The baby, she's on the street - Jona Lewie

Jona Lewie started his solo career in 1976 with the single 'Cherry Ring', which was followed by this single, 'The baby, she's on the street'. The track almost had a trademark Stiff sound, the record label that became famous because of Madness and Kirsty MacColl. Although the song is never mentioned on his biographies, it is catchy as hell, but it didn't chart. He would have his first hit in 1980, the inimitable 'You will always find me in the kitchen at parties'. 

I found this single during a random visit to Leiden and I felt it was interesting enough to buy it. 

My collection: 7" single no. 8303
Found: Plato, Leiden, 27 May 2026
Tracks: 'The baby, she's on the street' / 'Denny Laine's valet'

We close our eyes '93 - Go West

When Go West released a greatest hits album (Aces and Kings - The best of Go West) in 1993, it seemed like a good idea to release a remixed version of their successful debut single 'We close our eyes'. Tom Lord Alge was commissioned to do the job, but unfortunately the remix didn't do much to distinguish it from the original version. 

The single was only a minor success in the UK, where it reached number 40 in the charts, and I wasn't awware of this release until last month! It's a nice curio, but unfortunately nothing really special.

My collection: 7" single no. 8301
Found: Discogs.com, received 20 May 2026
Tracks: 'We close our eyes 93' / 'Tell me' 

Party girl - Grace Jones

Grace Jones followed up her monumental album Slave to the rhythm (1985) with the rather less engaging Inside Story (1986), which spawned a few singles. The single 'Party girl' was the least successful of the three, as it only reached number 82 in the UK singles chart and number 53 in Germany. 

The song was remixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero for single release and another Inside Story track, "White Collar Crime", was used as the single B-side.  

My collection: 7" single no. 8299
Found: Discogs.com, received 20 May 2026
Tracks: 'Party girl' / 'White collar crime' 

Please speak to me of love - Raphael

After the recent acquisition of 'Dis-moi lequel' I felt I had to finally get my hands on 'Please speak to me of love', the English version of 'Hablemos del amor'; one of my alltime favourite Eurovision songs. Raphael recorded his song in English and French, but it was easier to get the English version, as it has been for sale on Discogs for a long time now.

This time I was able to combine this purchase with a few other singles, and so I was a happy man when I received this package a few days ago. Raphael does a decent version of his song, even if his pronunciation of '[what does it] matter' is a bit curious.

My collection: 7" single no. 8298
Found: Discogs.com, received 20 May 2026
Tracks: 'Please speak to me of love' / 'While I live' 

Fremder - Carola

You're probably familiar with Carola's 1983 Eurovision entry, 'Främling' or the English version 'Love isn't love'. If you're from the Netherlands, you will know 'Je ogen hebben geen geheimen'. But the least known version, I think, is the German one: 'Fremder'. It was released in Germany, obviously, and perhaps in Austria and Switzerland too. 

I don't have any info on chart placings, but my guess would be that this wasn't a big hit. These days copies change hands for steep prices and that's usually a sign that only a small amount of discs was pressed. A nice addition to my collection. 

My collection: 7" single no. 8297
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 May 2026
Tracks: 'Fremder' / 'Ich bin noch lange nicht frei' 

Tell me tomorrow - Princess

Having bought the yellow, pink and blue vinyl editions of 'Tell me tomorrow' by Princess recently, all I needed to find what the white vinyl version. That was a bit more difficult, because most dealers had no other interesting stuff on offer. 

But recently I decided to buy a few replacement copies of singles by OMD and Scritti Politti (the old ones had stickers on them) and so it was easy (and cheap) to add this one. Nothing is more satisfying than completing a quartet.

My collection: 7" single no. 8296
Found: Discogs.com, received 29 April 2026
Tracks:  'Tell me tomorrow' / 'Say I'm your number one (original demo)' 

Hard rock Hallelujah - Lordi

Last week's Record Store Day has come and gone, and as usual I didn't participate. The whole idea of waiting in line for a record store to open and then to find out that the item I want is either already sold or has not even arrived in that shop doesn't appeal to me at all. Fortunately I have the kind of taste that most people don't even have to fight for. And so I waited patiently for Sunday, when the special Record Store Day releases became available online. 

I only really wanted one item: this 12" single of Lordi's 'Hard rock Hallelujah', released twenty years after the Finnish monster band won the Eurovision Song Contest. It's a beautiful release: a white disc with a UV print on one side and three tracks on the other side. The designers didn't really think this through: I would have placed the sticker at the bottom, not at the top.  

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Velvet Music, received 21 April 2026
Tracks:  'Hard rock Hallelujah (Eurovicious radio edit)', 'Hard rock Hallelujah', 'Mr. Killjoy'