Never as good as the first time - Sade

There is some irony in recording a song called 'Never as good as the first time' and then re-record it for the single release. This is exactly what Sade did in 1986. The funny thing is, the re-recording was actually better than the first one.

When this single was released, Sade was touring in support of her second album 'Promise', and backing singer Leroy Osbourne was recruited. With his added vocals, the track was lifted to above average level. The 12" single contained the full length version of the re-recording, whereas the 7" single contained an edit. The B-side was an instrumental part of the song 'Hang on to your love', as performed during the tour mentioned.

My collection: 12" single no. 53

Found: Free record shop, Den Haag, 1987

Cost: 4,95 guilders

Tracks: 'Never as good as the first time (extended mix)' / 'Keep hanging on'

Download: here

Love is a wonderful colour - The Icicle Works

'Love is a wonderful colour' was the first single by the Icicle Works to reach the UK singles chart. The song is a dynamic piece of work, the vocals by lead singer Ian McNabb sounding suspiciously like David Bowie.

I found the double single edition during my visit to Beanos in 2006. I'd never bought a double single this cheap before.

My collection: 7" single no. 3443

Found: Beanos, East Croydon, London, 2006

Cost: 20p

Tracks: 'Love is a wonderful colour' / 'Waterline' // 'In the dance the shaman led' / 'The devil on horseback'

Download: Album 'Sessions, mixes and b-sides (1982-1984)', including the three B-sides

Give me back my heart - Dollar

Trevor Horn was already doing production duties for Dollar when they released the single 'Give me back my heart'. This single is rather unique for proving the fact that even a producer like Trevor Horn can't rescue a song like this when it's performed by artists with limited vocal abilities. The whole affair sounds like two mediocre singers in an echo chamber.

I bought this single mainly because of Trevor Horn. Having grown accustomed to his style of producing I expected more of this single than I got. Not that he was to blame...

My collection: 7" single no. 3440

Found: Beanos, East Croydon, London, June 19, 2006

Cost: 20p

Tracks: 'Give me back my heart' / 'Pink and blue'

Download: here

Rain - The Cult

The Cult achieved mainstream success pretty early on in their career when they released their fourth single 'She sells sanctuary'. It reached number 15 in the UK singles chart. The next single was 'Rain'. It did almost as well: reaching number 17. It has always been a live favourite, being performed at almost every gig since its release. Despite the songs popularity, after performing it live in November 1989 at Wembley, singer Ian Astbury said 'So you like that one?'. After the audience cheered, Astbury responded by saying 'Personally I don't'.

My collection: 7" single no. 3441

Found: Beanos, East Croydon, London, 2006

Cost: 20p

Tracks: 'Rain' / 'Little face'

Download: here

48 Crash - Suzi Quatro

I've already established on this blog that I've got quite an extensive Kim Wilde collection. But I have to add a dimension to that right here and now: I've also got singles of tracks that she has covered. Suzi Quatro's '48 Crash' was not recorded in the studio by Kim Wilde, however she did perform it live on several occasions in 2004.

When I visited Beanos in 2006, I used the opportunity to get my hands on this rare single. Unfortunately they didn't have a picture sleeve edition, but then those were prety rare in the seventies anyway.

My collection: 7" single no. 3439

Found: Beanos, East Croydon, London, 2006

Cost: 4 pounds

Tracks: '48 Crash' / 'Little bitch blue'

Download: Album 'A's, B's & rarities', including both tracks (part 1, part 2)

Windpower - Thomas Dolby

Thomas Dolby was born as Thomas Morgan Roberston on October 14, 1958. His 'Dolby' nickname comes from the Dolby Laboratories, and was given to him by school friends due to his seemingly inseparable relationship with his cassette machine. Thomas Dolby released his debut album 'The golden age of wireless' in 1982. This track included 'Windpower'.

I got to know 'Windpower' via a different album: it was included on a compilation album to benefit Greenpeace in 1985. During my last visit to London's Beanos record shop in its original form, I picked up this single at a bargain price.

My collection: 7" single no. 3442

Found: Beanos, East Croydon, London, June 19, 2006

Cost: 20p

Tracks: 'Windpower' / 'Flying north'

Download: Album 'The golden age of wireless' including both tracks

Riders on the storm - Annabel Lamb

Annabel Lamb was born in Surrey, England in 1958. She released her debut album 'Once bitten' in 1983, and this single, a cover of the well-known track from The Doors. It earned her her only hit, because she got to no. 27 in the UK singles chart with this. She subsequently released six more albums, with little chart success.

This 12" single includes a longer version of the single track, with some extra guitar solos here and there, and a dub version, which is basically a remixed instrumental track. This version of the Doors classic is one of the more interesting ones, in my opinion. My copy of the 12" version includes a small poster of Annabel, who was not your average pinup, by the way.

