Paul McCartney's theme from The Honorary Consul - John Williams

'The Honorary Consul' was originally a book written by Graham Greene, published in 1973. The book was subsequently made into a film, directed by John Mackenzie in 1983, featuring Richard Gere and Michael Caine.

The soundtrack of the movie featured a theme which was composed by Paul McCartney and performed by John Williams. It's true, when you listen to the recording of this single you'll notice that it's had better days, but this single is pretty hard to find these days. So I guess I'm lucky to have found it at all.

My collection: 7" single no. 5408
Found: unknown
Cost: unknown
Tracks: 'Paul McCartney's theme from The Honorary Consul' / 'Clara's theme' (Quimantu)

Summer (The first time) - Bobby Goldsboro

Bobby Goldsboro was born in Marianna, Florida. In 1941, Goldsboro's family moved 35 miles north from Marianna to Dothan, Alabama. He graduated from Dothan High School in 1959 and later enrolled at Auburn University. Goldsboro left college after his second year to pursue a musical career. He played guitar for Roy Orbison from 1962 to 1964, then started a solo career.

'Summer (The first time)', a reminiscence about a 17-year-old boy's first sexual experience with a 31-year-old woman, was a Top 20 hit in the U.S. and reached number 9 in the UK singles chart. Using a repeating piano riff, 12-string guitar, and an orchestral string arrangement, the song was suggestive enough to spark some controversy at the time.

My collection: 7" single no. 5397
Found: Beanos, London
Cost: 1,5 pounds
Tracks: 'Summer (The first time)' / 'Childhood - 1949'

The colour field - The colour field

The Colourfield were a British band formed in 1984 in Manchester when former Specials and Fun Boy Three frontman Terry Hall joined up with ex-Swinging Cats members Toby Lyons and Karl Shale. Despite the fact that all three of them hailed from Coventry, they made their homebase in Manchester.

In January 1984 The Colourfield released their debut single, 'The colour field', which just missed making the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 43.

My collection: 7" single no. 5379
Found: unknown
Cost: unknown
Tracks: 'The colour field' / 'Sorry'

I'm your money - Heaven 17

'I'm your money' was released in 1981 as the second single by Heaven 17, the synthpop trio formed by Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn Gregory. After the success of their debut single '(We don't need this) Fascist Groove Thang', the chart result of this single came as a disappointment, as it didn't chart at all.

In recent years, Heaven 17 have started performing live, something they never did during the Eighties. In an interview in 2010 for the website Electricity Club, Martyn Ware said: "We weren't writing songs with the anticipation of playing them live so I'm Your Money is very... say for instance we waved a magic wand and it was exactly the backing track that we did... we can't do because we don't have the original tapes. But if it was exactly the same backing track as we did in the 1981, I think it would really jar on the ear! It's incredibly repetitive and monotonous but on record, it sounds great. "

My collection: 7" single no. 5401
Found: unknown
Cost: unknown
Tracks: 'I'm your money' / 'Are everything'

Julia says - Wet Wet Wet

'Julia says' was released as the second single from Wet Wet Wet's sixth studio album, 'Picture this'. It was released on March 13, 1995 and peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Marti Pellow recorded his own version of the song for inclusion on his 2002 album 'Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile'.

This 7" single was released as a limited edition on purple vinyl. The song is nice but it is quite unfortunate that the band decided to 'rock out' near the end, which kindof sours the mood.

My collection: 7" single no. 5414
Found: Record fair, 1995
Cost: 12 guilders
Tracks: 'Julia says' / 'It's now or never'

Such a shame - Talk Talk

EMI have always been excellent at recycling their music. Countless compilation albums and re-releases of old hits is what this big record company based a lot of its success on - in the past of course, because EMI isn't that successful anymore these days.

Case in point: this re-release of Talk Talk's 'Such a shame', released in 1990, was made in Germany and was different from the UK version. That one had a live version of 'Dum dum girl' on the B-side, whereas this one simply has the studio version. Confusing matters even more, the CD-single equivalents of these single had completely different track listings, the European one winning because it had the live version of 'Tomorrow started' as well as the rare track 'Another word' on it.

My collection: 7" single no. 5412
Found: unknown
Cost: unknown
Tracks: 'Such a shame' / 'Dum dum girl'

Un train qui part - Marie

'Un train qui part' ('A departing train') was a song performed by French singer Marie, representing Monaco during the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest. The song is about people striking out on their own. Marie sings about a girl from rural France who is boarding a train to Paris in the hope that she will find work there, despite not knowing exactly what she will do. The departing train, she sings, 'is a bit like a home...For one who has never known home'.

The song was performed sixth on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 85 points, placing it eighth in a field of 17 competitors.

My collection: 7" single no. 5595
Found: Marktplaats.nl, August 2, 2014
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Un train qui part' / 'Le géant'