Cold love - Donna Summer

'Cold love' is the second single from the Donna Summer album The Wanderer. Although the song did not gain as much success as its predecessor, it did receive a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Vocally, this song contrasts with the just previous 'The Wanderer' single release - it is very reminiscent of her 1979 'Hot Stuff' - power belt and hard rock approach. Personally, I prefer the B-side, the very intriguing 'Grand illusion'.

My collection: 7" single no. 5166
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Cold love' / 'Grand illusion'

Victor should have been a jazz musician - Grace Jones

Nile Rodgers and Grace Jones produced 'Victor should have been a jazz musician', a track taken from her 1986 album 'Inside story'. As the song title suggests, it saw Jones exploring new musical territories and the spoken opening line even refers to one of the late and greats of jazz: "I went to a Nina Simone concert...". The horns on the track were played by Lenny Pickett, Stan Harrison, Steve Elson, and Mac Gollehon under the collective name The Borneo Horns.

The single reached number 35 in the Dutch Top 40, but failed to chart in other territories.

My collection: 7" single no. 5176
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Victor should have been a jazz musician' / 'Crush'

You've got it - Simply Red

In the autumn of 1989, 'You've got it' was released as the fourth and final single from Simply Red's third album 'A new flame'. The previous three singles had been top 20 hits in the UK, but this single wasn't as successful, peaking at number 46 only.

The B-side of this single features a live acoustic version of their biggest hit, 'Holding back the years', recorded in Australia in August 1989.

My collection: 7" single no. 5174
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'You've got it' / 'Holding back the years (live acoustic version)'

Rendez-vous - Pas de deux & Big Band

Pas de Deux (Walter Verdin, Dett Peyskens and Hilde van Roy) were a Belgian band, best known for their participation in the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest, and the controversy surrounding their selection as that year's Belgian representatives. 'Rendez-vous' consisted of just one line of quasi-nonsensical lyric ('Rendez-vous, maar de maat is vol en m'n kop is toe') repeated over a quirky, rhythmic instrumental track while Peyskens and van Roy danced barefoot, and seemed to baffle the conservative audience.

'Rendez-vous' proved unsuccessful, finishing in 18th place of the 20 entries, having received points from only the UK, Spain and Portugal. The single reached the Belgian top 30, but a follow up single, 'Manimeme', went unnoticed and the group soon disbanded. When I bought this single, a search of almost 28 years came to an end. In the shop they told me second hand copies of this single came in every so often, and it was never there for long. It's still very much sought after, apparently.

My collection: 7" single no. 5187
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Rendez-vous' / 'Rendez-vous (mix)'

What kind of fool - Kylie Minogue

'What kind of fool (Heard all that before)' was written by Kylie Minogue, Mike Stock and Pete Waterman for Minogue's first compilation album 'Greatest Hits' (1992). The song was produced by Stock and Waterman and received a generally positive reception from critics. Released as the first single in the summer of 1992, it became Minogue's 19th top 20 hit in the UK and 15th in Australia.

Kylie admitted in an interview with the Australian Sunday Telegraph in October 2008, that she is no longer fond of the song: 'There's plenty I've cringed about', she says. 'There's one track I really didn't like called 'What Kind of Fool'. But I realised you can run, but you can't hide, so I embraced 'I Should Be So Lucky' and the rest of them.'

My collection: 7" single no. 5153
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'What kind of fool' / 'Things can only get better'

Still my heart cries for you - Kayak

'Still my heart cries for you' was Kayak's seventh single, a track taken from their 1976 album 'The last encore'.

The love song written by band member Pim Koopman was an atypical single. It has changes in tempo and atmosphere, making it quite inaccessible. As a result, the single failed to chart. Releasing any track from the album as a single seemed to be a desperate move from the record company since the album didn't contain any potential hit, since the band were into making quite intricate arrangements at that point.

My collection: 7" single no. 5130
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Still my heart cries for you' / 'Raid your own house'

Cheri babe - Hot Chocolate

Hot Chocolate had a string of hits during the Seventies. Of course, not all of their singles made it into the top 10, there were some smaller hits inbetween the big ones. Most of their songs were produced by legendary hitmaker Mickie Most and written by band members Brown and Wilson.

'Cheri babe' was one such smaller hits. Released in November 1974, the single reached number 31 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 5164
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Cheri babe' / 'Sexy lady'