The valley road - Bruce Hornsby and the Range

'The valley road' was released as the first single from Bruce Hornsby and the Range's 1988 album 'Scenes from the Southside'. The song was inspired by observations Hornsby had made growing up in the state of Virginia. 'Every year, some rich girl would get involved with some country guy, and they would act irresponsibly and have to deal with the ramifications.'

The single peaked at number 5 in the US Billboard Hot 100, number 27 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 44 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 3190
Found: Record fair, September 16, 2000
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'The valley road' / 'The long race'

Never in a million years - Boomtown Rats

In 1980, Gerry Cott left the Boomtown Rats. The group continued as a quintet and released their fifth album, 'V Deep' in February 1982. Before that, the beautiful single 'Never in a million years' was released. It was released in a remarkable sleeve, featuring six holes at the front, representing the zeros in 'million', but omitting the band name and the title of the song.

As a result, many did not know of the single's release. It only reached number 62 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 892
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, June 17, 1989
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Never in a million years' / 'Don't talk to me'

Mama - Kim Appleby

Mel & Kim Appleby wrote 'Mama' as a tribute to their mother. It's always a tricky subject, because the danger of writing a sappy lyric is always there. I'm still undecided on this one: the combination of melancholy for the past and the outright sentimentality in this song leaves me, well, cold.

The single was not a success in the Netherlands, as it didn't even chart. In the UK singles chart, 'Mama' reached number 19.

My collection: 7" single no. 1489
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, July 4, 1991
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Mama' / 'Don't worry'

Weekend - Earth and Fire

I'm proud to say that I never understood what was sexy about Jerney Kaagman, but back in 1979 most of the Netherlands was in raptures about this woman and her blue suit, when she performed 'Weekend' in Toppop, the weekly chart show where Earth & Fire promoted their single from the album 'Reality fills fantasy'.

'Weekend' became a number 1 hit in the Dutch Top 40, their biggest hit since 1972's 'Memories'. The 'sexy' Kaagman is now a botox-filled expressionless old witch.

My collection: 7" single no. 3287
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, February 24, 2001
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Weekend' / 'Answer me'

Lap of luxury - Jethro Tull

Buying my 400th single was quite a big deal. I was thinking hard what would be an appropriate buy. In the end, I settled on this double single. Not because I was a fan of Jethro Tull, but because it was the only double single available at the time for a reasonable price. And I thought it would be appropriate to have a double single as a festive treat.

The band had just released 'Under wraps' in 1984, a very electronic album with no live drummer but a drum machine. Although the band was reportedly proud of the sound, the album was not well received. However, the video for 'Lap of luxury' did manage to earn moderate rotation on the newly influential MTV music video channel. 'Lap of luxury' reached number 70 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 400
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1984
Cost: 7,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Lap of luxury' / 'Astronomy' // 'Automotive engineering' / 'Tundra'

The touch - Kim Wilde

The second single from Kim Wilde's 1984 album 'Teases & dares', entitled 'The touch', didn't do much to restore her image in her native UK. She hadn't had a top 20 hit since 1982's 'View from a bridge', and this one didn't even make the top 50. Peaking at number 56, it qualified as a real disappointment.

Outside of the UK, things were not quite that problematic. The single reached number 20 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 29 in Germany. The single was also released as a shaped picture disc and featured for the first time a composition by Kim Wilde herself: 'Shangri-la' was included as the B-side track. Plus quite a lovely sleeve.

My collection: 7" single no. 252
Found: LP Top 100, 1984
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'The touch' / 'Shangri-la'

Woman - John Lennon

'Woman' was written by John Lennon as an ode to his wife Yoko Ono. In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine on December 5, 1980, Lennon said that 'Woman' was a 'grown-up version' of the song 'Girl'.

The song was released as the second single from Lennon's 'Double fantasy' album, and the first single released after his tragic death on December 8, 1980. It spent two weeks at number 1 in the UK singles chart and five weeks at number 1 in New Zealand. In the Netherlands, the single only managed to reach number 21, while in the US it reached number 2.

My collection: 7" single no. 2384
Found: House of Rhythm, London, July 1, 1995
Cost: 50p
Tracks: 'Woman' (John Lennon) / 'Beautiful boys' (Yoko Ono)