Victims - Culture club

After many uptempo and midtempo singles, 'Victims' was Culture Club's first proper ballad, released as a single in late 1983. The single reached number 3 in the UK singles chart, and only number 16 in the Dutch Top 40.

I first bought the single during the 1985 edition of Parkpop, which was the regular German pressing. 15 years later I found myself confronted with a posterbag edition, sightly worn but still in good condition. It was a steal! So I bought this one too.

My collection: 7" single no. 309 / no. 3266
Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 1985 / Record Exchange, London, October 20, 2000
Cost: 3 guilders / 50p
Tracks: 'Victims' / 'Colour by numbers'

Nacida para amar - Nina

Nina was born as Ana Maria Agusti Flores in Barcelona on October 1, 1966. Her music career started in the Eighties in bands like Costa Brava and Xavier Cugat. In 1989 she represented her country Spain with this song, 'Nacida para amar' ('Born to love'), a beautiful ballad composed by Juan Carlos Calderón. That same year, she released her debut solo album 'Una mujer como yo'.

The song finished sixth in the contest, but the beautiful Nina always stuck in my mind. I bought a compilation cd of the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland that year, and this single appeared in my collection in 1998.

My collection: 7" single no. 2976

Found: Record fair, March 1, 1998

Cost: 5 guilders

Tracks: 'Nacida para amar' / 'Nacida para amar (version instrumental)'

De man van het journaal (Goeienavond) - Dingetje

Dingetje is the alias of Frank Paardekoper. His career in music started in 1977 with a parody of 'Cokane in my brain' (Dillinger), entitled 'Ik ga weg Leen' ('I'm going away Leen'). Four years later he recorded 'Houtochdiekop', a parody of Joe Dolce's 'Shaddap your face'.

Contrary to a lot of his material, 'De man van het journaal' ('The man of the news') is an original track. It features funny paragraphs performed like a news bulletin on music that resembles the tune of the TV news in the Netherlands at the time. Released in 1985, the single didn't chart. Backing vocals on this track were performed by Esther Tuely.

My collection: 7" single no. 355
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1985
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'De man van het journaal (Goeienavond)' / '2 saté'

Cold as ice (remix) - Foreigner

After Foreigner had a lot of success in 1984 and 1985 with their album 'Agent Provocateur' and the singles 'I want to know what love is' and 'That was yesterday', record company Atlantic released a remixed version of their earlier song 'Cold as ice' in the UK. It seemed like a great move: the original version had become a classic and a remix would probably do just as well almost a decade after the song's original release. There was even a double single release, with a second disc including two live tracks.

Unfortunately, the single only reached number 64 in the UK singles chart and disappeared after only two weeks. I still thought it was a nice item, so I snapped it up when I saw the discounted item.

My collection: 7" single no. 2900

Found: Record Exchange, London, October 30, 1997

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Cold as ice (remix)' / 'Reaction to action' // 'Head games (live version)' / 'Hot blooded (live version)'

More mistakes - Gruppo Sportivo

The Dutch band Gruppo Sportivo formed in 1976. The original line-up consited of Hans Vandenburg, Peter Calicher, Max Mollinger, Eric Wehrmeyer, José van Iersel and Meike Touw. According to frontman Vandenburg: 'We picked our name because we saw it on a poster and liked the sound... and we are a sort of team. We write in English because no one else outside Holland speaks Dutch and we want our songs to be heard and listened to everywhere.'

The band came to popularity just after the height of punk rock. Their biggest hit was 1979's 'Disco really made it', which is featured on the ep, according to the track listing. Unfortunately when I bought this ep I found out that the track is mislabeled. I don't know the real title of that track. It's a good thing that 'Bernadette' is actually a good song as well, otherwise I would have felt totally cheated.

My collection: 7" single no. 3238

Found: London, 2000

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Bernadette', 'Disco really made it'(?), 'Are you ready?' / 'Girls never know', 'Tokyo', 'Rubber gun'

I can't help myself - Icehouse

'I can't help myself' is the debut single of the Australian synthpop/rock band Flowers. It was released in May 1980. The debut album was called 'Icehouse', which later became the band name. In the UK, the single was released in October 1981 under that new band name. The single did not chart outside of Australia.

I picked up the single at an open air market during the free one day festival Parkpop, which is held annually on the last Sunday of June in Den Haag.

My collection: 7" single no. 1475

Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 30, 1991

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'I can't help myself' / 'Fatman'

I love the sound of breaking glass - Nick Lowe

Nick Lowe reached number 7 in the UK singles chart with 'I love the sound of breaking glass'. It was his first solo hit single, after having been a member of bands like Brinsley Schwarz and Rockpile.

His debut solo single was 1976's 'So it goes', followed by three further singles that didn't chart. 'I love the sound of breaking glass' (1978) was a radio hit even in the Eighties, which is how I got to hear it. The B-side, an old track by Lowe with his band Rockpile, has a pretty funny lyric by the way.

My collection: 7" single no. 2497
Found: House of Rhythm, London, October 30, 1995
Cost: 50p
Tracks: 'I love the sound of breaking glass' / 'They called it rock'