Tuesday, 20 April 2010

Turn your back on me - Kajagoogoo

Without Limahl, Kajagoogoo were still able to produce some cracking tracks. And the 1984 single 'Turn your back on me' with its great drums and percussion may be their finest track.

It was released as a 12" single as well, featuring an extended version that brought out all the best bits from the song plus some extras.

My collection: 12" single no. 537
Found: unknown
Cost: 2,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Turn your back on me (extended version)' / 'The pump rooms of Bath', 'Turn your back on me'

I wanna go to a disco - Ricky Wilde

Father Marty Wilde wrote and produced 'I wanna go to a disco' for his son Ricky Wilde. It was released as a single in 1974. Like the singles before this one, it didn't chart in the UK but it did achieve some success in Scandinavia.

These singles by Ricky Wilde are great collectors items, as he went on to become his sister's producer and songwriter, but never returned to the spotlights himself.

My collection: 7" single no. 3269
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, October 22, 2000
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'I wanna go to a disco' / 'Mrs. Malinski'

World in perfect harmony - Kim Wilde

'Just think of the good things / Instead of all the bad', is the first line of Kim Wilde's 1990 single 'World in perfect harmony'. It was the optimistic counterpart of 'Who's to blame', another track on the same album, 'Love moves'. Both songs were about the environment, a subject close to Kim's heart, but it's no wonder that the optimistic version made it to a single release.

At least, 'World in perfect harmony' was released as a single in Europe. No music video was made for this single, but it was promoted with many performances in television programmes. The single did not chart despite these efforts.

My collection: 7" single no. 1352
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, 1990
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'World in perfect harmony' / 'Can't get enough (of your love) (remix edit)'

Heimwee - Frank Boeijen Groep

Frank Boeijen wrote a song about the people from the Dutch West-Indies, who were forced to come to the Netherlands while waiting for a free republic in their homeland. 'Heimwee gaat nooit over naar het land van onze dromen' ('Homesickness for the country of our dreams never ends') is the key sentence of this song's lyric.

Released as the second single from the Frank Boeijen Groep's eighth album 'Dans in slow-motion', 'Heimwee' did not reach the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 700
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, December 15, 1988
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Heimwee' / 'De wind nam hem mee (live)'

Als je me wil - Clouseau

Clouseau appeared on television quite regularly, and 'Als je me wil' ('If you want me') was one of the tracks that appeared during a television special with the band. I quite liked the song, although by this time I was growing a bit tired of their continuous output of music. Still, I bought the single quite quickly after that.

'Als je me wil' did not chart in the Netherlands but it did reach number 29 in the Belgian singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 1719
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, September 26, 1992
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Als je me wil' / 'Alarm'

Monday, 19 April 2010

Hoe verschrikkelijk ik ben - Frank Boeijen Groep

The story goes, that when Frank Boeijen told the members of his group that he'd written a song called 'Hoe verschrikkelijk ik ben' ('How terrible I am') they made jokes about it. And it's true, there aren't that many songwriters that qualify themselves as 'terrible'.

The song was released as the first single from the band's 1988 album 'Dans in slow motion' ('Dance in slow motion'), but it failed to chart. Still, the theatre tour that followed sold out and the album sold exceptionally well too.

The single was released in two different sleeves as well: the first edition featured a purple sleeve, whereas later editions (and the cd-single) featured a red sleeve. For no apparent reason, it has to be added.

My collection: 7" single no. 653 (1 & 2)
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, September 15, 1988 / Leiden, November 26, 1988
Cost: 6 guilders / 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Hoe verschrikkelijk ik ben' / 'Piccadilly Circus'

Spirit of the forest - Spirit of the forest

After Band Aid, Dance Aid, Ferry Aid and USA for Africa, the Gentlemen without weapons figured they had something to add to the growing amount of charity singles: a rainforest appeal. Together with the animal and rainforest noises which they'd already used for an album, they rounded up lots of famous artists to record 'Spirit of the forest'.

Somehow, the idea didn't quite work. The song sounded a bit naff and people were apparently not so concerned about the destruction of the rain forest as they were about starving children in Africa. The single was a commercial failure, but fans of Afrika Bambaataa, Jon Anderson, B52's, Michael de Barre, Big Country and the few dozen other artists mentioned on the sleeve of this single had another collector's item to get their hands on.

My collection: 7" single no. 900
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, June 23, 1989
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Spirit of the forest' / 'Spirit of the forest'

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