Riders on the storm - Annabel Lamb

Annabel Lamb was born in Surrey, England in 1958. She released her debut album 'Once bitten' in 1983, and this single, a cover of the well-known track from The Doors. It earned her her only hit, because she got to no. 27 in the UK singles chart with this. She subsequently released six more albums, with little chart success.

This 12" single includes a longer version of the single track, with some extra guitar solos here and there, and a dub version, which is basically a remixed instrumental track. This version of the Doors classic is one of the more interesting ones, in my opinion. My copy of the 12" version includes a small poster of Annabel, who was not your average pinup, by the way.

My collection: 12" single no. 307

Found: Record Exchange, London, 1995

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Riders on the storm [extended]' / 'Riders on the storm (dub)', 'No cure'

Download: Riders on the storm - extended version and dub version

Message to my girl - Split Enz

The band Split Enz formed in 1971 at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1971. The original line-up consisted of Phil Judd, Tim Finn, Mike Chunn, Robert Gillies and Noel Crombie. Originally named 'Split Ends', they replaced the last three letters of their name with 'nz', which is the anagram for New Zealand. When Phil Judd left the band in 1977, he was replaced by Tim's brother Neil Finn, and they entered their more commercially successful new wave period.

Split Enz released 'Message to my girl' as a single in 1984. It was taken from their penultimate album 'Conflicting emotions'. It was a firm radio favourite in 1984, although it only reached number 13 in the charts in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 980

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, August 29, 1989

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Message to my girl' / 'Kia kaha'

Download: here

Coloured kisses - Martika

Martika was born as Marta Marrero on May 18, 1969 in Whittier, California. She entered showbusiness in 1982 in an uncredited role as one of the orphan girls in the 1982 motion picture 'Annie'. Her first self-titled album 'Martika' (1988) featured the successful debut single 'Toy soldiers'. In 1991 she released her second album 'Martika's kitchen', which included this single, 'Coloured kisses'.

I bought this single for one reason, and one reason only: it came in coloured vinyl. The red single was a cheap collector's item, which I bought on the basis of good experiences with some of Martika's other singles. This track is standard nineties fare: not bad, but not remarkable either.

My collection: 7" single no. 3407

Found: Record exchange, London, December 2004

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Coloured kisses' / 'Pride & prejudice'

Download: Album 'Martika's kitchen', including both tracks

Smalltown boy - Bronski Beat

'Smalltown boy' was the debut single of Bronski Beat. The song is about a gay boy who faces homophobia, loneliness and family misunderstanding. The video for the song was a powerful story of a boy - played by lead singer Jimmy Somerville - who makes friends - played by band members Larry Steinbachek and Steve Bronski - but is attacked by a gang of homophobes. A policeman brings him back to his home. He catches a train and reunites with his friends.

The song became a number one hit in the Netherlands. Some radio stations played the 12" version of the track at the time, which is how I got to know the extended version. It was such a good version that I had to have it. It was one of the first 12" singles I bought.

My collection: 12" single no. 4

Found: LP top 100, Den Haag, 1984

Cost: 14,95 guilders

Tracks: 'Smalltown boy [extended version]' / 'Infatuation', 'Memories'

Download: here

Wonderland - XTC

The single 'Wonderland' by XTC is one of those singles that went unnoticed by the general public. It didn't chart anywhere. It was a track lifted from the album 'Mummer', which featured a more pastoral sound than any of their previous work. The track was written by band member Colin Moulding and was later described by band leader Andy Partridge as one of his 'most beautiful melodies'.

I was listening to tapes recorded by my sister in the mid-eighties when I found out about this track. I didn't like it much at first listen, but repeated listening made me change my mind. More than a decade later, I ended up buying the single.

My collection: 7" single no. 2945

Found: Record fair, Leiden, January 31, 1998

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Wonderland' / 'Jump'

Download: here

Dance hall days - Wang Chung

In some circles, nothing spells 'dodgy eighties music' better than the British new wave band Wang Chung. Their biggest hit in the USA was 'Everybody have fun tonight', which contains the immortal line 'Everybody Wang Chung tonight', which earned them the accolade of the third worst song ever by Blender magazine.

'Dance hall days' was their only hit in the UK, and the video was shown endlessly on music television stations in Europe in 1984, despite its blandness.

My collection: 7" single no. 3494

Found: Geest, Den Haag, 2004

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Dance hall days' / 'There is a nation'

Download: Album 'Points on the curve', including the track 'Dance hall days' / 12" single 'Dance hall days, including the track 'There is a nation'

Never gonna give you up - Rick Astley

'Never gonna give you up' was written and produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman for Rick Astley. The song was a worldwide number one hit in 1987 and 1988. The song has more recently become the center of an activity named 'Rickrolling', which involved placing misleading links redirecting to the song's video.

I didn't buy the single when it came out, because it was on the radio so often that I didn't need to hear it on record anymore. My recent acquisition of the single was just to complete a collection of Rick Astley singles: I do have them all, you know.

My collection: 7" single no. 3497

Found: Geest, Den Haag, 2004

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Never gonna give you up' / 'Never gonna give you up (instrumental)'

Download: here