Rockollection - Laurent Voulzy

Laurent Voulzy was born on December 18, 1948 in Paris, France. After leading the English-pop-influenced band Le Temple de Vénus in the Sixties, he worked with Pascal Danel between 1969 and 1974. He started writing songs with Alain Souchon and released this debut single 'Rockollection' in 1977.

Long before the world came to know Stars on 45, he introduced the idea of mixing together wellknown classic songs - but in this case, interspersed with an original lyric by Souchon and himself. On the A-side you can hear him singing 'The locomotion', 'A hard day's night', 'I get around', 'Gloria' and 'Satisfaction', followed on the B-side by 'Massachussetts', 'Mellow yellow' and 'California dreaming'. The single was an international hit, although it did not chart in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 2427
Found: Den Haag, August 19, 1995
Cost: nothing
Tracks: 'Rockollection (part 1)' / 'Rockollection (part 2)'

Tom's diner - DNA featuring Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Vega originally wrote 'Tom's diner' as an acapella song in 1981. It was released on her album 'Solitude standing' in 1987. The acapalla track was then used by two British record producers in 1990 to create the DNA remix of 'Tom's diner' without Vega's permission. Rather than sue them, record company A&M decided to buy the track and release it as a single. It was a wise move: this version reached number 1 in Austria and Germany, and went top 10 almost everywhere else. A year later, Vega released 'Tom's album', a compilation of different versions of the song, in various different versions.

The original version of 'Tom's diner' (on the B-side of this single) was used by Karlheinz Brandenburg to develop the audio compression scheme known as MP3. He recalled: 'I was ready to fine-tune my compression algorithm...somewhere down the corridor, a radio was playing 'Tom's diner'. I was electrified. I knew it would be nearly impossible to compress this warm a cappella voice.'

My collection: 7" single no. 2287
Found: May 6, 1995
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Tom's diner' (DNA featuring Suzanne Vega) / 'Tom's diner' (Suzanne Vega)

Are you just using me - Richenel

Richenel was born as Hubertus Richenel Baars in Amsterdam in 1957. He forged a career in pop music in the Netherlands. In 1986 he scored his first big hit, 'Dance around the world', which also reached the top of the charts in Italy, Germany and Scandinavia.

Much was made of his 1989 single 'Are you just using me'. It was written by R. Phillips, which actually was a pseudonym for George Michael. Surprisingly, this didn't help: the single did not chart in the Netherlands - or anywhere else.

My collection: 7" single no. 812
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, May 12, 1989
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Are you just using me' / 'Are you just using me (instrumental)'

Há sempre alguém - Nucha

I bought this single as soon as it appeared in the shops. Not because I liked the Portuguese entry of the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest so much, but because it was quite remarkable that so many Eurovision tracks were released as a single. I realised right away that this was a good opportunity to find more singles than ever before.

Nucha was sent to Eurovision with a song in the impenetrable Portuguese language (as prescribed by the rules of the Contest at the time), and reached 20th place in a field of 22 competitors.

My collection: 7" single no. 1232
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, May 18, 1990
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Há sempre alguém' / 'Together'

How can I keep from singing? - Enya

A day at the Enya producer's office (II)

'HeyNicky Ryan, it's time for a new Enya single!'
- 'Really? Already? We've just had that 'Caribbean blue' single.'
'Yeah I know, but it's almost December and people still want to buy this stuff. I thought this time we could do a track with a real lyric again.'
- '(Sigh) Oh Lord, that's too much hard work. Do I have to? It's so difficult to piece together the words that woman has sung in the past.'
'Well, you could always ask her to sing a few new words...'
- 'Are you serious? She's hiding in her dark castle, I haven't seen that woman in years.'
'Oh well, you'll figure something out. Make it sound like that 'Evening' song, that will really work come Christmas time.'
- 'Okay, I'll try and glue together one new song. But the B-side will have to be that Christmas track. I don't want to work two days on this single.'
'No problem mate. I know you'll make something out of this.'
- 'Yeah I think this one will go down great at funerals too.'

My collection: 7" single no. 1960
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, September 25, 1993
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'How can I keep from singing?' / 'Oiche Chiun (Silent night)'

Halo of flies - Alice Cooper

In 1973, the Dutch offshore radio station Veronica broadcast their annual Top 100 of all times, compiled by listeners. For the first time, it featured Alice Cooper's 'Halo of flies', from his 1971 album 'Killer'.

His record company was quick to recognise the commercial potential, and released a single of this track. A lengthy single: the A-side clocked in at 8'21 minutes. Quite impressive, given that it was still a 45 rpm disc. The single was only released in the Netherlands, where it reached number 5 in the Dutch Top 40 in the summer of 1973.

My collection: 7" single no. 2947
Found: Record fair, Leiden, January 31, 1998
Cost: 10 guilders
Tracks: 'Halo of flies' / 'Under my wheels'

License to kill - Gladys Knight

One of the presents I got for my birthday was the dvd of 'Quantum of solace', the most recent James Bond movie. I didn't see this one in the cinema. When I watched it yesterday, I really enjoyed it, but I also realised that a lot had changed since the Eighties. This movie had been stripped of everything that makes it a James Bond movie, which I think is a shame. Some cliches should never be lost.

The same goes for the theme song: 'Another way to die' by Jack White and Alicia Keys is a tuneless, soulless affair, while Gladys Knight's 'License to kill' from twenty years ago is still spot on. It was Gladys Knight's last hit, peaking at number 6 in the UK singles chart and number 2 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 926
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, July 1, 1989
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'License to kill' (Gladys Knight) / 'Pam' (Michael Kamen)