Lucky man - Emerson, Lake and Palmer

Keith Emerson from the band The Nice and Greg Lake and Carl Palmer from King Crimson started working together after their two respective bands shared the same venue on two occasions in 1969. They released their debut album, the self-titled 'Emerson, Lake and Palmer' in 1970. This album brought forth the single 'Lucky man'. It didn't chart in the UK but it was a number 12 hit in the Netherlands.

The single pictured here is a re-release. The sleeve nor the label lists a year of release, but I could tell because the backside of the sleeve pictures subsequent albums by the band.

My collection: 7" single no. 2805

Found: January 25, 1995

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Lucky man' / 'Knife edge'

No more I love you's - Annie Lennox

'No more I love you's' was the last single by Annie Lennox to be released on the 7" vinyl format. It was a great last one, because this song received a Grammy Award in 1995 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It also went number 1 in the UK. In the Netherlands, it peaked at number 23.

The original version of this song was performed by The Lover Speaks in 1986. The B-side of this single is a cover of 'Ladies of the canyon', originally written and performed by Joni Mitchell.

My collection: 7" single no. 2240

Found: Record fair, February 18, 1995

Cost: 10 guilders

Tracks: 'No more I love you's' / 'Ladies of the canyon'

Twist of fate - Olvia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John will forever be associated with the movie 'Grease', in which she starred together with John Travolta in 1978. But does everyone know she played with him in another movie five years later? I guess not, because 'Two of a kind' was a commercial failure. Musically it was interesting mostly for Olivia's 1983 single 'Twist of fate', a rock-oriented track that also went past the record-buying audiences.

I bought a Brazilian copy of this single, which is interesting for its 33rpm speed. The B-side is a live version of 'Jolene', the song originally made famous by Dolly Parton.

My collection: 7" single no. 2232

Found: January 21, 1995

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Twist of fate' / 'Jolene'

Prince Charming - Adam and the Ants

In November 1981, Adam & the Ants released their third album, the highly successful 'Prince Charming'. The band had two UK number 1 singles. 'Stand and deliver' was the number 1 single in the UK for 5 weeks in May 1981, followed by 'Prince Charming', which topped the UK charts for 4 weeks in September 1981.

'Prince Charming' was released in a beautiful gatefold sleeve, which was even released on the European continent - which in itself was a rarity. I was always jealous of the copy my sister had since right when it was released, so I was really relieved when I finally bought my own copy a few years later.

My collection: 7" single no. 384

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1985

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Prince Charming' / 'Christian D'Or'

Ik hou van jou - Maribelle

Hard to believe, but it's twentyfive years ago that Maribelle represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Ik hou van jou' ('I love you'). The song finished 13th in a field of 19 competitors ('below Turkey', the Dutch rightwing newspaper 'de Telegraaf' cried in outrage). When you hear the debilitating noise of this year's Dutch entry, it's hard to believe that this country was once able to come up with a simple and effective ballad like this. The song has been covered by artists like Cilla Black, Engelbert Humperdinck, Jose Carreras and John McCook (yes, the 'Bold and the Beautiful' actor).

Maribelle didn't have a big hit with this in the Netherlands: the single peaked at number 33 in the Dutch top 40. She also recorded an English version, 'In love with you'.

My collection: 7" single no. 2158

Found: Bea Records, 1993

Cost: 4 guilders

Tracks: 'Ik hou van jou' / 'Maar vanavond'

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)'