This heart of mine - Anders Frandsen

Anders Frandsen was born ub Denmark on December 8, 1960. Although not a trained actor, he made his stage debut during the Eighties in theatre performances. In 1991 he represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Lige der hvor hjertet slår', a jazz-influenced lovesong composed by Michael Elo. The song didn't do well at the Contest, and placed 19th with only 8 points. That didn't hurt his popularity however, and the following year at the Danish national final, he was the host.

This single features the English-language version on the A-side. The song sounds rather more intruguing in Danish, though.

My collection: 7" single no. 1837

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, January 23, 1993

Cost: 10 guilders

Tracks: 'This heart of mine' / 'Lige der hvor hjertet slår'

Flash - Duke of Burlington

Nothing beats a good instrumental track from time to time. This 'golden oldie' appeared as background music in a commercial on a local radio station I listened to a lot during the Eighties. In time, I found out the name and artist behind the music, and then I found out that it was actually released when I was just born.

I have no idea who hides behind the stage name Duke of Burlington, but this track was a success in the Netherlands nonetheless: it peaked at number 11 in the autumn of 1970.

My collection: 7" single no. 382

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1985

Cost: 3,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Flash' / 'Viva Tirado'

Say you'll be mine - Amy Grant

I'd just discovered Amy Grant's albums 'Lead me on' and 'Heart in motion' when she started to release singles from her new album 'House of love'. One of those singles was 'Say you'll be mine'. I bought it on the hunch that this material might be just as good. I was not too disappointed: the songs were a bit on the bubblegum pop side, but still nice and melodic.

Grant didn't score a big hit with this: it roamed the UK singles chart for only two weeks in the autumn of 1994, peaking at number 41.

My collection: 7" single no. 2227

Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, December 17, 1994

Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Say you'll be mine (radio mix)' / 'Life's gonna change'

Rock me - Riva

I wouldn't be surprised if this song was responsible for the war in Yugoslavia that would break out a couple of years later. It must rank as one of the worst winners in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Riva, a group of five fronted by singer Emilija Kokić debuted on Zagrebfest in 1988. They performed their song 'Rock me' in Serbo-Croatian as the last act on the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest. When they unexpectedly won the Contest, BBC TV commentator Terry Wogan described it as 'the death knell' for the Contest. The group parted ways in 1991 after being unable to build on their sudden success with this unlistenable song.

My collection: 7" single no. 3599

Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, March 14, 2009

Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'Rock me baby (Original version)' / 'Rock me baby (English version)'

Slow emotion replay - The The

In 1993, it became increasingly difficult to find 7" vinyl singles of songs that were released as a single. More often than not, I could only find a cd-single version. It became quite a challenge to still find vinyl singles and I always had a sense of victory when I succeeded. This was one of those proud achievements.

Taken from the album 'Dusk', The The released 'Slow emotion replay' as the second single from that album. While 'Dogs of lust', single number one, was released as a limited edition 7" single in the UK, this one was only released on two different cd-singles. I found this Spanish promotional 7" with just one track on one side: the other side was not even playable. Which made this item all the more desirable, because a one-sided 7" single is a rarity in itself.

My collection: 7" single no. 2654

Found: London, June 29, 1996

Cost: 2 pounds

Tracks: 'Slow emotion replay'

There's more to love - The Communards

This was the last single released by the Communards before Richard Coles and Jimmy Somerville split up. The upbeat song comes with a serious message: 'There's more to love than boy meets girl / For love is strange and uncontrolled and it can happen to anyone'. Not surprisingly for this band the subject of the song was gay rights.

The B-side of this single is also interesting: it's a cover of the 1934 song written and composed by James F. Hanley. It was performed in the Broadway revue 'Thumbs up!'. The most famous version was performed by Judy Garland.

My collection: 7" single no. 2382

Found: House of Rhythm, London, July 1, 1995

Cost: 60p

Tracks: 'There's more to love' / 'Zing went the strings of my heart'

If you want my love - Cheap Trick

Cheap Trick made a name for themselves with the big hit 'I want you to want me'. I thought it was a very irritating song, and it had its effect: I hated the band for a long time. It took some getting used to that 'If you want my love' was actually a rather accomplished pop/rock ballad.

When I bought the single, it was in the middle of the period I've described on this blog a couple of times before: when my sister and I decided to buy different singles. She hated this song, I liked it. So I bought it - and she wasn't impressed with my choice.

My collection: 7" single no. 145

Found: Studio Echo, Den Haag, 1982

Cost: 5,5 guilders

Tracks: 'If you want my love' / 'Four letter word'