Little Ray Of Sunshine - Joe Brown

Released in 1966, Joe Brown's 'Little Ray Of Sunshine' failed to reach the charts in the UK. It was one of an impressive nine singles to fail, in between 'Sally Ann', which reached number 28 in 1963 and 'With A Little Help From My Friends', which reached number 32 in 1967. By today's standards, an artist would already have been dropped by their record label a few times over, but back in the 1960's Pye obviously had faith in mister Brown.

My interest in this single is explained once again by the B-side: 'Your Loving Touch' was written - and previously recorded - by Marty Wilde. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6346
Found: Discogs.com, received 27 January 2021
Cost: 7 euro
Tracks: 'Little Ray Of Sunshine' / 'Your Loving Touch'

Not So Manic Now (acoustic) - Dubstar

One of the nicest singles from the Nineties was Dubstar's 'Not So Manic Now'. For me, the song was overshadowed by 'No More Talk', another fantastic release by the same band. Their album 'Make It Better', released in 2000 was a relative disappointment, and they disappeared for almost two decades.

Back in 2018, without me knowing it, they released a new album called 'One'. That album was recently re-released and was quickly followed by this single, an acoustic rendition of 'Not So Manic Now' with a cover of the Beatles song 'Free As A Bird' on the B-side. Pressed on orange vinyl, it truly is a thing of beauty - and the first 7" single of Dubstar in my collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 6345
Found: Townsend Music, received 27 January 2021
Cost: 9 euro
Tracks: 'Not So Manic Now (acoustic)' / 'Free As A Bird'

Meillä Potkii Hyvin - Danny

My collection of Wilde-related singles is growing lately and it's thanks to the internet. I have found some pretty obscure singles these last few years, and here is another example of that. Finnish singer Danny released 'Meillä Potkii Hyvin' ('We Kick Well') in 1970, with a song originally written by Ronnie Scott and Marty Wilde on the B-side. 

'Yhä Virta Venhettä Kantaa' was translated into Finnish by Pertti Reponen and Esko Linnavalli and is a cover version of 'I Still Believe In Tomorrow'. I received this single from Finland in the original Scandia record label sleeve. Danny's real name is Ilkka Johannes Lipsanen and he was born in Pori, Finland on 24 September 1942. When he started his career in music in the 1960's as part of the band The Islanders he sang songs in English but as he moved on to a successful solo career, he switched to Finnish.Although he'd already released three solo albums by 1970, 'Meillä potkii hyvin' was a non-album single and both sides never appeared on any album.

My collection: 7" single no. 6344
Found: Discogs.com, received 27 January 2021
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'Meillä potkii hyvin' / 'Yhä virta venhettä kantaa'

The Shang-a-lang song - Ruby Pearl and the Dreamboats

Some time ago I bought the Shang-a-lang-song single on a German pressing. I recently found out that there was a UK version with a different B-side. 'Will you stop that!' is, like the A-side, entirely produced and recorded by Marty Wilde and Peter Shelley, and is an interesting piece of music because it takes glam rock to its most annoying extremes. Hence the title, probably.

I never realised this when I wrote the previous entry about this song, but Ruby Pearl does not actually exist: in reality it was one of the many guises Marty Wilde used during the 1970's to release various singles on the Magnet label.

My collection: 7" single no. 6343
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 January 2021
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'The Shang-a-lang song' / 'Will you stop that!'

Happy Birthday Captain Columbus - The Philistines Jr.

Adam Pierce, Leon Dewan, Peter Katis and Tarquin Katis formed the Philistines Jr. and released this short history lesson on music in 1992. The 7" single was pressed on red vinyl, but also contained a novely: the B-side contains two tracks. To hear them, you need to use the Balance knob on your amplifier. You guessed it: I had to do a little cutting and pasting in order to provide neat-ish sound files. Neat-ish, because the channels are actually leaking. I bought this single, obviously, for yet another cover version of 'Kids in America', but you can hear the other track, 'I'll Stop The World And Melt With You' in the background - and vice versa. It's a shame because the guitar solo at the end of 'Kids In America' is actually quite nice, and creative too. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6342
Found: Discogs.com, recevied 13 January 2021
Cost: 1,5 pound
Tracks: 'Happy Birthday Captain Columbus' / 'Kids in America' & 'I'll Stop The World And Melt With You'

Tubular Bells - Champs Boys

Buying cover versions is always a gamble, but an amusing one. You never know what you might end up with. In this particular case, it's a Seventies disco version of 'Tubular Bells', performed by an orchestra conducted by Hervé Roy. He was a French singer, arranger, songwriter and orchestra leader who was born in 1943 and died in 2009. 

