The ballad of Lucy Jordan - Marianne Faithfull

'The ballad of Lucy Jordan' was originally written by American poet and songwriter Shel Silverstein and recorded by Dr. Hook.

Faithfull recorded her cover version of the song on her 1979 album 'Broken English'. It was released as a single in November 1979. Faithfull later commented that the story she intended to put across in the song was that Lucy climbs to the roof top but gets taken away by 'the man who reached and offered her his hand' in an ambulance to a mental hospital, and that the final lines ('At the age of thirty-seven she knew she'd found forever / As she rode along through Paris with the warm wind in her hair...') are actually in her imagination at the hospital. Funny, I always thought the line meant she was dead.

My collection: 7" single no. 1338
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 17, 1991
Cost: 60p
Tracks: 'The ballad of Lucy Jordan' / 'Brain drain'

So hard - Pet Shop Boys

'So hard' was the first single taken from the Pet Shop Boys' 1990 album 'Behaviour'. According to Neil Tennant, the song is about 'two people living together; they are totally unfaithful to each other but they both pretend they are faithful and then catch each other out'. The single reached number 4 in the UK singles chart and number 15 in the Dutch Top 40.

The B-side of this single is 'It must be obvious'. Tennant commented about this track that it 'rather horrifyingly features my first ever guitar solo'.

My collection: 7" single no. 1434
Found: April 26, 1991
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'So hard' / 'It must be obvious'

Blood makes noise - Suzanne Vega

'Blood makes noise' is the third single taken from Suzanne Vega's 1992 album '99.9 F°'. While it only reached number 60 in the UK singles chart, it was the only single from the album to achieve some chart success in other countries as well. The single reached number 61 in Australia, number 42 in New Zealand and number 27 in Canada.

The B-side was recorded live at the Paleo Festival in Nyon, Switzerland on July 26, 1991.

My collection: 7" single no. 2397
Found: London, July 6, 1995
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Blood makes noise' / 'Neighbourhood girls (live)'

The end of the innocence - Don Henley

As has become obvious to me, this blog is not only viewed by friendly people. Sometimes a prick comes along. The prick in question commented on my earlier entry on Don Henley's 'The boys of summer', suggesting that the info in that posting was not correct and that I should 'do [my] homework'. I wonder if a person like that would be able to come up with an active blog like this.

Fortunately for him, there's not much information about 'The end of the innocence', also by Don Henley. All I can say about it is that it was produced by Henley and Bruce Hornsby, with the latter also playing piano on this track. And to me the fascinating thing is that the beauty and excellence of the A-side of this single is matched by the horrible horribleness of the B-side.

My collection: 7" single no. 1149
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, January 12, 1990
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'The end of the innocence' / 'If dirt were dollars'

No doubt about it - Hot Chocolate

'No doubt about it' was written by Mike Burns, Simon Glen and Donny Most. It is an unusual lyric, dealing with life from outer space. The music is almost futuristic, laden with synthesizers which would become more common after 1980, when this single was released.

It was a successful single for Hot Chocolate, because it reached number 2 in the UK singles chart. In the Dutch Top 40 the single peaked at number 14.

My collection: 7" single no. 939
Found: All that music, Leiden, July 7, 1989
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'No doubt about it' / 'Gimme some of your lovin''

Joan of Arc - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

The second single from OMD's third album 'Architecture & Morality' was the beautiful 'Joan of Arc'. Not to be confused with 'Maid of Orleans', which was subtitled 'The waltz of Joan of Arc', which was the next single and would be a worldwide hit.

This single was less successful worldwide, although it did reach number 5 in the UK singles chart, only one place lower than 'Maid of Orleans'.

My collection: 7" single no. 2493
Found: House of Rhythm, London, October 30, 1995
Cost: 40p
Tracks: 'Joan of Arc' / 'The romance of the telescope (unfinished)'

Let me be the one - Five Star

'Let me be the one' was released in the summer of 1985 as the fourth single from the group's 'Luxury of life' album.

This 12" single features two remixes of the track, of which the 'Philadelphia remix' features famous saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr. As an extra treat, there's a dub mix of one of their early hits, 'All fall down' and of course the instrumental B-side 'Beat 47'.

My collection: 12" single no. 463
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, 2008
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Let me be the one (Philadelphia remix)', 'Let me be the one (Dance mix by Hardrock) / 'All fall down (M&M dub mix)', 'Beat 47'