La source - Isabelle Aubret

'La source' was the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, performed in French by Isabelle Aubret. This was Aubret's second appearance on the Eurovision stage, in 1960 she had won the Contest with 'Un premier amour'. At the close of voting, 'La source' had received 20 points, placing 3rd in a field of 17 competitors.

The song deals - unusually for songs at the time, especially in the Contest - with the topic of rape, with Aubret describing such an event in some detail. Aubret also recorded the song in German, then under the title 'Such' mich dort, wo die Sonne scheint'.

My collection: 7" single no. 5224
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 19, 2011
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'La source', 'La rose fanée' / 'Pleur' pas Stephanie', 'Le malheur d'aimer'

Blue eyes - Elton John

'Blue eyes' was written by Elton John and Gary Osborne and released by Elton John in 1982 as the first single from the album 'Jump up!'. The single reached number 8 in the UK singles chart and number 10 in the Dutch Top 40.

At the time of its release, I wasn't particularly impressed with this song, but I've grown to like it almost three decades later. Perhaps I'm getting less critical of Eighties music than I was then.

My collection: 7" single no. 5223
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 19, 2011
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Blue eyes' / 'Hey papa Legba'

Never give up - Frizzle Sizzle

My first find at today's record fair in Utrecht was this single from the Dutch girl group Frizzle Sizzle. I thought I had them all, but obviously more singles were released than I was aware of - although this should really be the last one if various website sources are to be trusted.

'Never give up' was released in June 1986 as the follow-up to their Eurovision hit 'Alles heeft ritme' / 'Everything has rhythm' and would become one of the tracks on the girls' debut album 'First date' in 1987. This single did not become a hit.

My collection: 7" single no. 5222
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 19, 2011
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Never give up' / 'Never give up (extended instrumental version)'

Ego - Kim Wilde

Of course I couldn't let the birthday of Kim Wilde go by without writing about one of her discs. So I thought I'd dig out a very rare one. This promotional 7" single was released in Australia in 1982. Marked 'For radio play only', it features two tracks from her second album 'Select' which were never released as a single commercially.

'Ego' and 'Words fell down' were the first two tracks from 'Select', both written by Ricky and Marty Wilde, her brother and father respectively. At the time of its release, Kim was only 21 years old. And now she's 51... Time flies, eh? A very happy birthday to Kim.

My collection: 7" single [not numbered]
Found: eBay.com, 2009
Cost: 7 euro
Tracks: 'Ego' / 'Words fell down'

Feedback - Janet Jackson

You can't fault a catchy tune, even if the lyric reads 'Do you like my style / Yeah that's sexy, sexy, sexy'. It's one indication that the album 'Discipline', which 'Feedback' was taken from, would have at least one or two songs about sex on it. The fact of the matter is, the whole album was full of sexual undertones - and overtones, come to think of it. Janet likes to profile herself as being very sexy, and the song lyrics she writes are often very sexy too.

This double 12" single set features a, well, sexy photograph of Janet Jackson on the cover, and includes six remixes of the track, created by four different remixers. It's pretty good stuff. I would say it's all pretty sexy.

My collection: 12" single no. 600
Found: Discogs.com, received November 1, 2011
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Feedback (Moto Blanco full vocal)' / 'Feedback (Wideboys club)', 'Feedback (Jody den Broeder club)' // 'Feedback (Ralphi Rosario Dirty club)' / 'Feedback (Moto Blanco dub)', 'Feedback (Wideboys dub)'

Killer - Seal

'Killer' was originally a hit for Adamski, but even on that version, Seal, who was then unknown in his own right, performed vocals on the track. Shortly after this hit, Seal recorded his debut album, had a major hit with 'Crazy' and released several other singles from the album.

One of those singles was 'Killer', which Seal re-recorded on his own for his debut album. The track was released with a handful of live tracks, but also with a couple of remixes created by William Orbit. The '3D mix' is an exclusive track on this 12" single: the other two mixes appeared on the US CD-single of 'Killer'.

My collection: 12" single no. 129
Found: 1992
Cost: 15 guilders
Tracks: 'Killer (William Orbit remix)' / 'Killer (William Orbit dub mix)', 'Killer (3D mix)'

Running up that hill - Kate Bush

These are exciting times for Kate Bush fans. Earlier this year, she released 'Director's cut', a collection of re-recorded, and in some cases, re-edited tracks from her albums 'The red shoes' and 'The sensual world', and now, within days, her tenth album '50 words for snow' is coming out. Two albums by Kate Bush in one year? Well it must be 1978 all over again.

Back in 1985, Kate Bush's absence from the music scene for three years was perceived as an extremely long time. After this absence she delivered 'Hounds of love', one of her finest albums, and this first single, 'Running up that hill', was the first of her tracks ever to appear in an extended remix. I bought the 7" and 12" single at the same day - and that was the first time I ever did that.

My collection: 12" single no. 11
Found: LP Top 100, 1985
Cost: 15 guilders
Tracks: 'Running up that hill (extended version)' / 'Under the ivy', 'Running up that hill (instrumental)'