Attentive listeners will recognize Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' as well as Mike Oldfield's instrumental masterpiece. And the string arrangement is borrowed from any contemporary disco track. An amusing piece of music.

My collection: 7" single no. 6341
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 January 2021
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Tubular Bells' / 'Fleur'

When the lights go out - Naked Eyes

The single 'When the lights go out' was only released in Canada and the USA, and this copy is the promotional 7" single, made in the USA. Instead of the album track 'Low life' on the B-side, this single plays the same song on both sides, which is not unusual for promotional 7" singles. 

Naked Eyes had a very distinctive sound, made possible by the extraordinary producer Tony Mansfield, who had previously created those great New Musik singles and albums. I've been playing those albums a lot lately, and so it was no wonder that I went to search for related singles recently. Here I was thinking that I had all the Naked Eyes singles - but I didn't. 

It's an appropriate title to end this year with. Let's put out the lights on 2020, it's time to enter 2021. Hopefully it will be a better year for all of us.

My collection: 7" single no. 6340
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 December 2020
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'When the lights go out' / 'When the lights go out'

Someone's in love - Leapy Lee

Leapy Lee was born on 2 July 1939 as Graham Pulleyblank, but later changed his name to Lee Graham. He's best known for his 1968 single 'Little Arrows', which reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.He only had one other hit in the UK, 1970's 'Good Morning'. 

This single, 1969's 'Someone's In Love', was written by Ronnie Scott and Marty Wilde, which would explain my interest in this track. But to be honest, the B-side 'Best to Forget' is an equally charming track.

My collection: 7" single no. 6336
Found: Discogs.com, received 29 December 2020
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Someone's in love' / 'Best to forget'

Scarlet - All about Eve

The British band All about Eve has few equals. Born from the goth scene they managed to cross over to the mainstream with their first and second albums, only to triumph artistically if not commercially with their third and fourth album. 

'Scarlet' was the third single from their second album 'Scarlet and Other Stories', released near the end of the Eighties. The B-side features a live version of one of their earliest tracks, 'Our Summer'. This promotional 7" single features a slightly edited version of 'Scarlet', chopping off 20 seconds without doing the kind of damage some other single edits can do. Still, this edit does not appear anywhere else, which makes this single a bit of a rarity.

My collection: 7" single no. 6335
Found: Discogs.com, received 29 December 2020
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Scarlet [edit]' / 'Our Summer (live)'

All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey's high-pitched warble may be appealing to some, but personally I've given up on her decades ago when her vocal excesses became increasingly annoying. One song escaped this madness over time, the Christmas classic 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'. I didn't really like this song at first but it gradually grew on me, much like Wham's 'Last Christmas' which I felt was a bit too fluffy for my taste when it came out. 

This is the fate of Christmas songs: they are re-released annually and played on the radio incessantly. Some will annoy you ('Merry Xmas Everybody' by Slade comes to my mind) and others will never go out of style. When 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' was re-released last year, there was also a 7" single in a pop-up gatefold sleeve. I received it in January this year, too late to post it on this blog. But I'm glad this single now fits the annual tradition of a Christmas song on this blog at Christmas - because this is actually the one and only Christmas single that I can post on here; I didn't buy any others. 

 

My collection: 7" single no. 6228
Found: Mariah Carey European webstore, 2 January 2020
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' / 'Sugar Plum Fairy Introlude', 'Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (Anniversary Mix)'

Paperlate - Genesis

Part of a larger mail order - and I'm glad it escaped the UK before the borders were closed! - this single of Genesis was a steal at just a few pence. I vaguely recalled 'Paperlate' from back when it was in the charts in 1982, and I was quite surprised that it wasn't already in my collection. But these strange omissions turn up from time to time.

