For a little while in 1984, Jermaine Jackson was just about as successful as his brother Michael. It seemed the world just couldn't get enough of Michael Jackson and so any record released by a sibling became a chart hit as well.
Jermaine released the album 'Dynamite' in February 1984, and all the singles taken from that album became hits. 'Sweetest sweetest', the first single from the album, reached number 52 in the UK singles chart and number 16 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4777 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 10, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'Sweetest sweetest' / 'Come to me (One way or another)'
In 1987, the Frank Boeijen Groep released their seventh album 'Welkom in Utopia' ('Welcome in Utopia'). The album featured two title tracks: both titled 'Welkom in Utopia', the two tracks were very different from one another. Number one was the album's opening track, an uptempo track about social circumstances leading to desperate actions.
'Welkom in Utopia 2', the closing track of the album and released as a single ahead of the album, was a midtempo track with a more personal lyric. It was a hit for the band, reaching number 18 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 563 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1987 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'Welkom in Utopia 2' / 'De tijden'
'Love don't live here' was released last Monday as the most recent Bananarama single. Taken from their current album 'Viva', the track was written by Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward and their producer Ian Masterson.
This 12" single features an extended remix of the track, as well as a remix of the album track 'The runner', a cover of the Three Degrees hit from the Seventies. So will this be a hit? I surely hope so, as this is among the girls' best work.
My collection: 12" single no. 536 Found: What records, received April 14, 2010 Cost: 2 pounds Tracks: 'Love don't live here (Ian Masterson's extended mix)' / 'The runner (Buzz Junkies 12" mix)'
'Raspberry beret' tells the story of a teenager and his first sexual experience with a girl who wears the titular hat. The video for the song was Prince's first since his short-lived 'ban' on music videos. The song quickly became a fan favorite, and a staple in nearly every Prince tour.
The single reached number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. This UK pressing, featuring a different B-side when compared to the American pressing, only reached number 25 on the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 3096 Found: Record Exchange, London, May 13, 1999 Cost: 50p Tracks: 'Raspberry beret' / 'Hello'
'You sexy thing' was originally a hit for Hot Chocolate in 1975. Dutch DJ Ben Liebrand, who already made a career for himself remixing tracks for Dutch radio and also for record releases, took on the task of remixing the track for a 1987 single release. His effort didn't go by unnoticed: the single reached number 10 in the UK singles chart.
When the original version of 'You sexy thing' was re-released in 1997 and reached number 6 in the UK singles chart, the track became the only Hot Chocolate track to become a top 10 hit in the Seventies, the Eighties and the Nineties. It's almost a shame the song didn't achieve this once again in the Noughties.
My collection: 7" single no. 4797 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 10, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'You sexy thing (Ben Liebrand remix)' / 'Every 1's a winner'
Frankly, I was very surprised when I played this single for the first time after buying it. Everyone knows Hot Chocolate's 'You sexy thing', with the near-falsetto lead vocals by Errol Brown. But this version of the song sounds very different. So what happened? You tell me, I couldn't find any information about it on the web.
'You sexy thing' was released in the autumn of 1975 and reached number 5 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 2 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4773 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 10, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'You sexy thing' / 'A warm smile'
It's a familiar story: a band signs with a record company, has some success, leaves the record company and signs with another one, and the previous record company tries to milk the success to the very last drop. It's no different with Clouseau: when they left HKM music to sign with EMI, HKM released a live album to try and get some extra money in.
To promote the live album - which reached number 10 in the Dutch albums chart - a single was also released: a live version of 'Oh ja' ('Oh yes'), which failed to reach the chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 2234 Found: Record fair, January 21, 1995 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Oh ja (live)' / 'Ik wil vannacht bij je slapen (live)'
Well, at least they don't beat around the bush. 'Ik wil vannacht bij je slapen' ('I want to sleep with you tonight') was released in February 1991 as the third single from Clouseau's second album, a title that leaves nothing to the imagination.
The appreciation for this single was almost identical in Belgium and the Netherlands, where the single peaked at number 27 and 28 respectively.
My collection: 7" single no. 1402 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, March 16, 1991 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'Ik wil vannacht bij je slapen' / 'Oh ja'
Joan Manuel Serrat was born on December 27, 1943. He started his career in music in the early Sixties, first as a member of a pop band in school, and after 1965 as a solo artist.
In 1968, Spain chose Serrat to represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest. He would sing the song 'La, la, la'. After he asked to sing it in Catalan, the Spanish authorities didn't agree. At the time, the dictator Francisco Franco was repressing the Catalan language. Defiantly, Serrat refused to sing the Spanish-language version, and was hurriedly replaced by Massiel, who went on to win the contest with her Spanish-language interpretation. A recording of Serrat's version of 'La, la, la' still exists on this single, a souvenir of a Eurovision performance that never came to be.
My collection: 7" single no. 4821 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 10, 2010 Cost: 5 euro Tracks: 'La, la, la' / 'Mis gaviotas'
Kate Bush wrote the song 'Cloudbusting' after she read the book 'A book of dreams', published in 1973. The book was written by Peter Reich, son of psychologist Wilhelm Reich, about his father's arrest and imprisonment through the eyes of himself as a young boy. Wilhelm Reich is the inventor of the 'cloudbuster', a rain machine that looks very much like the machine that is pictured on the cover of this single. It's an extraordinary book, which was re-released as a result of the success of this song. I bought it, and I still recommend it to everyone who loves this song.
The music video, in which Kate plays Peter and Donald Sutherland plays Wilhelm, retells the story in short and made quite an impression at the time. The single fared pretty well as a result: it reached number 20 in the UK singles chart and number 11 in the Dutch Top 40. The American single, released in 1986 in conjunction with the greatest hits compilation 'The whole story', has a different B-side. I bought it four years after its release.