My collection: 12" single no. 307

Found: Record Exchange, London, 1995

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Riders on the storm [extended]' / 'Riders on the storm (dub)', 'No cure'

Download: Riders on the storm - extended version and dub version

Message to my girl - Split Enz

The band Split Enz formed in 1971 at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1971. The original line-up consisted of Phil Judd, Tim Finn, Mike Chunn, Robert Gillies and Noel Crombie. Originally named 'Split Ends', they replaced the last three letters of their name with 'nz', which is the anagram for New Zealand. When Phil Judd left the band in 1977, he was replaced by Tim's brother Neil Finn, and they entered their more commercially successful new wave period.

Split Enz released 'Message to my girl' as a single in 1984. It was taken from their penultimate album 'Conflicting emotions'. It was a firm radio favourite in 1984, although it only reached number 13 in the charts in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 980

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, August 29, 1989

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Message to my girl' / 'Kia kaha'

Download: here

Coloured kisses - Martika

Martika was born as Marta Marrero on May 18, 1969 in Whittier, California. She entered showbusiness in 1982 in an uncredited role as one of the orphan girls in the 1982 motion picture 'Annie'. Her first self-titled album 'Martika' (1988) featured the successful debut single 'Toy soldiers'. In 1991 she released her second album 'Martika's kitchen', which included this single, 'Coloured kisses'.

I bought this single for one reason, and one reason only: it came in coloured vinyl. The red single was a cheap collector's item, which I bought on the basis of good experiences with some of Martika's other singles. This track is standard nineties fare: not bad, but not remarkable either.

My collection: 7" single no. 3407

Found: Record exchange, London, December 2004

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Coloured kisses' / 'Pride & prejudice'

Download: Album 'Martika's kitchen', including both tracks

Smalltown boy - Bronski Beat

'Smalltown boy' was the debut single of Bronski Beat. The song is about a gay boy who faces homophobia, loneliness and family misunderstanding. The video for the song was a powerful story of a boy - played by lead singer Jimmy Somerville - who makes friends - played by band members Larry Steinbachek and Steve Bronski - but is attacked by a gang of homophobes. A policeman brings him back to his home. He catches a train and reunites with his friends.

The song became a number one hit in the Netherlands. Some radio stations played the 12" version of the track at the time, which is how I got to know the extended version. It was such a good version that I had to have it. It was one of the first 12" singles I bought.

My collection: 12" single no. 4

Found: LP top 100, Den Haag, 1984

Cost: 14,95 guilders

Tracks: 'Smalltown boy [extended version]' / 'Infatuation', 'Memories'

Download: here

Wonderland - XTC

The single 'Wonderland' by XTC is one of those singles that went unnoticed by the general public. It didn't chart anywhere. It was a track lifted from the album 'Mummer', which featured a more pastoral sound than any of their previous work. The track was written by band member Colin Moulding and was later described by band leader Andy Partridge as one of his 'most beautiful melodies'.

I was listening to tapes recorded by my sister in the mid-eighties when I found out about this track. I didn't like it much at first listen, but repeated listening made me change my mind. More than a decade later, I ended up buying the single.

My collection: 7" single no. 2945

Found: Record fair, Leiden, January 31, 1998

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Wonderland' / 'Jump'

Download: here

Dance hall days - Wang Chung

In some circles, nothing spells 'dodgy eighties music' better than the British new wave band Wang Chung. Their biggest hit in the USA was 'Everybody have fun tonight', which contains the immortal line 'Everybody Wang Chung tonight', which earned them the accolade of the third worst song ever by Blender magazine.

'Dance hall days' was their only hit in the UK, and the video was shown endlessly on music television stations in Europe in 1984, despite its blandness.

My collection: 7" single no. 3494

Found: Geest, Den Haag, 2004

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Dance hall days' / 'There is a nation'

Download: Album 'Points on the curve', including the track 'Dance hall days' / 12" single 'Dance hall days, including the track 'There is a nation'

Never gonna give you up - Rick Astley

'Never gonna give you up' was written and produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman for Rick Astley. The song was a worldwide number one hit in 1987 and 1988. The song has more recently become the center of an activity named 'Rickrolling', which involved placing misleading links redirecting to the song's video.

I didn't buy the single when it came out, because it was on the radio so often that I didn't need to hear it on record anymore. My recent acquisition of the single was just to complete a collection of Rick Astley singles: I do have them all, you know.

My collection: 7" single no. 3497

Found: Geest, Den Haag, 2004

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Never gonna give you up' / 'Never gonna give you up (instrumental)'

Download: here

You can't change that - Raydio

Long before Ray Parker Jr. started irritating the world with the song 'Ghostbusters', he was a member of this funky band called Raydio. The band was formed by Parker Jr., Vincent Bohnam, Jerry Knight and Amell Carmichael in 1977. Their first big hit was 1978's 'Jack and Jill', which they followed up with 'You can't change that'. The funny thing is, in the Netherlands the latter was a top 10 hit, whereas it didn't even chart in the UK.

