Success made a failure of our home - Sinéad O'Connor

In 1992, Sinéad O'Connor released her third album 'Am I not your girl?', an album with cover versions of mostly jazz standards. According to O'Connor, the songs were 'the songs I grew up listening to [and] that made me want to be a singer'.

'Success has made a failure of our home' was written by J. Mullins but contained some extra material written by O'Connor. It was released as the first single from the album. It reached number 18 in the UK singles chart and number 15 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 1705
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, September 5, 1992
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Success has made a failure of our home' / 'You do something to me'

Gypsy - Fleetwood Mac

Earlier this year, Stevie Nicks finally commented about the song 'Gypsy', released by Fleetwood Mac in 1982: 'In the old days, before Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey [Buckingham] and I had no money, so we had a king-size mattress, but we just had it on the floor. I had old vintage coverlets on it, and even though we had no money it was still really pretty... Just that and a lamp on the floor, and that was it—there was a certain calmness about it. (...) So that’s what 'Gypsy' means: it’s just a search for before this all happened. And later, I tacked on a line for my friend Robin, my best friend, who died of leukemia: 'I still see your bright eyes.' But then, Robin wasn’t sick yet. She got cancer, and died within a year.'

'Gypsy' was a track on Fleetwood Mac's album 'Mirage'. When it was released as a single it reached number 1 in Canada, number 12 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 46 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 2308
Found: May 27, 1995
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Gypsy' / 'Cool water'

Hopelessly devoted to you - Olivia Newton-John

Unlike almost everyone in my class, I was not a fan of the movie 'Grease' when it was released back in 1978. I hated John Travolta and the rather overly dramatic number 1 hits 'Greased lightning', 'You're the one that I want' and 'Summer nights'. However, when Olivia Newton-John's single 'Hopelessly devoted to you' was released, I had to relent a little. I liked the melody a lot, and even if I couldn't understand the lyric (I was eight years old, mind you) I knew this was a pretty powerful lovesong.

The single reached number 1 in the Dutch Top 40, number 2 in the UK singles chart and number 3 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

My collection: 7" single no. 710
Found: All that music, Leiden, December 30, 1988
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Hopelessly devoted to you' / 'Love is a many splendored thing (instrumental)'

Once in your life - Sam Brown

'Once in your life' was the fourth single taken from Sam Brown's 1990 album 'April moon'. It was released in Europe only, as far as I know. Despite a colourful music video and an equally colourful sleeve, the single was not successful in the charts.

The B-side, 'So far so good' was a mainly instrumental track, and one of many bonus tracks included on Sam Brown's cd-singles circa 1990.

My collection: 7" single no. 1256
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, July 5, 1990
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Once in your life' / 'So far so good'

Clocks - Coldplay

I found this white label 12" single during a holiday in London. With no description of the tracks, I decided to give it a spin on the record players that were available in the shop, and decided within a minute that I wanted to have this. Three remixes of the Coldplay track 'Clocks'... it was simply too interesting.

Of course, these tracks were also available online as MP3's, but nothing beats the original - especially when it's on vinyl. The downside of these white labels is that there is no track listing. So I still have no clue what track 1 is.

My collection: 12" single no. 519
Found: HMV, London, 2003
Cost: 8 pounds
Tracks: 'Clocks (remix)', 'Clocks (Royksopp remix)' / 'Clocks (Cosmos remix)'

Ride like the wind / Sailing - Christopher Cross

'Ride like the wind' was Christopher Cross's debut single in 1980. It was a track on his self-titled debut album and featured backing vocals by Michael McDonald. Christopher Cross dedicated this song to Lowell George, formerly of the band Little Feat, who died in 1979. The single reached number 69 in the UK singles chart.

On this German 'oldies' single, it is coupled with 'Sailing', a later single by Christopher Cross which is described here.

My collection: 7" single no. 2568
Found: November 26, 1995
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Ride like the wind' / 'Sailing'

Stop that train - Clint Eastwood and General Saint

Clint Eastwood and General Saint hail from Jamaica and recorded reggae music during the early Eighties. 'Stop that train' was their only significant international success, peaking at number 3 in the Dutch Top 40 in early 1984.

The single was taken from their 1983 album of the same name.

My collection: 7" single no. 1839
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, January 23, 1993
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Stop that train' / 'Monkey man'