'Paperlate' was actually part of an EP that clocks in at over 15 minutes of music. They were part of a session for the album 'Abacab' but according to the blurb on the back of the sleeve they didn't fit on the album - remember when LP's forced artists to stick to a maximum of 45 minutes? 

My collection: 7" single no. 6333
Found: Discogs.com, received 23 December 2020
Cost: 50p
Tracks: 'Paperlate', 'You might recall' / 'Me and Virgil'

Amsterdam rock - Little Rockin' Rudo

I didn't really know that Ricky Wilde's debut single 'I Am An Astronaut' was ever covered in the Netherlands, even if Swedish, Norwegian covers and even a Czech cover exist. But as it turns out, there are actually two covers: one from the Alkmaar-based children's choir De Waagzangertjes, released in 1974, and one by Little Rockin' Rudo, released in 1973.

Little Rockin' Rudo was a child star that didn't achieve any sort of fame in the Netherlands. His single 'Amsterdam Rock' would turn out to be his only release, but it is made more interesting by the B-side: 'Ik Ben Een Astronaut'. You guessed it, it's the Dutch version of 'I Am An Astronaut', translated by Jacques Zwart.

My collection: 7" single no. 6331
Found: Discogs.com, received December 3, 2020
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Amsterdam Rock' / 'Ik ben een astronaut'

60's World - Marty Wilde featuring Kim Wilde

2020 was a historic year for Marty Wilde. Not only did he release a new studio album, it also reached the UK albums chart. This made him the first British singer to have a hit in every decade since the 1950's. Earlier this month he was also the first British artist to receive a vaccination against the Covid-19 virus. 

All these feats aside, one would almost forget the most amazing feat of all: releasing a 7" single together with his daughter Kim Wilde for the first time! '60's World' was released at the beginning of December - available only in combination with the vinyl double LP for 'Running Together'. The single features two tracks from the album: '60's World' (the duet with Kim) and 'Rockabilly Dreams', one of the most engaging tracks on the album. The fact that the sleeve was signed by Marty and Kim makes this a true collector's item for anyone who ordered this beauty.

My collection: 7" single no. 6332 
Found: MartyWilde.com website (UK), received December 20, 2020
Tracks: '60's World' / 'Rockabilly Dreams'

Magic - Kylie Minogue

...and so the next entry in this blog is another Kylie single. 'Magic' was released as the second single from her 'Disco' album and it is pressed on orange vinyl. The single version of the track is half a minute shorter than the album version. 

While the album 'Disco' has reached number 1 in the UK albums chart, this single has only reached number 53 in the UK singles chart. In fact, Kylie hasn't had a top 10 hit in the UK since her collaboration with a certain Taio Cruz in 2011. This is odd, because I think she is still one of the most successful female singers in pop history. I guess the singles chart is full of weird stuff these days. But hey, I'm too old to listen to any top 40 anyway. I'd rather listen to this.

My collection: 7" single no. 6330
Found: Townsend Music, received November 14, 2020
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'Magic' / 'Till you love somebody'

Say something - Kylie Minogue

I haven't bought a lot of singles recently, and that's mostly down to the amount of new albums and box sets that I have added to my collection. I can only spend my budget once - which is also why I had some doubts about buying this single. It was offered online via the official website of Kylie, and while the promise of a red vinyl single was very tempting, the price was just a bit too steep, especially with added postage. But fortunately the next single was waiting in the wings, so buying both of them for the same amount of postage didn't make it as expensive a purchase.

Kylie's new album is called 'Disco' and that is probably the best description of her new tracks. As far as pop tracks go, this is a very decent effort, and if you ask me, certainly more alluring than her previous album which I personally felt to be a little disappointing. Extra points for including an inner sleeve that lists all the credits for each track; a stunning design for a beautiful see-through red vinyl single.

