When your heart runs out of time - Glenn Gregory and Claudia Brücken

I first discovered this song when I bought the 12" single in November 2008, also at the record fair in Utrecht. I'd just started this blog and it was a great discovery. Now that this blog is slowly winding down (I only have to add a couple of dozen 12" singles and any new records I buy) it's nice to find this single.

According to the information on the sleeve of this single, it doesn't just feature the two famous singers (from Heaven 17 and Propaganda respectively), but also Midge Ure (from Ultravox) on keyboards. The single was released in August 1985 and wasn't a hit.

My collection: 7" single no. 5310
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2012
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'When your heart runs out of time' / 'When your heart runs out of time (drumless)'

Looking for you - Kit Hain

A photographic memory isn't of much use when record companies decide to have different picture sleeves for singles in different territories. I was convinced I didn't have 'Looking for you' by Kit Hain when I bought this, but as it turns out I did (see it here). Fortunately the B-side of this single is different, and it's a good one too.

'Looking for you' was released in 1982, four years after Kit Hain scored a massive hit together with Julian Marshall: 'Dancing in the city'. It's the same delightful voice with different material. She could have been a star, but the general public wasn't interested.

My collection: 7" single no. 5305
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2012
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Looking for you' / 'Lost domain'

All or nothing - Fiction Factory

When I posted this blog about the 12" single of Fiction Factory's 'Ghost of love', Laurent from Belgium pointed out that there was another single by this excellent band called 'All or nothing' with an unreleased B-side track, 'Dreaming of someone'. I didn't know this, but it was obviously interesting because I haven't heard anything by the band I didn't like.

I was pleasantly surprised last week when I found this promotion copy of the single. There is a version with a picture sleeve, but in the absence of that, a promo copy is always nice to have. And of course, the track is good, but the B-side is even better. That's my opinion, of course...

My collection: 7" single no. 5314
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2012
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'All or nothing' / 'Dreaming of someone'

 

Spirit in the sky - Doctor and the Medics

When Kim Wilde recently recorded a cover of 'Spirit in the sky', it was reason enough for me to want to hear (and have) the original version by Norman Greenbaum. That single isn't as easy to find as this 1986 hit version by Doctor & the Medics, which like the original version reached number 1 in the UK singles chart.

The single was taken from their debut album 'Laughing at the pieces'. Subsequent singles weren't as successful. They released three further albums between 1987 and 1996. In 2003 there was a reunion, after which they started performing - in a different line-up - as a tribute act to various artists.

My collection: 7" single no. 5323
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2012
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Spirit in the sky' / 'Laughing at the pieces'

Sugar me - Lynsey de Paul

With a softfocus sleeve and a singer like Lynsey de Paul, people in the Seventies knew what they were getting: carefully crafted pop songs brought by a tempting but not entirely convincing voice. At least, that's my opinion. I heard 'Won't somebody dance with me' a while ago on the radio and thought it was a nice song, so the hunt for this single was on.

On this German release, the 1973 UK top 20 hit is relegated to the B-side in favour of 'Sugar me', which was a hit the year before and reached number 4. This single was actually released in 1981, in the hope of improving on the number 16 placing in the German chart almost a decade earlier.

My collection: 7" single no. 5325
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2012
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Sugar me' / 'Won't somebody dance with me'

State of independence (New bass mix) - Donna Summer

I've already featured the Jon & Vangelis version and the Donna Summer version of 'State of independence' on this blog, so here is the version by Boilerhouse. Who? Boilerhouse, who remixed Donna Summer's version in 1990. Not a lot of spectacular things happen in this version: it apparently features a 'new bass' (whatever that is).

The single was released to promote a compilation album imaginatively titled 'The best of Donna Summer' and did a reasonable, if not great, job: it peaked at number 45 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 5320
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2012
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'State of independence (new bass mix)' / 'State of independence (original version edit)'

Devil inside - INXS

The Australian band INXS had their biggest success with the 1987 album 'Kick'. The immortal 'Need you tonight' was taken from that album, but also 'Never tear us apart', 'New sensation' and this one: 'Devil inside'. In the UK, the sales were stimulated with a limited edition pack containing six colour postcard, each featuring a member of the band.

I was always aware of this limited edition so I never bought the single until I saw it last weekend. I could have bought it back in 1988, but at the time, there were so many good records and not so much money to go around. These days it's almost the other way around...

My collection: 7" single no. 5311
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 14, 2012
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Devil inside' / 'On the rocks'