'What kinda boy you're lookin' for (girl)' was the twelfth top 10 hit for Hot Chocolate in the UK singles chart, peaking at number 10 in the spring of 1983. In the Dutch Top 40, it was the group's penultimate hit single, peaking at number 21.
Written by lead singer Errol Brown and produced by Mickie Most, the track used a formula that had become familiar by 1983: a catchy refrain and soulful vocals.
My collection: 7" single no. 4432 Found: Kringloop, Sassenheim, January 23, 2010 Cost: 0,12 euro Tracks: 'What kinda boy you're lookin' for (girl)' / 'Got to get back to work'
I've always ignored Lenny Kravitz singles in the Nineties, mainly because I felt they were quite repetitive: they seemed to be remakes of his debut hit 'Let love rule'. In later years, I discovered a few songs that I still find worthwhile to own. 'It ain't over 'til it's over' is one of them.
The song was released as the second single from Kravitz's second album 'Mama said' (1991). The horn line at the end of the song is performed by the Phenix Horns from Earth, Wind & Fire. 'That song just came out one day, and I knew it had a classic vibe. And I still love that song very much today', Lenny Kravitz commented in 2000. The title of the song is based on a quote from the Baseball player and manager Yogi Berra.
My collection: 7" single no. 4431 Found: Kringloop, Sassenheim, January 23, 2010 Cost: 0,12 euro Tracks: 'It ain't over 'til it's over' / 'The difference is why'
'Arabian affair' sounds a bit Middle Eastern, but in fact it was made by a Dutch group. Behind the scenes, Dutch musician and producer Hans van Eijck was experimenting with Eastern melodies, combined with disco beats for the fun of it. He enlisted some session musicians to create the single 'Arabian affair', which became a big hit in the Netherlands: the single reached number 4 in the Dutch Top 40.
When the success crossed over to Germany, the project turned out to be lucrative enough to warrant a complete album, which you can find here.
My collection: 7" single no. 4430 Found: Kringloop, Sassenheim, January 23, 2010 Cost: 0,12 euro Tracks: 'Arabian affair' / 'Desert dance'
Andrea True was born on July 26, 1943 in Nashville, Tennessee. After graduation, she sought fame and fortune in the showbusiness, but wasn't very successful. She moved into the hardcore porn industry instead. During this time, she was hired by a real estate business in Jamaica to appear in their commercial ads. While there, a political crisis gripped Jamaica, and no one was allowed to leave with any money. True asked her friend, record producer Gregg Diamond, to travel to the island and produce a track for her, which she would finance locally. Diamond arrived with a composition in hand, to which True added lyrics. The result of their collaboration was 'More more more'.
The track became a favourite in discotheques and nightclubs. It reached number 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 5 in the UK singles chart and number 9 in Germany. An album, also titled 'More more more' soon followed. After three albums, True briefly returned to porn, but soon realized that there were significantly fewer opportunities in the porn industry for a woman in her late Thirties. She was also unable to return to music, because of a goiter that developed on her vocal cords requiring surgery, which in turn ended her singing ability. And so she went on to live a more private life.
My collection: 7" single no. 4429 Found: Kringloop, Sassenheim, January 23, 2010 Cost: 0,12 euro Tracks: 'More more more (part 2)' / 'More more more (part 2)'
Although this 7" single is in no way different from the 12" single except for the size of the disc and sleeve, I still had to have it. I'm primarily a singles collector, of course!
The track, which is an alternative version of Tears for Fears's 1989 hit single 'Sowing the seeds of love', originally appeared as the B-side to their 1990 single 'Advice for the young at heart'. The song was later remixed by producer/DJ Fluke and released as a single in 1991. The single did not chart in the UK and has since become quite a collectors item among Tears for Fears fans.
My collection: 7" single no. 3072 Found: Record Exchange, London, May 10, 1999 Cost: 1 pound Tracks: 'Johnny Panic and the bible of dreams (mix 1)' / 'Johnny Panic and the bible of dreams (mix 2)'
Eurovision entries by Scandinavian countries have regularly had a certain Abba-esque quality to them. The duo Dollie de Luxe represented Norway in the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Lenge leve livet', a great example of this fact.
The song is a modern ballad, with the duo singing the praises of life. They explain that it makes sense to live to the full, because nobody knows for sure what the future may bring. The song finished 17th in a field of 19 competitors. For the single, the English version was promoted to the A-side, which is probably a wise choice. The limited vocal qualities of the duo meant that the single didn't chart outside of Scandinavia.
