Go for it! - Risqué

It's Puck's brother's lucky weekend, as here's another single by Risqué. As far as I know, it's their last single. The track 'Go for it' was produced by Sander Bos and Ben Liebrand. The latter is better known for his remixes of tracks, which were broadcast on Dutch radio weekly on Fridays around that time (1984).

However much the girls went for it, this single did not chart - not even in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 4096
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received September 25, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Go for it!' / 'Go for it! (dub version)'

Jack in the box - Clodagh Rodgers

Clodagh Rodgers was born on March 5, 1947 in Northern Ireland. In 1970 she was asked to represent the United Kingdom in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest. Part of the reasoning behind the BBC's invitation was their concern over what reaction the UK entrant would get on the stage from the Irish public. She received death threats from the I.R.A. as a result of her appearing for the UK.

The singer expresses her strong feelings of love to a man who treats her like a toy. She feels that in exchange of his love, she would gladly 'bounce on a spring' like the aforementioned toy. After ending fourth in the Contest, the song coincidentally also peaked at number 4 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 4097
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received September 25, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Jack in the box' / 'Some to love me'

Remedy - Little Boots

Not that 'New in town' was a bad song, but the second single by Little boots, 'Remedy' is a lot better. According to Little Boots, ''Remedy' is about dancing and music being a remedy to some kind of poison in your life. I wanted to write a dark dance pop song a bit like Britney Spears' 'Toxic'. The lyrics are not really very personal, I was more imagining a situation.'

The B-side of this single contains a beautiful cover version of Freddie Mercury's 'Love kills'. The single reached number 6 in the UK singles chart and number 5 in Ireland.

My collection: 7" single no. 4063
Found: eBay.co.uk, received September 25, 2009
Cost: 3 pounds
Tracks: 'Remedy' / 'Love kills'

Burn it up (Mr. DJ) - Risqué

Risqué were never excessively popular, even in their native Netherlands, because the formula just didn't fit: they never worked with the best producers, they were trying to be sexy but they couldn't (because they were ugly!) and there was little or no variation in their music. It's rather strange to notice that they perform all their tracks singing together - there are no solos and that makes the whole thing go flat. All this gives Risqué this naff Eighties quality that I'm a sucker for.

'Burn it up (Mr. DJ)' was the last chart hit for the quartet, released in September 1983. It peaked at number 20 in the Dutch Top 40. Two further singles did not chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 4095
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received September 25, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Burn it up (Mr. DJ)' / 'Burn it up (instrumental)'

Money don't matter 2 night - Prince and the New Power Generation

Personally, I think Prince perfected his craft with this particular song. It sounds very Prince, but the lyric has more substance than any other Prince song. It deals directly with money, poverty and greed - both on a personal and a political level.

The song is notable for its promotional video, directed by Spike Lee. Featuring a poverty-stricken African-American family, with no shots of Prince at all, it was considered overly political and not 'MTV-friendly'. A second version was issued, which included footage of the song being performed by Prince and The New Power Generation. The single reached number 7 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 19 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 4094
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received September 25, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Money don't matter 2 night' / 'Call the law'

Toughen up - Olivia Newton-John

In 1985, Olivia Newton-John released the album 'Soul kiss'. The first single was the title track, and the second single was 'Toughen up'. While the first single was a hit in several countries, 'Toughen up' did not chart anywhere - the only exception being Australia, where the single stalled at number 93.

Olivia's pregnancy limited her ability to promote the album and singles properly. Her daughter Chloe Rose Lattanzi was born in January 1986 - by then, the album 'Soul kiss' was already forgotten by most people.

My collection: 7" single no. 4093
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received September 25, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Toughen up' / 'Driving music'

Asia - Mo

The Dutch synthpop band Mo, it has been written on here many times before, was sadly underrated. It has become some sort of mission for me to hunt down their singles, and 'Asia' is the latest victory in that search.

'Asia' was released in April 1984 and it was, as far as I know, the band's last single. It was taken from their third and last album, 'Stop staring'. The beautiful sleeve of this single was designed by Ton Friesen.

My collection: 7" single no. 4092
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received September 25, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Asia' / 'He's so silly negative'