Say when - Lene Lovich

Lili-Marlene Premilovich was born on March 30, 1949 in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 13 her family moved to Hull, England. She met guitarist/songwriter Les Chappell during her teens, and he became her longtime collaborator and life partner.

Taking on the name Lene Lovich, she released her debut album 'Stateless' in 1978. This album contained her two biggest hits: 'Lucky number' (a top three hit in the UK) and this single, 'Say when'. It reached number 19 in the UK and the Netherlands. I bought the single in that same year, even though the sleeve was written on and quite damaged. I bought a replacement copy two decades later in the same shop for the same price...

My collection: 7" single no. 105

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1981

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Say when' / 'One lonely heart'

Download: here

Si la vie est cadeau - Corinne Hermes

The 1983 Eurovision Song Contest was won with the song 'Si la vie est cadeau', performed by Corinne Hermes. She was born on November 16, 1961 and is a French singer. She represented Luxembourg on this occasion and finished just six points ahead of Israel's Ofra Haza with 'Hi'. The song received zero points from two of the twenty participating countries, but also received the maximum twelve points from five - mostly Mediterranean - countries.

Personally, I was not pleased with this winner. I preferred more eclectic tracks like Norway's 'Do re mi' by Jahn Teigen, Sweden's Carola with 'Främling' or even Spain's Remedios Amaya with 'Quien maneja mi barca?'. It took me 25 years to buy this single, and only because of my recent decision to want to buy all the Eurovision winners on single.

My collection: 7" single no. 3507

Found: Record Mania, Amsterdam, December 27, 2008

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Si la vie est cadeau' / 'Pour un jour de toi'

Download: here

Baby's in the mountains - Peter Godwin

It's never clear to me why some singles are not a bigger success. Peter Godwin's 'Baby's in the mountains' is a good example. It's a catchy song, it's got most of the electronic sounds that were popular in 1983, and yet, it didn't sell.

Peter Godwin has recently been writing lyrics for Steve Winwood. These tracks appear on his 2008 album, 'Nine lives'.

My collection: 7" single no. 1452

Found: All that music, Leiden, June 18, 1991

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Baby's in the mountains' / 'Soul of love'

Download: here

Echo beach - Martha and the Muffins

This single is one of the big mysteries of my life. I bought it in 1980, not long after it came out. Then, some months later, it simply disappeared. I know I had it, but it was gone. To this day I suspect my brother, who nicked singles whenever and wherever he could when we lived at our parents's house. The single never reappeared. I bought this copy in 1994. In a way, I was satisfied: it was an English pressing after all. But the mystery was never resolved.

'Echo beach' is one of the best tracks of that year, 1980. Recorded by the Canadian band Martha and the Muffins, it was elected the 35th greatest Canadian song of all time in 2005 by CBC Radio One. Although Mark Gane was not aware of a real Echo Beach when he wrote the song in 1978, several people wrote to him asking if it was about a beach in their local area. However, Echo Beach, as mentioned in the song, does not refer to a real beach but is rather a symbolic notion of somewhere the narrator would rather be, somewhere 'far away in time'. The song was covered later by Dimestars, the band of Kim Wilde's sister Roxanne, and by Toyah.

My collection: 7" single no. 2178

Found: House of Rhythm, London, September 27, 1994

Cost: 1,2 pounds

Tracks: 'Echo beach' / 'Teddy the dink'

Download: here

Hide and seek - Five Star

I got to know 'Hide and seek' by Five Star thanks to this box set, which I'd bought in London in 1987. I was a bit surprised when I found this 12" single, not realising that the track had actually been a single. It was actually their debut single, if you don't count their unsuccessful real debut 'Problematic' (1983).

'Hide and seek' was the first single from their millionselling debut album 'Luxury of life'. It was written by Gary Bell and Anne Dudley. The track was later covered by New Edition as part of their 1984 album 'New Edition'.

My collection: 12" single no. 401

Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1999

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Hide and seek (extended dance mix)' / 'Hide and seek (dub)', 'I'm gonna make this a night you will never forget'

Download: here

Ten American girls - Bolland

'Ten American girls' was Bolland's last single to make the Dutch bubbling under chart. The two brothers Rob and Ferdi Bolland didn't stop recording albums, but they were released as 'Bolland Project' or similar other names. The video of this single was on Dutch television regularly, and that is how I got to know it. When you see it now, it is typical eighties fare, but at the time it was a nice and humorous departure from the more serious videos back then.

I bought the single for discount price some time after it was out. Normally I'm not big on Dutch acts, but sometimes even I make an exception.

My collection: 7" single no. 451

Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1985

Cost: 1,95 guilders

Tracks: 'Ten American girls' / 'Night of the shooting stars'

Download: here

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! - Abba

'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!' was written by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus as a new track for the compilation album 'Greatest Hits vol. 2'. It was also released as a single to promote this new compilation. The release coincided with Abba's live tour of North America and Europe.

Originally, Abba had recorded another song, 'Rubber Ball Man', which was planned as a single. However, they felt that 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!', with its disco sound, would be a better choice, and thus 'Rubber Ball Man' remained nothing more than a demo. 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!' was a number one hit in Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland and Switzerland, and became a top 10 hit almost everywhere else.

My collection: 7" single no. 31

Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1979

Cost: 6 guilders

Tracks: 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!' / 'The king has lost his crown'

Download: Album 'Voulez-vous', including both tracks