Popcorn - Anarchic System

Gershon Kingsley composed 'Popcorn' as an instrumental tune. Still, there are a few vocal versions of this track, and the first one was recorded by Anarchic System in 1972. Anarchic System was a French band. Early singles 'Popcorn' and 'Carmen Brasilia' were very much influenced by electronic music, although later work is influenced more by the rock genre.

For the longest time, I didn't know that there was this vocal version of 'Popcorn', all I knew was that Anarchic System recorded 'a version' of Kingsley's composition. I found out shortly before I found my copy at a Dutch record fair. Although I prefer the instrumental version on the B-side of this record, it's still a great rarity.

My collection: 7" single no. 2736
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, September 8, 1996
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'Popcorn (Vocal)' / 'Popcorn (Instrumental)'
Download: here

I put a spell on you - Dee Dee

I am pretty sure that I would never have bought this 12" single if I hadn't had the double lp The best of the Top 40 of the year in my collection. By the time I bought this, that album was mine for more than a quarter of a century, and I'd played 'I put a spell on you' by Dee Dee more than a few times. Otherwise, I might have just glanced at this record and put it aside in the shop.

The way it was, I just had to have this special yellow vinyl edition, featuring an extended version of this cover of the Cleedence Clearwater Revival classic. Sure, it's throwaway pop, but I've never disliked that...

My collection: 12" single no. 436

Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam, 2004

Cost: 5 euro

Tracks: 'I put a spell on you [12" version]' / 'Do your loving right'

Download: here

I've seen that face before / Pull up to the bumper - Grace Jones

Before I bought this record, I left it standing in the shop for months and months. I didn't think it would contain longer versions of the two songs listed, and that was reason enough not to buy it. I think I was right, because when I finally did buy it, this record contained the regular versions of the songs. Still, after all that time, the price had dropped, so the financial damage was limited.

Grace Jones is an icon, and 'I've seen that face before' is her best song, in my opinion at least. If only for that one line: 'toi aussi, tu déteste la vie'. There's only one woman who can snarl like that.

My collection: 12" single no. 325

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1995

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'I've seen that face before' / 'Pull up to the bumper'

Download: Disc 2 of album 'Ultimate Collection', including both tracks

Living in a world (turned upside down) - Private Lives

The radio station I listened to in the first half of the 1980's was very much oriented towards the UK charts. Even if songs didn't make it into the Dutch charts, you would hear the latest sounds from Britain, and that would give you a good idea of what was going on on the other side of the North Sea.

Private Lives was a band that never made it in Europe. They didn't even make it in the UK, as only this song, 'Living in a world (turned upside down)' reached the lower regions of the singles charts.

It's a classy, stylish song, with a melody that stays in your head once you've heard it. I loved it in the eighties and I was happy to find this single almost a decade later. Much to my surprise, it was a Dutch pressing!

My collection: 7" single no. 1832

Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, January 13, 1993

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Living in a world (turned upside down)' / 'Breakup'

Download: Album 'Prejudice and pride', including both tracks

Respectable - Mel & Kim

The British sisters Mel and Kim Appleby, born to English and Jamaican parents, were noticed while they were dancing in a nightclub in London, signed to Supreme records and put under the guidance and supervision of the production team Stock Aitken & Waterman. It was the start of a short but very successful career, starting in September 1986 with their debut single 'Showing out (Get Fresh at the weekend)'. The second single, 'Respectable', was an even bigger success in the UK, reaching no. 1 in the spring of 1987.

I bought this single twice. The first copy I bought quickly after its release, the second copy six years later. It was a German limited edition in red vinyl, which was a great find. I never saw this item before or since.

My collection: 7" single no. 526 (1) and 1884 (2)

Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1987 (1) and Record Fair, Amsterdam, April 24, 1993 (2)

Cost: 6 guilders (1) and 4 guilders (2)

Tracks: 'Respectable' / 'Respectable (instrumental)'

Download: here

Find me (Odyssey to Anyoona) - Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka

Time can be cruel to pop songs. Some songs sound dated only a couple of years after they are released, others are truly timeless. I'd have to say that this one falls into the former category. Listening to 'Find me' in 2008 makes it a very 'nineties' track. Jam & Spoon have produced and created many tracks but they have used the same style pretty much all the time.

Still, 'Find me' is a nice popsong, and when I bought this promotional double 12" release, I was very glad. It contains no less than six versions of the song, plus two other tracks, and the heavy duty gatefold sleeve gives it a lush look. The fact that such releases sometimes turn out to be a bit disappointing in the long run is just a minor remark.

My collection: 12" single no. 219

Found: Kensington High Street, London, 1994

Cost: 6 pounds

Tracks: 'Find me (Fruhschicht)', 'Find me (House ideaz)' / 'Find me (Dedicated to the blondes)', 'Find me (Ben Liebrand mix)' / 'Find me (Odyssey to Anyoona)', 'Odyssey to Anyoona' / 'Drie Kraft der vier Herzen', 'The Tribe'

Download: here

Chequered love - Kim Wilde

'Chequered love' was Kim Wilde's second single and it was another big success. In the Netherlands, it did even better than Kim's debut Kids in America, reaching no. 2 in the charts where 'Kids' only made it to no. 6.

In 1982, I was going to Disco Market on a very regular basis, searching through the singles until I found one or two titles I could take home and play. It was a nice surprise to find 'Chequered love' only a few weeks after I'd found View from a bridge.

My collection: 7" single no. 129

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Chequered love' / 'Shane'

Download: here