I could be happy - Altered Images

Clare Grogan was just seventeen years old when she started Altered Images with her bandmates Gerard "Caesar" McInulty (guitar), Michael "Tich" Anderson (drums), Tony McDaid (guitar), and Johnny McElhone (bass guitar). Two years later they had a big hit in the UK with the first single from their second album Pinky Blue. 

'I could be happy' is a song that always cheers you up with its bright sound and cheerful singing. This picture disc was released at the time to boost sales of the single, which ended up peaking at number 7 in the UK singles chart. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7944
Found: Discogs.com, received 25 March 2026
Tracks: 'I could be happy' / 'Insects' 

Visions in blue - Ultravox

The discovery of several picture discs of Ultravox singles has triggered a new obsession: trying to catch them all. And I've been rather successful recently. A recent acquisition was this picture disc of 'Visions in blue', a song I first discovered when I bought the greatest hits collection LP four decades ago, imaginatively titled The Collection.

This picture disc simply recreates the sleeve of the single and is perhaps a superfluous addition to my collection, but anyway, I think it's worth it.

My collection: 7" single no. 7943
Found: Discogs.com, received 18 March 2026
Tracks: 'Visions in blue' / 'Break your back' 

Kate Bush - Viva City

Viva City was a band consisting of Trev Stardust, Ali Allerdyce, Bruce Tate and Chris Cairns. There isn't a lot of information about this band and the only website they ever had was on the now mostly defunct Myspace.com. 

And so we're left with this track 'Kate Bush', named after one of the best musicians in the world. This single was pressed on white vinyl. I would like to know more about the background of this track, but unfortunately there is no way of knowing! 

My collection: 7" single no. 7942
Found: Discogs.com, received 18 March 2026
Tracks: 'Kate Bush' / 'Wealth' 

Gimme some love - Gina G

After Gina G represented the United Kingdom with 'Ooh aah... Just a little bit' she released an album called Fresh, from which several singles were released. Most of them didn't appear on vinyl, however, which makes this particular 10" single a bit of a rarity. 

'Gimme some love' was released as the final single from the album on 25 August 1997. This one-sided promotional 10" single features one of the remixes of the song, created by Hysteric Ego. While writing this piece I found out a 7" single also exists, so who knows... you might see it on this blog soon!

My collection: 10" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 3 March 2026
Tracks: 'Gimme some love (Hysteric Ego "Raaah" mix)'

Where do I go - Marissa Nadler / Happy Rhodes

The name Happy Rhodes may not ring any bells with you, dear reader, but for me she is a true legend. I discovered her during the early days of internet, way back in 1993. She was presented as the American version of Kate Bush in the newsgroups devoted to the British legend. At that point, Happy had already released six cd's, which I bought within a couple of months. (The record shop Fame in Amsterdam had a good supply back then!)

Although Happy hasn't released any new music in years, she recently toured with Security Project, performing songs by Peter Gabriel, and indeed a couple of Kate Bush songs as well. The record company Numero Group released a compilation of Happy Rhodes tracks in 2018, and that was the final release by her - or so I thought. 

I was browsing Discogs last week and found this single. It was apparently released in 2024 and features two versions of 'Where do I go' - a track from Happy Rhodes' second cd. It is not one of her best tracks ever, but a nice taster if you've never heard her. The song was covered by Marissa Nadler - and both versions appear on this 7" single. Funny enough, this is the only 7" ever with a Happy Rhodes song on it! 

My collection: 7" single no. 7939
Found: 33 | 45 Records, Den Haag, 4 March 2026
Tracks: 'Where do I go' (Marissa Nadler) / 'Where do I go' (Happy Rhodes)

Heart of the country - Ultravox

Ultravox released one of the best deluxe editions of any album ever when they released Lament last year, and also The Collection. It remains one of my favourite bands from the Eighties, even if I didn't really enjoy all their albums equally. The singles were almost always ace.

'Heart of the country' is the one that got away. As far as I know it was released in Germany only, and I discovered this one last year when checking out their discography. I never knew this was a single release! Only one copy was on offer online, and I bought it. Even in Germany, this single didn't make the chart, and so it remains the most obscure Ure-era Ultravox single!

My collection: 7" single no. 7937
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 February 2026
Tracks: 'Heart of the country' / 'Man of two worlds'

Find the time - Five Star

The British quintet Five Star lost one of their members last year, when Stedman passed away on 10 March. You would think that this fact would get more attention than it did, because Five Star were absolutely on top of the charts in the Eighties. It just proves that fame can be ever so fickle.

'Find the time' was one of the band's finest singles, and it was released on a picture disc. It was on my want list for some time, because it looks quite stunning, both when you're playing it and when you're just looking at it. It's the fine art of creating great artwork, and the British band was quite good at it! 

My collection: 7" single no. 7936
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 February 2026
Tracks: 'Find the time' / 'Sky'