'This feeling' was the third single taken from Sam Brown's debut album 'Stop!'. The track features a beautiful guitar solo by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. 'This feeling' was remixed for the single, which in fact didn't really make it much better, but it was shorter and that was probably the most important thing for the record company.
It didn't help matters much: the single stalled at number 91 in the UK singles chart, although it did manage to reach number 28 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 691 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, October 1, 1988 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'This feeling' / 'Soldiers'
I never shy away from a good debate, especially when it takes place on this blog. So when Jos asked me why in God's name I bought singles by Risqué, I can't help but reply (while of course respecting the fact that there is no accounting for tastes, indeed). Within my collection there are certainly some artistic highs and lows. I love the good, the bad and the ugly. But most of all, I like pop. And it's true, a lot of pop music is not sung by the ones on the sleeve (and when it is, it is usually 'polished' in the studio), the music comes from session musicians - but it is always produced well. Does it matter that the guys from Milli Vanilli or Boney M didn't sing their stuff themselves? I think not; 'Daddy cool' and 'Ma Baker' are still pop classics.
All this to conceal that I bought a lot of Kylie Minogue singles - after she became 'cool' when she started working with Manic Street Preachers in 1995. So did she sing this debut single herself? I think so - it sounds irritating enough. But look here: two decades on, she's a star. And she's already performed this very song in about ten different arrangements - including a ballad and a variety showband version. Creativity knows no boundaries.
My collection: 7" single no. 3316 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, March 24, 2001 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'I should be so lucky' / 'I should be so lucky (instrumental)'
The Manic Street Preachers formed in 1986. Members were James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Sean Moore and Richey Edwards. Edwards mysteriously vanished on February 1, 1995. Nothing was ever heard from him again. To this day, it is still one of the big mysteries of rock.
Before all that, the band released their debut album 'Generation terrorists' in 1992. 'Motorcycle emptiness' was the fifth single taken from that album and it became the biggest hit, reaching number 17 in the UK singles chart and number 24 in the Dutch Top 40 - their first and only hit in the Netherlands.
My collection: 7" single no. 1696 Found: Melody Maker, August 15, 1992 Cost: 6,5 guilders Tracks: 'Motorcycle emptiness' / 'Bored out of my mind'
'Is there something I should know?' was recorded in December 1982 in London. It was released as a non-album single, although in the USA the track was added to the 1983 reissue of the band's debut album 'Duran Duran'.
In the UK, the single became the band's first number one hit. It reached number 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100 in August 1983. In the Dutch Top 40, the single reached number 14, their first hit in the Netherlands.
My collection: 7" single no. 1806 Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, January 9, 1993 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'Is there something I should know?' / 'Faith in this colour'
The lyric of the song 'Sylvia's mother' tells the story of a man trying to say one last goodbye to his ex-girlfriend but unable to get past her mother, who tries to interfere. It was released in 1972 by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, a band that would become one of the coolest bands of the Seventies - although in later decades they would come to represent everything that was reprehensable about that era.
'Sylvia's mother' was their first hit, reaching number 5 in the US Billboard Hot 100, number 2 in the UK singles chart and number 3 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 304 Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 30, 1985 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Sylvia's mother' / 'Makin' it natural'
Released in the summer of 1988, 'Monkey' was the fifth single taken from George Michael's debut solo album 'Faith'. The single version was remixed by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who at the time were very successful with Janet Jackson's 'Control' album and its singles. Compared to the album version, the track sounded a lot livelier and 'fuller'.
In the US, this single was George Michael's fourth consecutive number 1 hit, joining the likes of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston as three artists that all had four or more number one hits from one album. In the UK, the single was less successful, peaking at number 13, whereas in the Netherlands it reached number 6. At the time of release, I only bought the cd-single, but in 1995 I corrected this painful mistake and still got the 7" single.
My collection: 7" single no. 2488 Found: House of Rhythm, London, October 30, 1995 Cost: 60p Tracks: 'Monkey' / 'Monkey (Acapella)'
According to Hugh Cornwell from the Stranglers, ''Golden Brown' works on two levels. It's about heroin and also about a girl'. Essentially the lyrics describe how 'both provided me with pleasurable times'. In an other interview drummer Jet Black quipped it was a song about Marmite. Even if harddrugs aren't your thing, this song is still worth listening to.
Released in December 1981, the single reached number 2 in the UK singles chart and number 8 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 2586 Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, December 23, 1995 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'Golden brown' / 'Love 30'
'This feeling' was the third single taken from Sam Brown's debut album 'Stop!'. The track features a beautiful guitar solo by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. 'This feeling' was remixed for the single, which in fact didn't really make it much better, but it was shorter and that was probably the most important thing for the record company.
