A gentleman's excuse me - Fish

I bought several different discs of Fish's 'A gentleman's excuse me'. Besides two 7" singles, a cd-single and a shaped picture disc, the 12" single was a piece of vinyl that ended up in my collection pretty soon after its release.

On this format, the demo version of the song is added. It also appears on the cd-single, but this is, as far as I know, the only vinyl format on which the demo appears.

My collection: 12" single no. 93
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1990
Cost: 15 guilders
Tracks: 'A gentleman's excuse me' / 'Whiplash', 'A gentleman's excuse me (demo)'

Spirit of the forest - Spirit of the forest

After Band Aid, Dance Aid, Ferry Aid and USA for Africa, the Gentlemen without weapons figured they had something to add to the growing amount of charity singles: a rainforest appeal. Together with the animal and rainforest noises which they'd already used for an album, they rounded up lots of famous artists to record 'Spirit of the forest'.

Somehow, the idea didn't quite work. The song sounded a bit naff and people were apparently not so concerned about the destruction of the rain forest as they were about starving children in Africa. The single was a commercial failure, but fans of Afrika Bambaataa, Jon Anderson, B52's, Michael de Barre, Big Country and the few dozen other artists mentioned on the sleeve of this single had another collector's item to get their hands on.

My collection: 7" single no. 900
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, June 23, 1989
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Spirit of the forest' / 'Spirit of the forest'

A gentleman's excuse me - Fish

Some songs attach themselves to you and take on different, totally personal meanings. This is a good example. 'A Gentleman's excuse me' was released in May 1990, just before I got infatuated with a girl I knew. A love song in the best of traditions, with full orchestral backing, Fish hit the nail on the head with this song for me. I played it endlessly and bought all the editions that existed.

First of all, I got the standard German pressing, which was available everywhere in the Netherlands. Then at a record fair I found the limited edition red vinyl pressing from the UK, pictured below. And finally, I got the regular UK pressing with it's beautiful glossy cardboard sleeve.

'A Gentleman's excuse me' was a minor hit, peaking at number 30 in the UK and number 34 in the Netherlands. Still, I can't imagine I will ever forget this song - it's made a lasting impression on me.

My collection: 7" single no. 1207

Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, April 13, 1990 / Record fair, Den Haag, April 22, 1990 / Record Exchange, London, 1990

Cost: 6 guilders / 10 guilders / 1 pound

Tracks: 'A Gentleman's excuse me' / 'Whiplash'