Take on me - A-ha

Ah... Record Store Day. The annual feast during which record companies release expensive products that are snapped up by people who actually have record stores in their neighbourhood - if the products they want are actually stocked by those stores.

The picture disc of 'Take on me' by A-ha eluded me until now, because Den Haag no longer has decent record shops anymore. I actually saw a copy in a store once but they asked 40 euros for it. 40 euros! I mean, seriously? Online these things cost less than half that - but the added postage makes it more expensive again. Which is why I was happy to find this copy during my trip to Vienna earlier this week. Sure, I still paid too much for it, but a chance like this never comes up again, I am sure. The single is special because of the picture disc, and the B-side, which is a live version from Dermot O'Leary's Saturday Sessions on BBC Radio 2 on 25 July 2009.

My collection: 7" single no. 5858
Found: Record Bag, Vienna
Cost: 19,90 euro
Tracks: 'Take on me' / 'Take on me (live)'

Listen to the song

Bad Boy - Freddie Starr

Marty Wilde's 'Bad Boy' has been covered a good many times, and some versions are more rare than others. I couldn't find Freddie Starr's version online, so there was nothing I could do except buy the single. These days you can buy singles online so easily, it only depends what you're prepared to pay for them. I try to be as selective as I can.

Freddie Starr, born 9 January 1943, was an English comedian who was previously the lead singer of the Merseybeat pop group the Midnighters. He released several solo albums during the 1970's and 1980's. 'Bad boy' was released in 1975, but it wasn't a hit. After the death of sex offender Jimmy Saville, Starr became one of the suspects but the Crown Prosecution Office decided not to bring charges on the grounds of 'insufficient evidence'. He lost a subsequent court case against his accuser, causing him to flee to an apartment in Spain.

My collection: 7" single no. 5857
Found: Discogs.com, received 21 September 2017.
Cost: 3 pounds
Tracks: 'Bad boy' / 'Only sixteen'

Listen to the song

Romancing the stone - Eddy Grant

In 1984 Eddy Grant composed the song 'Romancing the stone' for the movie of the same name. Strangely enough, the song was not used. The movie’s producers left nearly all of the song on the cutting room floor and completely off the soundtrack album. Only a remnant of the song — a guitar solo — can be heard in the scene when Douglas and Turner are in a small house in the jungle.

Eddy Grant then decided to release the track himself on his album 'Going for broke'. Released as a single, it was not a hit in the UK. However, across the Atlantic, it romanced its way into the Top 30 and became his first hit since 'Electric avenue'. 

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record Exchange, London, 1994
Cost: 30p
Tracks: 'Romancing the stone (alternative version)' / 'My turn to love you (live)'

Fallen - Sarah McLachlan

Although I have a near-complete collection of Sarah McLachlan albums and singles on CD, she rarely features on this blog, and that's because there's not a whole lot of stuff on vinyl from her - especially when I focus on tracks that are only available on vinyl.

This 12" single is a nice exception. These two remixes of 'Fallen', a track from her 2003 album 'Afterglow', both appear on the remix album 'Bloom', released in 2005 - although the 'Satoshi Tomiie Interpretation' only appears on the Japanese edition as a bonus track, and the '
Gabriel & Dresden Anti-Gravity Mix' is over 2 minutes shorter than on this 12" single. So basically, I bought this disc for those two minutes. In my defence, it was an extra disc in a bigger order I received last year.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 2016
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Fallen (Gabriel & Dresden Anti-Gravity Mix)' / 'Fallen (Satoshi Tomiie Interpretation)'

Physical love - Beloved

The oft-neglected third album by the Beloved 'X' (1996) was not a commercial success, but there were many releases from the album - although most of them were so-called 'white label 12 inches', records pressed mainly for distribution among DJ's and clubs.

One of them was this release, 'Physical love' c/w 'Three steps to heaven'. Both tracks were remixed to almost 10 minute versions, well suited for nighttime club life. Whether these mixes are actually any good.... You be the judge. I do like them in a sort of strange way.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 2016
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Physical love' / 'Three steps to heaven'

No! Dance with me - Marty Wilde

Released in 1963, 'No! Dance with me' was one of the first singles released by Marty Wilde not to chart after his run of hit singles between 1958 and 1962. The song was written by Marty himself, as might well be the B-side, which is incorrectly credited to Gerald Goffin and Carole King. They did indeed write a song with a similar title, but it does not resemble this song here.

This single was one of five Marty Wilde singles I ordered back in May, but for your pleasure I've spread the posting of them a little bit. After all, this is not a Marty Wilde tribute website - although I am quickly completing my collection now. There's still a handful of - rather expensive - singles missing, but I'll get there eventually.

My collection: 7" single no. 5822
Found: Recordsale.de, received May 11, 2017
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'No! Dance with me' / 'Little miss Happiness'

Don't look now - Torch Song

It was becoming a bit weird: on the day I bought Ode to Billy Joe, I was quite shocked that I still didn't have a copy of the 7" of Torch Song's 'Don't look now'. Sure, I have the 12" single, but the single remained elusive. So I did what any sensible collector would do: I ordered a copy online. I immediately noticed that apparently no commercial copies were ever made: all I could find was a promotional version, with a radio edit of the song. Which is fine by me: if there is no commercial single to be had, I'll happily make do with a promotional version.

I finally received the single yesterday so here it is, in all its glory. And if you know the full length version of this track you will notice that this edit was cut quite randomly. Which might explain why it didn't become a hit.

My collection: 7" single no. 5856
Found: Discogs.com, received July 31, 2017
Cost: 3 pounds
Tracks: 'Don't look now (radio edit)' / 'P2E (remix) (radio edit)'