Sad songs - Alessi

The twin brothers Billy and Bobby Alessi were born on July 12, 1954 on Long Island, New York. In 1977 they hit it big with the single 'Oh Lori'. 'Sad songs' was released that same year, but that single did not chart.

I'd completely missed out on the Alessi brothers and only found out about them at the end of the Eighties, when my sister bought a compilation cd of their music. Some of their songs really impressed me, so I bought the singles. I never had a craving for an entire cd of their music, though.

My collection: 7" single no. 2563

Found: November 19, 1995

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Sad songs' / 'Don't hold back'

Respect yourself - The Kane Gang

Martin Brammer, Paul Woods and Dave Brewis met in 1982 and formed the trio The Kane Gang, naming themselves after the movie 'Citizen Kane'. They signed a record deal in 1983 and released their debut album 'Bad and lowdown world of the Kane Gang' in 1984.

The single 'Respect yourself', taken from that album, is a cover of The Staples Singers song. The song was written in 1970 by Luther Ingram, a Stax Records singer, and Mack Rice, a Stax house songwriter. Ingram, who was frustrated with the state of the world at the time, told Rice 'black folk need to learn to respect themselves.'

My collection: 7" single no. 2137
Found: Grammofoonwinkel, Utrecht, August 2, 1994
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Respect yourself' / 'Amusement park'

Flowers in our hair - All about Eve

Owning the promotional version of 'Flowers in our hair' is one thing, but of course I needed to own the commercial version of that single as well. If only for the exclusive B-side, 'Paradise', that didn't appear anywhere else for a long time. I found the 12" single a long time before I found this 7" single.

My collection: 7" single no. 2651
Found: London, June 29, 1996
Cost: 2,5 pounds
Tracks: 'Flowers in our hair' / 'Paradise'

Trouble - Lindsey Buckingham

Lindsey Buckingham was born on October 3, 1949. He joined Fleetwood Mac in 1972 and would be a prominent member of the band (on and off) between then and now. During the recording sessions of the Fleetwood Mac album 'Tusk' (1979) Lindsey started working on his first solo album, 'Law and order', released in 1982.

'Trouble' was the first single from that album, released in December 1981. The single went number 1 in Australia, peaked at number 9 in the USA and number 31 in the UK. In the Netherlands, it did not chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 684

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1988

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Trouble' / 'I'll tell you now'

Walk on air - T'pau

By the time 'Walk on air' was released as a single, my faith in T'pau had been restored. After the disastrous second album 'Rage', the third one, 'The promise' was a lot better and I would buy all the singles without hesitation. The only problem was, that after 'Whenever you need me' no further singles seemed to appear. Until I finally spotted 'Walk on air' during a record fair in early 1992, I wasn't aware that a second single had come out.

I couldn't have known. The single only managed a number 62 placing in the UK singles chart and I think it wasn't even released in the Netherlands. I do have a German pressing, with a press info sheet in German.

My collection: 7" single no. 1606

Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, March 28, 1992

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Walk on air' / 'Hold on to love'

Don't shed a tear - Paul Carrack

Paul Carrack was born on April 22, 1951 in Sheffield, England. He's been a member of Squeeze, Mike & the Mechanics and Roxy Music, but he's also had a successful solo career. 'Don't shed a tear' was one of them. It could be described, if nothing else, as a radio hit. It was played almost continually in 1987.

Despite this, it didn't become his biggest hit: it stalled at number 60 in the UK, whereas in the Netherlands it only made number 21.

My collection: 7" single no. 815

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, May 13, 1989

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Don't shed a tear' / 'Merilee'

Rock And Roll Star - Champagne

The members of the band Champagne were brought together by producer Martin Duiser in October 1976. Trudy Schell, Bert van der Wiel, Jan Vredenburg and Paulette Bronkhorst recorded their debut single 'Rock and Roll Star' that month, written by Duiser with ex-Outsiders singer Wally Tax. The single reached the Dutch Top 40 in December 1976 and reached number 2 the following year. Subsequent singles all failed to match this level of success.

The band stayed together for five years before disbanding in 1981. Bronkhorst released 2 singles with another female singer as the duo Chica and Vredenburg made a single in 1981 with the group Shampoo.

My collection: 7" single no. 3117

Found: June 6, 1999

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Rock and roll star' / 'Kiss you baby'