Everyday is like Sunday - Morrissey

'Everyday is like Sunday' was the second single taken from Morrissey's debut solo album 'Viva hate'. The previous single, 'Suedehead', reached number 5 in the UK singles chart, and this one did almost just as well, peaking at number 9. In the Netherlands, both singles didn't make the Top 40.

Morrissey has been quoted as saying that there is 'something strangely depressing about a seaside town out-of-season'. Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders has showered praise on this song, saying 'the lyric to 'Everyday is like Sunday' is, to me, a masterful piece of prose'.

My collection: 7" single no. 801

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, April 21, 1989

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Everyday is like Sunday' / 'Disappointed'

Download: cd-single 'Everyday is like Sunday', including both tracks

Innocence - Deborah Blando

In 1992, Deborah Blando suddenly appeared on the pop scene with the song 'Innocence'. Born in Italy but raised in Brazil, Blando released her debut album at the age of eleven, entitled 'Giovanna – Alegria da Gente', containing Italian songs. In her teens, Deborah joined the Brazilian theater company Os Menestréis, which has revealed many promising singers in Brazil, and started touring the country acting and singing in their musicals.

In 1989 she met producer David Wolff who, impressed by her musical talent, invited her to record an album in English. In 1991, 'A different story' was released. The first single, 'Boy (Why do you wanna make me blue?)' hit American dance charts and was featured in a worldwide TV ad for Diet Coke. The English version of the ballad 'Innocence', written by Deborah herself when she was 18, was a hit around the world, although in the Netherlands it sunk without a trace. I saw the video on television once. On this occasion Blando was presented as 'the new Madonna'. I was sceptical, but liked the song - and so I bought it.

My collection: 7" single no. 1622

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, April 18, 1992

Cost: 3,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Innocence (edit)' / 'Innocence (instrumental)'

Download: here

Turn the beat around - Vicki Sue Robinson

'Turn the beat around' is a disco song written by Gerald Jackson and Peter Jackson and made popular by Vicki Sue Robinson in 1976. It appeared on her debut album 'Never gonna let you go', and was released as a single. In the USA, the song went number 10 on the Billboard pop charts. In the Netherlands, it reached number 12 in the Dutch Top 40. The song was covered by Gloria Estefan in 1994.

Vicki Sue Robinson continued to make records until 1984. After that, she worked as a session singer for artists like Cher, Michael Bolton, Cyndi Lauper and others. She was also the voice behind the Jem animation series in the Eighties.

My collection: 7" single no. 3483

Found: Empire Records, Den Haag, December 11, 2008

Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'Turn the beat around' / 'Lack of respect'

Download: here

In a minor key - Tim Finn

This is the first double single that I can remember, and it is quite possibly the first double single released on the European continent. After his big success in Europe with 'Fraction too much friction', Tim Finn released the beautiful ballad 'In a minor key' as the second single from his debut solo album 'Escapade'. This double single was widely available in the Netherlands, but it flopped all the same. The interest for Tim Finn has disappeared as quickly as it had come.

My collection: 7" single no. 1213

Found: Record fair, Den Haag, April 22, 1990

Cost: 5 guilders

Tracks: 'In a minor key' / 'Not for nothing' // 'Fraction too much friction (live)' / 'Below the belt (live)'

Download: here

I'll fly for you - Spandau Ballet

Yes, I know, I wrote about the 12" single of 'I'll fly for you' in December, but it was exactly that piece which made me realise that I didn't actually have the 7" single. And so I bought it, quite recently. And not just any old 7" single: it's the limited edition, apparently, released in a poster bag. And quite a creepy one: it shows the Spandaus without a shirt on. I wish I hadn't now...

The single version is just as powerful as the extended version, only shorter. It reached number 27 in the Netherlands in the autumn of 1984. In the UK, it went to number 9.

My collection: 7" single no. 3573
Found: eBay, received February 2, 2009

Cost: 3 pounds

Tracks: 'I'll fly for you' / 'To cut a long story short (live)'

Download: here

Ainsi soit je... - Mylene Farmer

'Ainsi soit je...' was the second single taken from Mylene Farmer's 1988 album of the same name. As for all her songs since the 1987 single 'Tristana', Farmer wrote the lyric. Nevertheless, the first words of the couplets 'bulle de chagrin, boule d'incertitude' were written by Marie, a singer unknown to the general public who died not long before. It was a way for Mylene to pay a tribute to her.

I'd started collecting Mylene Farmer singles only months before I went on a holiday to Vienna, Austria. I was greatly surprised to find an old single in a record shop there - but of course I bought it right away.

My collection: 7" single no. 1934

Found: Marik, Vienna, Austria, 1993

Cost: 59 Austrian Schilling

Tracks: 'Ainsi soit je...' / 'Ainsi soit je... (Lamentations)'

Download: here

Without your love - Roger Daltrey

'McVicar' is a British film, released in 1980, starring Roger Daltrey from The Who in the title role of John McVicar, an armed robber turned writer who Scotland Yard publicly announced to be Public Enemy Number One and wanted dead or alive. The soundtrack of the film was performed entirely by Daltrey, and the single 'Without your love' was drawn from the soundtrack album.

Though it was only a minor hit in the UK (peaking at number 55 in the singles chart), it reached number 3 in the Dutch Top 40 and it remains Daltrey's only top three hit in this country.

My collection: 7" single no. 824

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, May 18, 1989

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Without your love' / 'My time is gonna come'

Download: Album 'McVicar', including both tracks