In 1993, Luxembourg participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the very last time. Despite regular rumours of their return to the Contest, the country has not made an appearance in the last 22 years so it seems likely that this song by Modern Times, a duo consisting of Simone Weis and Jimmy Martin, will remain their last.
'Donne moi une chance' is sung partly in Luxembourgish. It starts off with a strong intro but becomes a bit dull after that. Apparently the juries thought the same: at the end of the voting, the song had acquired 11 points, finishing as 20th in a field of 25 competitors.
My collection: 7" single no. 5611 Found: eBay.com, received February 12, 2015 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Donne moi une chance' / 'Heaven only knows'
In the early Nineties, vinyl singles were becoming increasingly scarce. For some reason, singles from that era have become rather collectible. As a result, a single like this commands prices upwards of 8 euros on the internet. If they are offered at all, that is. Imagine my surprise when I found this copy in a big store filled with singles at 1 euro!
Sarah Bray represented Luxembourg in 1991 with 'Un baiser volé', a song composed by Patrick Hippert with lyrics by Mick Wersant and Linda Lecomte. At the close of voting, it had received 29 points, placing 14th in a field of 22 competitors.This single presents both the French and English versions.
My collection: 7" single no. 5595 Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, January 16, 2015 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Un baiser volé' / 'One stolen kiss'
Atlantis 2000 competed in the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest with Dieser Traum darf niemals sterben. I bought the single of that song five years ago, as you can see here. I didn't know, however, that an English version was also released. That version appears here, on a single which contains both the English and German version. The lyric of the English version was written by Richard Palmer-James.
It was a nice try, but this single didn't chart in any territory. And so, the never-ending dream came to a premature end.
My collection: 7" single no. 5626 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received August 29, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Never-ending dream' / 'Dieser Traum darf niemals sterben'
The double LP and double CD collection 'The best of the Doors', originally released in 1985, can still be seen as the ultimate introduction to the American band's output. The album was re-released in 1991 and promoted by this single, featuring an edit of 'Light my fire' and the classic 'People are strange'.
At the time of release, there was also a 12" single featuring the full length version of 'Light my fire' and the additional track 'Soul kitchen'. And, to top it all off, a CD-single featured all four tracks. Although it isn't particularly inspiring to hear both the edit and full length version of 'Light my fire' side by side, I'd have to say.
My collection: 7" single no. 5386 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Light my fire (edit)' / 'People are strange'
Written by Eugene Record, 'Oh girl' was originally a hit for the Chi-Lites in 1972. The song centers on a relationship on the verge of break-up. The narrator expresses concern that the break-up may prove unbearable for him, while knowing that staying will be no better. The song became their first and only number one hit in the USA.
Paul Young recorded a cover of the song in 1990 on his album 'Other voices'. It was released as the second single from the album. It reached number 25 in the UK singles chart, while climbing to number 8 in the USA.
My collection: 7" single no. 5421 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Oh girl' / 'You're the one'
Somehow, the music press and media were taking guitar bands from Seattle very seriously at the beginning of the Nineties. The previous obsession with drugs-fuelled dance music was forgotten, everyone suddenly had to listen to screaming bipolar maniacs who'd just come from rehearsal studios without ever seriously studying things like melody or lyrics.
It was refreshing, therefore, that 'Weird Al' Yankovic came with his parody on Nirvana's 'Smells like teen spirit'. Entitled 'Smells like Nirvana', it pokes fun at the socalled 'grunge' band from Seattle and their largely atrocious music. The single reached number 35 in the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, number 48 in Canada, number 38 in Sweden, number 24 in Australia and a rather surprising number 4 in New Zealand!
My collection: 7" single no. 5417 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Smells like Nirvana' / 'Waffle king'
'Always on the run' was the first single released from Lenny Kravitz's 1991 album 'Mama said'. by Lenny Kravitz. It features a contribution from former Guns N' Roses guitarist, Slash. Slash had written the music for the song with the original intention of releasing it on a Guns N' Roses studio album but since former drummer Steven Adler had difficulty playing the song, he saved it for this eventual collaboration with Kravitz.
This limited edition 7" single pack features a hand written lyric sheet (well, Lenny's handwriting printed on a piece of paper, that is), a postcard and a European Tour Map. It didn't help sales in the UK: the single only reached number 41 in the singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 5434 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Always on the run' / 'Always on the run (instrumental)'
I got to know The Doors thanks to a TV documentary by Dutch broadcaster Veronica in the mid-Eighties. I missed the band when they were around due to being born in 1970, but the age of 15 is a great time to get in touch with the moody ramblings of Jim Morrison, I guess.
