I bought 'Final love song' a long time ago, but I was aware of another single by PS & the Footnotes, the Dutch band that never found fame despite a short-lived record deal with EMI.
'Eve of destruction' was written by P.F. Sloan in 1965 as a grave warning of imminent apocalypse, and considered by some to be the epitome of a protest song. It expressed the frustrations and fears of young people in the age of the Cold War, Vietnam, the nuclear arms race, and the civil rights movement. The most famous version of this song was recorded that same year by Barry McGuire. It earned him a worldwide hit.
In 1980, the Dutch band The Walkers changes its name into The Press. Consisting of Rene Innemee, Michel and Walter Nita, John Coenen, Floor Minnaert and Willy Bronzwaer, they release their debut single 'I'm gonna shoot the D.J.' a few months later.
'Kick it in' was released as the third single from the 1989 Simple Minds album 'Street fighting years'. Although I wasn't that convinced that this song was actually any good, I was curious about the 89 remix of 'Waterfront', which is included on the B-side of this single. And so it still ended up in my collection.
The Pretenders released their second album 'Pretenders II' in August 1981. Most critics at the time called it disappointing, although it is now generally considered a great album.
I first heard Peter Gabriel's 'Shock the monkey' as part of a compilation album for Greenpeace, released in the mid-Eighties. That compilation was remarkable for its inclusion of Kate Bush's 'Breathing' - the single version no less.
In 1979, the Nolan Sisters participated in the UK national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Harry my Honolulu lover'. It was considered a favourite before the final took place, but in the end it came fourth, with Black Lace going on to represent the UK.
First released on Electric Light Orchestra's fourth album 'Eldorado' in July 1974, 'Can't get it out of my head' was relased as a single in November 1974.
'Love will tear us apart' was originally recorded by the British band Joy Division in 1979. The lyric ostensibly reflect the problems in frontman Ian Curtis's marriage to Deborah Curtis, as well as his general frame of mind in the time leading up to his suicide in May 1980. Deborah Curtis had the phrase 'Love will tear us apart' inscribed on Ian Curtis's memorial stone.
Supersister was formed in Den Haag, Netherlands in 1970 by Robert Jan Stips, Sacha van Geest, Marco Vrolijk and Ron van Eck. They made a name for themselves with progressive rock and made their debut with the album 'Present from Nancy'.
'All summer long' was released as a single from Chris Rea's commercially and critically acclaimed album 'Shamrock Diaries' (1985). The album reached number one in several countries including Germany and The Netherlands.
The man on this photograph is hard to recognise - even for his fans. It's Henny Vrienten, who became the frontman of Doe Maar, a band that was seriously popular in the first half of the Eighties in the Netherlands.
Twenty years ago, while I was studying, a girl I knew was very interested in David Bowie. Then, one day, she said that she was also looking for records by Wall Street Crash. She asked me - knowing that I was an avid collector of records - to look out for singles and LP's by this band. A week later, I went to Leiden and bought one LP and three singles by Wall Street Crash for her.
'Born to be sold' was released in October 1989 as the ninth single by Transvision Vamp. The single featured two live tracks on the B-side, one of which was a cover version of the Rolling Stones' 'Down on you'.
AlthoughI bought a copy of the Korgis' debut single 'Young 'n' Russian' a few months ago, I bought another one last week. The reason for that was the attractive sleeve and the fact that it had a different B-side.
'And she was' was a track on the 1985 Talking Heads album 'Little creatures'. The song was written by David Byrne. According to him, the song was written about a girl he knew who used to take LSD in a field next to a Yoo-hoo beverage factory in Baltimore, Maryland.
When I was 14 years old, I'd never heard of the expression 'Crime passionel', the Dutch expression for a crime of passion. No wonder: it's borrowed from French and at the time I always had bad grades for French. It was also the title of the new single by the Dutch band Frank Boeijen Groep, released in January 1985.
Released in February 1982, 'Beat the beat' was the first single by Mari Wilson to reach the UK singles chart. It peaked at number 59, which was not a very impressive placing, but it was only a taster of the bigger success to come.
I first heard 'I'll be over you' as a bonus track on Toto's cd-single 'Stop loving you', released in 1987. It was years later until I found out that it was actually a track on their 1986 album 'Fahrenheit', and released as a single in its own right.
Donna Summer released her first album for Geffen Records in 1980. Entitled 'The wanderer', it was something of a departure as it sounded more like a rock/new wave album compared to her previous disco output.