Coming home - Falco

Subtitled 'Jeanny part 2, one year later', this single was released as a sequel to Falco's big hit 'Jeanny'. The single was later said to be part of a trilogy. A third song, however, was never officially released. After Falco's death, a half finished version of a potential third song was made available for download, but it seemed to be a reworked version of the original with an alternative newsflash, designed to change the entire context of the song.

'Coming home' is a more straightforward song than 'Jeanny' was, with a more upbeat stance to it. It may be the explanation why it wasn't a big hit: the song was probably not intriguing enough like 'Jeanny' was.

My collection: 7" single no. 1819

Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, January 13, 1993

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Coming home (Jeanny part 2, One year later)' / 'Crime time'

Bette Davis Eyes EP - Various artists

The thing I like most about my record collection is that I've got some singles from strange countries. And this one is from a country that doesn't even exist anymore: the German Democratic Republic, otherwise known as East Germany. There have been some fascinating documentaries about life in that country recently, but there's not so much information about the state record company Amiga.

Which is why this EP is pretty hard to find background information on. It contains cover versions of four hits from the year 1981. 'Bette Davis Eyes', originally by Kim Carnes, Kim Wilde's 'Chequered love', 'Hands up' , originally by Ottawan and Abba's well-known song 'Lay all your love on me'. I bought this EP when I saw it because of the cover of 'Chequered love'. Interestingly, Petra Zieger is still in the music business these days as a singer of German Schlagers. That's a long way from this 'painting by numbers' cover of 'Chequered love'.

The quality of the vinyl leaves a bit to be desired, but the tracks are incredibly rare.

My collection: 7" single no. 2925

Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, December 13, 1997

Cost: 5 guilders

Tracks: 'Bette Davis Eyes' (Familie Silly), 'Chequered love' (Petra Zieger) / 'Hands up' (Cantus Chor), 'Lay all your love on me' (Cantus Chor)

Cry for freedom - White Lion

White Lion is an American/Danish glam metal band that formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. They recruited Nicki Capozzi and Felix Robinson to complete the line-up. However, both of them left the band soon. Capozzi was then replaced by Greg d'Angelo and Robinson by James LoMenzo.

Their first and only hit in the Netherlands was the lengthy rock song 'Cry for freedom', taken from the 1989 album 'Big game'. I remember hearing it in the school canteen one afternoon and thinking it was a nice song. Soon after, I bought the single. I can't say I've played it much, though...

My collection: 7" single no. 1208

Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, April 13, 1990

Cost: 6,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Cry for freedom' / 'Dirty woman'

Blue - Fine Young Cannibals

The second single from the Fine Young Cannibals' debut album was 'Blue', released in the autumn of 1985. It fared significally less well than the debut single, 'Johnny come home'. It was only a hit in the UK and Australia, peaking at number 41 and 13 respectively. It would take a cover of the song 'Suspicious minds' to get the band back in the international consciousness a few months later.

This double single features a second disc with an alternative version of 'Blue' and a cover version of the track 'Love for sale'. The band would re-record this track for the 'Red Hot & Blue' compilation album a few years later.

My collection: 7" single no. 3464

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 22, 2008

Cost: 1,25 euro

Tracks: 'Blue' / 'Wade in the water' // 'Blue (version)' / 'Love for sale'

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'