La paix sur terre - Nicole

Nicole recorded various versions of the song that gave her victory in the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, 'Ein Bisschen Frieden'. On this blog, you've already seen 'En smule fred' and 'Een beetje vrede', and now here's the French version, 'La paix sur terre'. The B-side is also performed in French.

I spent some time trying to find this single, and of course I found it after some time on eBay. It's just about the only place to find rare singles these days. There are a few more versions, but they are even harder to find. I'm still looking for the Spanish and Italian singles...

My collection: 7" single no. 3608

Found: eBay, France, received March 20, 2009

Cost: 3 euro

Tracks: 'La paix sur terre' / 'Thank you, merci, danke'

Nancy - Mo

The sleeve of this single proclaims that the songs are being performed by 'The Mo'. They were a new band at that time, but later they would be known as 'Mo'. As you can see, this is a rather simplistic sleeve. The 'Back Door' image comes from the record label, and on the back there's only an advert for starting bands to send their demos to Back Door.

For a debut single, 'Nancy' is a pretty impressive effort. The single stalled just outside the Dutch Top 40. But Mo would have some chart success later in their career.

My collection: 7" single no. 3219

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, October 12, 2000

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Nancy' / 'Release me'

Felicita - Al Bano e Romina Power

Albano Carrisi was born on May 20, 1943. Romina Power was born October 2, 1951 in Los Angeles. They met during the filming of the movie 'Nel Sole', named after one of his songs, in 1967. The two married on July 26, 1970 in Cellino San Marco. Together, the couple shot seven films, based on their songs, between 1967 and 1983.

The duo broke a record in Italy in 1982 with four songs being the Italian hit parade at the same time. In the same year they participated in the San Remo Music Festival with the song 'Felicità' and came in second place. They sold 6 million copies of the song in Germany and also reached number 10 in the Netherlands with the single.

My collection: 7" single no. 2966
Found: Record fair, February 9, 1998

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Felicita' / 'Arrivederci a Bahia'

Dieser Traum darf niemals sterben - Atlantis 2000

In Dutch we call this 'a dragon of a song', meaning that it is fascinatingly bad. One has to wonder why this got through the national final, to be performed at the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest. 'Dieser Traum darf niemals sterben' ('This dream must never die') was performed by a sextet calling themselves Atlantis 2000. The group consisted of Alfons Weindorf, Jutta Niedhardt, Helmut Frey, Eberhard Wilhelm, Klaus Pröpper and Clemens Weindorf. The song was composed by Weindorf and Frey, but could easily have come from the infamous duo Siegel and Meinunger.

The syrupy ballad hints at the unity of East and West Germany, while the lyric states that humanity must learn to overcome its tendency towards hate in order to achieve unity.

My collection: 7" single no. 3602

Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, March 14, 2009

Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'Dieser Traum darf niemals sterben' / 'Eines Tags'

Yesterday's men - Madness

After all the fun and games of Madness' previous work, 'Yesterday's men' suddenly sounded stern and serious. What's more, the single signalled the beginning of the end for the band. Mike Barson, who was one of the founders of Madness and a principal songwriter, left the band in October 1983, partly because he lived in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The band left their label Stiff records in 1984 and started releasing records on their on Zarjazz label. In 1985, that label released the album 'Mad not mad', from which 'Yesterday's men' was taken. The single peaked at number 18 in the UK charts. Two further singles stalled below that position.

The band then attempted to record a new album, but after recording 11 demo tracks the band cited 'musical differences' as a reason to split.

My collection: 7" single no. 1013

Found: Record Exchange, London, October 17, 1989

Cost: 50p

Tracks: 'Yesterday's men' / 'All I knew'

You're the voice - John Farnham

John Farnham was born on July 1, 1949. Between 1982 and 1985 he was the lead singer of the Australian band Little River Band. He went solo after that and released 'You're the voice' in October 1986. The song was written by Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson

In Australia, the song was one of the biggest hits of the year, topping the singles chart for many weeks. It is also Farnham's biggest international success, reaching the top 10 in many European countries. In the Netherlands, it stalled at number 15.

My collection: 7" single no. 1533

Found: Brussels, October 11, 1991

Cost: 70 Belgian Francs

Tracks: 'You're the voice' / 'Going, going, gone'

The lover in me - Sheena Easton

'The lover in me' was the first single from Sheena Easton's 1988 album of the same title. It reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 12 in the Netherlands and number 15 in the UK. The track was produced by L.A. and Babyface and the sleeve of the single confirmed Sheena Easton's image as a seductive vamp.

The 12" single contains three versions of the track, which all sound alike but have different lengths. The extended version is not a big surprise: it is indeed extended, but really nothing exciting happens. Oh well, the bigger version of the sleeve is enough of a convincing reason to buy it.

My collection: 12" single no. 493

Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, March 14, 2009

Cost: 2 euro

Tracks: 'The lover in me (extended version)' / 'The lover in me (radio edit)', 'The lover in me (instrumental)'