19 - Paul Hardcastle

I bought the German version of '19' this year, but I've had the original since 1990. The story remains the same: '19' featured television narrator Peter Thomas talking about Vietnam war veterans.

The single reached number 1 in the UK and the Netherlands. Mike Oldfield later claimed that a melodic element of '19' was copied from a sequence in his album 'Tubular bells'. This was settled out of court.

My collection: 7" single no. 1365
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, December 28, 1990
Cost: 1 guilders
Tracks: '19' / 'Fly by night'

One night in Bangkok - Murray Head

Abba never officially disbanded, but when they stopped recording together in 1983, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus concentrated on writing musicals for a while. One of them was 'Chess', created together with Tim Rice. The choruses were sung by Anders Glenmark while the verses, spoken raps by Murray Head, are a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek denunciation of the city's moral corruption and comparative glorification of the intellectual purity of chess: 'The queens we use would not excite you.'

The single reached number 1 in various European countries, but peaked at number 2 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 12 in the UK singles chart. I only bought the single after I got to know Puck, who was quite extatic about this song.

My collection: 7" single no. 1904
Found: Record fair, May 2, 1993
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'One night in Bangkok' (Murray Head) / 'Merano' (London Symphony Orchestra and the Ambrosian singers)

Cold - Tears for fears

In the song 'Cold', Roland Orzabal included some references to former associates of Tears for fears. Business manager Paul King is mentioned in the line: 'King got caught with his fingers in the till. Where's your calculator, did you leave it in your will?', after alleged discrepancies were discovered in King's prior management of the band's financial affairs. The line 'Listened to my old friend Nockles, hoped that it would warm the cockles' is a reference to former Tears for fears keyboardist and co-writer Nicky Holland, whose nickname was 'Nockles'.

'Cold' was released as the second single from the album 'Elemental' in July 1993. The single reached number 72 in the UK singles chart, but flopped everywhere else.

My collection: 7" single no. 2002
Found: HMV, London, October 16, 1993
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Cold' / 'New star'

Autodrive - Herbie Hancock

Buying this single was a gamble. I liked the track 'Rockit' and assumed that the second single from the album 'Future shock' would be similarly interesting. To be blunt: it wasn't, really. It is an instrumental track that seems to go on without a point or clue.

The single still reached number 33 in the UK singles chart in October 1983, but it flopped in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 2554
Found: Record fair, November 19 ,1995
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Autodrive' / 'The bomb'

The Buddha of Suburbia - David Bowie

The song 'The Buddha of Suburbia' was a song by David Bowie, made for the BBC TV series of the same name. It features Lenny Kravitz on guitar, performing quite a great solo. Interestingly, the song caused minor controversies on both sides of the Atlantic, with Radio 1 making an airplay edit to cover up the word 'bullshit' in the lyric, and US networks re-editing the video to remove shots where Bowie was smoking a cigarette.

The single reached number 35 in the UK singles chart and did not chart in other territories.

My collection: 7" single no. 2353
Found: Eastbourne, June 28, 1995
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'The Buddha of Suburbia' / 'Dead against it'

Kiss from a rose - Seal

When 'Kiss from a rose' was released as the second single from Seal's self-titled second album in July 1994, it did not make much of a chart impact. It did reach number 20 in the UK singles chart, but that was about it.

When it was included on the soundtrack of the movie 'Batman forever' in 1995, things changed dramatically. The single topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was re-released in the UK and Europe. This time around it reached number 4 in the UK and the Netherlands. This 7" single was made in the USA, and it was the only country where the single appeared on this format.

My collection: 7" single no. 4060
Found: eBay.com, received September 23, 2009
Cost: $3
Tracks: 'Kiss from a rose' / 'I'm alive (radio remix)'

I need love - Sandra

'I need love' was released as the second single from Sandra's 1992 album 'Close to seven'. The track was edited for the single. It featured Andy Jones, a.k.a. Andy 'Angel' Hart, performing the male vocals. The B-side, 'Shadows' also appeared on the album and was a cover of Michael Cretu's 1979 track 'Shadows over my head'.

This was the first single from Sandra that wasn't a chart success for her. Subsequently, the third single 'Steady me' was not released commercially, although promotional cd-singles do exist.

My collection: 7" single no. 1671
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, June 20, 1992
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'I need love' / 'Shadows'