Under pressure (Rah mix) - Queen and David Bowie

Freddie Mercury was dead and had been dead for eight years, when EMI Records decided they wanted to milk the Queen legacy a little more than they already had. And so the third Greatest Hits compilation came to be in 1999, collecting all the singles from Queen's last three albums, plus a few filler tracks.

One of those filler tracks was a remix of the Eighties hit 'Under pressure', which Queen had recorded with David Bowie. This track was also released as a single, released in time for the Christmas season, which reached number 14 in the UK singles chart and number 19 in the Dutch Top 40. This picture disc 7" is beautiful enough, but it still reeks a bit of opportunism.

My collection: 7" single no. 3180
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 16, 2000
Cost: 15 guilders
Tracks: 'Under pressure (Rah mix)' / 'Bohemian rhapsody'

Your song - Elton John

Released in January 1972, 'Your song' was Elton John's eighth single release, but his first hit. The song was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. The song was part of a stockpile of songs John and Taupin wrote in 1969 while they were living together. John pinpoints his composition of the music to October 27. Supposedly, it took him only ten minutes. Taupin had penned the lyrics earlier that day over breakfast.

The single reached number 7 in the UK singles chart, number 8 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 10 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 686
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1988
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Your song' / 'Into the old man's shoes'

Do you feel my love - Eddy Grant

Eddy Grant was born on March 5, 1948 in Plaisance, Guyana. His parents moved to London when he was a little boy. He joined the Equals in the Sixties, and this band enjoyed their first number 1 hit in 1968 with 'Baby come back'. In 1972, he went solo and set up the first black-owned recording studio in Europe, Coach House, and began recording music on his own record label Ice Records. As a result, he is thought to be the only major recording artist who owns the rights to all his songs.

'Do you feel my love' is a track from his 1980 album 'Can't get enough'. The single reached number 8 in the UK singles chart and number 12 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 2816
Found: February 1, 1997
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Do you feel my love' / 'Symphony for Michael Opus 2'

It's the first time - Lois Lane

Things seemed to go well for Lois Lane in 1989. With 'It's the first time' they landed their first Dutch top 10 hit: it peaked at number 7 in the Dutch Top 40. A mini album was released, featuring all of their previous singles and some extra tracks, which actually reached the top of the album chart in the summer of 1989.

And then suddenly their record label Polydor decided to drop all Dutch acts. It was back to the drawing board for Lois Lane. They resurfaced a year later with their own record label and the single 'Fortune fairytales'.

My collection: 7" single no. 944
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, July 17, 1989
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'It's the first time' / 'She says: Oh no'

Crazy about her - Rod Stewart

'I'd treat her with respect / Not just a sex object / I ain't that kind of guy'. Many performers could sing this convincingly, but not Rod Stewart. Every time I hear this out of his mouth I have to smile. After all, this is the man who ran around in spandex in the Eighties, singing songs like 'Da ya think I'm sexy' and 'Hot legs'.

'Crazy about her' was taken from Stewart's 1988 album 'Out of order', which was produced by Andy Taylor from Duran Duran and Bernard Edwards of Chic. This single reached number 7 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 11 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It didn't chart in the UK. I guess they didn't believe him either.

My collection: 7" single no. 1131
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, December 9, 1989
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Crazy about her' / 'Dynamite'

I'm too sexy - Right said Fred

The recent single by the Sugababes, entitled 'Get sexy', prominently features bits of 'I'm too sexy', the 1991 hit single by Right said Fred. The three man group of former bodybuilders debuted with the song, which reached number 2 in the UK singles chart.

The lyric of the song is written from the point of view of a self-satisfied fashion model. The song's lyrics express confidence that his personal level of sexiness makes him too sexy for numerous things, most notably his shirt. The song's instrumental break is based on the guitar riff in the Jimi Hendrix song 'Third stone from the sun'.

My collection: 7" single no. 1683
Found: Graz, July 3, 1992
Cost: 10 Schilling
Tracks: 'I'm too sexy' / 'I'm too sexy (instrumental)'

Het slurvenlied - Rubberen Robbie

Although it was released in 1982, 'Het slurvenlied' was a parody of Father Abraham's 1978 single 'The Smurf song'. If the Smurfs were friendly little creatures, the Slurven ('Trunks') were annoying and evil. Until the end, that is, when the Slurvenvreter ('Trunks eater') comes along and devours them all. On the single version, the burp at the end of the track has been censored. Back in the early Eighties, that was apparently too rude.

The single did not reach the Dutch Top 40, but it is a cult favourite in some circles. The joke is of course funnier if you can understand Dutch...

My collection: 7" single no. 132
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1983
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Het slurvenlied' / 'Als een kroket in zijn kadet'