And so I hope that many more youngsters were around in 1991 when the movie 'The Doors', starring Val Kilmer, was released in cinemas worldwide. Oliver Stone directed this movie loosely based on Morrison's life and career, and although I have virtually no recollection of that movie, the music of course stood up firmly. The record company even released this single to coincide with the cinema release. 'Break on through' is nice enough, but one of my favourite Doors-tracks graces the B-side: 'Love street', taken from their most engaging album 'Waiting for the sun'.
My collection: 7" single no. 5387 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Break on through' / 'Love street'
Chris Rea released a stream of singles during his career that weren't always successful in the charts. Many of his single releases did not chart at all or scraped into the lower reaches - under the top 40 that is.
'God's great banana skin' the title track of his 1993 album, was reasonably successful, as it reached number 31 in the UK singles chart. It repeats that old mantra: 'Don't you ever think no-one's better than you'. It's a thought many people I know should get into their heads.
My collection: 7" single no. 5462 Found: unknown Tracks: 'God's great banana skin' / 'I saw you coming'
The original single of Alicia Bridges' I love the nightlife was featured on this blog a few months ago, but I also own a copy of a remix of this track. It was released in 1994, after having been used in the movie 'The adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the desert'. The music video that accompanied this release featured Hugo Weaving, star of the movie.
The original track was a disco classic, and these remixes are less memorable. Typical Nineties fare, I would say, as many remixes from that decade have unfortunately turned out to be rather forgettable.
My collection: 7" single no. 5469 Found: HMV, London Cost: 2 pounds Tracks: 'I love the nightlife (Real Rapino 7" mix)' / 'I love the nightlife (Phillip Damien 7" mix)'
'The show must go on' was released as the third single from Queen's 1991 album 'Innuendo'. It was written mainly by Brian May. It chronicles the effort of Freddie Mercury continuing to perform despite approaching the end of his life; he was dying from complications due to AIDS, although his illness had not yet been made public in spite of ongoing media speculation claiming that he was seriously ill. Mercury was so ill, and could barely walk, when the band recorded the song in 1990, that May had concerns as to whether he was physically capable of singing it. Recalling Mercury's performance, May states; "he went in and killed it, completely lacerated that vocal".
It was released as a single in the United Kingdom on 14 October 1991 in promotion for the Greatest Hits II album, just six weeks before Mercury died. Following Mercury's death on 24 November 1991, the song re-entered the British charts and spent as many weeks in the top 75 (five) as it did upon its original release, initially reaching a peak of 16. By now, it is truly obvious that 'the show must go on', as Queen have just released another greatest hits album featuring a few 'new' tracks, recorded before Mercury's death, including a duet with another dead legend, Michael Jackson.
My collection: 7" single no. 5443 Found: unknown Tracks: 'The show must go on' / 'Keep yourself alive'
Paul Young released his fourth solo album 'Other Voices' in 1990. The album peaked at number 4 in the UK albums chart, selling over 100,000 copies. The first single from the album was 'Softly whispering I love you', written by Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook in 1967. The song was originally recorded by the duo under the name of David and Jonathan. It was covered in 1971 by the Congregation and in 1972 by Johnny Farnham and Allison Durbin.
Paul Young's version was a hit in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands, peaking at number 21, 16 and 44 respectively.
My collection: 7" single no. 5420 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Softly whispering I love you' / 'Leaving home'
'Wild and Lonely' was the last album released by the Associates in 1990. It may have been an accurate description of the state of affairs at the time, since Billy MacKenzie, the sole member of the band by then, had seen band mate Alan Rankine leave, and his previous album, 'The Glamour Chase', unreleased as the record company deemed it not commercially viable.
The first single from this album, 'Fever', had flopped, and 'Fire and Ice' had to face the same fate. After the release of a third single, 'Just can't say goodbye', which also didn't chart, the Associates name was finally put to rest. That's not to say that the material from the 1990 album was necessarily bad: this single is a good example of nice, melodic pop.
My collection: 7" single no. 5449 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Fire to ice' / 'Green tambourine'
'Julia says' was released as the second single from Wet Wet Wet's sixth studio album, 'Picture this'. It was released on March 13, 1995 and peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.
Marti Pellow recorded his own version of the song for inclusion on his 2002 album 'Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile'.
This 7" single was released as a limited edition on purple vinyl. The song is nice but it is quite unfortunate that the band decided to 'rock out' near the end, which kindof sours the mood.