My collection: 7" single no. 370 / no. 1344 Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, 1985 / London, October 18, 1990 Cost: 6 guilders / 2 pounds Tracks (no. 370): 'Cloudbusting' / 'Burning bridge' Tracks (no. 1344): 'Cloudbusting' / 'The man with the child in his eyes'
I don't have a lot of Garbage singles, and that's partly because most of their singles were not released on 7" vinyl. And when they were, they are often exceedingly expensive. But I got lucky: I found this 2007 single at a bargain price.
'Tell me where it hurts' was released on white vinyl in 2007. It was a new track on the compilation album 'Absolute Garbage', released while the band were on hiatus. This song was recorded after the band hadn't worked together for eighteen months. It was written around a string arrangement by the band coupled with newly written lyrics and a title that vocalist Manson had come up with a few years prior. Released as a single, it reached number 50 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4820 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 10, 2010 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Tell me where it hurts' / 'Bad boyfriend (Sting like a bee remix)'
'I wish u heaven' was released as the third single from Prince's 1988 album 'Lovesexy'. It reached number 19 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 24 in the UK singles chart.
The B-side, 'Scarlet pussy' is a sexually charged track, using metaphors of cats and dogs for sexual organs. The track is credited to Camille, a feminine alter ego of Prince.
My collection: 7" single no. 1754 Found: Record Exchange, London, October 19, 1992 Cost: 50p Tracks: 'I wish u heaven' / 'Scarlet pussy (edit)'
The third single from Chris Rea's 1984 album 'Wired to the moon' was 'Touché d'amour'. Somewhat surprisingly, it was a reggae-oriented track.
The single reached number 86 in the UK singles chart and number 46 in Germany. In other territories, this single did not chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4798 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 10, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'Touché d'amour (special remix)' / 'Touché d'amour (instrumental)'
'Heel alleen' ('Lonely') was the first single from Clouseau's second album, 'Of zo' ('Or something'). It featured a slightly rougher sound, something that would also be true for the album.
The fans were undeterred: the single was again a big hit for the band. In Belgium, the single reached number 3 and in the Dutch Top 40 it reached number 13.
My collection: 7" single no. 1358 Found: Den Haag, December 5, 1990 Cost: - (present) Tracks: 'Heel alleen' / 'Verlangen'
Alan Sorrenti was born in Naples, Italy on December 9, 1950. His mother was Welsh, and he was raised in Aberystwyth, Wales for much of his childhood. He started his singing career in the early Seventies. His work consisted mainly of progressive rock and experimental music.
In 1980, he represented Italy during the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Non so che darei' ('I don't know what I would give'). The song finished sixth in a field of 19 competitors. This single features both an Italian and English version of the song.
My collection: 7" single no. 4802 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 10, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'No so che darei' / 'If you need me now'
'Two people' was released as the second single from Tina Turner's 1986 album 'Break every rule'. Contrary to most of her singles, this was a midtempo ballad, which for the most part she performed pretty well. Turner's voice can become pretty grating, especially in the higher registers, but on this single she starts off low enough - and that actually sounds good.
The single reached number 1 in Spain, number 22 in the Dutch Top 40, number 30 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 10 in Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
My collection: 7" single no. 484 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1987 Cost: 3 guilders Tracks: 'Two people' / 'Havin' a party'
'Who were you with in the moonlight' was the second single by the duo Dollar, releasedin April 1979 and produced by Christopher Neil.
Their debut single 'Shooting star' had been a big hit in several European countries, but this single did less well in comparison: it only charted in the UK, Ireland and Australia, peaking at number 14, 17 and 39 respectively.
My collection: 7" single no. 4805 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 10, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'Who were you with in the moonlight' / 'Star control'
The track 'Innuendo' was pieced together 'like a jigsaw puzzle'. The recurring theme started off as a jam session between Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor. Freddie Mercury then added the melody and some of the lyrics, which were then completed by Taylor. At six and a half minutes, it is one of Queen's longest songs, and their longest ever released as a single, exceeding 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by 35 seconds.
Like 'Bohemian Rhapsody', it was released as the first single from its parent album, despite its length and complexity, going straight to number 1 in the UK singles chart. In the Dutch Top 40, the single reached number 4.
My collection: 7" single no. 1379 Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, February 9, 1991 Cost: 6,5 guilders Tracks: 'Innuendo' / 'Bijou'
Yet another addition to my collection of Future World Orchestra singles. 'Don't go' was released in 1985, just before Robert Pot and Gerto Heupink decided to break up after differences of opinion about the musical direction they were heading.
Future World Orchestra still exists, with Pot as the sole original member.
My collection: 7" single no. 4819 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 10, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'Don't go (part 1)' / 'Don't go (part 2)'
'Fighting for our queen' was Maarten Peters' last solo single to be released on 7" vinyl - and his last solo single overall (not counting a track in Dutch he recorded over a decade later). His solo career came to a sudden halt after this single failed to chart. He released no further albums, but focused on songwriting instead, and worked as a musician with his partner Margriet Eshuys.
As a song, 'Fighting for our queen' is not his best effort. It plays on the imagery of fairy tales but the lyric is not very accomplished.
My collection: 7" single no. 1443 Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, May 24, 1991 Cost: 6,5 guilders Tracks: 'Fighting for our queen' / 'Surrender'
For a little while in 1984, Jermaine Jackson was just about as successful as his brother Michael. It seemed the world just couldn't get enough of Michael Jackson and so any record released by a sibling became a chart hit as well.
