Yé ké yé ké - Mory Kante

Mory Kanté was born on March 29, 1950 in Kissidougou, Guinea. He was brought up in the Mandinka griot tradition in Guinea and sent to Mali at the age of 7, where he learned to play the kora harp. In 1971 Kanté became a member of the Rail Band, in which Salif Keïta was a singer. Keïta left the band in 1973, leaving Kanté as the singer.

Several years later he started a solo career. His biggest success was 'Yé ké yé ké', a single released in 1987. It became an international hit in 1988, reaching number 1 in the Netherlands and reaching the top 5 in several European countries. It became the first ever African single to sell over one million copies.

My collection: 7" single no. 3862
Found: Empire Records, Den Haag, July 18, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Yé ké yé ké' / 'Akwaba beach'

Hold on tight - Electric Light Orchestra

'Hold on tight' was the first single to be released from ELO's 1981 album 'Time' and was their last top 10 hit in the UK, reaching number 4 in the summer of 1981. In the Netherlands, where the single reached number 5, they would have one more top 10 hit single with 'Rock and roll is king' in 1983.

The song is quite unique for an English band, because it contains a verse sung in French. The words are a direct translation of the English verse sung earlier on in the song.

My collection: 7" single no. 3859
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, July 18, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Hold on tight' / 'When time stood still'

Annie I'm not your daddy - Kid Creole and the Coconuts

Kid Creole and the Coconuts enjoyed the biggest hit of their career in the autumn of 1982, when 'Annie I'm not your daddy' reached number 2 in the UK singles chart and number 3 in the Dutch Top 40. It became the signature song for the band.

Thomas August Darnell Browder, who renamed himself Kid Creole in 1980, described his persona as 'inspired by Cab Calloway and the Hollywood films of the Thirties and Fourties. The Kid fills out his colorful zoot suits with style and grace, dancing onstage with his inimitable, relentless and self-proclaimed cool'. Well, a line like 'If I was in your blood, then you wouldn't be so ugly' is decidedly icy.

My collection: 7" single no. 3857
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, July 18, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Annie I'm not your daddy' / 'You had no intention'

(You is) A guarantee for love - Smithereens

Smithereens was a short-lived Dutch rock band who enjoyed no chart success at all. Their single '(You is) A guarantee for love' was released in December 1985 and was played on the radio for a while, but without any commercial success. The band should not be confused with the American rock band the Smithereens.

My collection: 7" single no. 3867
Found: Empire Records, Den Haag, July 18, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: '(You is) A guarantee for love' / 'Promiscuous'

Sketches of Spain - The Nits

The single 'Sketches of Spain' was a gripping tale of the Spanish civil war, taken from the Nits' 1983 album 'Kilo'. The single was the third hit single for the band, reaching number 24 in the Dutch Top 40.

I recorded the song - like many others - from the radio in 1983, but I never realised that I didn't have this single until I bought it today. Well, that's one error corrected then!

My collection: 7" single no. 3855
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, July 18, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Sketches of Spain' / 'Bild am Sontag (As usual)'

UFO (We are not alone) - Bolland and Bolland

The brothers Rob and Ferdi Bolland enjoyed a handful of hit singles in the Netherlands during the Seventies, but this single, 'UFO (We are not alone)' was the beginning of a tough time for them. It was the first of many singles that wouldn't reach the charts. In fact, only one more single would do that - and that was in 1990.

This single was released in 1978, around the time when Jeff Wayne was enjoying lots of success with his 'War of the worlds' epic. The brothers could not profit from that success with this release.

My collection: 7" single no. 3856
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, July 18, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'UFO (We are not alone)' / 'Funkadelic man'

Fragile - Sting

'Fragile' was released as a single from Sting's 1987 album 'Nothing like the sun'. It was released as a limited edition with a poster sleeve and a standard edition with a beautiful glossy cardboard sleeve, both of which I have. It is a perfect song to play on a lazy Saturday or Sunday morning.

According to Wikipedia, the song is a tribute to Ben Linder, an American civil engineer who was killed by the Contras in 1987 while working on a hydroelectric project in Nicaragua. Meanwhile, Sting was touring the world with some indian with a frisbee in his lip to promote the problems of the South African rainforests. It's this kind of blathering that made Sting such a bore during the second half of the Eighties. The single, meanwhile, was a number 10 hit in the Netherlands, while in the UK it only made number 70.

My collection: 7" single no. 614 (1 & 2)
Found: Free Record Shop, 1987
Cost: 6 guilders + 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Fragile' / 'Frágil (Portuguese)'