My collection: 7" single no. 5414 Found: Record fair, 1995 Cost: 12 guilders Tracks: 'Julia says' / 'It's now or never'
In 1991, Kravitz produced the self-titled album 'Vanessa Paradis' for French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis. He played most of the instruments and co-wrote most of the songs on the album. He also released his second album, 'Mama Said', which was his first album to reach the Top 40. The songs on the album were about his ex-wife, actress Lisa Bonet and dedicated to her, documenting his depression over their breakup.
'What Goes Around Comes Around' was released as the album's seventh and final single. It failed to chart in all territories, just like the previous single, 'Stop draggin' around'.
My collection: 7" single no. 5435 Found: unknown Cost: unknown Tracks: 'What goes around comes around' / 'When the morning turns to night'
Vic Reeves presented a television show on New Year's Eve 1990, which went on during the turn of the year. Just after midnight, one of his guest stars was Kim Wilde - which will go a long way into explaining why I bought this single.
'Oh! Mr. Songwriter' was a song performed by Kim during the show, and as this single shows, it would have been nice if she'd sung it on this recording as well. Vic Reeves, while a good comedian, doesn't have the best singing voice. Still, this release, featuring a cover of 'Born free', was received very well in 1991 and even reached the top 10 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 5479 Found: Kringloop Hebbes, Den Haag, July 25, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Born free' / 'Oh! Mr. Songwriter...'
This song seems very appropriate for a night like tonight. Over in London, Kate Bush is premiering her first live show in 35 years. Yes, 'it finally happened'. Meanwhile 'I'm going slightly mad' at the thought that I will have to wait two weeks to see the show myself. Two UK newspaper are running a live blog with details of the show, and the press are sure to go mad with reports tomorrow.
But, back to Queen. They released 'I'm going slightly mad' as the second single from their album 'Innuendo' - the last Queen album to be released while frontman Freddie Mercury was alive. The video showed a pale, thin Mercury who was just months away from his passing. The band went on to release a greatest hits album, a pathetic single without Mercury and of course the lengthy 'Made in heaven' album, using vocals hastily recorded in Mercury's last year alive. There are rumours that a new album using old vocals is being made as we speak. Personally, I prefer music from artists who are still alive... and playing live. Even if the world had to wait 35 years for it.
My collection: 7" single no. 5442 Found: unknown Cost: unknown Tracks: 'I'm going slightly mad' / 'The hitman'
Breathe blasted into the UK singles charts with their second single 'Hands to heaven' and they were hailed as the year's biggest new promise back in 1989. However, after releasing six singles from their debut album 'All that jazz', only four made it into the charts in the UK, and when they came up with a second album 'Peace of mind' in 1990, nobody seemed to be interested.
'Say hello' was the lead single from that second album, and although it was released in this attractive limited edition package featuring a fold out sleeve and three photographs, not many people took the trouble of actually taking the single home. The result was a measly number 87 in the UK singles chart, After the second and third singles did even worse, the band called it quits.
My collection: 7" single no. 5375 Found: unknown Cost: unknown Tracks: 'Say hello' / 'All that jazz'
The Cure were at their most popular by the end of the Eighties, but what happened after their album 'Disintegration' almost seemed like a deliberate self-destruct mechanism: they released an iffy live album ('Entreat'), then a remix album, and no new music until 1992 - and even that album was quite a departure from the doom and gloom they'd demonstrated until then.
From the remix album came this single, 'Close to me (remix)', in 1990. Let's just say that this remix came from Paul Oakenfold's less inspired periods. On the other hand, the remix of 'Just like heaven' on the B-side is a deconstructed piece of bliss, created by Bryan 'Chuck' New. Who?...
My collection: 7" single no. 5381 Found: unknown Cost: unknown Tracks: 'Close to me (Closest mix)' / 'Just like heaven (Dizzy mix)'
The Dire Straits released 'Heavy fuel' as the second single from their 1991 album 'On every street'. In it, Mark Knopfler ironically extols the virtues of such conventionally frowned-upon vices as cigarettes, hamburgers, Scotch, lust, money, and violence.
The phrase 'You gotta run on heavy fuel' is from the novel 'Money' by Martin Amis, on which Knopfler based his lyric.
The single reached number 55 in the UK singles chart and peaked at number 25 in the Dutch singles chart. I didn't like the song back when it was released, but two decades on, it's actually very enjoyable. And so I got a copy a while ago.
My collection: 7" single no. 5383 Found: unknown Cost: unknown Tracks: 'Heavy fuel' / 'Planet of New Orleans'
