So long - Fischer Z

The original line-up of Fischer Z consisted of John Watts, David Graham, Steve Skolnik and Steve Liddle. They got together in 1979 and released three albums in three years. From these albums, a few classic singles were drawn, of which 'So long' is my personal favourite. A beautiful midtempo track with an interesting lyric and rather emotional vocals.

I lived with the single version of this for many years until I found out there was also a longer album version. I love them both.

My collection: 7" single no. 877
Found: All that music, Leiden, June 2, 1989

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'So long' / 'Hiding'

Beatnik - The Buggles

Apparently, only 50,000 copies of the Buggles' 1982 single 'Beatnik' exist. I don't know if that's true, but I do own one copy of it anyway. It was the last single to be released from the Buggles' second and last album 'Adventures in modern recording' (1981). As far as I know, the single did not chart in any territory.

It's the first Buggles single I ever bought, the start of what has by now become a pretty complete collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 230

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1983

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Beatnik' / 'Fade away'

Ticket to the moon / Here is the news - Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra released 'Ticket to the moon' and 'Here is the news', two tracks from their 1981 album 'Time', as a single with two A-sides. The former is a beautiful ballad packed with strings and a grand piano. The latter is an uptempo track with lots of synthesizers and a lively background of news reports. The single peaked at number 24 in the UK, but did not chart elsewhere in Europe.

'Here is the news' became somewhat controversial when an evil Dutch broadcaster hijacked the first few seconds of the track to announce their vulgar programmes. Since then, that sound strikes fear into me, but when the great track follows, I realise it's not the voice of evil calling for me, but the brilliant English band.

My collection: 7" single no. 2769
Found: London, October 29, 1996
Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Ticket to the moon' / 'Here is the news'

Als het om de liefde gaat - Sandra en Andres

Sandra Reemer (born October 17, 1950 in Bandung, Indonesia) teamed up with Dries Holten (born January 30, 1942 in Tjimahi, Indonesia) to form the duo Sandra & Andres. They performed together between 1966 and 1975. In 1972, they represented the Netherlands during that year's Eurovision Song Contest. 'Als het om de liefde gaat' ended up in fourth place. They recorded the song in a few other languages. But more about that soon...

My friend Puck bought this single for me elsewhere in the country while I ended up in a record shop myself. Since we both bought some Eurovision singles for me, it's a miracle we didn't end up with the same titles...

My collection: 7" single no. 3704

Found: May 5, 2009

Cost: -

Tracks: 'Als het om de liefde gaat' / 'Oude zigeuner'

Not fair - Lily Allen

The second single from her current album 'It's not me, it's you' is Lily Allen's 'Not fair'. In the song Allen describes the dilemma with an otherwise considerate boyfriend who is not pleasuring her sexually and she finds it 'Not fair' because she really likes him, but not in the bedroom.

The single was released as a limited edition 7" picture disc.

My collection: 7" single no. 3713

Found: Recordstore.co.uk, received May 19, 2009

Cost: 3 pounds

Tracks: 'Not fair' / 'Why'

If there's a rocket tie me to it - Snow Patrol

Snow Patrol made the unusual choice to release their third single off their latest album 'A hundred million suns', 'If there's a rocket tie me to it', on 7" vinyl only. There was also a digital download of the track, but that was all. It may have explained the lack of chart success of this single: it did not chart in any territory.

The B-side 'In a dream I saw satellites' is an acoustic song solely written and performed by lead singer and frontman Gary Lightbody. It was recorded on the banks of Lough Corrib, Galway, Ireland.

My collection: 7" single no. 3712

Found: Recordstore.co.uk, received May 19, 2009

Cost: 3 pounds

Tracks: 'If there's a rocket tie me to it' / 'In a dream I saw satellites'

Innocent love - Sandra

After the success of her debut album and the first two singles, 'Maria Magdalena' and 'In the heat of the night', Sandra and her husband Michael Cretu had to come up with new material to entertain the fans. 'Innocent love' was released in the summer of 1986 as the first single from the second album 'Mirrors'. Sounding a lot like previous singles, Sandra had reasonable success with it. The single peaked at number 14 in Germany and Switzerland, but at number 4 in Israel and Norway.

The single version of 'Innocent love' fades out earlier than the album version and is shorter by a few seconds.

My collection: 7" single no. 1889

Found: Record fair, May 2, 1993

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Innocent love' / 'Innocent theme'