Emotional jungle - David Roach

Again, it was my sister who discovered David Roach. His 'Emotional jungle' was a great, but very obscure, track. David's album 'I love sax' was in the UK album chart for one week, and the single never even reached the singles chart. My sister bought a copy of the single and we played it for weeks on end. Later on she also found the 12" single.

I had to wait for a long time until I located the 12" myself: eleven years to be exact. Finding a rare record like that is always a triumph.

My collection: 12" single no. 250

Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam, 1995

Cost: 5 guilders

Tracks: 'Emotional jungle [extended]' / 'Sleepwalkers'

Download: here

Highway to hell - AC/DC

In 1979, the relatively new TV station Veronica broadcast a live concert by AC/DC during their music programme Countdown. I loved seeing this strange man in a school uniform performing this "horrible music" (quote from my parents). It was no wonder that only a week later I would buy a discounted single from this band. 'Highway to hell' was the loudest piece of "garbage" (again...) I owned at that point.

The rockers from Australia are more famous, of course, for their 1980 anthem 'Whole lotta Rosie'. I would buy that one much later...

My collection: 7" single no. 25

Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1979

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Highway to hell' / 'If you want blood you've got it'

Download: Album 'Highway to hell', including both tracks

Don't give up on us - David Soul

David Soul was born in Chicago, Illinois as David Richard Solberg. He gained superstar status in the 1970's when he played the role of detective Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson on the TV series Starsky & Hutch. While this series was still broadcast, David launched a successful singing career. His debut single, 'Don't give up on us' reached no. 1 in America and the UK. In the Netherlands, it made no. 3.

I got to know the song, like many songs in the late Seventies, through the radio and the singles collection my sister had. Twelve years later, I bought my own copy of that single. It's still a beautiful ballad.

My collection: 7" single no. 807

Found: All that music, Leiden, May 5, 1989

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Don't give up on us' / 'Black bean soup'

Download: here

Running with the devil - Van Halen

Hardrock was a genre that I got slightly lured into because of my fascination for Kiss. I was only nine years old when Van Halen stormed the charts with their single 'Running with the devil'. I loved the solid sound of the track, and the manic, bizarre vocal acrobatics of singer David Lee Roth. Later in life I would learn that Van Halen wasn't really playing the hardest variety of hardrock, but it sounded impressive enough to me.

My collection: 7" single no. 51

Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1980

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Running with the devil' / 'You really got me'

Download: Running with the devil, You really got me

Emotional disguise - Peter Godwin

I heard 'Emotional disguise' on a local radio station (repeatedly) and started to become very interested in this song. It took me a while to find out who was singing this song, because it didn't reach the charts in the Netherlands. Even in the UK, Peter Godwin remained largely unknown.

My sister finally bought the single later in the year and so I got to know Peter Godwin. It would take me even more years to finally own the single myself.

My collection: 7" single no. 1159

Found: All that music, Leiden, January 27, 1990

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Emotional disguise' / 'French emotions'

Download: here

High hopes - Pink Floyd

Although Pink Floyd was never known as a 'singles band', there were two singles taken from their album 'The Division bell' (1994). 'Take it back' was a reasonable success, and so the release of 'High hopes' hoped to repeat that success. The 7" single was released on clear vinyl and with a poster sleeve. Both the 7" single and the cd-single featured edited versions of the A and B-sides. It's a shame, because the full length version of especially 'High hopes' is really worth hearing. I couldn't resist buying the single, though, because it looked fabulous. By 1994, 7" singles had become rarities I wanted to have whenever a good song was released on that format.

My collection: 7" single no. 2218
Found: Record fair, Netherlands, 1994
Cost: 10 guilders
Tracks: 'High hopes (edit)' / 'Keep talking (edit)'
Download: here

This town ain't big enough for both of us - Sparks

My sister told me that I was fascinated by the Sparks when I was only three years old. They had a hit with 'This town ain't big enough for both of us' in 1974, and even at this young age I was watching music shows on television with her. Every week I would ask if 'the man with that moustache' would come again. I was rarely disappointed, because the top 10 hit was on heavy rotation on Toppop, the chart show of those days.

In my teenage years I had to search for this single extensively. I finally found it in 1988, and even though the sleeve was torn and the vinyl wasn't in the best quality, I was happy to have this souvenir of memories I didn't have anymore.

My collection: 7" single no. 685

Found: ?

Cost: ?

Tracks: 'This town ain't big enough for both of us' / 'Barbecutie'

Download: Album 'Kimono my house', including both tracks