Say it again - Precious

The girl band Precious was formed at the end of 1998 by Sophie McDonnell and Jenny Frost. A set of auditions saw the remaining members join, these were: Anya Lahiri, Kalli Clark-Sternberg and Louise Rose. In 1999 they were chosen to represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel. While the single went to number 6 in the UK singles chart, their success at Eurovision was more limited, as they ended up in 12th place.

After three more singles (two of which were hit sigles) and a debut album which failed to chart, the group were dropped by their label and it was decided that the individual members should pursue separate careers. Sophie McDonnell started presenting for BBC TV and Radio including their CBBC brand, Jenny Frost replacing Kerry Katona in the band Atomic Kitten, and Anya Lahiri returning to her modelling activities. Lead singer Louise Rose also become an actress, her credits include the 2008 mini-series "Diamonds". Kalli Clark-Sternberg has since become a session singer.

My collection: 7" single no. 5841
Found: Discogs.com, received May 24, 2017
Cost: £ 3
Tracks: 'Say it again (Cutfather & Joe mix)' / 'Essential love'

Listen to the song

Single - Everything but the girl

'Single' was the third single taken from Everything but the girl's 1996 album 'Walking wounded'. After two top 10 hits in the UK, this single only peaked at number 20, despite being perhaps the best track of the three of them - in my opinion of course.

I was already quite happy to find a single of the previous single Walking wounded, but it turns out that 'Wrong' and 'Single' were released as a 7" single as well - albeit just for jukebox purposes. It's just a matter of finding them online because it's nearly impossible to find these singles any other way.

My collection: 7" single no. 5838
Found: Discogs.com, received May 16, 2017
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Single' / 'Corcovado (Quiet night of quiet stars)'

Listen to the song

Ooh aah... Just a little bit - Gina G

One of the most successful Eurovision entries for the United Kingdom in recent decades was Gina G's 'Ooh aah... Just a little bit'. It was a top 10 hit in the UK even before she took to the stage at the Oslo Spektrum in Norway on 18 May 1996. Dressed in a short thigh-skimming glittery metal dress, her vocals turned out to be too weak to carry the song in a live situation, causing her to only make it to eighth place in a field of 23 competitors.

I wasn't aware that this song had even been pressed onto 7" vinyl, until I found this jukebox copy online. No picture sleeve unfortunately, because jukebox singles usually don't come with those, but the song remains one of the best efforts from the UK.

My collection: 7" single no. 5839
Found: Discogs.com, received May 18, 2017
Cost: $4
Tracks: 'Ooh aah... Just a little bit (Motiv8 radio edit)' / 'Ooh aah... Just a little bit (Motiv8 extended vocal mix)'

Listen to the song

When we dance - Sting

When vinyl was first pronounced dead, at the beginning of the 1990's, record companies stopped making 7" singles for shops. However, 7" singles were still being made for jukeboxes and promotion. In those days, it wasn't so easy to buy such 7" singles, but in this age of internet, nothing is impossible.

I was quite surprised to find out that there was a jukebox 7" single for Sting's 1994 hit 'When we dance'. The track was recorded for the compilation album 'Fields of gold: the best of Sting 1984-1994' and it was a smooth, slow ballad quite similar to 'Fields of gold' actually. This single features one of his earlier solo hits on the B-side.

My collection: 7" single no. 5837
Found: Discogs.com, received May 16, 2017
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'When we dance' / 'If I ever lose my faith in you'

Listen to the song

Poison - M. Walking on the water

The German band M. Walking on the water was founded in 1985 in Krefeld by Marcus Maria Jansen, Mike Pelzer, Jürgen Jähnke and Krystian Lembke. They released their debut self-titled album in 1988. Two years later they signed with Polydor and released their first album on a major label.

'Elysian' was released in 1991, and this single, 'Poison', was taken from that album. The real reason for me to buy this single was the B-side: a cover version of Black's immortal 'Wonderful life'.

My collection: 7" single no.5790
Found: Discogs.com
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Poison' / 'Wonderful life'

Listen to the song

Ain't no sunshine - Bi Virtue feat. Joe McGann & Rebecca de Ruvo

It's not the first time that Joe McGann and MTV hottie Rebecca de Ruvo appear in this blog, as I've owned the 12" single of 'Ain't no sunshine' for 17 years now. I wrote about that one way back in December 2009.

When you compare the sleeve of that 12" single with the sleeve of this 7" single, I'm pretty sure you'll agree that this one looks way better. Why the record company decided to go with the ugly version for the 12" single remains a mystery. The song remains the same: a nice but unhistoric version of a classic song.

My collection: 7" single no. 5802
Found: Discogs.com, received April 4, 2017
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Ain't no sunshine' / 'Why can't we just be friends'

Listen to the song

Sex cymbal - Sheila E.

My wife came home with a few singles, and I had almost all of them. Still, no harm, because it allowed me to ditch the copies that were in lesser shape, and there was one I didn't know. It was this song by Sheila E., released in 1991.

