If you can't stand the heat - Bucks Fizz

Released as the first single from their third album 'Hand cut', 'If you can't stand the heat' was a deliberate attempt by Bucks Fizz to display a tougher image. Having been known for their sweet pop tunes ever since they won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981, this single showed the band members wearing leather and singing a tune that sounded a lot less 'friendly'. The lyrics of the song tell of someone who is manipulative, but when faced wth her own medicine, can't handle it, hence the song's title. In the UK, the single peaked at number 10. This 12" single features a longer version of the track.

My collection: 12" single no. 393

Found: Record fair, 2000

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'If you can't stand the heat (12" version)' / 'Stepping out'

We almost got it together - Tanita Tikaram

The 'difficult second album syndrome' hit Tanita Tikaram hard. The first single taken from her second album 'The sweet keeper' (1990) was the upbeat, but slightly contrived 'We almost got it together'. The single peaked at number 52 in the UK and number 34 in the Netherlands.

The single was released in a gatefold sleeve, featuring a photograph of Tanita Tikaram and the lyric of the song on the inside. It was the sleeve that convinced me to buy this one...

My collection: 7" single no. 1145

Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, January 13, 1990

Cost: 6 guilders

Tracks: 'We almost got it together' / 'Love story'

So many men, so little time - Miquel Brown

Miquel Brown was born circa 1945 and is the step sister of disco singer Amii Stewart. She made a name for herself as an actress and disco/soul singer from the Seventies and Eighties. Perhaps her best known song is 'so many men, so little time'.

Billed on the sleeve as 'a biography of a modern girl, a 'classic in its own time'', the song has become a popular gay anthem among males because of the lyrical content. The single peaked at number 11 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 3149

Found: Record fair, October 23, 1999

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'So many men, so little time' / 'So many men, so little time (instrumental mix)'

The gold bug - The Alan Parsons Project

Taken from their 1980 album 'The turn of a friendly card' and released after the single of the same title, 'The gold bug' is an instrumental track, which was edited for the single release. As such, it has become a bit of a rarity, because compilation albums habitually use the album version - if they use it at all.

The single didn't reach the chart in any territory, which I think is a strange thing, because it's such a beautiful piece of music. Perhaps the record company shouldn't have edited it...

My collection: 7" single no. 3146

Found: Record fair, October 23, 1999

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'The gold bug' / 'Snake eyes'

Ain't gonna bump no more (with no big fat woman) - Joe Tex

Joe Tex was born as Joseph Arrington jr on August 8, 1933. He was the first artist to record a Southern soul record that also hit the pop charts in America ('Hold what you've got' in 1965). Between 1965 and 1972 he had several hits in America, but in 1972 he decided to retire from the music business.

He returned to music in 1975, and two years later enjoyed a massive comeback hit with 'Ain't gonna bump no more (with no big fat woman)', which reached number 12 in America. It was also his first big hit in the Neherlands, peaking at number 6.

My collection: 7" single no. 3123
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, July 24, 1999

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Ain't gonna bump no more (with no big fat woman)' / 'I mess up everything I get my hands on'

Video killed the radio star - The Buggles

'Video killed the radio star' was the debut single by the Buggles. Group member Trevor Horn has said that his lyrics were inspired by the J.G. Ballard short story 'The Sound-Sweep'. The theme of the song is nostalgia, and refers to a period of technological change in the Sixties, the desire to remember the past and the disappointment that children of the current generation would not appreciate the past.

The first version of this song was recorded by Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for his album 'English Garden'. The Buggles later recorded the song. It was a number one hit in the UK, peaked at number 40 in America and number 17 in the Netherlands. The music video for the song was famously the first to be shown on MTV America, when the music channel debuted on August 1, 1981. On February 27, 2000 it also became the millionth video to be aired on that channel.

My collection: 7" single no. 508

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1986

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Video killed the radio star' / 'Kid Dynamo'

Falling in love (uh-oh) - Miami Sound Machine

It's easy to discard the entire output of Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine as typical Eighties drivel, but you would overlook some genuinely good pop in the process. This single, for instance, is an unknown but very radiofriendly classic.

'Falling in love (uh-oh)' was taken from Miami Sound Machine's second English language album 'Primitive love' and released after their international breakthrough with 'Dr. Beat' and 'Conga'. Still, the single only managed a number 25 placing in America and number 27 in the Netherlands. It's always the less commercial singles that get to me...

My collection: 7" single no. 450

Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, September 4, 1986

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Falling in love (uh-oh)' / 'Surrender paradise'