Smells like Nirvana - "Weird Al" Yankovic

Somehow, the music press and media were taking guitar bands from Seattle very seriously at the beginning of the Nineties. The previous obsession with drugs-fuelled dance music was forgotten, everyone suddenly had to listen to screaming bipolar maniacs who'd just come from rehearsal studios without ever seriously studying things like melody or lyrics.

It was refreshing, therefore, that 'Weird Al' Yankovic came with his parody on Nirvana's 'Smells like teen spirit'. Entitled 'Smells like Nirvana', it pokes fun at the socalled 'grunge' band from Seattle and their largely atrocious music. The single reached number 35 in the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, number 48 in Canada, number 38 in Sweden, number 24 in Australia and a rather surprising number 4 in New Zealand!

My collection: 7" single no. 5417
Found: unknown
Tracks: 'Smells like Nirvana' / 'Waffle king'

Always on the run - Lenny Kravitz

'Always on the run' was the first single released from Lenny Kravitz's 1991 album 'Mama said'. by Lenny Kravitz. It features a contribution from former Guns N' Roses guitarist, Slash. Slash had written the music for the song with the original intention of releasing it on a Guns N' Roses studio album but since former drummer Steven Adler had difficulty playing the song, he saved it for this eventual collaboration with Kravitz.

This limited edition 7" single pack features a hand written lyric sheet (well, Lenny's handwriting printed on a piece of paper, that is), a postcard and a European Tour Map. It didn't help sales in the UK: the single only reached number 41 in the singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 5434
Found: unknown
Tracks: 'Always on the run' / 'Always on the run (instrumental)'

Just nu! - Tomas Ledin

'Just nu!' ('Right now!') was the Swedish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980, performed by Tomas Ledin. The song talks about a man tired of the monotonous life in the city, in that moment he wants to live his life, he wants to feel the air in his lungs and perhaps to travel to Paris. During the performance at Eurovision, the cable was accidentally plugged out of Tomas Ledin's microphone. He was able to plug it in again, just in time before the start of the second verse.

The song was performed 8th on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 47 points, placing 10th in a field of 19 competitors.

My collection: 7" single no. 5587
Found: KEG Records, Sweden, received August 1, 2014
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Just nu!' / 'Det är säkert värt ett försök'

Is this love - Bob Marley

'Is this love' was originally released by Bob Marley on his 1978 album 'Kaya'. The song became one of the best known Marley songs and the studio version was part of the compilation 'Legend'. It peaked at number 9 in the UK charts upon its release in 1978.

This single was released a year later, featuring the live version taken from the album 'Babylon by bus', recorded in Paris in 1978.

My collection: 7" single no. 5454
Found: unknown
Tracks: 'Is this love [live]' / 'Kinky reggae [live]'

Break on through - The Doors

I got to know The Doors thanks to a TV documentary by Dutch broadcaster Veronica in the mid-Eighties. I missed the band when they were around due to being born in 1970, but the age of 15 is a great time to get in touch with the moody ramblings of Jim Morrison, I guess.

And so I hope that many more youngsters were around in 1991 when the movie 'The Doors', starring Val Kilmer, was released in cinemas worldwide. Oliver Stone directed this movie loosely based on Morrison's life and career, and although I have virtually no recollection of that movie, the music of course stood up firmly. The record company even released this single to coincide with the cinema release. 'Break on through' is nice enough, but one of my favourite Doors-tracks graces the B-side: 'Love street', taken from their most engaging album 'Waiting for the sun'.

My collection: 7" single no. 5387
Found: unknown
Tracks: 'Break on through' / 'Love street'

Come to my aid - Simply Red

'Come to my aid' was released as the second single from their debut album 'Picture book'. Five singles were taken from the album, of which this one was the least successful one, peaking at number 66 in the UK singles chart. It did manage to reach number 11 in Italy and number 24 in New Zealand as well, but in other countries, this single did not chart.

According to Wikipedia, 'Picture book' was included in Robert Dimery's '1001 Albums you must hear before you die'. I wouldn't go quite that far, personally, but the singles from this album are nice enough.

My collection: 7" single no. 5444
Found: unknown
Tracks: 'Come to my aid' / 'Valentine'

Go (before you break my heart) - Gigliola Cinquetti

I'm not exactly thrilled when I buy a damaged 7" single (the pronged center is missing) without a picture sleeve (although this single was not released in a picture sleeve, apparently). However, in this case, the single was very cheap, and so I just decided to order it along with a couple of other discs that were, fortunately, in better shape. Sometimes collecting records is just about the music contained on the disc...

So what is this? The English version of Gigliola Cinquetti's 1974 Eurovision entry, 'Si'. Entitled 'Go (before you break my heart)'. This version actually got to number 8 in the UK singles chart, which is a remarkable achievement for any non-winning song from the Contest.

My collection: 7" single no. 5599
Found: Discogs.com, received August 5, 2014
Cost: 40 pence
Tracks: 'Go (before you break my heart)' / 'Si'