My collection: 7" single no. 6329
Found: Townsend Music, received November 14, 2020
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'Say something' / 'Say something (acoustic)'

No time to die - Billie Eilish

James Bond fans have not had a good year. Originally planned for April, the 25th Bond movie 'No time to die' was rescheduled to October because of the covid pandemic. And when this pandemic did not seem to come to an end, the movie was rescheduled again, until April next year. My guess is that in March we will hear that 'No time to die' will again be rescheduled. But we'll see.

But there was more to be depressed about. The theme song for the movie was recorded by Billie Eilish. For some, usually younger, people this was something to get excited about, but personally I had hoped for someone better. This song was my first encounter with miss Eilish but my conclusion is that she has definite problems articulating her words. Who remembers the excitement of 'Goldfinger', 'Live and let die', 'A view to a kill' and even 'Skyfall'? Well, listen to this and you will probably feel like locking yourself up in a dark room. Even Hans Zimmer's orchestral arrangement can't save this track. It is an addition to my collection of James Bond theme song singles, but not one I am particularly impressed by. Well, at least the vinyl is a curios shade of marbled grey.

My collection: 7" single no. 6328
Found: HHV, Germany, received October 8, 2020
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'No time to die' / 'No time to die (instrumental)'

Radar love - Golden Earring

I haven't got many singles by the Golden Earring because basically I find their music a bit boring. Much like the Rolling Stones, they have been making the same kind of music since they started, and it doesn't really appeal to me. 

However, 'Radar Love' is one of those tracks that has become a classic and when I used to listen to the Top 100 of all times this one was always played somewhere in the last hour of the show. The song was a hit in the USA, which I guess is a feat for a Dutch band. I never bought the single, though, probably because I never came across a good copy. That changed recently, as the single was released for this year's Record Store Day, and so I bumped into this one in a real shop. Yellow vinyl, a limited edition of 2500 copies....? I couldn't resist. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6327
Found: Paagman, Den Haag, October 3, 2020
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'Radar love (UK single version)' / 'Radar love (Moontan LP version)'

The bell - Mike Oldfield

Although I have followed Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells' outings quite closely, this is one 7" single I never knew existed. I did buy all the CD-singles that were released at the time of his 'Tubular Bells II' album, but I only found the Sentinel 7" single in London when it was released. The 7" single for Tattoo was a recent catch, and it was back in May that I also spotted that 'The Bell' was released in this format. But I had to wait for one to become available.

This finally happened last month, and of course I snapped it up. In the absence of record fairs, online sales are all there is, but I am quite happy to pay for postage when an item is on my wish list. I think I have all the 'Tubular Bells II' 7" singles now... which makes me happy.

My collection: 7" single no. 6326
Found: Discogs.com, received September 26, 2018
Cost: 3 pounds
Tracks: 'The bell (MC Viv Stanshall)' / 'Sentinel Restructure (Trance mix)'

Call my name - OMD

I was quite surprised to find that I never actually bought this OMD single. I was under the impression that I had them all - but 'Call my name' was hardly one of their most successful releases. It was released as the fourth and last single from the album 'Sugar tax', the first album that was released in OMD's "wilderness years", when co-founder Paul Humphreys left the band, unhappy with the band's commercial orientation. 

Andy McCluskey went on alone but the three albums he released couldn't really compare with the artistic highlights that OMD released before. 'Call my name' only made it to number 50 in the UK singles chart and number 28 in Germany, but failed to reach the charts everywhere else.

My collection: 7" single no. 6325
Found: Discogs.com, received September 24, 2020
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Call my name' / 'Walk tall'

We can't stop what's coming - The The

After the successful albums from the 1980's and 1990's, The The suddenly disappeared from the radar... or so it seemed. Matt Johnson, who basically is The The, continued recording music, but his soundtracks released on the Cinéola label were for a much more limited audience.

For 2017's Record Store Day, after premiering the song on a Radio Cineola broadcast, the The released a new 7" record called "We Can't Stop What's Coming", collaborating once again with Johnny Marr. The single was originally released with an etched side. This single is the white vinyl single that appeared shortly thereafter - also with just one track on it. I had to wait until the price came down a bit... and fortunately it did.

My collection: 7" single no. 6324
Found: Discogs.com, received September 24, 2020
Cost: 6 pounds
Tracks: 'We can't stop what's coming'