Make a move on me - Oliva Newton-John

Certainly not the most well known songs by Olivia Newton-John. It was taken from her album 'Physical', after the title track and the second single off the album, 'Landslide', were pretty successful in the UK.

When I bought this single, I'd forgotten about this track as well, but I still recalled it vaguely. The sleeve did the rest, I have to confess. I bought my copy, along with a few dozen other singles, in Walthamstow, London, one of my favourite second hand record haunts on Wood Street. I wonder if that shop still exists...

My collection: 7" single no. 2707

Found: House of Rhythm, London, July 3, 1996

Cost: 30p

Tracks: 'Make a move on me' / 'Strangers touch'

Download: Album 'Physical', including both tracks

Pressure - Billy Joel

Billy Joel is best known for his soppy ballads ('Honesty', 'Piano man', 'Leningrad') and his emotional anti-war statements ('Goodnight Saigon'). His work has not always been met with favourable criticism. I for one can't stand his 'Uptown girl' and 'River of dreams'. But 'Pressure' is the one song that defines Billy Joel's best work: well written, melodic and aggressive.

Throughout the eighties it was one of my favourite songs, one that I liked more than 'Goodnight Saigon' even. I bought my copy of the single in 1993, during a record fair in the Houtrusthallen in Den Haag. Those have since been torn down - a great loss.

My collection: 7" single no. 1985

Found: Record fair, Den Haag, October 17, 1993

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Pressure' / 'Laura'

Download: Album 'The Nylon Curtain', including both tracks

My love won't let you down - Nathalie

Nathalie was a Belgian girl who had the amazing luck to work with Peter Godwin, a guy who made some great records in his own right in the early eighties. (More about him later on this blog.) 'My love won't let you down' was the english language version of Nathalie's single 'Mon coeur qui craque', which apparently did well in French speaking countries.

I heard the song in 1983 when it roamed the Dutch charts, and it stuck in my mind as a nice pop song. I finally bought a copy of the single pictured here above in 1994. But that wasn't all: shortly before that I'd gotten my hands on the 12" single, with its striking image of the singer on the cover. Fortunately it wasn't just the cover that made an impression.

I really like the things Peter Godwin produced, and am - again - amazed that he didn't achieve a higher level of success. Whatever happened to Nathalie? As far as I know, she didn't release anything but this single. But I could be wrong of course.

My collection: 7" single no. 2132; 7" single no. 3280; 12" single no. 148

Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, July 30, 1994; unknown, February 9, 2001; Record Palace, Amsterdam, 199X

Cost: 2 guilders; 2 guilders; 2,5 guilders

Tracks:

7": 'My love won't let you down' / 'My love won't let you down (instrumental)'

12": 'My love won't let you down [extended]' / 'My love won't let you down (instrumental)'

Download: here

Oude Maasweg - Amazing Stroopwafels

A week ago I saw a live performance of the Amazing Stroopwafels. The first song they performed was also their most famous one: 'Oude Maasweg'. It's not a habit on this blog to write about songs in the Dutch language, but for this one I'll gladly make an exception. And it's bilingual anyway: one verse is in Dutch, the other verse is in English. It's worth a listen now that you get a chance.

By their own admission, they have performed live hundreds of times and released dozens of singles, but it never led to huge amounts of success. 'Oude Maasweg' narrowly missed the Dutch Top 40 in January 1982. However, it has become one of the nation's best loved classics.

My collection: 7" single no. 916

Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 25, 1989

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Oude Maasweg' / 'Kolen uit Polen'

Download: here

Sure know something - Kiss

The records don't show it and my memory can't recall where, but I know I got Kiss's second single from their 'Dynasty' album pretty quickly after I got I was made for lovin' you. 'Sure know something' got to number 3 in the Dutch charts in the autumn of 1979. Amazingly, it didn't reach the UK charts at all, and in France it was released as the B-side to 'Dirty Livin''. It's this French edition that's part of my record collection now. I might have bought it in Paris, because we were on holiday in that city that year. But as I said, there's no way of knowing...

My collection: 7" single no. 29

Found: ?

Cost: ?

Tracks: 'Dirty livin'' / 'Sure know something'

Download: Album 'Dynasty', including both tracks

Mammoth - Kayak

The Dutch rock band Kayak is not so well known outside of the Netherlands, but when you hear a track like this, you have to wonder why. Incorporating a street organ into a rock song is something that doesn't happen too often - and it sounds so well in this track, 'Mammoth'. It was the second song by Kayak to reach the Dutch Top 40, way back in 1973.

When I bought my copy of the single, I'd recently heard it again after a long time. I knew I had to have it and I seized the opportunity when it came up.

My collection: 7" single no. 1391

Found: All that music, Leiden, February 22, 1991

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Mammoth' / 'Ballet of the cripple'

Download: Album 'See see the sun', including both tracks

Child come away - Kim Wilde

The fourth Kim Wilde single I bought was Kim's sixth. By then, I thought all I was missing still was Kim's single 'Cambodia', but I hadn't been able to find that one. Otherwise, I was satisfied. I bought 'Child come away' pretty soon after it had been released. I loved the colourful cover, although I remember I thought her hair was a bit too big.

'Child come away' was a new track, not included on Kim's second album 'Select'. The B-side, 'Just another guy' was new as well. For the longest time I didn't know it, but the twelve inch version of this single is quite a rarity, because it was not a chart success and so a very limited quantity of it was pressed.

My collection: 7" single no. 163

Found: Studio Echo, Den Haag, 1982

Cost: 5,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Child come away' / 'Just another guy'

Download: here