Tomorrow - The Communards

The Communards released several very good 12" singles and when I found this copy of 'Tomorrow' I thought it would be another great extended version of this great song. I wasn't disappointed. The 12" stretches the single version to almost twice its original length. There are also three tracks on the B-side: 'I just want to let you know' (which is also the B-side of the 7" single) plus a solo track by Richard Coles (an instrumental piece) and a solo track by Jimmy Somerville (a vocal track). It's a good package which should have helped the single to a top position.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'Tomorrow [extended version]' / 'I just want to let you know', 'Romanze for violin, piano and hedgehog', 'Scat' 

I just can't wait - Mandy Smith

After going through hundreds of 7" singles at Parkstad Record Shop in two hours, I only had ten minutes or so left until closing time to go through the 12" singles. Fortunately there wasn't much there - I managed to get three titles that were mildly interesting. The first one was this one by Mandy Smith.

Mandy Smith's debut single 'I just can't wait' was produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman, so it was only logical that 12" singles would appear, as the trio was quite prolific at the time. The 'cool and breezy jazz version' was mixed by 'The Extra Beat Boys With The Funky Sisters'. One can only guess who they were. It's not so much jazz as it is a relaxed piece of pop.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'I just can't wait (The cool and breezy jazz version)' / 'I just can't wait (instrumental)', 'You're never alone' 

Merci, Chérie - Roy Etzel

Roy Etzel appeared on this blog before, when I bought his version of 'Dansevise' (the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964) two years ago. But that wasn't the only Eurovision song he recorded.

In 1966 Udo Jürgens won the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Merci, Chérie'. The piano-based melody is recorded surprisingly well with the sound of trumpets by Roy Etzel. For the B-side of this single he also does a version of 'Strangers in the night', the famous Frank Sinatra song. 'Deux succes sur un single', indeed.

My collection: 7" single no. 8385
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'Merci, Chérie' / 'Strangers in the night' 

I get weak - Belinda Carlisle

'I get weak' was released as the second single from Belinda Carlisle's second album Heaven on Earth in 1987, after the million-selling 'Heaven is a place on earth'. The song was written by Diane Warren and produced by Rick Nowels. After completing the song, songwriter Diane Warren initially had Stevie Nicks in mind – a suggestion she made to producer Rick Nowels, who felt it would be a better fit for Carlisle.

The single reached number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 in the UK singles chart. In the Netherlands, however, the single didn't chart. Somehow this US pressing of the single ended up in a Dutch record shop.

My collection: 7" single no. 8384
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks:  'I get weak' / 'Should I let you in?'

We've got tonight - Kenny Rogers & Sheena Easton

I've always felt that 'We've got tonight' was a bit of a creepy duet between Kenny Rogers (born in 1938) and Sheena Easton (born in 1959). They recorded the song in 1983, when Sheena was 24 years old and Kenny 45. But apparently she was positive about the idea when Kenny called her and pitched the idea near the end of 1982. 

The song was originally written and performed by Bob Seger, who recorded it for his album Stranger in Town (1978). Easton would assert that it was the song choice which appealed to her, while allowing Rogers to be "a good singer with a distinctive voice" who she found "always helpful and co-operative" in the studio, debunking insider reports that the ten-day recording session for the track was a stormy one with Rogers overtly disliking Easton's high-pitched vocals.

My collection: 7" single no. 8383
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'We've got tonight' / 'You are so beautiful' 

In the night - Barbara Dickson

Not two, but three singles were taken from Barbara Dickson's 1980 album The Barbara Dickson Album. 'It's really you' and 'January February' were rather wellknown in the Netherlands, but 'In the night' escaped our attention completely. 

It was different in the UK: 'It's really you' wasn't released there, but 'In the night' was and it reached number 48 in the singles chart. Not a big hit, but it was noticed nonetheless. Barbara would only have one big hit after this: the duet 'I know him so well' together with Elaine Page, which became a number 1 hit in the UK in 1984. 

My collection: 7" single no. 8381 
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'In the night' / 'Now I don't know'

That's the way (I like it) - Dead or Alive

KC and the Sunshine Band had a huge hit with 'That's the way (I like it)' in 1975. Pete Burns and his band Dead or Alive realized that they could probably have similar success with the song a decade later. I remember the music video well: it was recorded in a shower room filled with muscular women. (Somehow I imagine that Pete Burns would have preferred men in there, but okay...)

It was Dead or Alive's first hit single, peaking at number 22 in the UK singles chart and number 23 in Ireland. Europe would only come to know Dead or Alive a year later, when they released 'You spin me 'round (like a record)'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 8379
Found: Parkstad Record Shop, Kerkrade, 29 July 2026
Tracks: 'That's the way (I like it)' / 'Do it'