You keep me hanging on - Vanilla Fudge

Oh dear. Whenever the song 'You keep me hangin' on' is mentioned, the cover version by the Sixties band Vanilla Fudge comes up. I guess at the time it was quite an innovation to record a song in a different style than the original (in this case, slower and in a rock fashion), but when you listen to it now, you can't help but noticed the dated sound of it all and the terrible lead vocals by Mark Stein. This is even more obvious in the B-side, which sounds like an amateur band at best.

Still, the band managed to reach number 18 in the UK singles chart and number 13 in the Dutch Top 40. After this one hit, they disappeared from the charts until their breakup in 1970. But like in bad horror movies, the band keeps being reanimated - they have reformed in various lineups three times already.

My collection: 7" single no. 2980
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, April 16, 1998
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'You keep me hanging on' / 'Take me for a little while'

Living in another world - Talk Talk

After 'It's my life' and 'Such a shame', here's the third and - as far as I know - last of three singles taken from the compilation album 'Natural history'. As far as re-releases go, this single is probably the most interesting of the three. Not only does it feature a live recording of the track on the B-side, the A-side features a new edit of 'Living in another world'. Although I'm not a fan of edits per se, it is always interesting to hear a new version of a track.

It was an unsuccessful release: the single did not chart, and the record company EMI turned their attention towards the following step in their 'milking the Talk Talk catalogue' operation. More about that later.

My collection: 7" single no. 2725
Found: September 7, 1996
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'Living in another world (edit)' / 'Living in another world (live)'

Don't you want me - Jody Watley

Jody Watley's debut album 'Looking for a new love' yielded five hits, of which 'Don't you want me' was the second. It reached number 6 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 55 in the UK singles chart.

Even though I am really impressed with the album as a whole and all the hit singles as well, I do wonder why Jody Watley posed on the sleeve of this single in such a lack of clothes. It doesn't look particularly classy...

My collection: 7" single no. 1749
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 19, 1992
Cost: 60p
Tracks: 'Don't you want me' / 'Don't you want me (radio remix)'

I don't like Mondays - The Boomtown Rats

'I don't like Mondays' was written by the lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof after he read a telex report at Georgia State University's campus radio station, WRAS, where he was giving an interview. The report was about Brenda Ann Spencer, aged 16 at the time, firing at children playing in a school playground across the street from her home in San Diego, California. She killed two adults and injured eight children and one police officer. Spencer showed no remorse for her crime, and her full explanation for her actions was 'I don't like Mondays, this livens up the day'.

Geldof had originally intended the song as a B-side, but changed his mind after the song went down well with audiences on the Boomtown Rats' US tour. Spencer's family tried unsuccessfully to prevent the single from being released in the United States. It reached number 73 in the US Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, it was a number 1 hit, and in the Netherlands the single reached number 2. The single was one of two singles I got from my parents as a birthday present.

My colection: 7" single no. 27
Found: present, August 31, 1979
Cost: nothing
Tracks: 'I don't like Mondays' / 'It's all the rage'

Irresistible - Stephanie

When an artist records two versions of a song, one in French and one in English, it's quite easy to make an extended remix: you just use the verses of both versions and before you know it the song is about seven minutes long.

That's what happened with Stephanie's 'Irresistible', which she also recorded in French as 'Ouragan', on this 12" single. Fortunately, there are also a few interesting instrumental passages, but the whole thing is not very imaginative. Still, like all the material from Stephanie's debut album, it's pleasant enough to listen to.

My collection: 12" single no. 511
Found: ?
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'Irresistible (extended)' / 'Irresistible', 'Ouragan'

The way it is - Bruce Hornsby and the Range

Such is the nature of beautiful music, that these days even people with not an inch of artisticity in their body recycle it to make their own filth. Bruce Hornsby's 'The way it is' fell victim to Tupac Shakur when he made the track 'Changes', which for reasons that are still a mystery to me became a worldwide hit.

'The way it is' itself is a thing of rare beauty. I've always been attracted to keyboard-based songs and the way the piano is used in this track is truly phenomenal. The lyric tends a bit towards the preachy side, but with a Christian Scientist upbringing, Hornsby probably couldn't help himself. The single was a number 1 hit the Netherlands and the USA. And in this case, that's not a mystery to me.

My collection: 7" single no. 915
Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 25, 1989
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'The way it is' / 'The red plains'

Killer - Adamski

Adamski was born as Adam Tinley on December 4, 1967 in the New Forest, England. In the late Eighties, at the time of acid house, Adamski made a name for himself in the club circuit, touring with Daddy Chester and later with Seal. With the latter, he wrote 'Killer', which would become Adamski's breakthrough single, but is better known as the track that launched Seal's career.

The single reached number 1 in the UK singles charts and peaked at number 2 in the Netherlands and Germany. While Adamski had no more notable hit singles, Seal started a solo career that would see him reach the charts around the world with hits like 'Crazy', 'Kiss from a rose' and many others.

My collection: 7" single no. 1405
Found: Grammofoonwinkel, Utrecht, April 3, 1991
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Killer' / 'Bassline changed my life'