My collection: 7" single no. 4388 Found: Second Life Music, Amsterdam, December 30, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Life was made for living' / 'Lenge leve livet'
There's a certain bombastic quality to 'Can't let go', the 1992 single by Mariah Carey. As much as I hate the woman's voice, which seems to be inspired mainly by constipation, I couldn't pass up on this single when I saw it for half the price around the time it was released.
The single was a big success in the USA and Canada, peaking at number 2 and 7 respectively, and also reached number 20 in the UK singles chart. In mainland Europe, the single was largely ignored.
My collection: 7" single no. 1571 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, January 12, 1992 Cost: 3,5 guilders Tracks: 'Can't let go' / 'To be around you'
Renée was originally called René and the Alligators, and only changed names when Anja Nodelijk joined the band. Before they moved into the pop scene, they released a few singles that were true to their rock 'n' roll roots.
'Sweet nothings', released in July 1978, was their first hit single, peaking at number 14 in the Dutch Top 40. The B-side is a firm reminder of the band's previous incarnation.
My collection: 7" single no. 3283 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, February 24, 2001 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'Sweet nothings' / 'Alligator boogie'
John Miles was born as John Errington on April 23, 1949 in Jarrow, Tyne & Wear, England. He started his career in music in the Sixties, as a drummer with Roxy Music and his own band, the John Miles Set. In 1971, he went solo. During the Seventies, he released four albums and 18 singles.
His most successful song was 'Music', a track on his 1976 album 'Rebel'. The track features several 'movements', both classic and rock-oriented. The single reached number 3 in the UK singles chart and number 2 in the Dutch Top 40 in the summer of 1976. In the Netherlands, the song was re-released in 1982, reaching number 5 on that occasion.
My collection: 7" single no. 296 Found: Den Haag, 1984 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Music' / 'Putting my new song together'
Most people know the classic melodramatic song 'Ne me quitte pas', a song written and performed by Jacques Brel in 1959. The English lyrics were written by Rod McKuen as part of a project to translate Brel's work. Entitled 'If you go away', it has become a pop standard, recorded by artists like Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones, Marc Almond, Emiliana Torrini, Alison Moyet, Dusty Springfield and Cyndi Lauper.
This version by Canadian musician Terry Jacks was released in 1974. It reached number 8 in the UK singles chart and the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 890 Found: All that music, Leiden, June 16, 1989 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'If you go away' / 'Me and you'
Most people assume that Sheena Easton's career basically consisted of two main periods: working in Europe and working with Prince in America. The truth, of course, is more complicated than that. Easton collaborated with Prince on her 1984 album 'A private heaven' and in 1987 on his track 'U got the look', but in 1985, she released the album 'Do you', which was produced by another musical legend, Nile Rodgers.
It's easy to understand why this album was overlooked, as it was only successful in America. In Europe, the album and this single 'Do it for love' was a flop.
My collection: 7" single no. 1765 Found: London, October 20, 1992 Cost: 1 pound Tracks: 'Do it for love' / 'Can't wait till tomorrow'
The Belgian band Clouseau released two albums in English. Whereas their first, 'Close encounters' (1991), mainly consisted of translations of their songs in Dutch, the second one, 'In every small town' (1993) featured only original material, and was recorded in Los Angeles.
'Live like kings' was the first single lifted from the album. I bought the cd-single immediately after the release, because I thought it was a very pretty rock song. A year later, I found a 7" single - these things hardly ever turned up in record shops anymore. The single did not chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 2069 Found: Record fair, February 19, 1994 Cost: 3 guilders Tracks: 'Live like kings' / 'Every single time'
'And the band played on (Down among the dead men)' was the follow-up to Flash and the Pan's debut single 'Hey St. Peter' and it sounds very similar to that track. In fact, I still have trouble distinguishing the two when I play them sometimes. Both tracks were taken from Flash and the Pan's self-titled debut album, released in 1979.
The lyric of the song was about the sinking of the Titanic. The single reached number 4 in Australia and number 54 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 1387 Found: February 22, 1991 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'And the band played on (Down among the dead men)' / 'The man who knew the answer'
Freddie Mercury composed 'Crazy little thing called love' on the guitar in just five to ten minutes. Other accounts say that he wrote it while lounging in a bubble bath in the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich during one of Queen's extensive Munich recording sessions. He took it to the studio shortly after writing it and presented it to bandmates Roger Taylor and John Deacon. The three of them, with their new producer Mack, recorded it at Musicland Studios in Munich. The entire song was reportedly recorded in less than half an hour (although Mack says it was six hours).
