'Vincent' was written and recorded by Don McLean as a tribute to the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. The song includes references to his landscape works, in lines such as 'sketch the trees and the daffodils' and 'morning fields of amber grain' - which describe the amber wheat that features in several paintings. Several lines may allude to Van Gogh's self-portraits: perhaps in 'weathered faces lined in pain / are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand', McLean is suggesting that van Gogh may have found some sort of consolation in creating portraits of himself. There is, too, a single line describing van Gogh's most famous set of works, Sunflowers. 'Flaming flowers that brightly blaze' not only draws on the luminous orange and yellow colours of the painting, but also creates powerful images of the sun itself, flaming and blazing, being contained within the flowers and the painting.
McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of the artist. The following year, the song became the number one hit in the U.K. and No. 12 in the U.S.
My collection: 7"single no. 4926 Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 6, 2010 Cost: 0,1 euro Tracks: 'Vincent' / 'Castles in the air'
All about Eve had a habit of releasing as much formats of their singles as possible. Just before the invention of chart rules limiting formats to three, some of their singles were released on 7", two different 12" singles, a cassette single and a cd-single (or two). It was very interesting for their fans because more often than not these different formats would have exclusive tracks on them.
One of the last of these collectable 12" singles was 'Strange way', the second single from their third album 'Touched by Jesus'. It featured the B-side 'Drawn to earth', a weird track that was divided in two distinctive sections, plus two tracks unavailable elsewhere: 'Nothing without you' and 'Light as a feather'. Both tracks were quite rough and rocky, a sound that the fans had been missing on their rather polished and well-produced album. The 12" was released in a numbered limited edition: this is number 1981.
My collection: 12" single no. 119 Found: Wreckastow, Rotterdam, 1991 Cost: 15 guilders Tracks: 'Strange way', 'Drawn to earth' / 'Nothing without you', 'Light as a feather'
'And so is love' was released as the fourth and final single from Kate Bush's 1993 album 'The red shoes'. The track features Eric Clapton on guitar and was released on cd-single and 7" single. The 7" single was a special pack: it featured a picture disc (pictured here) and a giant poster folded to 12" size.
Released on 7 November 1994, the single climbed to number 26 in the UK singles chart. Its entry in the Top 40 resulted into Bush's first appearance on Top of the Pops in nine years - and also her last to date. This single was the last release before a gap of almost 11 years in which Bush got married, had a son and recorded her last album to date: 'Aerial', released in 2005.
My collection: 7" single no. 2217 Found: HMV mailorder, London, received November 15, 1994 Cost: 4 pounds Tracks: 'And so is love' / 'Rubberband girl (US remix)'
When I was young I'd listen to the radio waiting for my favourite songs. I can't remember if the Carpenters were ever played back then, but if they were, I doubt if I would have really appreciated them much. Their songs would have been a tad too syrupy for me.
Flash forward 30 years and behold, the Carpenters have made their way into my record collection. I first heard their songs again about a year ago on Kim Wilde's excellent radio show 'Secret Songs' on Magic FM, and since then I've grown to like them. One of their big hits is the sentimental 'Yesterday once more'. It starts with the line: 'When I was young I'd listen to the radio waiting for my favourite songs'...
My collection: 7" single no. 4924 Found: Record fair, Den Haag, October 2, 2010 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Yesterday once more' / 'Road ode'
My last post about Jody Watley was about the 7" single of 'Still a thrill', which I bought almost six months ago. I've had the 12" single for a lot longer, although my records don't show exactly when I bought it. A sexy sleeve coupled with three very danceable remixes is a good proposition, especially when the disc is cheap, which it was.
According to some of the response on this blog recently there were some rumours about my untimely death. I can assure you that this event will not happen anytime soon. However, having written about all of my 7" singles (bar a handful) and most of my 12" singles, my posts will be less regular as of now. Don't worry, I will still be buying records too - so who knows what happens before the year is over. I have to say that making entries on this blog is 'still a thrill'.
My collection: 12" single no. 549 Found: unknown Cost: unknown Tracks: 'Still a thrill (radio edit)' / 'Still a thrill (extended version)', 'Still a thrill (bonus beat)'
Having collected all of the 7" singles by King, it was soon a matter of finding the accompanying 12" singles. My sister owned all of them before I did, so I was familiar with most of the tracks, especially the extra B-side track on this one: the reprise of 'Alone without you'. I remember making a compilation tape starting with the original version and ending with this reprise version. The tape had a great buildup, as the A-side was full of uptempo tracks and the B-side had mostly ballads. It provided me with 90 minutes of extreme listening pleasure - and it's a shame I don't have that tape anymore.
Years later I found this 12" single and obviously I bought it immediately. As far as I know, this reprise version has not been released on cd, but the remix of 'The taste of your tears' has. And quite rightfully too, because it's very well made.
My collection: 12" single no. 82 Found: All that music, Leiden, 1992 Cost: 7,5 guilders Tracks: 'The taste of your tears (Breaker heart mix)' / 'Crazy party', 'Alone without you (Reprise)'
You have to have a big ego if you call your album 'Aphrodite' and pose as if you are the Greek goddess of love herself. But then Kylie has been successful for two decades now and then your ego is bound to grow. Fortunately, her tunes aren't half bad these days, as the mentioned album proves.
'All the lovers' was released a few months ago on two different cd-singles and a picture disc 7" single - something one has to applaud in this era where digital downloads seem to rule the world. The Spanish version of the title track is an added bonus not available on the cd-singles, and so this 7" single is worth owning.
My collection: 7" single no. 4921 Found: Recordstore.co.uk, received July 1, 2010 Cost: 3 pounds Tracks: 'All the lovers' / 'Los amores'