I.G.Y. (What a beautiful world) - Howard Jones

In 1993, Howard Jones fulfilled his contract with Warner Bros. with a compilation album spanning his ten year career. It included all of his hit singles, plus one new track: a cover of Donald Fagen's 'I.G.Y.'.

This new track was released as a single in the UK only, but it failed to reach the UK singles chart. The album did reach the albums chart, but peaked at number 36 during a two week chart run.

My collection: 7" single no. 2011
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 18, 1993
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'I.G.Y. (What a beautiful world)' / 'One last try'

Rock my world - Five Star

'Rock my world' was the second single from Five Star's 1988 album 'Rock the world'. The music video for this single saw the band leather clad, with long hair extensions, dancing in the bottom of a quarry, with dumper trucks driving around them. The B-side, 'Sweetest innocence', received a BPI award for best instrumental.

The single became their last ever UK top 40 hit, peaking at number 28. The next single, 'There's a brand new world' would bring Five Star's run of 16 consecutive Top 40 hits to an end when it only reached number 61.

My collection: 7" single no. 3099
Found: House of Rhythm, London, May 13, 1999
Cost: 20p
Tracks: 'Rock my world' / 'Sweetest innocence'

Time will crawl - David Bowie

The lyric of 'Time will crawl' is about the pollution and destruction of the planet by industry. Bowie has cited hearing of the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986 as the genesis of the lyric. The song was praised by critics for its restrained production compared to Bowie’s other work of the era.

The song was released as the second single from the album, with a version of the song 'Girls' on the B-side. It reached number 33 in the UK singles chart and number 5 in Canada.

My collection: 7" single no. 2885
Found: Beanos, East Croydon, London, October 29, 1997
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Time will crawl' / 'Girls'

Girls - Tina Turner

The song 'Girls' was written by David Bowie and Erdal Kizilcay. It was recorded by Tina Turner on her 1986 album 'Break every rule'. The track featured Phil Collins on drums and was produced by Terry Britten.

The single reached number 16 in the Dutch Top 40, but as 'Girls' wasn't released as a single in the UK and the USA, it didn't chart there.

My collection: 7" single no. 511
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1987
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Girls' / 'Take me to the river'

Take it now - Maarten Peters and the Dream

The lyric of the song 'Take it now' can be described as a day in the life of a pop star. I was never too impressed with the song, but as I have all of Maarten Peters' singles, I couldn't let this one pass me by when it turned up for almost nothing.

'Take it now' was released in November 1986 and failed to reach the Dutch Top 40. It was the first single from Peters' second album, 'Burn your boats'.

My collection: 7" single no. 586
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, February 6, 1988
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Take it now' / 'One night'

The way to your heart - Soulsister

The single 'The way to your heart' from the Belgian duo Soulsister was initially released as a one-sided 7" single. Subsequent copies did have a B-side, the track 'Bye bye'. Initially I searched for the one-sided version, but when that search proved to be unsuccessful, I settled for the 'normal' single.

Fortunately, I still found the one-sided single last year (it is described here), and so my collection of Soulsister singles is as complete as it ever will be.

My collection: 7" single no. 705
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, December 17, 1988
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'The way to your heart' / 'Bye bye'

Mag het licht uit - De Dijk

The Dutch band De Dijk has had a career of almost thirty years up until now, with only a dozen hit singles to show for it. One of them was this single, 'Mag het licht uit' ('Turn off the lights), which reached number 23 in the Dutch Top 40 in the summer of 1983.

Even if you can't understand the lyric, you can appreciate the musical buildup of this track: a slow, tense ballad which turns into a rock song midway. The fact that the lyric isn't that interesting doesn't even matter if you don't understand Dutch anyway.

My collection: 7" single no. 542
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1987
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Mag het licht uit' / 'Wat een vrouw (niet kan doen)'