Hot Chocolate frontman Errol Brown wrote 'Every 1's a winner', recorded and released as a single in 1978. It gave the band a number 6 hit in the USA and the Netherlands, while it peaked at number 12 in the UK singles chart.
I've known this song ever since it came out and I've owned it on a compilation double LP since 1979. It's taken me 30 years to find the 7" single.
My collection: 7" single no. 4295 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Every 1's a winner' / 'Power of love'
I've often said that one of the most appropriate songs for my funeral would be 'Down down' by Status Quo. And then I discovered I didn't actually have the song. Now that I've heard it, I still think it would be a great soundtrack to those final moments.
'Down down' was first released in November 1974. The track was taken from the album 'On the level'. The album version is more than 5 minutes long whereas the single version was edited to almost 4 minutes. The single was a number 1 hit in the UK, while peaking at number 2 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4294 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Down down' / 'Night ride'
'Love's unkind' was produced by Giorgio Moroder, just like the album whence it came from, 'I remember yesterday'. The lyric of the song is a tribute to high school crushes and love triangles. It was a big hit in the UK singles chart, peaking at number 3, whereas it only reached number 32 in the Dutch Top 40.
Donna Summer looks decidedly pregnant on the sleeve of this single, but I think she's just wearing a very strange dress.
My collection: 7" single no. 4293 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Love's unkind' / 'Black lady'
'We are glass' was released in 1980 as the first single from his 1980 album 'Telekon'. While his previous album 'The pleasure principle' (1979) was recorded entirely without guitars, this new album did contain the instrument again. As Numan commented, 'getting rid of guitars had been a mistake'.
Numan has said that 'We are glass' was inspired by a comment from a magazine staffer: 'Somebody once told me, a man from Omni, said that he thought I'd been put here by... something... aliens or something, to carry out a cause... which I thought was very flattering but a little silly... 'We are glass' I wrote because of that, y'know, like all pop stars are put here for reasons'. The B-side was a version of the first movement of Erik Satie's 'Trois Gymnopedies', in an arrangement that added guitar, bass and synthesizer to the original's solo piano part. The single reached number 5 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4292 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'We are glass' / 'Trois Gymnopedies (First movement)'
It doesn't happen often that I find an unknown single from a famous band, but here it is. 'Cross the line' was apparently released by Spandau Ballet as a single from their 1986 album 'Through the barricades'.
The B-side was a live track taken from the video 'Through the barricades... across the border'. The single did not chart in any territory and I didn't know about this release until I found this single last week. I think Spandau Ballet fans will not be surprised at this single, but I was.
My collection: 7" single no. 4291 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Cross the line' / 'Virgin (live)'
'After the love has gone' is another single by Princess produced and written by Stock, Aitken & Waterman.
Released in 1985 as the follow-up to her most successful single 'Say I'm your number one', it reached number 28 in the UK singles chart and number 24 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4290 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'After the love has gone' / 'After the love has gone (Senza voce)'
At some point in the Eighties, the actors of the legendary TV series 'Dallas' decided they could sing as well as act. Patrick Duffy recorded a rather dodgy duet with Mireille Mathieu, whereas Audrey Landers launched a singing career, working with German producers.
And then there's Charlene Tilton (who played Lucy in the series), who also worked with a German producer, Heidi Brühl, to release 'C'est la vie' in 1984. The single reportedly reached number 1 in Germany. Unpretentious pop. No more, no less.
My collection: 7" single no. 4288 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'C'est la vie' / 'C'est la vie (instrumental)'
Hot Chocolate frontman Errol Brown wrote 'Every 1's a winner', recorded and released as a single in 1978. It gave the band a number 6 hit in the USA and the Netherlands, while it peaked at number 12 in the UK singles chart.
