Blame it on the boogie - The Jacksons

You don't hear the word 'boogie' anymore. Back in the Seventies, is was the buzzword for having a good time, dancing around and generally going out of your mind. And the Jacksons, Michael included, had one of their biggest hits with 'Blame it on the boogie' in 1978.

The first promotional music video by the Jacksons was created for 'Blame it on the boogie', thus marking Michael Jackson's video debut. The video, featuring the group's members dancing on a black background, relied heavily on vintage electronic trail effects, created at Image West, Ltd. using then-cutting edge equipment: the Scanimate analog computer system and a Quantel DFS 3000 digital framestore.

My collection: 7" single no. 5156
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Blame it on the boogie' / 'Do what you wanna'

Could it be happiness - Ann Christy

Ann Christy's 1975 entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, 'Gelukkig zijn', was released in two versions: the original Dutch (Flemish) version, and this English translation. Both singles are considered a rarity, extremely hard to find, and so I was lucky to find both on one day.

Although the original title means 'Being happy', the title 'Could it be happiness' was chosen for this English version.

My collection: 7" single no. 5182
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Could it be happiness' / 'This world is full of pain'

Wired to the moon - Chris Rea

Chris Rea released his sixth album 'Wired to the moon' in 1984, keeping up his 'one album per year' tempo without any problem, it seemed. A whopping five singles were drawn from the album, although only the first one, 'I don't know what it is but I love it', reached the UK singles chart.

The title track was the fifth single, and like the previous three, it didn't chart. All this despite the fact that it's actually a lovely sort of lullaby.

My collection: 7" single no. 5171
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Wired to the moon' / 'True love'

Gelukkig zijn - Ann Christy

Ann Christy was born as Christianne Leenaerts on 22 September 1945 in Antwerp, Belgium. She began a singing career with The Adams Orchestra. She later married the drummer, Marc Hoyois. Her first solo recordings met with little success. In 1968 she won the Knokke Cup singing contest.

Her first attempt to represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest came in 1970 with the song 'Le temps, le vent'. She also tried the next year with 'Dag vreemde man', which finished second in the national final. A third attempt in 1973, when each of five chosen acts performed two songs, ended in third place for 'Bye Bye'. She finally had success in 1975 when 'Gelukkig zijn' ('Being happy') was chosen to represent Belgium in Stockholm. Christy sung the first half of the song in Dutch and the second half in English, and although the song had been tipped to do well, it ended the evening in a very disappointing 15th place out of 19 entries.

Christy was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1982, and died on 7 August 1984, aged 38.

My collection: 7" single no. 5181
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Gelukkig zijn' / 'Er is zoveel verdriet in de wereld'

Sad song - Ellen Foley

'Sad song' was released as the third single from Ellen Foley's debut album 'Night out'. It featured Ellen's trademark voice, which was used to so much effect on Meat Loaf's 'Paradise by the dashboard light'.

Contrary to the previous two singles 'We belong to the night' and 'What's a matter baby', the single was not a commercial success.

My collection: 7" single no. 5173
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Sad song' / 'Stupid girl'

You surround me - Erasure

'You surround me' was released as the second single from Erasure's fourth studio album 'Wild!'. Upon release, it became Erasure's tenth consecutive Top 20 hit on the UK singles chart, peaking at number 15. It reached number 10 on the Irish singles chart, and number 38 in Germany.

The track, a love song, was written by Erasure members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell and is a heavily-synthesized ballad with a dramatic chorus featuring Bell's falsetto. Clarke has stated that this song was his attempt at writing a James Bond film theme. Also included on the single as a B-side is '91 Steps', an instrumental with complex synthesizer programming and unusual time signature. The track utilizes repeating cycles in which the first seven bars use a 7/4 time signature, followed by one bar in 3/4 time.

My collection: 7" single no. 5132
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'You surround me' / '91 Steps'

Nights on Broadway - Bee Gees

'Nights on Broadway' is a track from the Bee Gees' 1975 album 'Main course'. The second single release from the album, it immediately followed their number one hit "Jive Talkin'". The song introduced Barry Gibb's falsetto voice in the chorus. It was a turning point in Bee Gees style, as they progressed through their disco era writing songs mostly sung in falsetto by Barry. He did not know of his special "talent" until producer Arif Mardin asked someone within the group to try to do some kind of screaming during the main chorus.

'Nights on Broadway' reached number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 8 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 5136
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, June 9, 2011
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Nights on Broadway' / 'Edge of the universe'