'Sex cymbal' was taken from Sheila's fourth solo album, the first not to be made with any input from her mentor Prince. It has a very prominent house- and dance-focused sound that was popular in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. It's not her best single, but it's a decent effort nonetheless.

My collection: 7" single no. 5878
Found: Kringloop Den Haag, December 27, 2016
Cost: 0
Tracks: 'Sex cymbal' / 'Bass base'

Listen to the song

Do the Bartman - The Simpsons

I wasn't really planning on spending a lot of money on a single called 'Do the Bartman', despite the fact that I have an impressive amount of Michael Jackson singles in my collection. It is an amusing little song but songs by cartoon characters don't do very much for me. I finally found the single last month at a price that can't be beat.

There has been a lot of confusion about Michael Jackson's involvement in this song, mainly because he was under contract with Epic Records at the time of this single's release. However, the song's writer Bryan Loren has conceded that Jackson's contributions included back up vocals, providing the title "Do the Bartman" and that Jackson insisted his own name to be mentioned in the lyrics (read the story here).

My collection: 7" single no. 5852
Found: Kringloop, Leiden, May 14, 2016
Cost: 0,1 euro
Tracks: 'Do the Bartman (7" House mix/edit)' / 'Do the Bartman (LP edit)'

Listen to the song

You don't die from love - Stephanie

Princess Stephanie from Monaco appeared on this blog before with singles from her debut album, released in 1986. It was a rather successful album in some parts of Europe, so she went about recording a follow-up. Unfortunately, that took such a long time that the music scene had totally changed in the mean time.

That self-titled second album was finally released in 1991, with the lead single 'Winds of chance' failing to reach the charts. This single, 'You don't die from love' was the second and last single to be released by Stephanie. She did appear on Michael Jackson as the mystery voice on 'In the closet', but after that, her music career was over and done.

My collection: 7" single no. 5848
Found: Discogs.com, received May 2, 2016
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'You don't die from love' / 'Good dreams'

Listen to the song

Gone too soon - Michael Jackson

If you look at the list of singles by Michael Jackson on this blog, it's hard to believe that I haven't got them all already. But somehow I managed to miss this one. I only discovered it recently and fortunately I was able to get a copy of this single while I was buying a few others online.

As you can hear, the vinyl isn't exactly clean but as with most Michael Jackson tracks, I've already got it on CD anyway. Which probably makes you wonder why I need to have this on vinyl anyway. Well, you either have a collection or you don't. That's a logic in itself, I guess.

My collection: 7" single no. 5850
Found: Discogs.com, received May 10, 2016
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Gone too soon' / 'Gone too soon (instrumental)'

Listen to the song

Bandido (Deep mix) - Azucar Moreno

Since this week is Eurovision Song Contest week, it shouldn't be a surprise that I have a few Eurovision singles for you, even if I depend on new acquisitions to fill this blog these days. I was particularly lucky to score this one, since I suspect it's rather rare: it's a one-sided promotional 7" single single from Spain, the country that competed in 1990 with the song 'Bandido' by Azucar Moreno.

This single contains a special remix of that song, a remix that I thought was only available on a cd-single - also promotional - which I bought a few years ago. It's great to own this track on vinyl since it is actually a nice remix.

My collection: 7" single no. 5849
Found: Discogs.com, received May 10, 2016
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Bandido (Deep Mix)'

Listen to the song

Kaupungin lapset - Make Lentonen

There are many versions of Kim Wilde's 'Kids in America', but there are also a lot of versions of 'Kaupungin lapset', the Finnish translation of that very song. The earliest version was already recorded in the same year as the original song (1981) by Mona Carita - and many other Finnish artists have had a stab at this translated version since.

Make Lentonen recorded his version in 1993. This single is hard to find; for a long time a version without the picture sleeve has been available on Discogs.com, but finding the version with its original cover proved to be more difficult. It took me a long time, but I've finally found a copy - also on that website. Once it was offered, I snapped it up within a couple of hours.

My collection: 7" single no. 5817
Found: Discogs.com, received December 19, 2015
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Kaupungin lapset' / 'Puistokatu krs. 6'

Listen to the song

Falling - D. Twins

Five years ago you met the D. Twins on this blog, with a 12" single of 'Falling', which was a cover version of Julee Cruise's theme song for 'Twin Peaks'. It turns out that besides cd-singles and this 12" single there was also actually a 7" single! And since I collect 7" singles (avidly), I had to buy this copy the first time I saw it - which was this time five weeks ago. Fortunately it came cheap, too.

My friend Puck and I have had a lot of fun about this version because of the silliness of certain versions, but I guess you had to be there to fully appreciate the fun of it. So for now, just enjoy these cover versions for yourself if you can.

