'I hope I never' was taken from Split Enz's 1980 album 'True colours'. The single version is 40 seconds shorter than the album version. Like many of their records at the time, this single was released as a laser etched disc, although it was a limited edition; I've got a later, non-etched copy.
The single reached number 30 in the Dutch Top 40. Australian singer and songwriter Tina Arena recorded the song in 2008 with the London Studio Orchestra for her album 'Songs of love & loss 2' and changed the lyrics to reflect her gender.
My collection: 7" single no. 1523 Found: Record fair, September 21, 1991 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'I hope I never' / 'The choral sea'
When I listened to 'Under the iron sea', Keane's second album, for the first time, 'Nothing in my way' was one of the first songs to jump out of this new batch of songs. It was only right when this song was released as a single. Tim Rice-Oxley, who wrote the song, explains: 'The song's actually written about some people I know who are married, and their marriage was essentially just bringing a lot of misery to both of them, but for some reason they just refused to acknowledge it. I hate the idea of people being so much in denial that they're prepared to almost let their lives fall apart rather than acknowledge what's going on.'
The single became a modest hit, peaking at number 19 in the UK singles chart and number 20 in the Dutch Top 40. This 7" single is a numbered limited edition; this is number 2278.
My collection: 7" single no. 3575 Found: eBay.co.uk, received February 2, 2009 Cost: 3 pounds Tracks: 'Nothing in my way' / 'Thin air'
Terence Charles White was born on March 3, 1948. He played guitar with the likes of Thin Lizzy (of which he was a member from 1979 to 1981) and Pink Floyd (in 1977 and 1980.
In 1983 he released his first solo album, 'White flames'. The album featured his biggest hit, 'Bird of paradise', the only single to be released from the album. It reached number 6 in both the UK singles chart and the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 424 Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 29, 1986 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Bird of paradise' / 'The answer'
One of the classics from the year 1978. 'Love is in the air' was performed by John Paul Young. It became his only worldwide hit in January 1978, peaking at number 2 in Australia, bumber 5 in the UK singles chart and number 11 in the Dutch Top 40.
It's a strange thing: whenever this song is played, people get a certain look in their eyes and they can't help dancing. Reportedly, the song was covered by Cher, to be included in her album 'Believe' (which spawned the hit single of the same name). It was, however, removed from the album before it was released.
My collection: 7" single no. 1064 Found: London, October 18, 1989 Cost: 50p Tracks: 'Love is in the air' / 'Love you so bad it hurts'
Martika released 'More than you know' as a single from her debut album 'Martika' in 1988. The single reached number 15 in the UK singles chart.
This is a delicious EP. Released as a limited edition, it features three of Martika's hits performed in Spanish. 'More than you know' is performed as 'Quiero entregarte mi amor', 'Toy soldiers' becomes 'Como un juguete' and 'I feel the earth move' is 'Siento tembla la tierra' here. To top it all off, the EP is housed in a poster sleeve. Those lucky UK record buyers, they get all the nice extras.
My collection: 7" single no. 3055 Found: May 8, 1999 Cost: unknown Tracks: 'More than you know', 'Quiero entregarte mi amor' / 'Como un juguete', 'Siento tembla la tierra'
In 1987, Princess had left her producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman and went to America to record her second album with many different producers, including Glen Ballard, Richard James Burgess, Fox and Drinkwater.
'I cannot carry on' was released as the second single from the album, but it didn't reach the UK singles chart. It's a shame, because it's a ballsy, almost rock-oriented dance track. The single was let down by the B-side, which quite frankly is drivel.
My collection: 7" single no. 3164 Found: House of Rhythm, London, January 16, 2000 Cost: 40p Tracks: 'I cannot carry on' / 'I can't say goodbye'
'The RM EP is to pop music what lion were to the Romans. A veritable signal post in the history of popular music, it is graced by the noble presence of New Order - already well establish in the halls of the gods. Hipsway, up and vying for a throne therin, the Adventures - another young and strong contender - and, last but not least, Raymonde, tipped by many as one of the most exciting newcomers this year. This is the RM EP - play it morning, noon and night'.
Well, there you have it. The UK magazine Record Mirror gave out this 7" single with their magazine sometime in 1986 and a decade later a record shop was trying to sell it. According to the price sticker, they weren't very successful. The price started at 1 pound and fell to 20p by the time I bought it.
