Versailles - White Soxx

White Soxx was a project by French musicians Frederic Mercier and David Fairstein. As far as I know, the single 'Versailles' was the only thing they released. It was recorded in 1980 for MCA Records, and barely missed the Dutch Top 40 in August 1981. Since 2002, the song appears in the Top 2000 chart of all times, which is compiled by listeners of Dutch Radio 2 at the end of each year.

According to the sleeve of the single, 'Versailles' is a musical interpretation of 'strange events in the grounds of Versailles Palace at the turn of the century'. What these events were, remains as mysterious as the group that made this single...

My collection: 7" single no. 159

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1982

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Versailles (edited version)' / 'Versailles (full length version)'

Download: edited version / full length version

Nature's way - Harmony Ambulance

When bands fall apart, separate members often go on to do other things. Sometimes solo, sometimes in other bands. In the case of All About Eve, singer Julianne Regan got together with Gilbert Gabriel to form Harmony Ambulance. They released one single on the Rough Trade label in April 1993. And then - poof - the duo ceased to exist. (Of course, Julianne would go on to form Mice and then reform with All About Eve - but that's a different story.)

As always, it was next to impossible to find this single in the Netherlands. During a holiday in London in 1994, I went to the Rough Trade shop, hoping to find it. But unfortunately, they didn't. They did, however, offer to send it via mail order. I paid upfront in the shop, and a few weeks later there it was. Two great tracks. It's a mystery why they were never released since.

My collection: 7" single no. 2207

Found: Rough Trade shop, London & mail order, 1994

Cost: 3 pounds

Tracks: 'Nature's way' / 'All this and heaven'

Download: here

Young girl - Sue Saad and the Next

In 1980 there were some female fronted bands around. Blondie, obviously, started the trends, but later bands like the Pretenders would take their example and build on it. A short-lived band like Sue Saad and the Next was another example. They released one album in 1980. Their first single from that album was 'Young girl'. It reached the Dutch chart in April 1980 and stayed in there for six week, reaching no. 20.

It was a great example of new wave rock, which impressed me as a young radio listener. I simply had to buy this single, and I did so as soon as I could. I never regretted it. I also remember losing this single: for two years I didn't know where this record had gone. Until one day, the room I had in my parents's house was remodelled and I found it behind a radiator of the central heating. Miraculously enough, it hadn't even bent.

My collection: 7" single no. 46

Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1980

Cost: 6 guilders

Tracks: 'Young girl' / 'Cold night rain'

Download: Album 'Sue Saad & the Next', including both tracks

Ma Baker - Boney M

If you've never seen this sleeve before, you're not hallucinating: it's one I made myself. All I've had since the beginning is the 7" record, and when I got a little older I made a sleeve out of white paper and put a few photos, taken from a magazine, on it. Well, it's the music that counts after all.

Boney M was founded by Frank Farian, the German music producer who rose to fame with band who mimed to studio-recorded vocals. In the eighties he would bring together Milli Vanilli, but in the seventies it was all about Boney M. They had a string of hits in Europe with their upbeat disco, sometimes touching on weird subjects like Rasputin, El Lute and, in this case, Ma Baker. It was their second of four number one hits in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 8

Found: unknown

Cost: unknown

Tracks: 'Ma Baker' / 'Still I'm sad'

Download: Album 'Love for sale', including both tracks

Nasty girl - Vanity 6

Thanks to my record collection, I know a thing or two about revisionism. I think I was pretty quick to buy 'Nasty girl' by Vanity 6. It was a chart hit in November 1982, when I was only twelve years old. Pretty strange, when you think about it, that I would buy this saucy song, but on the other hand I was pretty naive and when Vanity sang 'I want seven inches or more' I thought she was talking about records.

When I found out the real meaning I threw the record out of my collection. In the end, it ended up in my brother's record collection. Many years later, in 2002, I came across the single again, and bought it. Despite all of its sexiness (or maybe because of it!) it's a great song.

My collection: 7" single no. 3362

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, 2002

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Nasty girl' / 'Drive me wild'

Download: 12" single 'Nasty girl', including both tracks (password: DjPaulT)

Tragedy and mystery - China Crisis

Another one of yesterday's finds is this twelve inch record. I've been listening more to China Crisis recently and I started to become curious about their extended remixes. They have never been compiled, and still there are quite a few around. My collection already contains a couple of those twelve inches, but this one I didn't have yet. I was very pleased to see that this version is longer than the single version, because it's such a beautiful song.

'Tragedy & mystery' was released in May 1983 and performed poorly in the charts: where Christian had gone to no. 12 in the UK earlier in the year, this one didn't come any higher than no. 46. There were enough formats around: there was a 7" single, a 7" picture disc and this 12" single, so the record company had done enough to promote the song. I'll never understand why such beautiful songs don't connect to bigger audiences...

My collection: 12" single no. 453

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 22, 2008

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Tragedy & mystery [extended]' / 'A golden handshake for every daughter'

Download: here

Forever and ever - Slik

Slik were formed as the Glasgow band Salvation in 1970. After several personnel changes they changed their name to Slik in 1974. One of the members of the band was Midge Ure, who would achieve great successes when he joined the band Ultravox in the late Seventies. His first success, however, came when Slik released the single 'Forever and ever'. It was a number one hit in the UK in February 1976. Shortly after that, it made number 2 in the Netherlands.

I bought my copy yesterday at the 30th edition of the international record fair in Utrecht. It's not a single I've been searching for for years, but I wanted to have it nonetheless.

My collection: 7" single no. 3458

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 22, 2008

Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'Forever and ever' / 'Again my love'

Download: here