Love is just the great pretender - Animal Nightlife

Animal Nightlife had a hit with 'Love is just the great pretender' in July 1985, reaching number 28 in the UK singles chart. That single was featured on this blog two years ago (here).

I found this single the other day, which features a rather different version of the song. It was released in 1982 on the Inner Vision label. Proof that the band existed a few years before they actually became better known.

My collection: 7" single no. 5204
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 15, 2011
Cost: 50p
Tracks: 'Love is just the great pretender' / 'The great pretender'

Little Jeannie - Elton John

Elton John and Gary Osborne wrote this song, which was released in 1980 as a single from Elton John's album '21 at 33'. The song can be described as an uptempo ballad. In the US, it would be Elton's highest-charting single co-written with Gary Osborne, while in the UK, where the song only reached number 33, 'Blue eyes' would eventually hold that honour.

Despite its impressive performance in the US charts, Elton has rarely performed 'Little Jeannie' live, doing so only on his 1980 tour and during 2000's One Night Only concerts.

My collection: 7" single no. 5203
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 15, 2011
Cost: 50p
Tracks: 'Little Jeannie' / 'Conquer the sun'

Covers EP - Everything but the girl

Those who know Everything but the girl from their big hit 'Missing' will be surprised to hear this intimate set of covers, recorded entirely acoustic. But of course, the first decade and a half of their career was almost entirely centered about such intimate material.

According to the blurb on the sleeve: 'In October 1991 we played two concerts at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London made up largely of cover versions - we had no band, just a guitar, a piano and two voices. Many people asked us to record some of the songs.' The four track EP reached number 13 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 5202
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 15, 2011
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Love is strange', 'Tougher than the rest' / 'Time after time', 'Alison'

Runaway / When I think of you - Janet Jackson

As readers of this blog may have realised, I have been hunting down old Janet Jackson 12" singles over recent months. American promotional double 12" singles were quite hard to get - I thought they were only available via mail order these days.

Imagine my surprise when I found not one, but two of these double 12" single sets in a second hand shop in London this weekend. This is the first of them: a package of remixes of Janet's 1996 single 'Runaway' backed with three slightly disappointing remixes of 'When I think of you'.

My collection: 12" single no. 592
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 15, 2011
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Runaway (JR Factory Mix)', 'Runaway (JR Tribal mix)' / 'When I think of you (Deep Dish Chocolate City mix)' // 'When I think of you (Deep Dish Quiet Storm dub)' / 'When I think of you (Dished out dub)'

Stop stop stop - Lisa

When I saw this single, I thought it was an early release by Lisa Stansfield. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a single from 1978 featuring a track called 'Sagoland', subtitled 'Fairytale'. I immediately thought of the Dana hit from 1976, and as it turns out, it is indeed a translated version of that song.

Looking for more information, I couldn't find much more information about Lisa than this single and the accompanying album, released in 1978 too, featuring 12 tracks, more than half of them in Swedish. Forget the A-side of this single. 'Fairytale' in Swedish: it still sounds good.

My collection: 7" single no. 5201
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 14, 2011
Cost: 10p
Tracks: 'Stop stop stop' / 'Sagoland (Fairytale)'

Too late - Junior

In 1987, Junior Giscombe had a hit in the UK together with Kim Wilde, singing 'Another step (closer to you)'. In 1992, Kim Wilde recorded a song called 'Too late' on her album 'Love is'. And Junior recorded a song called 'Too late' ten years previous, released as a single in 1982.

It may be a bit farfetched but it was curiosity that drove me to buy this single. I wondered how this song would sound, knowing that Junior was in the business of creating funky dance tracks, and not - as was the case with Kim's 1992 track - plaintive ballads. This single does not disappoint. No-one does funk like Junior Giscombe.

My collection: 7" single no. 5200
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 14, 2011
Cost: 10p
Tracks: 'Too late' / 'In words'

An everlasting love - Andy Gibb

'An everlasting love' was released in the summer of 1978 as the second single from Andy Gibb's second solo album 'Shadow dancing'. At the time of the Bee Gees biggest success 'Saturday Night Fever' it was perhaps no surprise that their brother would also have considerable success with the famous Gibb sound.

The single reached number 5 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. This UK single features his two previous American number 1 hits, '(Love is) Thicker than water' and 'I just want to be your everything'.

My collection: 7" single no. 5199
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 14, 2011
Cost: 30p
Tracks: 'An everlasting love' / 'I just want to be your everything', '(Love is) Thicker than water'