'Guilty' is one of those classic albums that literally everybody owned in 1980. It featured two big hits: the title track, a duet with Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees, who also produced the album, and of course the inevitable 'Woman in love'.
I didn't know a third single had been taken from the album: 'What kind of fool', another duet with Barry Gibb. No wonder: it wasn't a hit. It isn't necessarily a bad song, but not very memorable either. The B-side, by contrast, is horrendous.
My collection: 7" single no. 5031 Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, January 29, 2011 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'What kind of fool' (with Barry Gibb) / 'Make it like a memory'.
When Barbra Streisand asked Barry Gibb to write an album for her, he not only contributed his songs, but also his voice, as well as producing the whole thing. The title track, 'Guilty', was actually recorded as a duet between Streisand and Gibb, and subsequently released as a single too.
The single peaked at number 3 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 34 in the UK singles chart and number 12 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4438 Found: Kringloop, Sassenheim, January 23, 2010 Cost: 0,12 euro Tracks: 'Guilty' / 'Life story'
'Till I loved you' was a duet recorded by Barbra Streisand and Don Johnson, which appeared on Streisand's 1988 album of the same name. The track was produced by Phil Ramone. The single reached number 16 in the UK singles chart, number 25 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 4 in the Dutch Top 40. I bought the 3" cd-single when this single came out, and now, two decades later, I finally own the 7" single as well.
The tenor Placido Domingo and Jennifer Rush recorded a cover version of the song in 1989.
My collection: 7" single no. 4369 Found: Concerto, Amsterdam, December 30, 2009 Cost: 0,75 euro Tracks: 'Till I loved you' / 'Two people'
'Woman in love' may be one of Barbra Streisand's most famous songs. It was released as a single from her 1980 album 'Guilty'. Like the entire album, the song was written by Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.
The single reached number one in the USA, Canada, most European countries, as well as Australia and South Africa.
My collection: 7" single no. 402 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1986 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'Woman in love' / 'Run wild'
In 1979, Barbra Streisand, famous for her easy listening songs, and disco queen Donna Summer got together to record a duet. Entitled 'Enough is enough', it almost never made it onto Streisand's album 'Wet', because the lyric did not contain any reference to water (the theme of the album). Streisand really wanted the song on the album and thus changed the title of the song to 'No more tears (Enough is enough)', upon which the ballad introduction was written, to give more of an explanation of water to the song. 'It's raining, it's pouring, my love life is boring me to tears after all these years'.
During the recording of the song, Summer is said to have passed out and fallen off her chair having been out partying the night before. Streisand supposedly carried on singing her long note and waited until she had finished it before stopping and asking Summer if she was okay. Another rumour regarding the song is that Streisand's son, Jason Gould, is the one who talked his mother into recording the duet as he was a fan of Summer's work. The single became a number one hit in the USA and Canada, peaking at number 3 in the UK and number 20 in the Netherlands.
My collection: 7" single no. 3896 Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam, July 20, 2009 Cost: 0,25 euro Tracks: 'No more tears (Enough is enough)' / 'Wet' (Barbra Streisand)
Barbra Streisand can be cheesy, too mellow and even kitschy, but sometimes she manages to create something magical. With the aid of producer Jim Steinman, who made his name with Meatloaf's 'Bat out of hell' epic, she recorded 'Left in the dark' in 1984. The lyrics are still melodramatic and a bit embarrassing ('You swore you'd be with me at seven o'clock / now it's a quarter to three') but the music can't be beat. And then of course there's those trademark backing choirs...
I bought this promo 7" single from my favourite second hand record shop. It was an unusual find, since it was a promo from the UK. This promo features a version of 'Left in the dark' "without spoken intro". It still clocks in at 5'47.
My collection: 7" single no. 362
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1985
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Left in the dark (without spoken intro)' / 'Here we are at last'
'Guilty' is one of those classic albums that literally everybody owned in 1980. It featured two big hits: the title track, a duet with Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees, who also produced the album, and of course the inevitable 'Woman in love'.
