'Union city blue' was written by Deborah Harry and Nigel Harrison and was recorded on Blondie's 1979 album 'Eat to the beat'. It was released as the second single from the album in the UK, where it reached number 13 in the singles chart. The song featured in the 1981 horror movie 'The Hand'.
In the USA, the single was not released, they released 'The hardest part' instead.
My collection: 7" single no. 4305 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Union city blue' / 'Living in the real world'
'Don't look down' was released as the last single from Go West's self-titled debut album. Housed in a gatefold sleeve, the single reached number 13 in the UK singles chart and number 10 in New Zealand. Two years later, the track became the band's first hit in the USA, where it reached number 39.
I first heard the track during a live performance of Go West during a Here & Now Tour. It's a dynamic track that appealed to me right away.
My collection: 7" single no. 4304 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Don't look down (the sequel)' / 'Innocence (The desperation edit)'
Someone wrote on the back of the sleeve of this single, which I bought second hand. It reads: 'Steadily skipping little 120 bpm tin pop pusher (inspired by Clarence Carter's old 'Looking for a fox'?), flip of the dead slow 'Love me to sleep'. It's a good description of this single.
Released in December 1980 as a single from their album 1980 'Class', 'Love me to sleep' reached number 50 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4301 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Love me to sleep' / 'The girl is a fox'
Although Mari Wilson recorded most of her singles circa 1983 with her band the Wilsations (and also performed live with them), this is the only single which is actually credited to 'Mari Wilson with the Wilsations'.
Produced by Tony Mansfield, this single managed to reach number 47 in the UK singles chart, and it was also her last single to reach that chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4298 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Wonderful' / 'I may be wrong'
Mary Roos was born as Rosemarie Schwab on January 9, 1949. She started singing at a very early age and recorded her first song when she was 9 years old.
In 1972, she represented Germany during the Eurovision Song Contest after a rather controversial win during the national final. Mary stated that she did not expect to win at all and that she was already removing her make-up when she was called back on stage. After the reprise of the winning song, she was booed off stage. However, at the Eurovision Song Contest she finished third. The single reached number 17 in the German singles chart. The B-side of this single is a German language cover of 'You can't hurry love', the famous Supremes track from 1966.
My collection: 7" single no. 4277 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Nur die Liebe läßt uns leben' / 'Die Liebe kommt leis''
In December 1978, the ELO EP was released in the UK only, to promote the three LP box set 'Three Light Years'. The box set contained three recent albums by the band: 'On the third day' (1973), 'Eldorado' (1974) and 'Face the music' (1975).
'Can't get it out of my head' was the lead track on the EP, which reached number 34 in the UK singles chart. This way the track finally became hit in the UK, after it had charted already in 1974 in the USA, where it peaked at number 9.
My collection: 7" single no. 4270 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Can't get it out of my head', 'Strange magic' / 'Ma-ma-ma belle', 'Evil woman'
According to the German press bio enclosed in the sleeve of this single, the Thompson Twins were having trouble deciding on a single for Germany in the summer of 1983. 'We are detective' had just been a top 10 hit in the UK, and 'Watching' was due to be released soon. According to the bio, it was the band's female member Alannah Currie who proposed to release a double A-side single in Germany, including both singles.
The sleeve also contains a postcard, written by Britta Hofmann, who requests that the song 'We are detective' be played in the programme 'Pop Nach 8'. Presumably the DJ did play this single, and then gave it up for sale some time later. The things you find in second hand singles...
My collection: 7" single no. 4306 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'We are detective' / 'Watching'
I recently wrote about Bros' 1988 single 'I owe you nothing' and the fact that it was originally released a year earlier. What I didn't know was that this original release came in a different sleeve. I found that single and decided to buy it right away.
So I bought it because of the sleeve, but much to my surprise, the version on this single is also different from the one on the 1988 single. So this really is the original version of 'I owe you nothing'.
My collection: 7" single no. 4309 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'I owe you nothing' / 'I owe you nothing (The voice)'
Wang Chung's biggest hit was 1984's 'Dance hall days'. When subsequent singles turned out to be less successful, the band decided to revisit the track. Hence 'Dance hall days revisited', released in 1989.
This new version is basically a remix of the original track with added raps by a certain Angel C. Despite those raps, this is quite a reasonable version. But - unsurprisingly - it didn't become a hit.
My collection: 7" single no. 4303 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Dance hall days revisited' / 'At the speed of life'
'A new flame' is the title track of Simply Red's third studio album, which was released in 1989. The track was released as the third single from the album, after the cover version of 'If you don't know me by now' which reached number 1 in several countries.
By comparison, this single did a lot worse. It reached numebr 17 in the UK singles chart and number 27 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4302 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'A new flame' / 'More'
According to Debbie Harry, 'In love with love' is lyrically the sequel to Blondie's 'Heart of glass'. The track was released in May 1987 as the second single from her album 'Rockbird'. It was remixed for the single by Pete Hammond and produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman.
