Hero takes a fall - The Bangles

'Hero takes a fall' is an early single by the Bangles, taken from their debut album All over the place. I remember seeing the music video on television. I always thought it was a big hit, but it didn't even chart in the UK and Europe.

The B-side is a cover version of 'Where were you when I needed you' by The Grass Roots. The label of this single states that the song was taken from the album also, but that's incorrect; the track is recorded for this B-side. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7831
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 30 October 2025
Tracks: 'Hero takes a fall' / 'Where were you when I needed you'

Michael Jackson medley - Ashaye

When Michael Jackson was at the peak of his career, several other artists tried to profit from his success as well. There was the Club House version of 'Billie Jean', of course, but also a lesser known Michael Jackson medley performed by Ashaye.

I never actually heard of this single, but apparently it was a minor success. In October 1983 it spent three weeks in the UK singles chart, peaking at number 45. Ashaye later teamed up with musicians/songwriters Robert Chandler, Nick Austin and Alex Palmer and under the new label V4 Visions more hits followed: 'What's This World Coming To' and the garage track 'Fantasy'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7829
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 30 October 2025
Tracks: 'Michael Jackson medley' / 'Electricity' 

Fantasy - Earth Wind & Fire

Maurice White saw the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind and became so inspired, that he wrote 'Fantasy', together with Eddie Del Barrio and Verdine White. The song was included on the album All 'n All and released as a single in January 1978. It reached number 32 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 in the UK singles chart. In the Dutch Top 40 it peaked at number 6. 

I found this single among a few dozen Earth Wind & Fire singles in the shop, but this was the only copy of 'Fantasy'. I wondered for a while whether I already had this single - EWF singles of that period have very similar sleeves - but thanks to this blog I found out I didn't. It was a good find.

My collection: 7" single no. 7828
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 29 October 2025
Tracks: 'Fantasy' / 'Be ever wonderful' 

 

We belong - Pat Benatar

Picture discs are, of course, always interesting. So whenever there's a little box of picture discs, I go through it to see if I can grab anything. In this case, I managed to find a beautiful little picture disc of Pat Benatar's 'We belong'. I never saw this one before. I bought the original single in 1994. 

The song earned Benatar a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance alongside Linda Ronstadt, Tina Turner, Madonna, and Whitney Houston. It was awarded a gold certification in Canada for sales in excess of 50,000 units.

My collection: 7" single no. 7827
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 29 October 2025
Tracks: 'We belong' / 'Suburban king' 

Comment te dire adieu - Jimmy Somerville featuring June Miles-Kingston

Back in 1990, I bought 'Comment te dire adieu' cheaply, without a picture sleeve. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that copy had originally been inside a limited edition gatefold sleeve, because the exact same sort of black sleeve appears within this rather more attractive packaging. The inside of the gatefold sleeve shows the full lyrics of the song alongside another picture of the duo singing it.

June Miles-Kingston was a founding member of the Mo-dettes, which lasted from 1979 to 1982. She later became a session drummer and backing vocalist for a variety of British post-punk, new wave, and pop artists. In the Nineties she studied fine art at St. Martin's and filmmaking at the University of Sussex. Her film Dear Miss Bassey was awarded a prize at the London 'Shorts' Film Festival.

My collection: 7" single no. 7826
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 29 October 2025
Tracks: 'Comment te dire adieu' / 'Tell the world' 

Waterfront - Simple Minds

The last record shop I visited during my stay in Vienna was actually the first one I visited when I was in Vienna back in September 2017. In the meantime, the shop had moved to a different address, although their stock was still the same: clothing and records. Unfortunately I didn't find a lot of interesting singles this time, and I was actually afraid that I would have to leave the shop after searching for 20 minutes and finding nothing. That's always a bit embarrassing.

But fortunately there was some 'Record Store Day' stock in a corner, and that's where I found this picture disc single. I knew it existed, but I hadn't been able to find it yet. It was released back in 2015, and features one of the Simple Mind's better singles. It was a nice item to finish the week with.

My collection: 7" single no. 7825
Found: Record Bag, Vienna, 18 October 2025
Tracks: 'Waterfront' / 'Hunter and the hunted' 

Gentlemen callers not allowed - Gilla

Although 'Gentlemen callers not allowed' was presented as a single by Gilla & Bobby at some point, but originally it was simply a single by Gilla on her own, as this sleeve demonstrates. So it isn't strange that I thought I didn't already have the track. Unfortunately the content of the single is identical, including the vocals of Bobby Farrell (or should I say, Frank Farian?). 

After the birth of her daughter, Gilla ended her career. Her husband, Helmut Rulofs, released several songs under the pseudonym Chris Denning and worked for Frank Farian. Under the pseudonym G. Winger she wrote the song 'I see a boat on the river' for Boney M. Later, she founded the group Vanilla.

My collection: 7" single no. 7824
Found: Wienyl, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'Gentlemen callers not allowed' / 'Say yes'