My collection: 7" single no. 2501 Found: House of Rhythm, London, October 30, 1995 Cost: 20p Tracks: 'Sub-culture (exclusive remix)' (New Order), 'Jennifer wants' (Raymonde) / 'Bad thing longing' (Hipsway), 'Walk away Renee' (The Adventures)
'The valley road' was released as the first single from Bruce Hornsby and the Range's 1988 album 'Scenes from the Southside'. The song was inspired by observations Hornsby had made growing up in the state of Virginia. 'Every year, some rich girl would get involved with some country guy, and they would act irresponsibly and have to deal with the ramifications.'
The single peaked at number 5 in the US Billboard Hot 100, number 27 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 44 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 3190 Found: Record fair, September 16, 2000 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'The valley road' / 'The long race'
In 1980, Gerry Cott left the Boomtown Rats. The group continued as a quintet and released their fifth album, 'V Deep' in February 1982. Before that, the beautiful single 'Never in a million years' was released. It was released in a remarkable sleeve, featuring six holes at the front, representing the zeros in 'million', but omitting the band name and the title of the song.
As a result, many did not know of the single's release. It only reached number 62 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 892 Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, June 17, 1989 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Never in a million years' / 'Don't talk to me'
Mel & Kim Appleby wrote 'Mama' as a tribute to their mother. It's always a tricky subject, because the danger of writing a sappy lyric is always there. I'm still undecided on this one: the combination of melancholy for the past and the outright sentimentality in this song leaves me, well, cold.
The single was not a success in the Netherlands, as it didn't even chart. In the UK singles chart, 'Mama' reached number 19.
My collection: 7" single no. 1489 Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, July 4, 1991 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'Mama' / 'Don't worry'
I'm proud to say that I never understood what was sexy about Jerney Kaagman, but back in 1979 most of the Netherlands was in raptures about this woman and her blue suit, when she performed 'Weekend' in Toppop, the weekly chart show where Earth & Fire promoted their single from the album 'Reality fills fantasy'.
'Weekend' became a number 1 hit in the Dutch Top 40, their biggest hit since 1972's 'Memories'. The 'sexy' Kaagman is now a botox-filled expressionless old witch.
My collection: 7" single no. 3287 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, February 24, 2001 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'Weekend' / 'Answer me'
Buying my 400th single was quite a big deal. I was thinking hard what would be an appropriate buy. In the end, I settled on this double single. Not because I was a fan of Jethro Tull, but because it was the only double single available at the time for a reasonable price. And I thought it would be appropriate to have a double single as a festive treat.
The band had just released 'Under wraps' in 1984, a very electronic album with no live drummer but a drum machine. Although the band was reportedly proud of the sound, the album was not well received. However, the video for 'Lap of luxury' did manage to earn moderate rotation on the newly influential MTV music video channel. 'Lap of luxury' reached number 70 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 400 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1984 Cost: 7,5 guilders Tracks: 'Lap of luxury' / 'Astronomy' // 'Automotive engineering' / 'Tundra'
The second single from Kim Wilde's 1984 album 'Teases & dares', entitled 'The touch', didn't do much to restore her image in her native UK. She hadn't had a top 20 hit since 1982's 'View from a bridge', and this one didn't even make the top 50. Peaking at number 56, it qualified as a real disappointment.
Outside of the UK, things were not quite that problematic. The single reached number 20 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 29 in Germany. The single was also released as a shaped picture disc and featured for the first time a composition by Kim Wilde herself: 'Shangri-la' was included as the B-side track. Plus quite a lovely sleeve.
My collection: 7" single no. 252 Found: LP Top 100, 1984 Cost: 6,5 guilders Tracks: 'The touch' / 'Shangri-la'
'Woman' was written by John Lennon as an ode to his wife Yoko Ono. In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine on December 5, 1980, Lennon said that 'Woman' was a 'grown-up version' of the song 'Girl'.
The song was released as the second single from Lennon's 'Double fantasy' album, and the first single released after his tragic death on December 8, 1980. It spent two weeks at number 1 in the UK singles chart and five weeks at number 1 in New Zealand. In the Netherlands, the single only managed to reach number 21, while in the US it reached number 2.
My collection: 7" single no. 2384 Found: House of Rhythm, London, July 1, 1995 Cost: 50p Tracks: 'Woman' (John Lennon) / 'Beautiful boys' (Yoko Ono)
Sade introduced her second album 'Promise' with this single, 'The sweetest taboo'. The track built on the sound that was laid down on her debut album 'Diamond life'. Although at first I was not convinced by this composition, it grew on me over the years.
