In too deep - Belinda Carlisle

I'm not the world's biggest Belinda Carlisle fan, but I do have a few singles by her. And this is one of them: a rather attractive limited edition picture disc 7", bought during a holiday in England.

The interesting thing is, I've forgotten all about the A-side track 'In too deep' but I still remember the B-side track '(We want) The same thing'. I know why, too: I once saw her perform that song live in Bournemouth, in the middle of the summer, with Ricky Wilde backing her on guitar. It was an extremely happy sunny day.

My collection: 7" single no. 2714

Found: HMV, London, July 4, 1996

Cost: 2 pounds

Tracks: 'In too deep' / '(We want) The same thing'

Want you to be mine - Kayak

The Dutch band Kayak formed in 1972. Their early single 'Mammoth' featured on this blog a couple of months ago. 'Want you to be mine' was released five years later, in 1978. It's a more straightforward rock song, sounding rather a lot like much of their work around that time.

I don't remember how I got to hear this song, but I know I was very impressed when I did. I went searching for the single and found it within a few months.

My collection: 7" single no. 850

Found: All that music, Leiden, May 27, 1989

Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Want you to be mine' / 'Golddust'

Diggi loo diggi ley - The Herrey's

The Swedish brothers Per, Richard and Louis Herrey were the first act to perform on stage in Luxemburg during the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest. The nonsensical title harked back to previous winning entries such as 'Boom bang-a-bang', 'Ding-a-dong' and 'La la la'.

I thought it wasn't a very spectacular song, and would have thought that Italy's Alice & Franco Battiato with 'I treni di Tozeur' would win. Instead, this song went away with victory. It's one of many occasions when I felt really disappointed with the winner in the Contest. I did buy the single, though, starting a tradition of buying winning songs in that year - although I would 'forget' to buy it in later years. The B-side is interesting for its lyric about an obsessive fan.

My collection: 7" single no. 234

Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1984

Cost: 6 guilders

Tracks: 'Diggi loo / Diggi ley' / 'Every song you sing'

I promised myself - Nick Kamen

Nick Kamen was born as Ivor Neville Kamen on April 15, 1962 in Harlow, Essex, England. He was first brought to the public's attention in 1984 when Ray Petri featured him on the front cover of the UK magazine The Face. A year later, he appeared in a Levi's commercial. In 1986, he released his debut single 'Each time you break my heart', written and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray.

In 1990, he released his fourth album 'Move until we fly'. It contained the self-penned 'I promised myself', which would be his biggest hit in Europe. The single topped the chart in Austria and Sweden, and reached number 6 in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 1636
Found: April 20, 1992
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'I promised myself' / 'You are'

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'