This is my life - Shirley Bassey

I already bought 'This is my life' in 2010, but I didn't buy this single for that song. I didn't buy it for the tittillating cover either. The B-side of this single is 'Anyone who had a heart', a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick in 1963. In the UK, it was executed to perfection by Cilla Black. But Shirley Bassey does a fine version of this song too, even if it is hidden on a B-side. 

An amusing list of big names performing the song is found on the "Anyone Who Had a Heart" Olympics. It's amusing because the writer writes off a lot of the versions - even the good ones.

My collection: 7" single no. 8373
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'This is my life' / 'Anyone who had a heart'

Rivers of Babylon / Sunny - Boney M

I bought the 'Original Double Hit' single featuring 'Ma Baker' and 'Baby do you wanna bump' three years ago, and found myself pleasantly surprised when I found this one recently. It features a photograph from Boney M's Love For Sale album and two other big hits from the group: 'Rivers of Babylon' and 'Sunny'.

It's not an essential purchase by any means, but as one great philosopher once said: 'Gotta catch 'em all'. And so I did. As far as I know, no other 'Original Double Hit' single by Boney M exists.

My collection: 7" single no. 8372
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'Rivers of Babylon' / 'Sunny' 

Sweet Lui-Louise - Ironhorse

I heard 'Sweet Lui-Louise' on the radio recently and when I heard it, I thought it was a track by Bachman Turner Overdrive, because of the similarities with 'You ain't seen nothing yet'. I was not wrong: the Canadian band Ironhorse was founded by Randy Bachman, who left BTO in May 1977. Together with Tom Sparks (vocals, guitars), John Pierce (bass), and Mike Baird (drums) he recorded an album, also titled Ironhorse.

'Sweet Lui-Louise' was released as a single and reached number 36 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 60 in the UK singles chart and number 23 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 8371
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'Sweet Lui-Louise' / 'Watch me fly' 

Amateur hour - Sparks

After the Sparks enjoyed international success with 'This town ain't big enough for both of us', they released 'Amateur hour' as the second single from their album Kimono My House. The single peaked at number 7 in the UK singles chart and made it into the German and Irish charts as well. Despite a rousing performance in the Dutch TV show Toppop, the single didn't make it into the Dutch Top 40. 

In 1997 they made a new recording of the track for their 17th album Plagiarism. This new version was given a complete electronic synth-pop overhaul and was performed with Erasure.

My collection: 7" single no. 8370
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'Amateur hour' / 'Lost and found'

 

To be reborn - Boy George

After Culture Club fell apart, Boy George, having recovered from a drug addiction, released his first solo album Sold in June 1987. The first single, 'Everything I own' became a big hit (a number one hit in the UK), three more singles were released off the album. 'To be reborn' was the last. 

A limited edition of the single was released in a gatefold sleeve with a booklet, featuring several photographs of the singer.

My collection: 7" single no. 8369
Found: Didi's Record Shop, Heerlen, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'To be reborn' / 'Where are you now?' 

Amiga Quartett - Culture Club

My collection of Amiga Quartett EP's continues with this one, featuring four hit singles by Culture Club. The photograph on the cover belies the fact that it was released in 1985, after they released 'The War Song', which is the last track on this EP. By that time, Boy George's image had totally changed. 

The EP was exclusive to the GDR, the Eastern part of Germany which was still behind the Iron Curtain in those days. The state-owned record company Amiga released many of these EP's which were totally unavailable in Western Europe back then. These day they are popping up almost everywhere! 

My collection: 7" single no. 8368
Found: Didi's Record Shop, Heerlen, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'Do you really want to hurt me', 'It's a miracle' / 'Karma Chameleon', 'The War Song' 

Equinoxe 4 - Jean Michel Jarre

It's pure coincidence that I found this single just days after I found a different version of 'Magnetic fields' -this time it's a different version of 'Equinoxe'. I found this single while scouring a shop in Heerlen, which is quite far away from where I live! I expected to find lots of cheap singles (since they advertised having thousands of them), but unfortunately they were all priced. So this was only one of three singles I bought there.

It was, of course, worth it. This 'version inédite' is an edit of the album version, cutting it to half its length. The B-side is also two minutes shorter than its album counterpart. I've never come across this single before, so it was worth picking up.

My collection: 7" single no. 8367
Found: Didi's Record Shop, Heerlen, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'Equinoxe part 4' / 'Equinoxe part 3'