an album that was also released in only a few countries. 'Something Special' brought together a selection of remixes, and this single was apparently released to promote that compilation album.

I didn't know all this until a few years ago, but the single, rare as it is, is pretty hard to find. I was pleasantly surprised recently when a copy popped up in the collection of a Danish seller on Discogs.com, so I snapped it up immediately (along with a few other singles).

My collection: 7" single no. 5916
Found: Discogs.com, received August 16, 2018
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'More than words can say' / 'You changed my life'

Sister paradise - Time Bandits

'Sister paradise' was the Time Bandits' second single, but it wasn't as successful as their debut single, 'Live it up'. The 12" single, shown here, featured the full length version of the track, which was also found on their debut album, released some time after this single. It does sound a lot like an extended remix, with the instrumental part in the second half of the track.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received August 11, 2018
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Sister paradise' / 'Cues part 2'

Burn it up (Mr. DJ) - Risqué

Valapucci (real name: Mike Wilkinson) was the head of programming and president of 'Disconet', which was a remix service for DJ's in America. He created the remix of 'Burn it up (Mr. DJ)' that was released on this 12" single. The remix was originally found on Disconet volume 6 program 2, but apparently Polydor (Risqué's record company) was so impressed with it, they released it as a 12" single in its own right.

Next to the original extended version of 7 minutes, this 12" single also features a vocal and dub version, also created by Valapucci. And it has to be said: this remix improves on the original track quite a bit.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received August 11, 2018
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Burn it up (Mr. DJ) (Club mix)' / 'Burn it up (Mr. DJ) (Vocal)', 'Burn it up (Mr. DJ) (dub)'

Wildfire - Time Bandits

Here's another American 12" single from the Time Bandits. You can't say that the record company didn't try: this release is from 1988, when the band was all but finished in the Netherlands. 'Wildfire' didn't make the Dutch Top 40 when it was released in 1987, and no further singles made it into the charts.

'Wildfire' was produced by Dan Hartman, and the remixes on this disc were made by John Potoker. Perhaps this is why Columbia felt that this single would be successful in the USA - but it wasn't. Still, I quite like these remixes.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received August 16, 2017
Cost: $4
Tracks: 'Wildfire (extended)' / 'Wildfire (dub)', 'Wildfire (instrumental)'

Dancing on a string - Time Bandits

Not one, but two different extended remixes exist of Time Bandits' 1986 single 'Dancing on a string'. The 12" single I featured last year had a remix by Ben Liebrand, a big name in the remix world, but this one, created for the American market and released by Columbia in the USA, features a slightly shorter extended remix by Michael Brauer.

One has to wonder whether it is the same Michael Brauer who got so much acclaim recently for his work with Coldplay - but this remix, being 30 years old, could be from a namesake. Fact is, I just don't know.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 August 2017
Cost: $4
Tracks: 'Dancing on a string (extended version)' / 'Dancing on a string (single version)', 'Dancing on a string (dub version)'

Any trick - Breathe

Breathe also released 'Any trick' from their debut album. It was remixed by Mike Ging and dubbed the 'Like a monkey radio mix'. The remix didn't help the fortunes of this single release: it did not trouble the UK charts.

If you dislike the sleek, polished sound of Breathe, you should check out the B-side of this single: it's a great dub mix that was not originally an album track. The 2013 re-release of Breathe's debut album 'All that jazz' does include the track - but then, that double CD edition collects virtually everything that was released by the band at that time.

My collection: 7" single no. 5912
Found: 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Any trick (Like a monkey radio mix)' / 'Make it funky'

Jonah - Breathe

Another release from Breathe's debut album was this single, 'Jonah'. Originally released as the band's third single, it didn't do much in the charts. After the impressive chart success of 'Hands to heaven', this single was re-released in a new poster sleeve. The record company probably hoped the song would do better the second time around.

Well, it did, sort of. This time the single reached number 60 in the UK singles chart. That was still not a great success, but history would prove that it was the fourth best chart placing in the UK for them. Later singles 'How can I fall' and 'Don't tell me lies' (another re-release) reached number 48 and 45 respectively.

My collection: 7" single no. 5911
Found: 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Jonah' / 'Liberties of love'

Lisa Mona Lisa - Wilfried

I got to know Austrian singer Wilfried pretty early on, because of a holiday in Austria in 1980. The sleeve of his album hung prominently in a shop window in the centre of Vienna, and since my brother was also named Wilfried at the time, 9-year-old me suddenly had this vision of a pop star sibling. It wasn't to be.

In 1988 Wilfried appeared in my life once again, this time representing Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Lisa Mona Lisa'. He ended up in last place with zero points. None of the other countries wanted to award points to a country that had recently elected Kurt Waldheim - a man with a shady past during World War II - as its president. Although one could argue that Wilfried's voice problems could also have been cause of this bad result.

My collection: 7" single no. 5909
Found: Discogs.com, received July 18, 2018
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Lisa Mona Lisa' / 'Lisa Mona Lisa (French version)'

Once we might have known - Cock Robin

Cock Robin became very successful in Europe when they released 'The promise you made' - a number 1 hit in the Netherlands. Other singles didn't fare as well, but I still have a pretty complete collection of their singles and albums nonetheless.

This one, however, was missing. It was a single that only appeared in the USA. There are two versions: the commercial 7" single, and this promotional 7" single. This single features the single edit of 'Once we might have known' on both sides. It is a nice song, but not the best track from the band's debut album.

My collection: 7" single no. 5905
Found: Discogs.com, received June 22, 2018
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Once we might have known' / 'Once we might have known'

C30 C60 C90 go - Bow wow wow

This is the debut single of Bow wow wow, released in July 1980. Initially it was only released as a cassette single (the world's first ever cassette single, in fact), but a few weeks later this single appeared. With a black label and the lyrics of the song on the sleeve it was an attractive design but pretty anonymous.Who were these people?

The band was put together by Malcolm McLaren, after persuading Matthew Ashman, David Barbarossa and Leigh Gorman to leave Adam & the Ants. 13-year-old Annabella Lwin was recruited as the band's singer. The band's debut single reached number 34 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 5899
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2018
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'C30 C60 C90 go' / 'Sun sea and piracy'

Please please please let me get what I want - Dream Academy

I am pretty pleased and surprised when I find a single I never saw before of a band I know and love - and with this one it was a case of 'well, it's cheap, I may as well check it out'. Most people know the Dream Academy for their mid-Eighties hit Life in a Northern town only, but I checked out a few other singles by them and I was never disappointed.

This particular single was released in 1985, pretty soon after The Smiths released the song as a B-side to their 1984 single 'William, it was really nothing'. The single reached number 83 in the UK singles chart. A later cover version by Slow Moving Millie in 2011 was more successful: it peaked at number 31.

My collection: 7" single no. 5894
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2018
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Please please please let me get what I want' / 'In places on the run'

The right side won - What Fun!

When I hear 'The right side won' I can't help but think back to the year 1983 when my life revolved around pirate radio stations and watching music videos on television. My school results suffered, of course, but that was no big problem - or so I thought.

What Fun! was a pop/reggae group based in Haarlem, Netherlands. Within two years, the group grew rapidly in size to a total of ten members. Their single 'The right side won' was the band's biggest hit, reaching number 3 in the Dutch Top 40. The song was inspired by the Falklands war. By 1989, after a few singles and albums, What Fun! had run out of steam and the members went their separate ways, only to reform again in 2005 with five of the original members and three new ones.

My collection: 7" single no. 5786
Found: Kringloop Den Haag, January 6, 2017
Tracks: 'The right side won' / 'The right side won (instrumental)'