An Englishman in New York - Sting

'Englishman in New York' was taken from Sting's 1987 album 'Nothing like the sun'. The 'Englishman' in question is the famous eccentric Quentin Crisp. Sting wrote the song not long after Crisp moved from London to an apartment in New York's Bowery. Crisp had remarked jokingly to the musician 'that he looked forward to receiving his naturalization papers so that he could commit a crime and not be deported.'

The song was released as a single in 1988, but only reached number 51 on the UK singles chart. In the Dutch Top 40 it was considerably more successful, peaking at number 9.

My collection: 7" single no. 5280
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, January 27, 2012
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'An Englishman in New York' / 'Ghost in the strand'

Driftin' - Alessi

Although the Alessi brothers had only one significant hit in Europe with 'Oh Lori', they released several other singles and albums between 1977 and 1982. 'Driftin'' was released in 1978 as a single from their third album, also called 'Driftin''.

In the 2000s they resumed their touring and album recording career as a duo, with the release of two new albums as Alessi, and also as part of group Barnaby Bye.

My collection: 7" single no. 5279
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, January 27, 2012
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Driftin'' / 'Just can't stop it'

Killer / Papa was a rollin' stone - George Michael

After Freddie Mercury died in November 1991, the remaining members of Queen staged a charity concert at Wembley Stadium in London with several pop and rock icons taking the place of Freddie and performing his vocals. After the concert, the EP 'Five live' was released to further benefit the Mercury Phoenix Trust.

From this EP, only 'Somebody to love' and 'These are the days of our live' were performed during the tribute concert. The other three live tracks were recorded during George Michael's 'Cover to cover tour' from 1991. The medley of 'Killer' and 'Papa was a rollin' stone' was one of them, and it was remixed by PM Dawn for this 12" single.

My collection: 12" single no. 620
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, January 27, 2012
Cost: 2,5 euro
Tracks: 'Killer/Papa was a rollin' stone (PM Dawn remix)' / 'Killer/Papa was a rollin' stone (PM Dawn remix instrumental)'

Under the moon of love - Showaddywaddy

The Seventies group Showaddywaddy had most of their biggest hits with covers of songs from the Fifties and early Sixties. These cover versions included 'Three steps to heaven' (originally by Eddie Cochran in 1960), 'Heartbeat' (originally written and recorded by Buddy Holly) and 'Under the moon of love' (originally a US hit for Curtis Lee in 1961 and co-written by Tommy Boyce).

The Mike Hurst-produced version of that latter song spent three weeks at the top of the UK singles chart in December 1976. In the Dutch Top 40, the single peaked at number 3 in early 1977.

My collection: 7" single no. 5278
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, July 27, 2012
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Under the moon of love' / 'Showboat'

Hit me! - Shirley-Jane

Shirley Mescher was born in Den Haag, Netherlands in 1963 and first made a name for herself as part of the group Music Hall. In 1983, they released the single 'Voulez-vous danser?'. Shirley then became a playmate in the magazine Playboy. She appeared on the front cover of the April 1985 issue.

Back to music, Shirley became part of the duo Fresh in 1987. Together with Ingrid Brans she recorded a cover of 'Summer in the city'. After that single flopped, Ingrid moved on to the successful Dutch trio Barbarella and Shirley went solo as Shirley-Jane. Her first outing was this single: 'Hit me!', a cover of the infamous single by Ian Dury. Despite the sexy cover and the half-decent cover version, it wasn't a hit.

My collection: 7" single no. 5277
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, January 27, 2012
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Hit me!' / 'This night'

Disco tango - Tommy Seebach

Tommy Seebach did his first of three performances at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1979 with 'Disco tango'. The song was well received and ended up in sixth place out of 19 competitors. It became a major hit in Denmark and other European countries.

Seebach later became one of those tragic Eurovision heroes, as his other performances were less successful: 'Krøller eller ej' ended up in 11th place in 1981, and 'Under stjernerne på himlen' only reached 22nd place in 1993. The poor result meant that Denmark did not qualify for the ESC 1994, and Seebach was widely criticized, and never competed again. Seebach passed away on March 31, 2003 after a heart attack.

My collection: 7" single no. 5276
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, January 27, 2012
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Disco Tango (English Grand Prix version)' / 'Disco Tango (Danish Grand Prix version)'

Lookin' out - Time Bandits

'Lookin' out' was released in 1982 as the third single from the Time Bandits' self-titled debut album. Like most of the Time Bandits' material, the song was co-written by the band's singer and frontman Alides Hidding.

The single didn't reach the Dutch Top 40. New hits would follow when the band released their second album in 1983.

My collection: 7" single no. 5275
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, January 27, 2012
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Lookin' out' / 'In town'