The single peaked at number 31 in the UK singles chart, but did much better in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 5. In the Netherlands, 'The sweetest taboo' reached number 14. 'You're not the man' was a non-album track, although it was later included on the Compact Disc release of 'Promise'.
My collection: 7" single no. 340 Found: LP Top 100, 1985 Cost: 5,5 guilders Tracks: 'The sweetest taboo' / 'You're not the man'
Without Lionel Richie as their frontman, the Commodores soldiered on. They surprised everyone with this 1985 hit, 'Nightshift'. Written as a tribute to Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye, two musicians who died in 1984. The single reached number 3 in the UK singles chart and number 1 in the Netherlands - the only number 1 hit for the Commodores in this country.
'Nightshift' won a Grammy Award in 1985 for best R&B Performance by a duo or group with vocals.
My collection: 7" single no. 1722 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, October 3, 1992 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'Nightshift' / 'I keep running'
'One more try' was written by George Michael to express his unwillingness to return to a new relationship because he had been emotionally hurt so many times previously. The song concludes with temptation taking over, and Michael ends by singing the title of the song for the only time.
The song was released as the fourth single from George Michael's debut album 'Faith'. Despite the fact that the song clocks in at almost six minutes, it was still a hit in several countries. It peaked at number 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100, number 4 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 8 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 2453 Found: Record fair, September 2, 1995 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'One more try' / 'Look at your hands'
The summer is almost over, so it's high time I would present this single, Kaoma's summer hit from 1989. It is kindof tricky, because this song is cheesier than a Gruyere these days. When I bought it, it was still fresh, although it was already clear that it was becoming a bigger hit than it should. Twenty years later, you will hear this song regularly whenever and wherever you don't want it.
In 1988 a French entrepreneur, Olivier Lamotte d'Incamps, visited Porto Seguro and discovered locals dancing the tightly syncopated lambada to a melody that turned out to be Bolivian. With a lot of publicity, d'Incamps originated a lambada dance craze, largely by promoting a European tour of Kaoma, a band formed from a Porto Seguro dance group Touré Kunda. He bought the musical rights of about 300 lambada songs. He went back to France, and created the Kaoma Band. They turned Lambada into a worldwide known style. When Kaoma recorded 'Lambada' in 1989, it became a worldwide hit, reaching number 1 in several countries including the Netherlands. However, the song was an unauthorized translation of the song 'Llorando se fue' (1982) from the Bolivian group Los K’jarkas. Due to the clear act of plagiarism, Los Kjarkas successfully sued Kaoma.
My collection: 7" single no. 1073 Found: HMV, London, October 19, 1989 Cost: 2 pounds Tracks: 'Lambada' / 'Lambada (instrumental)'
'Around my heart' was released as the fourth single from Sandra's third album 'Into a secret land'. The song was written by Hubert Kemmler, Markus Lohr, Sör Otto's, Frank Peterson, Klaus Hirschburger and produced by Michael Cretu. The track was remixed for the single release.
The single peaked at number 6 in Israel, number 11 in Germany, number 19 in Switzerland, number 23 in Austria and number 28 in France. My copy of the single includes a biography of Sandra in Spanish.
My collection: 7" single no. 1778 Found: Record fair, Den Haag, October 25, 1992 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Around my heart' / 'Around my drums'
'Here we'll stay', the third single from Frida's 1982 album 'Something's going on', went by almost unnoticed. So much so, that I forgot all about it when I wrote about the previous single, 'To turn the stone'. The track was originally recorded as a duet with Phil Collins, who produced the album. For the single version, his voice was omitted. The single was unsuccessful: it only reached number 100 in the UK singles chart.
I originally bought the single back in 1983 or 1984. When I arrived home with it, I noticed that the single was broken in two. I could have gone back for a refund but I think I was afraid they wouldn't believe me when I said I bought it like that. So that was 1 or 2 guilders down the drain. I only bought it again one and a half decade later.
My collection: 7" single no. 3049 Found: Record fair, January 30, 1999 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Here we'll stay' / 'Strangers'
'I hope I never' was taken from Split Enz's 1980 album 'True colours'. The single version is 40 seconds shorter than the album version. Like many of their records at the time, this single was released as a laser etched disc, although it was a limited edition; I've got a later, non-etched copy.