When I bought this single in 1994, I had vague memories of it playing on the radio when I was young. It's one of those tracks that you can't get tired of, no matter how often you hear it.

My collection: 7" isngle no. 2118

Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam, June 11, 1994

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'You can't change that' / 'Rock on'

Download: Album 'Rock on', including both tracks

Photography - Fiat Lux

Fiat Lux had released one single on an independent label before they signed to Polydor. And 'Photography' was their first single on the Polydor label. It wasn't until the next single was released, 'Secrets', that the group reached the lower regions of the UK charts.

Contrary to what I wrote previously, Fiat Lux did release an album: the mini-lp 'Hired History'. Both tracks of this single appear on that mini-lp, as well as two other single a- and b-sides. I found 'Photography' together with a later single 'House of thorns' in 1999.

My collection: 7" single no. 3160

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 27, 1999

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Photography' / 'Aquae vitae'

Download: here

Rascal - Silver Wings

The Yugoslavian band Srebrna Krila (Silver Wings) competed in the 1988 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Mangup' ('Rascal' in English). They did rather well, ending up on sixth place, and receiving votes from 14 of the 21 competing countries.

I didn't really notice their song until years later, when a friend pointed it out to me as an interesting track. After listening to it a couple of times, I had to agree. I never expected to find a single of it, though: Yugoslavia is not known for its thriving record industry, and the war that took place not long after 1988 didn't help. But lo and behold: two years ago a single turned up. A great opportunity to own two versions of this interesting Eurovision track.

My collection: 7" single no. 3449

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, 2006

Cost: 5 euro

Tracks: 'Rascal' / 'Mangup'

Download: here

If I was - Midge Ure

Midge Ure had a very successful career as lead singer with Ultravox, when he started his solo career. He'd already released 'No regrets', a cover of the Walker Brothers song, but his career really took off with this, 'If I was', the first single from his debut solo album 'The gift'. It reached number one on the UK singles chart for one week in September 1985.

The 12" extended mix of 'If I was' features an amazing instrumental break, which - as I found out later - also appears on the album version of the track, but is edited from the single version. As an extended mix, it's faithful to the tension and build of the original track.

My collection: 12" single no. 74

Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1989

Cost: 4,95 guilders

Tracks: 'If I was (extended mix)' / 'Piano', 'The man who sold the world'

Download: here

Let me go - Heaven 17

Heaven 17 formed when Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware split from their earlier group Human League and formed production company British Electric Foundation (BEF). After releasing one LP they recruited their friend Glenn Gregory on vocals to form Heaven 17. 'Let me go' was their last unsuccessful single before they released 'Temptation', a song that would storm the international charts.

I boycotted Heaven 17 as part of a bitter row with my sister, spanning many years. She was putting some of my favourite artists down, and so I felt it was my duty to do the same with her favourites. When I saw Heaven 17 live as part of the Here and Now tour in 2001, I had to change my mind. 'Let me go' is my most recent Heaven 17 purchase; maybe there's more to follow.

My collection: 7" single no. 3472

Found: Empire Records, Den Haag, December 11, 2008

Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'Let me go' / 'Let me go (instrumental)'

Download: here

Disco Duck - Rick Dees

Born Rigdon Osmond Dees III in Jacksonville, Florida on March 14, 1950, Rick Dees recorded the novelty song 'Disco Duck' in 1976, during the disco craze of the late seventies. The story within Disco Duck centers around a man at a dance party who is overcome by the urge to get up and "get down" in a duck-like manner. When the music stops he sits down, but when he decides to get up and dance again, he finds that everyone in the room is now doing his dance.

The song sold millions of copies worldwide, reaching number 4 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 6 in the UK singles chart. As a child who loved "duckies", this single was one of my favourites at a very young age. I bought it two years ago for nostalgic reasons. It's still a great disco track.

My collection: 7" single no. 3423

Found: Esbjerg (Denmark), June 17, 2006

Cost: 10 Danish crowns

Tracks: 'Disco Duck (part 1)', 'Disco Duck (part 2)'

Download: here

Strung out - Wendy and Lisa

Best known for their collaborations with Prince as members of his backing band The Revolution in the eighties, Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman began their career as a duo in 1986. After releasing 'Wendy and Lisa' (1987) and 'Fruit at the bottom' (1989) for Columbia Records, they signed to Virgin records and released their third album 'Eroica'. 'Strung out' was the first single drawn from that album. It was a minor hit.

I bought this single for the reason I bought loads of my singles: because I liked the track when I heard it. What's special about this single, however, is that it contains a non-album track that is very great indeed. Sometimes bands make great B-sides.

My collection: 7" single no. 1278

Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, August 18, 1990

Cost: 6 guilders

Tracks: 'Strung out' / 'Stones and birth'

Download: here