Sans logique - Mylene Farmer

The lyric of Mylene Farmer's 1989 single 'Sans logique' deals with a kind of schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder, which lives in the protagonist and makes her a killer. Very literary, the song uses obsolete words from the language of the 18th century. The calculating Marquise de Mertreuil (a character in the French epistolary novel 'Les liaisons dangereuses'), as angelic as diabolical according to her own interests, seems to be evoked in the lyrics.

The song actually had to be recorded twice, because the first time, there was a technical problem. The sentence 'this is a blank formatted diskette' which is heard in the introduction of the song refers to this problem and has been maintained to keep the memory of this technical malfunction.
The B-side, 'Dernier sourire' is a previously unreleased song about the death of a relative. 'Sans logique' reached number 10 in the French chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 2219
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, October 17, 1994
Cost: 10 guilders
Tracks: 'Sans logique' / 'Dernier sourire'

Thieves in the temple - Prince

'Thieves in the temple' was the last song to be recorded from Prince's 1990 soundtrack album 'Graffiti bridge'. The song sounds rather different than other Prince tracks, including Middle Eastern melodies, a synth bass and syncopated drum machines. Prince also sampled a harmonica solo from a recording by the Chambers Brothers.

When released as a single, the track reached number 6 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 7 in the UK singles chart and number 5 in the Dutch Top 40. Still, it's not one of Prince's most memorable track. Even Puck, who is a huge Prince fan, didn't remember the melody of this track recently.

My collection: 7" single no. 2514
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 30, 1995
Cost: 60p
Tracks: 'Thieves in the temple' / 'Thieves in the temple (part 2)'

Layla (acoustic) - Eric Clapton

It was a good concept for a TV programme: take an artist, preferably an accomplished one, and have him (or her, or them) play a selection of his tracks without the aid of electronic equipment. This was the basic idea for 'MTV Unplugged', a series that turned out well in the early Nineties. It was interesting to see that bands like the Cure were exceptionally inventive, and singers like George Michael, Seal and even Eric Clapton were actually very good. (And what a shame that Tori Amos had already become too contrived by the time she appeared in the programme).

Sometimes artists would release their performances on 'Unplugged' as an album. Eric Clapton's performance was released in 1992, with the performance of 'Layla' released as a single. It reached number 4 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 45 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 1774
Found: Virgin Megastore, London, October 21, 1992
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Layla (acoustic)' / 'Tears in heaven (acoustic)'

Hail Hail Rock 'n' Roll - Garland Jeffreys

'Hail hail rock 'n' roll' is a tribute to Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent and many other stars of the early rock & roll days. Garland Jeffreys recorded the track, which is named after the Chuck Berry album from 1987.

The single reached number 4 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 72 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 1640
Found: May 3, 1992
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Hail hail rock 'n' roll' / 'Bottle of love'

Sticky George - James Warren and the Korgis

'Sticky George' was the title track from the Korgis' third studio album. It was released as a single in 1981. Like with the single 'Dumb waiters', the artwork department had an easy week, as again the album sleeve was used for this single.

The single did not reach the chart in any territory. I do remember hearing it for the first time back in 1981 and being very impressed.

My collection: 7" single no. 1534
Found: Brussels, October 11, 1991
Cost: 80 Belgian Francs
Tracks: 'Sticky George' / 'Nowhere to run'

Will you be there (in the morning) - Heart

'Will you be there (in the morning)' was written by songwriter and producer Robert John 'Mutt' Lange, who also wrote Heart's 1990 chart hit 'All I wanna do is make love to you'. Personally, I much prefer this song.

The track was released as the first single from the band's 11th studio album 'Desire walks on'. It was the only single from the album to reach the chart, peaking at number 39 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the UK, it reached number 19. The 7" single was released only as a picture disc in the UK.

My collection: 7" single no. 2077
Found: February 19, 1994
Cost: 8 guilders
Tracks: 'Will you be there (in the morning)' / 'These dreams (live)'

So lonely - The Police

'So lonely' was originally released as a single from the album 'Outlandos d'Amour' in November 1978. The single did not chart at first, but when it was re-released in February 1980 it reached number 6 in the UK and number 31 in the Dutch Top 40.

According to Sting, 'Let's be honest here, 'So lonely' was unabashedly culled from 'No woman no cry' by Bob Marley. Same chorus. What we invented was this thing of going back and forth between thrash punk and reggae. That was the little niche we created for ourselves.'

My collection: 7" single no. 1014
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 17, 1989
Cost: 50p
Tracks: 'So lonely' / 'No time this time'