Dancing queen - Abba

Originally titled 'Boogaloo', 'Dancing Queen' was recorded in August 1975. During the sessions, Benny Andersson brought a tape home with the backing track on it and played it to his fiance, singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who apparently started crying when listening. She commented later: 'I thought the song was so beautiful'.

'Dancing Queen' became Abba's only American number one hit in April 1977. Before that, the single had already been a number one hit in Sweden (where it spent 14 weeks at the top), Norway, Ireland, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.

In 1993, on the occasion of Queen Silvia's 50th birthday, Abba's Frida performed an accapella version of the song together with The Real Group. A video recording of this performance exists on 'Frida - The DVD', a documentary DVD released in 2005.

My collection: 7" single no. 2256
Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam, March 22, 1995
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Dancing Queen' / 'That's me'

Say hello wave goodbye - Soft Cell

Not only do I have the 12" single of 'Say hello wave goodbye', I've also got the 7" single. The single basically cuts the extended version of the 12" single into two parts, in which the first part becomes the instrumental version on the B-side, the second part is the single version on the A-side.

Soft Cell reached third place in the UK singles chart with this, one of their most acclaimed tracks in their career. It was covered by English singer David Gray in 1999.

My collection: 7" single no. 1929
Found: June 27, 1993
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Say hello wave goodbye' / 'Say hello wave goodbye (instrumental)'

Evening falls - Enya

'Evening falls' was the second single taken from Enya's breakthrough second album 'Watermark'. It was a typically silent song like she would record many times after this album and single. While her previous single 'Orinoco flow' was a number one hit in the UK, this one was less successful, peaking at number 20 only.

The B-side was a Gaelic version of the Christmas traditional 'Silent night' entitled 'Oiche Chiún', an apparent misspelling of 'Oiche Chiúin'.

My collection: 7" single no. 751
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, February 17, 1989
Cost: 4 guilders
Tracks: 'Evening falls' / 'Oiche Chiún'

Maman a tort - Mylene Farmer

Mylene Farmer was born on September 12, 1961 in Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada, a suburb of Montreal. Her parents moved from France in the late Fifties as Farmer's father pursued an engineering contract on a dam. Her family returned to France when she was eight, settling in the Parisian suburb of Ville d'Avray. In 1984, Farmer met Laurent Boutonnat, a young film student, when she replied to a newspaper ad for an actress for a small film he was working on. Farmer and Boutonnat became friends and forged a creative partnership, writing and producing the music.

Boutonnat and a young songwriter named Jérôme Dahan wrote Farmer's first hit, 'Maman a tort', which was released to much success in March 1984. The video cost the modest sum of 5000 Francs but caused a stir in the music world. Boutonnat cast Farmer as a provocative Lolita figure, an image cultivated in her early days, especially on her debut album 'Cendres de lune', which was released in April 1986.

When I collected Mylene Farmer, starting in the early Nineties, these early singles already cost a fortune. I was quite happy to shell out a much larger sum for this single, bought from a dealer who apparently did not know he could easily fetch four times as much for it.

My collection: 7" single no. 2873
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, 1997
Cost: 20 guilders
Tracks: 'Maman a tort' / 'Maman a tort (instrumental)'

One thing leads to another - The Fixx

The Fixx were formed in 1980 in London by college friends Cy Curnin and Adam Woods, originally under the name The Portraits. The pair placed an ad for additional members. As a result, Jamie West-Oram, Rupert Greenall and Charlie Barret joined, and the band changed their name to The Fixx.

Their most successful release was the 1983 single 'One thing leads to another', which reached number 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100. In Europe, the single did not cause such a stir. It was released as a limited edition double single in the UK. The second disc included two earlier singles, which were minor successes in the UK in 1982.

My collection: 7" single no. 2614
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, February 10, 1996
Cost: 4 guilders
Tracks: 'One thing leads to another' / 'Inspiration' // 'Red skies' / 'Stand or fall'

Vriendschap - Het Goede Doel

The central theme of the song 'Vriendschap' ('Friendship') is made clear by the first sentence of the refrain: 'Eenmaal trek je de conclusie / Vriendschap is een illusie' ('Once you'll draw the conclusion / Friendship is an illusion'). This single by the Dutch band Het Goede Doel was one I played a lot after I was unsuccessful in conquering the heart of a female friend I had in highschool. She not only told me she wasn't interested in any romantic relationship, she also kept her distance for months. What a great friend she was.

The single was released in January 1983 and reached the number 4 position in the Dutch Top 40, just like their previous release, 'België'.

My collection: 7" single no. 3764
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received June 3, 2009

Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Vriendschap' / 'Anders dan iedereen'

Bruttosozialprodukt - Geier Sturzflug

Geier Sturzflug was formed by Friedel Geratsch, Werner Borowski, Uwe Kellerhoff, Michael Volkmann and Klaus Fiehe in 1979. They were one of the bands from the German New Wave genre, which took Germany by storm in the early Eighties.

Their single 'Bruttosozialprodukt' was the only one to find success in other non-German-speaking countries. It reached number 22 in the Dutch Top 40 in the summer of 1983.

My collection: 7" single no. 3308
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, February 24, 2001
Cost: 1 guilders
Tracks: 'Bruttosozialprodukt' / 'Früher oder später'