'All fall down' was Five Star's first hit in the Netherlands in the summer of 1985. They were described as the UK's new supe...

Sade's debut single 'Your love is king' made me shout out 'boring!' every time I saw it on TV. This was during the time ...

The Canadian band Cowboy Junkies were formed in 1985 by Michael, Margo and Peter Timmins with Alan Anton. They have always been popular in C...

New Musik was an English synthpop group, formed in 1979 in London by Tony Mansfield, Clive Gates and Cliff Venner. Their debut album 'Fr...

So this is the 12" single I found almost a quarter of a century after it was released. I didn't even know this version existed, but...

I got to know the group Exile because of their hit ballad 'Kiss you all over'. When shortly afterwards the released this exciting di...

Sandie Shaw won the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Puppet on a string'. It subsequently spent three weeks at the top of the UK s...

Berlin was formed in Orange County, California in the late Seventies. The band consisted of John Crawford, David Diamond and Terri Nunn. The...

China Crisis's third album was produced by Walter Becker, of Steely Dan fame. Named 'Flaunt the imperfection', the album was pre...

'Shattered dreams', 'I don't wanna be a hero', 'Turn back the clock'... These were the singles that made Johnny ...

British music magazine New Musical Express, or NME in short, started giving away free EP's with the magazine in 1985. The first EP featu...

'Baby Jane' was a number one single in the UK for Rod Stewart, taken from his 1983 album 'Body wishes'. It was his most succ...

'La vie en rose' was one of French singer Edith Piaf's most famous songs. The lyrics were written by Piaf, with music composed b...

Drawn from their debut album 'Bridge of spies', 'Valentine' is a power ballad that is laden with emotions. Released in time ...

This single was released in 1972 at the same time as other versions of 'Carmen Brasilia' by Bob Callaghan and co. and Revolution Sy...

'She drives me crazy' was the first single taken from the Fine Young Cannibals's second album 'The raw and the cooked'. ...

The Dutch group Lois Lane was Founded by Monique Klemann, she originally worked with backing singer Angela. When she left the band in 1985, ...

After I'd decided I wanted to hear more from Mylene Farmer, things went pretty fast. Thanks to record fairs, I was able to buy a lot of ...

Not to be confused with the Walker Brothers song of the same name, 'No regrets' is an equally monumental piece of work. Written by R...

The Icicle Works released their fourth album 'Blind' in 1988. This contained the reggae-inspired track 'Little girl lost', a...

'Sleepwalk' was the first single drawn from Ultravox's classic album 'Vienna' (1980). The song was primarily used to ach...

XTC's 'Making plans for Nigel' reached number 32 in the Dutch Top 40 in 1979. It fared better in the UK, where it reached number...

Billy MacKenzie and Alan Rankine formed the Associates in early 1980, after having worked together on various other projects. They found com...

The original version of 'Diamante' appeared on Zucchero 'Sugar' Fornaciari's 1989 album 'Oro incenso e birra', r...

Following the tragic death of John Lennon in December 1980, Roxy Music recorded a cover version of his song 'Jealous guy'. This was ...

I'll be honest: I didn't like 'Are you my baby?' when it came out and climbed to number 9 in the Dutch Top 40 in the spring ...

While most recognised for their eighties work, Bananarama are still around today. Of course, they are not a trio anymore, as only Sara Dalli...

A record collection which includes all the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest (well, I do try) should also contain the 1988 winner, Celi...

'State of shock' was recorded by The Jacksons with Mick Jagger in 1984 for the album 'Victory'. Originally the song was goin...

Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin made a career out of covering old soul songs. Starting out with the German number one hit 'It's my p...

Mari Wilson appeared on the scene in the early eighties with her skyscraper beehive hairdo, a strange sense of (retro-inspired) fashion and ...

Act were a synthpop group in the late eighties, consisting of Thomas Leer and ex-Propaganda singer Claudia Brücken. Lyrically their songs te...

'The clapping song' is a song originally recorded by Shirley Ellis in 1965. The lyrics of 'The clapping song' are reminiscen...

'Souvenir' was released as the first single from Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's 1981 album 'Architecture & Morality...

Coati Mundi is the stage name of Andy Hernandez. He was member of Kid Creole and the Coconuts, playing the vibraphone. He scored a solo hit ...

'Always Something There to Remind Me' is a song written in the 1960s by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally a minor hit for Ame...

Lili-Marlene Premilovich was born on March 30, 1949 in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 13 her family moved to Hull, England. She met guitar...

The 1983 Eurovision Song Contest was won with the song 'Si la vie est cadeau', performed by Corinne Hermes. She was born on November...

It's never clear to me why some singles are not a bigger success. Peter Godwin's 'Baby's in the mountains' is a good exa...

This single is one of the big mysteries of my life. I bought it in 1980, not long after it came out. Then, some months later, it simply disa...

I got to know 'Hide and seek' by Five Star thanks to this box set , which I'd bought in London in 1987. I was a bit surprised wh...

'Ten American girls' was Bolland's last single to make the Dutch bubbling under chart. The two brothers Rob and Ferdi Bolland di...

'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!' was written by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus as a new track for the compilation album 'Greatest Hits ...

At the beginning of 1985, ZZ Top visited the Dutch top 40 with three singles: 'Legs', 'Gimme all your lovin'' and 'S...

As far as I know, 'A sorta fairytale' was the last single by Tori Amos to be released on 7" vinyl. It was taken from her first ...

'Part-time lover' was released as a single in 1985 and was taken from Stevie Wonder's album 'In square circle'. The song...

I don't know what caused my sister to buy this single, but it was through her that I got to know the phenomenon that is Rupert Hine. He ...

For a while in the eighties, dance remixes of old classics were selling very well. In 1987, Hot Chocolate, the band that folded in 1984, had...

'Island of lost souls' was Blondie's last hit single before they broke up. After having performed punkrock, new wave and even ra...

In 1977, Italian singer Umberto Tozzi released one of his most famous songs, 'Ti amo'. It stayed at number one on the Italian charts...