The single was released in October 1979 and reached number 1 in Australia, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the USA. In the UK singles chart, the single reached number 2.
My collection: 7" single no. 1579 Found: Record fair, January 25, 1992 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Crazy little thing called love' / 'We will rock you (live)'
According to Sting, The Police's 'De do do do de da da da' is about the attraction people have towards simple songs: 'I was trying to make an intellectual point about how the simple can be so powerful. Why are our favourite songs 'Da doo ron ron' and 'Do wah diddy diddy'? In the song, I tried to address that issue. But everyone said, 'This is bullshit, child's play.' No one listened to the lyrics. Listen to the lyrics. I'm going to remake it again and put more emphasis on what I was talking about.'
The song was actually re-recorded in 1986, when the Police also made a re-recording of 'Don't stand so close to me'. It was dropped from the album 'Every breath you take: the singles', but finally saw a release in 1995 on a re-release of this album.
My collection: 7" single no. 3091 Found: Record Exchange, London, May 12, 1999 Cost: 50p Tracks: 'De do do do de da da da' / 'A sermon'
Pierre Rapsat was born as Pierre Raepsaet on May 28, 1948 in Brussels, Belgium. In 1973, he launched his career in music and became a very successful singer/songwriter in Belgium and other French-speaking countries.
In 1976, Rapsat composed 'Judy et Cie' ('Judy and Co.)'. It was chosen as Belgium's entry for the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest. It was an unusual and atypical song for Eurovision at that time. It finished eighth in a field fo 18 competitors. The single reached number 31 in the Dutch Top 40. Rapsat died on April 20, 2002 in Verviers, Belgium.
My collection: 7" single no. 4428 Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, January 22, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'Judy et Cie' / 'Djumbo l'Averick'
Gary Moore and Phil Lynott were childhood friends before they both became band members with Thin Lizzy. After the band broke up, they both pursued solo careers, but in 1985, they recorded 'Out in the fields' together, a song about the religious turmoil in their native Ireland.
The song is reminiscent of the sound of their band and draws many influences from both artists' wide musical palettes. It performed well critically as well as commercially, reaching number 3 in the Irish Singles Chart and number 5 in the UK Singles Chart. It was also to be the last known recording made by Phil Lynott before his untimely death on 4 January 1986.
My collection: 7" single no. 3076 Found: London, May 10, 1999 Cost: 40p Tracks: 'Out in the fields' / 'Military man'
'Goodnight Saigon' is perhaps Billy Joel's best known song, and if nothing else his most epic track. Starting out with chopper sounds and ending with the sound of crickets, a lot is happening in the track that lasts for almost seven minutes.
The lyric of the song depicts the situation and attitude of United States Marines beginning with their military training on Parris Island and in different aspects of Vietnam combat. The track appearing on Joel's 1982 album 'The nylon curtain' and was released as a single in spring 1982. It reached number 1 in the Dutch Top 40, number 29 in the UK singles chart and number 56 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 423 Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 29, 1986 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Goodnight Saigon' / 'Where's the orchestra?'
Frank Boeijen formed the Frank Boeijen Groep in 1979 with Henk Wanders, Nels Busch and Wil Theunissen. Their debut single 'Transport uit Bangkok' ('Transport from Bangkok') was released in January 1981. The Dutch DJ Frits Spits played an important role in launching the band in the Netherlands: he preferred the B-side 'Verjaardagsfeest' ('Birthday party') and started playing it daily during his radio show.
Although 'Verjaardagsfeest' did not reach the Dutch Top 40, it gave the band some exposure, and somehow it has become one of those songs that most people in the Netherlands remember if they have any pop knowledge at all.
My collection: 7" single no. 668 Found: Den Haag, 1989 Cost: 3 guilders Tracks: 'Verjaardagsfeest' / 'Transport uit Bangkok'
'I'm so sorry' is the debut solo single from José Hoebee, one third of the girl trio Luv', that broke up earlier in 1981. Released in December 1981, this single was an unsuccessful start of a solo career that would be more successful the next year with the hit singles 'I will follow him' and 'Secret love'.
This copy of 'I'm so sorry' was made in Germany and features a different sleeve when compared to the Dutch release.
My collection: 7" single no. 144 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1982 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'I'm so sorry' / 'A reason for fallin' in love'
'What kinda boy you're lookin' for (girl)' was the twelfth top 10 hit for Hot Chocolate in the UK singles chart, peaking at number 10 in the spring of 1983. In the Dutch Top 40, it was the group's penultimate hit single, peaking at number 21.
