New in town - Little boots

Every now and again, I discover a new artist that has actually been around for a little while but I just managed to miss it. It doesn't matter because usually I'm there early enough to still collect all the relevant singles. Little boots is my latest discovery, recording so-called electropop music that incorporates a lot of influences from the Eighties into a more modern sound.

'New in town' is Little boots' debut single, released in May this year. Victoria Christina Hesketh, who uses Little boots as her stage name, wrote the song herself together with Greg Kurstin. According to her, the song is about 'being a stranger in a strange place which is fun but also has a dark side, and someone showing you around and in the end just kind of letting go'. The single reached number 13 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 4062
Found: eBay.co.uk, received September 25, 2009
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'New in town' / 'New in town (No one is safe - Al Kapranos remix)'

The beginning - Seal

'The beginning' was the third single taken from Seal's debut album 'Seal'. Released in October 1991, it was not as successful as the two previous singles, reaching number 24 in the UK singles chart and number 10 in the Dutch Top 40.

Personally I thought this track was not the best choice for a single and I hesitated a little before I bought it. Fortunately the mantra 'a collector has to be complete' was already making its way into my brain around that time.

My collection: 7" single no. 1495
Found: Melody Maker, July 20, 1991
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'The beginning' / 'Deep water (acoustic)'

Zuipen - Rubberen Robbie

'Zuipen' ('Booze') could have been a typical product of the early Eighties, a time when youth unemployment was the highest it had ever been. The 'no future' slogans proclaimed by the punks were still in vogue and getting unemployment benefit was almost something of a status symbol.

The group Rubberen Robbie (a Dutch parody of the name Plastic Bertrand, a punker from the Seventies) recorded 'Zuipen' actually in 1978 as their debut single. It was a big hit with Dutch pirate stations, although it didn't manage to reach the Dutch Top 40. The group would continue to record parodies and humorous tracks in the years to come.

My collection: 7" single no. 1414
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, April 7, 1991
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Zuipen' / 'Hebbie ouwe krante?'

Rosanna - Toto

'Rosanna' may well be one of the era-defining tracks of the Eighties. The instantly recognisable Toto track was written by the band's primary songwriter, David Paich. Many people think the song is about Rosanna Arquette, who at the time had a troublesome relationship with band member Steve Porcaro. The title was actually just coincidential: Paich needed a name to fit well into the chorus.

The single peaked at number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 3 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 12 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 2429
Found: August 19, 1995
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Rosanna' / 'It's a feeling'

Another way to die - Jack White and Alicia Keys

A lot of care went into the James Bond themes in the early days. And I have to say, the quality was still there in the Nineties, although some of the tracks released in the Eighties and Nineties relied on cliche a little too much. But with the latest Bond movie, 'Quantum of solace', nothing really is Bond anymore - and the theme song went the same way.

'Another way to die', performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys, sounds like a hastily compiled demo, in which the writer, Jack White, forgot to include a melody and a comprehensible song structure. On the plus side: it's the first time since Madonna's 'Die another day' that the Bond theme appeared on the 7" vinyl format again and it is pressed on semi-gold coloured vinyl.

My collection: 7" single no. 3576
Found: eBay.co.uk, received February 2, 2009
Cost: 3 pounds
Tracks: 'Another way to die' / 'Another way to die (instrumental)'

Run to the sun - Erasure

'Run to the sun' was the second single from Erasure's sixth studio album 'I say I say I say', released in July 1994. It was the last single by Erasure to be released on the 7" single format in the UK in the Nineties. It was pressed on yellow vinyl and came with a free full colour poster.

The single peaked at number 6 in the UK singles chart. The single's B-side, a ballad entitled 'Tenderest moments', is a fan favorite and was later re-recorded by Erasure in an acoustic version for their 2006 album 'Union Street'.

My collection: 7" single no. 2156
Found: September 3, 1994
Cost: ?
Tracks: 'Run to the sun' / 'Tenderest moments', 'Run to the sun (Beatmasters' Intergalactic mix)

Walking on thin ice - Yoko Ono

I'll have to give full credit to Puck for introducing me to this song. I don't know exactly when, but it may well have been when the remixes of this track were released in 2003. Somehow I managed to miss this track when it was first released in 1981 - although it did not chart in the Netherlands.

Yoko Ono released this single, like the sleeve states, 'For John'. The lyrics talk of the unpredictability of life and death - of 'throwing the dice in the air' - and reach the conclusion, 'when our hearts return to ashes, it will be just a story...'. With the world in shock of John Lennon's death just two months before the released of this single in February 1981, a new poignancy was added to the already haunting yet highly danceable track.

My collection: 7" single no. 4061
Found: eBay.com, received September 23, 2009
Cost: $4
Tracks: 'Walking on thin ice' / 'It happened'