My collection: 7" single no. 5812
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, December 26, 2015
Cost: 0,8 euro
Tracks: 'Falling (Peaks version)' / 'Falling (Twin Club mix)'

Listen to the Peaks version / Listen to the Twin Club mix

Dreams are made for everyone - Wind

In 1992, Wind participated in the Eurovision Song Contest with Träume sind für alle da. And as with their other two entries, there is an English version of the song. I didn't know this until I found a listing of this single on the website of Fun Records in April. It was a nice discovery, and of course I ordered the single right away.

I've always been a sucker for translations of Eurovision songs by the original artists - although I still have to find Japanese singles of Udo Jürgens and Gigliola Cinquetti that apparently exist. 'Dreams are made for everyone' is a good translation of the original, and sounds almost identical to the German studio version.

My collection: 7" single no. 5785
Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received April 24, 2015
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Dreams are made for everyone' / 'One night only'

Listen to the song

Canzone per te - Sandra Simo

Sandra Simo was born as Sandra Studer in Zurich (Switzerland) on February 10, 1969. She represented her country in 1991 with this song, 'Canzone per te'. The song ended up in fifth place in a field of 22 contestants. The B-side of this single is 'Lo so', the song with which Sandra competed in the Swiss national final for Eurovision in 1990.

The singer became a major Swiss television personality, using her real name. In recent years she has hosted the Swiss and German national heats of Eurovision and has also provided commentary of the contest for German audiences in Switzerland.

My collection: 7" single no. 5782
Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received April 24, 2015
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Canzone per te' / 'Lo so'

Listen to the song

'k Zen liever lui as muug - De Strangers

When Toto Cotugno won the 1990 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Insieme: 1992', the Belgian band De Strangers was quick to record a parody in their native language. Thus, ''k Zen liever lui as muug' was born.

The title roughly means 'I prefer to be lazy rather than tired', and is another stab at Eurovision songs done in a different way. And yes, it's another addition to my growing collection of Eurovision covers.

My collection: 7" single no. 5773
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, April 16, 2015
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: ''k Zen liever lui as muug' / 'Den baas hee altijd gelijk'

Listen to the song

This is the way - Dannii Minogue

I haven't had any comments about the many Eurovision Song Contest singles on this blog recently (Come to think of it, I haven't had any comments at all over the last few months!) but truth is, I have been buying almost nothing else recently. But there is always the odd exception, and here is one of them: a 1993 single by Dannii Minogue. Kylie's little sister, indeed.

While Kylie has had a career with some downs but mostly ups, Dannii's career is almost the other way around. 'This is the way' is a good example of her usual chart performance: it reached number 27 in the UK charts and number 45 in Australia. The main selling point of this single is not the tune - which, frankly, is quite mediocre - but the limited edition poster bag.

My collection: 7" single no. 5757
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 11, 2015
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'This is the way' / 'This is the way (The cool 7")

...

Nina - Stefan & Eyfi

The duo Eyjólfur Kristjánsson and Stefán Hilmarsson participated in the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Draumur um Nínu', representing Iceland. They appeared on stage as the second act of 22. At the close of voting, they ended up in 15th place.

Although the song did not fare too well in the contest it has remained one of Iceland's most popular songs of all time, still receiving regular airplay.

My collection: 7" single no. 5753
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 11, 2015
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Nina (English version)' / 'Nina (Icelandic version)'

...

Deixar de sonhar - Nucha

Like many singles on this blog lately, this single has a few connections to the Eurovision Song Contest, as Nucha performed in the 1990 edition with Ha sempre alguem, representing Portugal. This single was a follow-up to that one, and amazingly, the song was written and composed by Maarten Peters, with a lyric translation by the brothers Fransisco and Frederico Teotónio Pereira.

Maarten Peters wrote the song as 'Het zal nooit meer zo zijn' ('It will never be the same') for the national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands in 1989. It was performed by Ingrid Souren and finished in third place. It was translated into Portuguese for this version by Nucha and ended up in the top 10 in Portugal. Afterwards, the original Dutch version was recorded by Willeke Alberti, who herself appeared on the Eurovison Song Contest with the embarrassing song 'Waar is de zon' in 1994.

My collection: 7" single no. 5736
Found: Kringloop Sassenheim
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Deixar de sonhar' / 'Se o dia nascesse'

...

Oulou tou kosmou i elpida - Cleopatra

I had to set aside my principle of not spending too much money on vinyl singles for this 1992 Eurovision Song Contest entry by Cleopatra, because it's so hard to find and the fact that I was buying this together with six other singles meant that I could save on shipping costs anyway. That's how I have to justify things sometimes.

'Oulou tou kosmou i elpida' ('Everyone's hope') is one of the best Eurovision entries ever, despite - or perhaps, because of - the fact that the lyrics are incomprehensive if one does not speak or understand Greek. The powerful song received 94 points, placing 5th in a field of 23 competitors, making it Greece's best showing in the Contest since 1977.

My collection: 7" single no. 5617
Found: eBay.com, received February 12, 2015
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Oulou tou kosmou i elpida' / 'Song for love'