Native love (Step by step) - Divine

They were called transvestites in those days: men who dressed as women. In the case of Divine, you had a rather voloptuous man, Harris Glenn Milstead, looking like a cross between an overweight housewife and a glamorous pop star. After some success appearing in film productions during the Seventies, Divine first appeared in 1979 at a gay club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where his unscripted act included shouting "fuck you" repeatedly at the audience and then getting into a fight with another drag queen, a gimmick that proved popular with the club's clientele. Subsequently, he saw the commercial potential of including disco songs in with his act.

In 1982, he joined forces with young American composer Bobby Orlando, who wrote a number of Hi-NRG singles for Divine. Among them was this single, 'Native love (Step by step)'. It was his first hit in the Netherlands, reached number 34 in the Dutch Top 40. Subsequent singles 'Shoot your shot' and 'Shake it up' would prove to be even more successful.

My collection: 7" single no. 7139
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 13 April 2024
Tracks: 'Native love (Step by step)' / 'Native love (Step by step) (Remixed version)'

Heart begin to beat - Savage progress

The racial mix within Savage Progress was never fully stressed in the media, but had a definite effect on their music: Glynnis Thomas was born in Zimbabwe to mixed race/African parents, Rik Kenton came from Nottingham, Carol Isaacs was English-Jewish, Ned Morant had Indian parentage, and Andrew Edge was from Leeds, in northern England. 

This mix of differing cultures proved to be advantageous for Savage Progress' music, as Kenton infused their songs with as many cultural influences as possible. 'Heart begin to beat' is an example of their work, sounding slightly weird and certainly not your standard chart fodder. Although the music video was shown regularly on channels like Sky and Music Box in 1984, the single did not chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 7138
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 13 April 2024
Tracks: 'Heart begin to beat' / 'Dark town'

Lead me to the water - Gary Brooker

'Lead me to the water' was Gary Brooker's second solo album, released in 1982. The title track was released as a single, but like most of his solo singles, it didn't chart. What's interesting about the sleeve of this single, is that it's very similar to the one of 'The Angler'. 

While Gary Brooker wasn't that successful as a solo artist, he was a much sought after musician, appearing on albums by Alan Parsons Project and Kate Bush. He remains best known, of course, for founding Procol Harum, the band which he reformed in 1991 and toured with during the three decades that followed until his untimely death on 19 February 2022.

My collection: 7" single no. 7137
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 13 April 2024
Tracks: 'Lead me to the water' / 'Badlands'

Walk like an Egyptian - Bangles

Although I already own a copy of 'Walk like an Egyptian' on 7", that one is a re-release and this is the original one. In fact this version was also included in the double pack of 'Walking down your street', complete with the B-side 'Not like you', but who could resist a poster sleeve? I never could.

'Walk like an Egyptian' was actually the third single release from the Bangles' album 'Different light'. It became a number one hit in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain and the United States. In the UK, where this poster sleeve was released, the single only reached number 3, amazingly enough. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7136
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 13 April 2024
Tracks: 'Walk like an Egyptian' / 'Not like you'

White winter hymnal - Fleet foxes

'White winter hymnal' is the first single from Fleet Foxes' debut 2008 self-titled album. Released by European label Bella Union in July 2008, the single was issued on 7" vinyl as well as digital MP3 format. The B-side is the non-album track 'Isles'. 

Former Cocteau Twins bassist Simon Raymonde, the head of record label Bella Union, was considering shutting his label down due to financial troubles, but after hearing a demo version of 'White winter hymnal', he was motivated to continue going on and signed Fleet Foxes to the label based on how much he liked the song. The single ended up selling more than 200,000 units and was certified silver. The song was covered by Kim Wilde, together with her dad Marty and her brother Ricky, on her album 'Wilde winter songbook', which is how I got to know this track. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7135
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 13 April 2024
Tracks: 'White winter hymnal' / 'Isles'

Ah! Quelle histoire (Congratulations) - Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twice, but the amount of singles that spawned is quite amazing. Thanks, of course, to the fact that he recorded his Eurovision songs in numerous languages. I already had 'Congratulations' on 7", as well as 'Man gratuliert mir', the German version of that song, and of course 'Congratulations' in Spanish.

And then... here's 'Ah! Quelle histoire', the French version of 'Congratulations'. The only version I don't have yet is the Italian one. Something tells me it will be just a matter of time...

My collection: 7" single no. 7134
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 13 April 2024
Tracks: 'Ah! Quelle histoire' / 'Girl you'll be a woman soon'

A cidade (até ser dia) - Anabela

During the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993 Portugal was represented by Anabela with the song 'A cidade (até ser dia)', written by Pedro Abrantes, former Eurovision entrant Paulo de Carvalho, and Marco Quelhas. The song was arranged by the song writer's brother Fernando Abrantes, who also performed it at the piano live on stage together with the singer Anabela during the Eurovision final in Ireland. The song ended up in tenth place.

Since 1993 the single has become quite rare. When you search for it online you can get a decent copy for more than 25 euros, which in my book is much too high a price. And so I have to say that going to record fairs really is a good thing if you know where to look. In this case, I ended up with a seller who had some Eurovision singles - not too much - and in between the expected titles by Bucks Fizz, Johnny Logan, Celine Dion and others, there it was: a good copy of 'A cidade (até ser dia)'. I've searched for this one for quite a long time, and finding it during the first hour of my visit to the record fair in Den Bosch was a really good start of the day.

My collection: 7" single no. 7133
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 13 April 2024
Tracks: 'A cidade (até ser dia)' / 'Nightfall in the city'