Careless memories - Duran Duran

'Careless memories' was the second single by Duran Duran, released in April 1981. The choice to release this song as a single was made by the record company. They must have been unpleasantly surprised when it stalled at number 37 in the UK singles chart, after the debut single 'Planet earth' had been a top 20 hit. Subsequent singles were chosen by the band - and became big hits.

This perhaps one of the least recognised Duran Duran tracks, and I admit I didn't know the track when I bought the single. Still, as I was collecting Duran Duran, I had to have this one as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 2639
Found: April 13, 1996
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Careless memories' / 'Khanada'

The second time - Kim Wilde

Kim Wilde left RAK Records in 1984 and signed a new recording contract with MCA Records. They launched Kim Wilde with a new image, courtesy of XL Design, who were also responsible for the images of Wham! and Frankie goes to Hollywood back then. Kim's new single 'The second time' sounded fresh and exciting, the video was vibrant and full of energy and the lyric of 'The second time' was quite daring.

Still, the audiences did not fall for it immediately. The single reached number 24 in the Dutch Top 40 and at number 29 in the UK singles chart. It was quite hard for Kim to come back with a bang. I for one still think this is one of the best singles of her career.

My collection: 7" single no. 244
Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, 1984
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'The second time' / 'Lovers on a beach'

Headlights on the parade - The Blue Nile

The second single from the Blue Nile's second album 'Hats' was a remixed version of 'Headlights on the parade'. The remix was made by Bob Clearmountain, who previously mixed tracks by artists like Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Bryan Adams. Not the most obvious person to handle a Blue Nile track, but the remix turned out quite reasonable.

It didn't help the success of the single much: it spent one week in the UK singles chart at number 72. But the Blue Nile was always an 'albums act' anyway.

My collection: 7" single no. 1295
Found: HMV, London, October 15, 1990
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Headlights on the parade (Bob Clearmountain remix)' / 'Headlights on the parade (album version)'

Straight up - Paula Abdul

'Straight up' was the third single from Paula Abdul's debut album 'Forever your girl', but the first one to be a worldwide success. The single spent three weeks at number 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaked at number 2 in Australia and number 3 in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.

I bought the single within months of its release, since I liked this song as it played on the radio. In later years, I learned to appreciate it less for its synthetic sounds and the thin voice of Abdul. But now I have to say my judgement lies somewhere in the middle: despite its flaws it's still a nice song. I bought a poster edition of the single in the UK, but only just realised that the B-side of the poster edition is different. Hence, here's the last addition from my London shopping spree.

My collection: 7" single no. 871 / no. 3999
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, June 2, 1989 / Record Exchange, London, August 5, 2009
Cost: 6 guilders / 50p
Tracks (1): 'Straight up' / 'Cold hearted'
Tracks (2): 'Straight up' / 'Straight up (Power mix)'

Secret land - Sandra

When I was introduced by a friend to the music of Sandra (he kept nagging me to listen to it until I finally gave in), he gave me the cd of 'Into a secret land'. It was the title track that grabbed my attention, and it is probably the track you can single out as the creative peak of Sandra and Michael Cretu. A great synth hook, an interesting lyric and a nice, glossy Eighties production.

The song is an adaptation of a Hubert Kemmler-produced song called 'Trenchcoat man', released as a single by an unknown German band named Fabrique in 1987. 'Secret land' reached number 1 in Israel, peaking at number 7 in Germany and number 9 in Switzerland.

My collection: 7" single no. 2094
Found: Record fair, April 16, 1994
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Secret land' / 'Into nobody's land'

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)'