Cathedral song - Tanita Tikaram

Tanita Tikaram was born in Münster, Germany on August 12, 1969 as the daughter of Fatimah Rohani of Malaysian descent and Indo-Fijian British Army officer Pramod Tikaram. She grew up in Basingstoke, England. She released her debut album 'Ancient heart' when she was only nineteen years old.

'Cathedral song' was the third single taken from that album. It reached number 48 in the UK singles chart. Like other tracks on the album, it was a moody, guitar-based song.

My collection: 7" single no. 765
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, March 11, 1989
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Cathedral song' / 'Sighing innocents'

Oh what a circus - David Essex

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote the musical Evita in 1976. The best known song from that musical is of course 'Don't cry for me Argentina', recorded by Julie Covington and Madonna, amongst others. The same melody line was used for this single, 'Oh what a circus', performed by David Essex. Like 'Argentina', this song was taken from the musical 'Evita'.

Essex had a hit with this single: it reached number 3 in the UK and number 18 in the Netherlands. It didn't become quite the classic that 'Don't cry for me Argentina' is now. My copy of the single was bought at Beanos, a wellknown record shop in the South of London. It's housed in a custom Beanos sleeve - probably because the original sleeve has gone missing.

My collection: 7" single no. 2889

Found: Beanos, East Croydon, London, October 29, 1997

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Oh what a circus' / 'High flying adored'

Don't feed the animals - Fay Lovski

Fay Lovski was born as Fay Luyendijk in Leiden on September 11, 1955. Her music career started in 1980 with the album 'Sound on sound', named after the recording technique she used to make her songs.

'Don't feed the animals' was a single taken from her third album 'Origami' (1983). Like the majority of her singles it didn't make the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 2138

Found: Grammofoonplatenwinkel, Utrecht, August 2, 1994

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Don't feed the animals' / 'Palmtree luxury'

L'oiseau et l'enfant - Marie Myriam

Hard to believe, but it's now 32 years ago that a French-language song won the Eurovision Song Contest. Amina came close in 1991, but it's been mainly English songs since 1977. Between 1956 and 1977, 11 songs in French won the contest. And this was the last one: 'L'oiseau et l'enfant' by Marie Myriam.

She was born as Miriam Lopes on May 8, 1957 in Braga, Portugal. She represented France in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest and won with 15 points more than the number 2, 'Rock bottom' by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran for the United Kingdom.

My collection: 7" single no. 3609

Found: eBay, France, received March 20, 2009

Cost: 3 euro

Tracks: 'L'oiseau et l'enfant' / 'On garde toujours'

Hot water - Level 42

Level 42 was founded in 1979 by Mark King, Mike Lindup, Rowland Gould and Phil Gould. 'Hot water' was a single taken from their fifth album 'True colours'. The single was a big hit in the Netherlands, peaking at number 3. By comparison, it fared worse in the UK, where it only got to number 18.

When this single charted, it was played on the radio so often that I didn't need to buy the single. I went on to buy some Level 42 singles in the Nineties, but this one never got into my collection. On my birthday in 2007, my wife (who was then still my girlfriend) gave me this single, which she'd gotten from a Kringloop store while looking around there. It was really funny, because I don't think she knew I didn't have this yet and probably had no clue what this song sounded like. I'm glad to have it now.

My collection: 7" single no. 3614
Found: Birthday present, Den Haag, August 31, 2007
Cost: nothing
Tracks: 'Hot water' / 'Standing in the light'

Turn it on again - Genesis

As Genesis had been recording and touring constantly in 1977 and 1978, it was decided by the members Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford to take the majority of 1979 off. Banks and Rutherford started working on solo material, while Collins made an attempt to save his marriage by following his wife to Canada. This didn't work, and so Collins returned to the UK and started working on solo material of his own, as well as new songs for Genesis.

'Turn it on again' appeared on their comeback album 'Duke' (1980) and subsequently became a live favourite. It peaked at number 8 in the UK, whereas it only made number 38 in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 52

Found: Rapsody, Den Haag, 1980

Cost: 3,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Turn it on again' / 'Behind the lines part 2'

Unconditional love (Planet earth) - Gentlemen without weapons

Kenny Young is an American songwriter who has been active as writer, artist and producer since 1963. In 1988, he was the founder member of the group Gentlemen without weapons. They released one album, 'Transmissions', from which this single was taken.

The album was unique because it used no instruments, only samples of animal noises. The point being that Young wanted to draw attention towards environmental awareness. The unique album was accompanied by a video produced by Pink Floyd's art director Storm Thorgeson, who also designed the album and single covers.

My collection: 7" single no. 766

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, March 16, 1989

Cost: 3,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Unconditional love (Planet earth)' / 'The way of the dodo'