Profoundly in love with Pandora - Ian Dury

Ian Dury wrote and performed the song 'Profoundly in love with Pandora' for the television series 'The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾', based on the book of the same name by Sue Townsend. I remember I was a bit shocked at the time,because I knew Dury from slightly controversial songs like 'Spasticus Autisticus' and 'Sex & drugs & rock & roll', and this was almost a 'normal' pop song.

I'd almost forgotten about this release over the years, but it recently popped up during an online shopping spree, and so I picked it up. Always nice to have some Ian Dury in your life, innit.

My collection: 7" single no. 6156
Found: Discogs.com, received August 9, 2019
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Profoundly in love with Pandora' / 'Eugenius (You're a genius)'

Enjoy - Solid Gold Easy Amex featuring Red Box

This single comes with a promotional sticker on the front - as you can see - and a press release from EastWest Records. It explains a little about this release: "After enjoying an extended period of (expensive) bootlegged notoriety, this year's orbital theme-tune, "Enjoy" from Solid Gold Easy Amex featuring Red Box, is commercially released through East West Records on 21st May [1990]."

""Enjoy" in its original form is an old B-side from the outfit who scored top 10 hits in 1985 & 1986 with "Lean on me (Ah-Li-Ayo)" and "For America". The track's current notoriety began when DJ's like Paul Oakenfold unearthed the song and began playing it at orbital parties around the capital and elsewhere."

My collection: 7" single no. 6153
Found: Discogs.com, received August 9, 2019
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Enjoy (Paul Oakenfold future mix)' / 'Enjoy (Original Golden Lay)'

Give love a chance - Seija Simola

Seija Simola was born in Helsinki on September 25, 1944. She began her musical career in the mid-Sixties in the band Eero Seija & Kristian Trio, and her debut solo album was released in 1970: Seija Simola 1.

In 1978, she represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest. She sang 'Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus', which finished in 18th place, in a field of 20 competitors. Despite this poor result, Simola continued a long and successful career in her native Finland. She passed away in Vantaa on August 21, 2017.

This single presents the English version of her Eurovision song: 'Give love a chance'. It comes in one of the thinnest paper sleeves I have ever seen.

My collection: 7" single no. 6155
Found: Discogs.com, received August 9, 2019
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Give love a chance' / 'Little smile'

Arcade - Duncan Laurence

Every year when the Netherlands announce their Eurovision candidate, there is a sigh of desperation and the resigned thought: 'Okay, so we won't win this year - again'. Ever since Teach In won the contest back in 1975 - a feat I didn't consciously experience - there have been many attempts to get to the top spot, but with dud artists like Bernadette, Gerard Joling, Willeke Alberti, Glennis Grace and - oh how terrible - De Toppers, we didn't have a shadow a chance.

And then suddenly, the unknown artist Duncan Laurence was announced as this year's entry. The song sounded weird at first, but it was way better than most songs from previous years. And when the bookmakers started predicting that the Netherlands could win this year, a mixture of disbelief and hope started to rise. I couldn't believe it when 'Arcade' won the Contest in May. And then, of course, the question came: will it be released on any physical format? The answer came two full months later: 'Arcade' was released last week on 7" vinyl. So there you have it - a winning Dutch Eurovision song on vinyl. It doesn't really get much better than this.

My collection: 7" single no. 6151
Found: Bea Records, received July 30, 2019
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'Arcade' / 'Arcade (acoustic version)'

Smoke - Natalie Imbruglia

Natalie Imbruglia was born on February 4, 1975 in Sydney, Australia. After appearing in commercials for Coca-Cola and Australian snack Twisties, she joined the cast of Neighbours. After just two years she left the show to move to London in 1994. She met Anne Barret, who became her manager and convinced her to record a demo of four songs. One of those songs was a cover of the Ednaswap composition 'Torn', which landed her a record deal with RCA. Released as her first single, it was an immediate international hit.

The album 'Left of the middle' spawned a few more singles, of which 'Smoke' was artistically the most accomplished. Having been under the impression that none of her singles were ever released on vinyl, I was excited to get my hands on this one. 'Smoke' reached number 5 in the UK singles chart and number 42 in Australia.

My collection: 7" single no. 6150
Found: Discogs.com, received July 29, 2019
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Smoke' / 'Smoke (Martyn Philips & Marc Fox mix)'

Tell me when - Human League

Released on December 26, 1994, 'Tell me when' was the first single by Human League in four years. A lot had changed in the record industry: gone were most of the vinyl singles in favour of cd-singles. Until recently I didn't even know a vinyl single of this track existed. It became the Human League's most commercially successful single in nine years and reintroduced the band to many of the British general public. 'Tell me when' received considerable radio promotion in advance of its late 1994 UK release, hitting the airwaves at a time when many people started to get Christmas song fatigue.

The single peaked at number 6 in the UK singles chart and even made it into the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 31. The album from which this single was taken, 'Octopus', peaked at number 6 in the UK albums chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 6149
Found: Discogs.com, received July 29, 2019
Cost: 3 pounds
Tracks: 'Tell me when (7" edit)' / 'Tell me when (Mix 1)'

Do I dream - Maxi

Maxi was the stage name of Irene McCoubrey, born February 23, 1950. In the late 1960s Maxi teamed up with Barbara Dixon and Adele King to form Maxi, Dick and Twink. The trio toured Ireland, the UK and Canada and recorded two singles. They also worked a session singers in Motown studios in Detroit, Michigan, before disbanding. Following this she pursued a career with Danny Doyle and Music Box before going solo. She represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 singing 'Do I Dream', finishing tenth in a field of 17 competitors.
 
In the late 1970s, Maxi became part of another all-girl trio Sheeba, with Marion Fossett and Frances Campbell. The group represented Ireland in the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Horoscopes'. Maxi embarked on a career in broadcasting with the Irish national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). Working mainly on radio, she also took on some television work including a quiz show, presenting Ireland's lottery and fronting the Miss Ireland contest. In 1987 Maxi presented the national final for Eurovision alongside Marty Whelan.

My collection: 7" single no. 6148
Found: Discogs.com, received July 29, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Do I dream' / 'Here today and gone tomorrow'