Do what you do - Jermaine Jackson

After Michael Jackson's phenomenal success with 'Thriller', it seemed like all of his siblings wanted a piece of the pie as well. Janet Jackson started a very successful career together with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Jermaine Jackson signed with Arista records to release 'Dynamite', an album featuring a couple of hit singles. One of them was 'Do what you do', which some say featured Michael Jackson on backing vocals.

The main revelation for me was the music video at the time. I was already familiar with the fact that belly buttons can be 'innies' or 'outies', but I'd never seen a spine so deeply hidden in someone's back (scroll to 3'21 to see this anatomical phenomenon). Meanwhile, 'Do what you do' reached number 4 in the UK singles chart and the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 257
Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, 1985
Cost: 5,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Do what you do' / 'Tell me I'm not dreamin' (Too good to be true)' (duet with Michael Jackson)

She makes my day - Robert Palmer

'She makes my day' was released as the third single from Robert Palmer's 1988 album 'Heavy nova'. While the first single 'Simply irresistible' became a rock classic, the second one 'Early in the morning' went by almost unnoticed. 'She makes my day' was a top 10 hit in the UK and Australia, peaking at number 6 and 9 respectively, but was ignored in the rest of the world.

I loved the song when it was released in 1988, but twenty years later it sounds a little too syrupy for my taste.

My collection: 7" single no. 720
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, January 21, 1989
Cost: 3,5 guilder
Tracks: 'She makes my day' / 'Disturbing behaviour'

Fire - Pointer Sisters

'Fire' was written by Bruce Springsteen and was originally intended to be used by Elvis Presley. Robert Gordon ended up being the first artist to record the song in 1978. Later that year, the Pointer Sisters recorded their version. It gave them major worldwide success, reaching number 34 in the UK singles chart and number 1 in the Dutch Top 40.

Although he performed the song live from his 1978 tour onwards, Springsteen himself did not release his own recording of the song until his 1986 'Live/1975-85' album, which contains his (heavily edited) December 16, 1978 performance.

My collection: 7" single no. 1624
Found: Disco Market, April 18, 1992
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Fire' / 'Love is like a rolling stone'

Beautiful girl - INXS

'Beautiful girl' was recorded as a track on INXS's 1992 album 'Welcome to wherever you are'. The song was written by Andrew Farriss, inspired by the birth of his newly born baby daughter. In an interview he explained: 'I was writing lyrics like 'Baby don't cry' and 'Beautiful girl' and lyrics just about how wonderful it is to have something else in your life besides yourself to worry about and think about.'

'Beautiful girl' was released as the fourth single from the album. In the UK, the single was released in a limited edition gatefold sleeve. It reached number 23 in the UK singles chart and number 46 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 1920
Found: Record fair, June 5, 1993
Cost: 8 guilders
Tracks: 'Beautiful girl' / 'Strange desire (original recording)'

Thank you my love - Imagination

When Imagination left their production duo of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain behind, commercial success soon eluded them. However, 'Thank you my love', which was produced by Nigel Wright and Imagination, was an exception. This single was released in 1984 and reached number 22 in the UK singles chart.

The single was a new track on the compilation album 'Gold', which included all their previous hit singles.

My collection: 7" single no. 3125
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, July 24, 1999
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Thank you my love' / 'Point of no return'

White horses in the snow - Maarten Peters

My collection of 7" singles is an important one for me, but I'm also an avid collector of 3" cd-singles. In the late Eighties a lot of singles were released on this format, but my budget wasn't big enough to buy everything: choices had to be made. In the case of 'White horses in the snow', I chose to buy the 7" single and not the 3" cd-single. Mostly because of the fact that both the A-side and the B-side featured on the accompanying album of the same name - and f course by that time I had abandoned the lp format in favour of the cd.

Today I received the 3" cd-single of 'White horses in the snow', which I've finally bought over 20 years after its release. Maarten Peters had a hit with this in the autumn of 1989, peaking at number 23 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 984
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, September 21, 1989
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'White horses in the snow' / 'Guardian angel'

We care a lot - Faith no more

Somewhere in 1987, 'We care a lot' by Faith no more was played very often on the radio. So much so that after a while I actually started to like this loud and noisy song. The song was originally recorded for the band's 1985 debut album of the same name. In 1987, when they recorded their second album 'Introduce yourself', the track was re-recorded and included on that album as well. It was even released as the first single from that album.

Although 'We care a lot' did not chart in the Netherlands, it reached number 53 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 626
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1987
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'We care a lot' / 'Spirit'