In 1986, Golden Earring released the dark and overproduced album 'The hole'. The first single from that album was 'Quiet eyes', the only single from the album to reach the top 10 in the Netherlands, peaking at number 9.
The accompanying music video and the sleeve artwork was created by Anton Corbijn. The single was actually released in four different sleeves, featuring one of the four band members and blue, green, yellow or red lettering on the front, and the remaining three band members on the back.
My collection: 7" single no. 421 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, June 28, 1986 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'Quiet eyes' / 'Gimme a break'
Bassist Krist Novoselic from Nirvana recalled that 'In bloom' 'originally sounded like a Bad Brains song. Then Kurt turned it into a pop song'. The band recorded a demo of 'In bloom' with producer Butch Vig at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin in April 1990. The song originally had a bridge section that Vig removed. Novoselic said that after the band recorded the song, Vig cut out the bridge from the 16-track master tape with a razor blade and threw it in the garbage.
After signing to DGC Records, Nirvana began recording its second album 'Nevermind' in May 1991. 'In bloom' was one of the first songs the band recorded during these album sessions. The arrangements for 'In bloom' and the other songs previously recorded with Vig in 1990 were largely unchanged; the recently hired drummer Dave Grohl stayed mostly with what his predecessor Chad Channing had recorded, but added more power and precision to the recording.
My collection: 7" single no. 1849 Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, January 23, 1993 Cost: 6,5 guilders Tracks: 'In bloom' / 'Silver (live)'
Following David Bowie's split from record label Deram, his manager Kenneth Pitt managed to negotiate a one-album deal with Mercury Records in 1969. Next he tried to find a producer. Tony Visconti liked the album demo-tracks, but considered the planned lead-off single, 'Space oddity', a gimmick track and delegated its production to Gus Dudgeon.
Following recording of the track, the single was rush-released on July 11, 1969 to coincide with the Apollo 11 moon landings. In the UK, it was used in conjunction with the BBC's coverage of the landing. This exposure finally gave Bowie a hit, reaching number 5 in the chart. The single also reached number 8 in the Dutch Top 40. The song became so well-known that Bowie's second album, originally released as David Bowie in the UK (like his first album), was renamed after the track for its 1972 reissue by RCA, and has since become known by this name.
This particular single is a re-release from the mid-seventies, also containing the later hit single 'Changes'. While I am never too fond of re-releases (and especially those without a picture sleeve) I felt I had to buy it since getting an original copy from 1969 would - and will probably still - cost a fortune.
My collection: 7" single no. 550 Found: London, October 1987 Cost: 1 pound Tracks: 'Space oddity' / 'Changes', 'Velvet goldmine'
When John Lion sings 'Alleen in Dallas' ('Only in Dallas'), he isn't referring to the city in Texas, but rather the television series that was immensely popular in the Eighties. His encounter with a woman in a bar who turns out to have a big and rather aggressive boyfriend is apparently something that could only happen in a fictional television series.
The single was originally released in 1983, but failed to chart. I bought the single in 1988, when it was re-released. And again, the single failed to chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 633 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1988 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'Alleen in Dallas' / 'Tussen wind en water'
'King of pain' was released as the second single from the Police's 1983 album 'Synchronicity' in the USA and the fourth single in the UK. It was the only single from that album that didn't have an accompanying music video.
Despite this, the single reached number 3 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 17 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 1415 Found: Record fair, April 7, 1991 Cost: 5 guilders Tracks: 'King of pain' / 'Once upon a daydream'
There's a preacher in every popstar, and to prove this, Howard Jones recorded 'Don't be part of it' in 1991. 'As long as there are the slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields' he sings, proposing us to stop eating meat just because of this. Well, I don't know...
Fortunately, the A-side of this rare Italian promotional disc is less moralistic. 'Other people are us' is a song in the best Howard Jones tradition, with a great melody and pure, simple vocals.
My collection: 7" single no. 1913 Found: Record fair, May 22, 1993 Cost: 8 guilders Tracks: 'Other people are us' / 'Don't be part of it'
Per Gessle wrote 'Almost unreal' for the soundtrack of the Bette Midler movie 'Hocus pocus' (1993), but it was not used. Instead, the song appeared in another movie soundtrack, from 'Super Mario Brothers'.
The track was also released as a single, peaking at number 7 in the UK singles chart and number 27 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 1998 Found: HMV, London, October 18, 1993 Cost: 2 pounds Tracks: 'Almost unreal' / 'The heart shaped sea'
In 1986, Golden Earring released the dark and overproduced album 'The hole'. The first single from that album was 'Quiet eyes', the only single from the album to reach the top 10 in the Netherlands, peaking at number 9.
