Never again - Tomas Ledin and Agnetha Fältskog

Tomas Ledin was born on February 25, 1952 in Rätan, Sweden. He started his career in pop music in 1972, debuting with his single 'Då ska jag spela'. After six studio albums and one live album, Ledin was approached by Abba's Benny Andersson to record for the band's company Polar Music. He joined Abba as a backing vocalist during their tour, but also got the chance to sing his own composition 'Not bad at all' during the show.

In 1982, he released the duet 'Never again' with Agnetha Fältskog from Abba. The song reached number 1 in Chile and was popular across Europe. In the Netherlands, the single peaked at number 24 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 1396

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, March 7, 1991

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Never again' (Tomas Ledin and Agnetha Fältskog) / 'Just for the fun' (Tomas Ledin)

Rush rush - Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was born on June 19, 1962. In the 1980s, Abdul rose from being a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to being a sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era, then to being a pop singer with a string of hits in the late Eighties and early Nineties. After her debut album 'Forever your girl' had been incredibly successful worldwide, she released her second album 'Spellbound' in 1991.

The first single from that album was 'Rush rush'. The single was promoted with a music video with a 'Rebel without a cause' motif featuring Keanu Reeves in the role originally played by James Dean. As the first ballad ever released by Abdul as a single, it seemed like a risky choice, but it paid off: 'Rush rush' was a number 1 hit in America, peaking at number 6 in the UK and number 9 in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 1444

Found: June 1, 1991

Cost: 6,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Rush rush (7" edit)' / 'Rush rush (Dub mix)'

Echo my heart - Lindy Layton

After the release of 'Silly games' Lindy Layton's debut album 'Pressure' (1991) followed. It was mostly produced by Norman Cook and Driza Bone. Her second solo single was 'Echo my heart', which peaked at number 42 in the UK.

I didn't buy this single for a long time, despite the fact that the shop had it for months at the same price. In the end, my curiosity could no longer be contained. I bought the single but didn't play it very often.

My collection: 7" single no. 2477

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, April 30, 1995

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Echo my heart' / 'This isn't fair'

The thin wall - Ultravox

'The thin wall' was released as the first single from Ultravox's 1981 album 'Rage in Eden'. Like the album, the single was produced by Conny Plank. Its stark synthesizer-based music was similar to Ultravox's previous singles from the album 'Vienna'. The band was rewarded with a reasonably good chart placing, peaking at number 14 in the UK singles chart.

I bought the single twice: the regular version on black vinyl in 1995, and a few years later the limited edition pressing on clear vinyl.

My collection: 7" single no. 2485 / no. 3228

Found: Record exchange, London, October 30, 1995 / London, 2004

Cost: 1 pound / 1 pound

Tracks: 'The thin wall' / 'I never wanted to begin'

Ik wil alles met je delen - Maywood

The sisters Alie en Doetie de Vries took on the names Alice May and Caren Wood and formed the duo Maywood in 1978. Their songs - performed in English - were mostly theatrical ballads and popsongs. Their early work was produced by ex-Kayak drummer Pim Koopman. After their success seemed to elude them in the late Eighties, they tried to regain public profile by representing the Netherlands in the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest.

The song 'Ik wil alles met je delen' ('I want to share everything with you') wasn't the success they were hoping for: they finished 15th in the Contest. After this, the duo fell apart and even went to court on a few occasions. Alice May is still touring the Netherlands with Maywood songs these days.

My collection: 7" single no. 3687

Found: Private seller, received May 4, 2009

Cost: 3 euro

Tracks: 'Ik wil alles met je delen' / 'Wat zijn we met de wereld aan het doen'

From a lover to a friend - Paul McCartney

The sticker on the sleeve of this single states that the profits from the sales of this single will go to aid families of the New York firemen and police. This statement makes it clear that the single was released after September 11, 2001. And indeed it was: although 'From a lover to a friend' was recorded earlier in the year, the single was released in October 2001.

Still, the subject matter of the single doesn't have much to do with the events in New York: it's a personal song in which Paul McCartney tries to come to terms with the death of his wife Linda McCartney. When he sings 'Let me love again', little does he know that he will fall victim to greedy mrs. Mills. But did the police and firemen in New York get a lot of money? I doubt it; the single only made number 45 in the UK.

My collection: 7" single no. 3351

Found: HMV, London, November 2001

Cost: 2,5 pounds

Tracks: 'From a lover to a friend' / 'Riding into Jaipur'

When the snow falls - Ten Sharp

The band Ten Sharp debuted in January 1985 with this single, 'When the snow falls'. It was quite an impressive debut, with its melodramatic chorus and heavy instrumentation. But even though critics were very positive about this single, the record-buying audiences were not impressed: the single stalled in the Dutch bubbling under chart and did not reach the Top 40. After three more singles, the band fell apart.

However, after Ten Sharp returned with only core members Marcel Kapteijn and Niels Hermes remaining, they had a big European hit with 'You'. This led to them recording a debut album 'Under the water-line'. This album featured a version of 'When the snow falls'.

My collection: 7" single no. 262

Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, 1985

Cost: 5,5 guilders

Tracks: 'When the snow falls' / 'Time and time'