Put a little love in your heart - Annie Lennox and Al Green

Jackie DeShannon, Randy Myers and Jimmy Holiday composed 'Put a little love in your heart' in 1968. DeShannon recorded the track, and had a number 4 hit with it in the USA.

Twenty years later, Annie Lennox and Al Green recorded a cover version of the track, which was used in the 1988 movie 'Scrooged', starring Bill Murray. The song reached number 9 in the USA, number 13 in the Netherlands and was a top 40 hit in several countries worldwide.

My collection: 7" single no. 1714
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, September 14, 1992
Cost: 4 guilders
Tracks: 'Put a little love in your heart' / 'A great big piece of love'

It's showtime - Katja Ebstein

Not content with just a German version ('Theater') and a French version ('Théàtre'), Katja Ebstein also recorded her 1980 entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in English as 'It's showtime'. Like the French version, this English version did not appeal much to the people speaking that language, as it did not chart in the UK.

What's nice about the three different singles is that the sleeves are almost identical, except for the colouring of Katja's name. While the German version has a red logo and the French version has a blue logo, the English version came with an orange logo. It's easy to distinguish the sleeves that way. Ideal for record hunters...

My collection: 7" single no. 2975
Found: Bea Records, March 1, 1998
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'It's showtime' / 'What's her bag'

If you could read my mind - Viola Wills

Viola Wills was born as Viola Mae Wilkerson in Los Angeles on December 30, 1939. Wills was already married from her teens and was the mother of six children before the age of 21 when, in 1965, she was discovered by Barry White who signed her to Bronco Records and rechristened her with the shorter stage surname of Wills.

Her 1981 single 'If you could read my mind' was remixed by the DJ remix service Disconet. In that version, she had a hit in the Netherlands, reaching number 3. Wills died of cancer on May 6, 2009 in Arizona.

My collection: 7" single no. 2058
Found: November 27, 1993
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'If you could read my mind (Special short US Disconet version)' / 'If you could read my mind'

December - All about Eve

Sad to say, but the track 'December' was butchered for the single release. The track was probably deemed too long for a single release, so someone decided to cut out guitar solos, long intros and just about everything else. I still believe it hurt the sales of the single, which only managed to reach number 34 in the UK singles chart. As usual, the single did not chart in other territories.

All this despite the release of a regular 7" single (pictured above), a picture disc 7" (pictured below), a 10" single, a 12" single, a cd-single and a limited edition picture cd-single. With so many formats, it's no wonder the chart rules were changed some years later, limiting the amount of formats eligible to count towards sales to three.

My collection: 7" single no. 1132 (regular single) / no. 1226 (picture disc)
Found: Tower Records mailorder, received December 23, 1989 / Record fair, Den Haag, April 22, 1990
Cost: 2 pounds / 17 guilders
Tracks (regular single): 'December' / 'Drowning'
Tracks (picture disc): 'December' / 'Drowning', 'Paradise '89'

The girl is mine - Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney

Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney collaborated on 'Say say say' in 1981, a track that appeared in 1983 on McCartney's fifth solo album 'Pipes of peace'. The favour was returned with this song, 'The girl is mine'. The song has been the subject of two plagiarism lawsuits. Both instances required Jackson to testify in court, and each lawsuit found in the favour of the singer and his record label.

Producer Quincy Jones had initially told Jackson to write a song about two men fighting over a girl. Inspired, Jackson awoke during the night and sang the song into a tape recorder. The song was then recorded by Jackson and McCartney at Westlake Studios, Los Angeles, from April 14 to 16, 1982. Released as the first single from Jackson's bestselling album 'Thriller', it reached number 8 in the UK and number 12 in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 842
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, May 27, 1989
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'The girl is mine' / 'Can't get outta the rain'

Young guns (Go for it) - Wham!

'Death by matrimony' is a phrase in the lyric of this song, which is a good summary of what the song is about. George Michael wrote 'Young guns (Go for it)' about a teenage lad's worry that his best friend was getting too committed to a girl when he should be enjoying his youth and the single life. One of the most talked about lines in the song is the spoken line 'Caution pays'. Since the line is played at a lower speed than originally recorded, people mistakenly thought that the line is 'Abortion pays', which, ironically, would have fit in with the overall theme of the song.

'Young guns' became Wham!'s first hit, reaching number 3 in the UK and number 4 in the Netherlands. Due to this success, the previous single 'Wham Rap' was re-released, becoming a top 10 hit for the band in both countries as a result.

My collection: 7" single no. 3847
Found: Zeeheldenfestival, Den Haag, July 4, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Young guns (Go for it)' / 'Going for it'

Love in the shadows - E.G. Daily

After E.G. Daily reached the chart in several countries with 'Say it say it', a second single was taken from her 1985 album 'Wild child': 'Love in the shadows'. The single proved less successful, as it did not chart in any territory.

However, the song was used in the movie 'Thief of hearts', released roughly around the same time.

My collection: 7" single no. 3844
Found: Zeeheldenfestival, Den Haag, July 4, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Love in the shadows' / 'Little toy'