The single reached number 45 in the UK singles chart and number 70 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4300 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'In love with love' / 'French kissin' in the USA (French version)'
By the time Imagination released the 1988 single 'Hold me in your arms', not much was left of their popularity in the early Eighties, when they stormed the charts with the Tony Swain and Steve Jolley-produced hits 'Body talk', 'Just an illusion' and 'Changes'.
Although I like 'Hold me in your arms', I have to agree that there really isn't that much to distinguish this track from any other dance track at the time. Imagination had lost their identity, and as such, it was impossible for them to have another hit. The B-side of this single features a remix of 'Instinctual', their last single to reach (the lower regions of) the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4299 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Hold me in your arms' / 'Instinctual (The Def Vocal Mix - edit)'
'Ain't that peculiar' was the last single by Mari Wilson to reach the UK singles chart, although it only managed to scrape in at number 78. She'd let go of her Fifties look on the single's sleeve, and the track itself sounded a bit more modern as well.
I didn't know the track when I bought this single, but I've bought quite a few Mari Wilson singles this year and they have not disappointed. Including this one.
My collection: 7" single no. 4297 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Ain't that peculiar' / 'The maximum damage'
'I won't bleed for you' was a 1988 single by Climie Fisher. The single reached number 35 in the UK singles chart.
The single was released in a limited edition box set, featuring a set of postcards, each containing information on the music videos the duo had recorded until then. The dealer which I bought this box from, had an expensive collection starting at 3 euros, but this one was in the bargain bin, strangely enough.
My collection: 7" single no. 4296 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'I won't bleed for you' / 'Climbing up the ladder'
Hot Chocolate frontman Errol Brown wrote 'Every 1's a winner', recorded and released as a single in 1978. It gave the band a number 6 hit in the USA and the Netherlands, while it peaked at number 12 in the UK singles chart.
I've known this song ever since it came out and I've owned it on a compilation double LP since 1979. It's taken me 30 years to find the 7" single.
My collection: 7" single no. 4295 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Every 1's a winner' / 'Power of love'
I've often said that one of the most appropriate songs for my funeral would be 'Down down' by Status Quo. And then I discovered I didn't actually have the song. Now that I've heard it, I still think it would be a great soundtrack to those final moments.
'Down down' was first released in November 1974. The track was taken from the album 'On the level'. The album version is more than 5 minutes long whereas the single version was edited to almost 4 minutes. The single was a number 1 hit in the UK, while peaking at number 2 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4294 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Down down' / 'Night ride'
'Love's unkind' was produced by Giorgio Moroder, just like the album whence it came from, 'I remember yesterday'. The lyric of the song is a tribute to high school crushes and love triangles. It was a big hit in the UK singles chart, peaking at number 3, whereas it only reached number 32 in the Dutch Top 40.
Donna Summer looks decidedly pregnant on the sleeve of this single, but I think she's just wearing a very strange dress.
My collection: 7" single no. 4293 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Love's unkind' / 'Black lady'
'We are glass' was released in 1980 as the first single from his 1980 album 'Telekon'. While his previous album 'The pleasure principle' (1979) was recorded entirely without guitars, this new album did contain the instrument again. As Numan commented, 'getting rid of guitars had been a mistake'.
Numan has said that 'We are glass' was inspired by a comment from a magazine staffer: 'Somebody once told me, a man from Omni, said that he thought I'd been put here by... something... aliens or something, to carry out a cause... which I thought was very flattering but a little silly... 'We are glass' I wrote because of that, y'know, like all pop stars are put here for reasons'. The B-side was a version of the first movement of Erik Satie's 'Trois Gymnopedies', in an arrangement that added guitar, bass and synthesizer to the original's solo piano part. The single reached number 5 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4292 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'We are glass' / 'Trois Gymnopedies (First movement)'
It doesn't happen often that I find an unknown single from a famous band, but here it is. 'Cross the line' was apparently released by Spandau Ballet as a single from their 1986 album 'Through the barricades'.
The B-side was a live track taken from the video 'Through the barricades... across the border'. The single did not chart in any territory and I didn't know about this release until I found this single last week. I think Spandau Ballet fans will not be surprised at this single, but I was.
My collection: 7" single no. 4291 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Cross the line' / 'Virgin (live)'
'After the love has gone' is another single by Princess produced and written by Stock, Aitken & Waterman.
Released in 1985 as the follow-up to her most successful single 'Say I'm your number one', it reached number 28 in the UK singles chart and number 24 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4290 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'After the love has gone' / 'After the love has gone (Senza voce)'
'Union city blue' was written by Deborah Harry and Nigel Harrison and was recorded on Blondie's 1979 album 'Eat to the beat'. It was released as the second single from the album in the UK, where it reached number 13 in the singles chart. The song featured in the 1981 horror movie 'The Hand'.
