Rosie - Joan Armatrading

Joan Armatrading was born in Basseterre, Saint Kitts in the West Indies on December 9, 1950. She moved with her family to Birmingham, England in 1957. She moved to London in the early Seventies to perform in a production of the musical 'Hair'. This led to her meeting lyricist Pam Nestor and recording her debut album 'Whatever's for us' (1972).

'Rosie' was released after five albums in 1980. It became her first European hit, reaching number 15 in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 2422
Found: July 22, 1995
Cost: 3,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Rosie' / 'How cruel'

Tausendmal du - Münchener Freiheit

Taken from their debut album 'Von Anfang an', 'Tausendmal du' became Münchener Freiheit's first hit outside of Germany. The single entered the Dutch Top 40 in June 1986 and peaked at number 28 during its five week chart run.

The song would be re-recorded in English as 'Baby it's you' two years later, aiming for more international success.

My collection: 7" single no. 2952

Found: February 7, 1998

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Tausendmal du' / 'Kalt oder heiss'

A walk in the park - Nick Straker Band

The Nick Straker Band formed in the late Seventies. Its members were Nick Straker, Tony Mansfield, David McShera, Pete Hammond and Phil Towner. In 1979 they released 'A walk in the park', a rather innovative disco song. It did not reach the Dutch Top 40, but it did peak at number 20 in the UK singles chart.

Tony Mansfield and Nick Straker were also members of New Musik, but while Straker didn't return to his old group, Mansfield did. Both the Nick Straker Band and New Musik did not meet a lot of commercial success after 'A walk in the park'.

My collection: 7" single no. 2147

Found: August 25, 1994

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'A walk in the park' / 'Something in the music'

Rock bottom - Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran

Mike Moran (born March 4, 1948) and Lynsey De Paul (born June 11, 1960) wrote the song 'Rock bottom' together and also got to perform it together on the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, representing the United Kingdom. Although the song was in the lead when the juries started giving their points, the song finally came second, behind the winning song 'L'oiseau et l'enfant'.

De Paul and Moran went on to write a number of songs such as 'Let your body go downtown', a UK top 40 hit for the Martyn Ford Orchestra and the follow up 'Going to a disco' as well as the songs 'Without you' and 'Now and then'. Moran was also a wellknown songwriter in his own right, co-writing Freddie Mercury's 'Barcelona'.

My collection: 7"single no. 3746

Found: Record fair, Den Haag, May 23, 2009
Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Rock bottom' / 'You shouldn't say that'

Bad girls - Donna Summer

'Bad girls' was taken from Donna Summer's 1979 album of the same name. Donna Summer wrote the song herself, after being inspired by an incident: a police officier mistook one of her assistants for a street prostitute.

The song was a chart success in many countries. In America it was a number 1 hit, in the UK it peaked at number 14 while in the Netherlands it went to number 7. The 'toot-toot, beep-beep' chant would be sampled by various hip hop artists.

My collection: 7" single no. 2959

Found: Record fair, February 9, 1998

Cost: 2,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Bad girls' / 'On my honor'

Marliese - Fischer Z

Fischer Z released their third album 'Red skies over paradise' in 1981. This was the last album released under the classic line-up, despite the departure of keyboardist, Steve Skolnik. The album featured many songs about politics and several references to the Cold War. After this album, band leader John Watts pursued a solo career.

'Marliese' was taken from the album and became the band's last hit. In the Netherlands, it reached number 31.

My collection: 7" single no. 922

Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 25, 1989
Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Marliese' / 'Right hand men'

When love rules the world - Simone Angel

In the late Eighties and early Nineties I was a regular viewer of MTV, back when they were still broadcasting music videos. I was not the only one: I had a fellow student and friend who was just as addicted to the channel as I was. We both loved Rebecca de Ruvo, and hated Simone Angel (We had so much in common).

The difference between the two became more obvious when they recorded music. Rebecca released 'I caught you out' in 1994, Simone released 'When love rules the world' in 1991. While the former is an interesting funky dance track, the latter is just a throwaway house clone with bad vocals. It's these vocals my friend and me had loads of fun with. Whenever I grunted 'When love rules the world' he would reply with a falsetto 'When love rules the world!' and vice versa. This single is a souvenir of those times. It's actually one of few songs in my singles collection that I don't like.

What happened to Simone Angel? She moved to the other side of the world - thankfully - and is - unfortunately - still presenting a radio show there. She has a blog which you can read here.

My collection: 7" single no. 1766
Found: Sounds Familiar, London, October 20, 1992

Cost: 20p

Tracks: 'When love rules the world (Let love rule edit)' / 'When love rules the world (original mix)'