Nightporter - Japan

Japan released their first album for Virgin Records, 'Gentlemen take polaroids', on November 15, 1980. Only the title track was released as a single, a month earlier. It was only in 1982 that another track from this album appeared as a single, the classic 'Nightporter'. As anyone can hear, the track was influenced by the works of French composer Erik Satie's 'Gymnopédies'.

For the single release, the track was remixed and edited. The B-side was a cover version of Marvin Gaye's 1965 song 'Ain't that peculiar', also taken from 'Gentlemen take polaroids'. The single peaked at number 29 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 1543

Found: Record fair, Den Haag, October 27, 1991

Cost: 5 guilders

Tracks: 'Nightporter [edit]' / 'Ain't that peculiar'

Download: here

I want your love - Transvision Vamp

It was this video that started me getting interested in Transvision Vamp. At first the singing irritated me, but I kept watching this video. Then something clicked: the music was nice and aggressive and the voice needed some getting used to. In the end, I succumbed and started buying later singles by Transvision Vamp - 'I want your love' was gone from the shops by then. So I had to find it afterwards.

'I want your love' was Transvision Vamp's first top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at number 5 in the summer of 1988. In the Netherlands, it was their only single to reach the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 2866

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, September 20, 1997

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'I want your love' / 'Sweet thing', 'Evolution Evie (acoustic)'

Download: here

Say say say - Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson

A year after the release of 'The girl is mine', Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson were at it again, this time with a track for Paul McCartney's album 'Pipes of peace'. Composed and performed by the two, it would be their last collaboration before Michael Jackson acquired ATV music, which owned the publishing rights to the Beatles catalogue.

In 1983, 'Say say say' was one of the most played songs on the radio and after a while it became very boring. It's only now, 25 years later, that I can listen to this track again.

My collection: 7" single no. 3564

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, January 31, 2009

Cost: 1,5 euro

Tracks: 'Say say say' (Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson) / 'Ode to a koala bear' (Paul McCartney)

Download: 'Say say say' / 'Ode to a koala bear'

Block Buster - The Sweet

'Block Buster' was released by the Sweet in 1973. It became the band's only number one hit in the UK, whereas it was their third (and last) in the Netherlands. Although the lyric seems to refer to a person ('Nobody knows where Buster goes / He'll steal your woman out from under your nose'), the song features the sound of air raid sirens, alluding to the blockbuster bombs dropped in World War II.

The Sweet was very popular with my brother and sister in the Seventies, and although I never really 'got' that, some of their tracks are pretty nice. I bought this one because of the nice sleeve and the great song.

My collection: 7" single no. 3566

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, January 31, 2009

Cost: 1,5 euro

Tracks: 'Block buster' / 'Need a lot of lovin''

Download: here

Warwick Avenue - Duffy

I'm not wild about the current stream of young women with old hag's voices, like Amy Winehouse, Adele and others. The Welsh singer Duffy could easily be one of them. Fortunately her song 'Warwick Avenue' doesn't get unpleasant like many of her colleagues' tracks.

In this age of digital downloads, 'Warwick Avenue' entered the UK singles chart even before it was released on any physical format. It was finally released two months later as the third single from her debut album 'Rockferry'. I heard the track almost weekly on Kim Wilde's current radio programme Secret Songs on Magic FM (UK), and finally decided to buy the 7" single.

My collection: 7" single no. 3571

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, January 31, 2009

Cost: 5,5 euro

Tracks: 'Warwick Avenue' / 'Loving you'

Download: here

Ai no corrida - Chas Jankel

Chas Jankel was born in Stanmore, North London on April 16, 1952. In the Seventies he became a member of the Blockheads, the band that played with Ian Dury during his commercial peak. In 1980, he pursued a solo career, kicking off with a self-titled album. 'Ai no corrida' reached the Dutch Tipparade in January 1981, but never made it past this tip chart. Quincy Jones recorded a cover version a year later and reached number 14 in the UK singles chart with it. The title of the song is in Japanese (taken from the Japanese title of the 1976 film 'In the realm of the senses') but it sounds like Spanish "Ay no corrida" (which can be translated as 'oh no bullfighting').

According to the label of this 12" single, the extended mix of 'Ai no corrida' lasts for 9 minutes and 10 seconds, but in fact it is almost 90 seconds shorter.

My collection: 12" single no. 485

Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam, 2000

Cost: 2,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Ai no corrida [extended version]' / 'Lenta Latina'

Download: here

Appetite - Prefab Sprout

After getting hooked on 'When love breaks down', Prefab Sprout had definitely caught my attention. When 'Appetite' was released as the next single, I was in the shop to get it as soon as possible. I wasn't surprised when the single didn't chart in the Netherlands - as Prefab Sprout was a typically English phenomenon - but I am still amazed that this single didn't chart in the UK as well.

'Appetite' was taken from Prefab Sprout's second album 'Steve McQueen', which reach number 21 in the UK album chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 337

Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, 1985

Cost: 5,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Appetite' / 'Heaven can wait'