'Don't fall in love', released in 1985, was Toyah Wilcox's last top 40 hit in the UK, peaking at number 22. She'd had a lot of hit singles since 1977, when she started her career as part of a band named Toyah. A year later she married guitarist Robert Fripp.
I bought this single because my sister said she liked the song a lot. Myself, I was more impressed with the colourful and visually striking cover of the single.
My collection: 7" single no. 2368
Found: House of Rhythm, London, July 1, 1995
Cost: 40p
Tracks: 'Don't fall in love' / 'Snow covers the kiss'
Julien Clerc was born as Paul-Alain Clerc on October 4, 1947 in Paris, France. In 1969 he got the leading role in the musical 'Hair'. Since then, he's released a few dozen albums and even more singles. Some of them achieved international fame.
'This melody' was released in the summer of 1976 and rose to number 1 in the Netherlands. I always confuse this song with the previous single 'Venise', which I'm still searching for...
My collection: 7" single no. 2729
Found: September 7, 1996
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'This melody' / 'Prends ton coeur par la main'
Monsoon formed in 1981 and consisted of singer Sheila Chandra, producer Steve Coe and bass guitarist Martin Smith. They released one album, 'Third eye' in 1983. This album featured a cover of Lennon & McCartney's 'Tomorrow never knows' and their only hit, 'Ever so lonely'.
The song was a track inspired by the sounds of India, like most of the album. The single peaked at number 12 in the UK singles chart. A remix of the track appeared in 1995, but this version did not chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 901
Found: All that music, Leiden, June 23, 1989 Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Ever so lonely' / 'Sunset over the Ganges'
After Olivia Newton-John achieved world fame with the movie Grease, she picked up her own music career with the 1978 album 'Totally hot'. The single 'A little more love' shot to number 4 in the UK and number 3 in the Netherlands.
While I wasn't so impressed as a child with her Grease tracks, this track really impressed me. The song sounded modern and melodic and has remained a favourite of mine all these years.
New Order wrote and recorded 'True Faith' and '1963' during a 10-day studio session with producer Stephen Hague. The two songs were written as new material for New Order's first singles compilation album, 'Substance 1987'. After the two songs were recorded, the band's US management decided that 'True Faith' was the stronger track and would be released as the new single, with '1963' as the B-side.
As is the case for many New Order songs, the words in the title do not appear anywhere in the lyrics. The song is about Ecstacy. This is more obvious in the original lyrics, which contain the line, 'They're all taking drugs with me', in place of, 'They're afraid of what they see.' The line was changed at the last minute due to pressure from label executives, but the original line is often used when the band performs the song live.
The single peaked at number 4 in the UK, but did not chart in the Netherlands. I mainly remembered it because of the bizarre music video. In it bizarrely costumed dancers leap about, fight and slap each other in time to the music; while a girl in dark green makeup emerges from an upside down boxer's speed bag and signs the lyrics.
Scott Fitzgerald was born as William McPhail in Glasgow, Scotland on April 28, 1948. He represented the UK in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Go', written by Julie Forsyth, a former member of singing group Guys & Dolls. Scott lost the contest, by one point, to Switzerland's entry performed by Celine Dion.
'Go' is still the better song of the two: a heartfelt rendition instead of the plastic, cold and emotionless voice of Dion. The Contest juries were once again failing.
After Keane had hit it big with 'Somewhere only we know' in 2004, they had the major task of following the single up with something equally successful. They succeeded: 'Everybody's changing' peaked at number 4 in the UK singles chart while reaching number 18 in the Netherlands.
I had actually sortof stopped buying 7" singles during that year, so when I decided to revitalise my collection last year I had to start finding those old Keane singles. I bought a whole bunch of them from an online dealer. This single was released as a limited numbered edition. This is number 28.
My collection: 7" single no. 3488 Found: eBay, received December 20, 2008 Cost: 3 pounds Tracks: 'Everybody's changing' / 'Fly to me'
When it was decided that 'Gravitate to me' would be a single from The The's album 'Mind bomb', I imagine that it was a wise decision to edit the track down. The album version takes up all of eight minutes, while the 'little version' on this single is just over half that length.
Unfortunately, it didn't help matters much: the single only reached number 63 in the UK, which was a disappointment after 'The beat(en) generation' had been a top 20 hit.
My collection: 7" single no. 1007
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 17, 1989
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Gravitate to me (little version)' / 'The violence of truth'
Hip hop will always be a genre dominated by people who feel the need to use a lot of words to say... well... nothing. It doesn't happen very often - well, once every decade on average as far as I know - that I actually like a hip hop record. LL Cool J released 'I need love' in 1987 and took care of the Eighties for me.
The idea of making a rap about a troubled lovelife in a kindof ballad setting was pretty good I have to admit. He was rewarded with chart placings around the word, reaching number 8 in the UK and number 3 in the Netherlands. Just forget about all the other rubbish he's made since then. (And yes, the B-side of this single is very bad as well.)
'So lang' man träume noch leben kann' is a fine piece of orchestral pop, performed by Münchener Freiheit with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Jackson Singers. In the English-speaking world this track is better known as 'Keeping the dream alive', but this German version was recorded for their home turf.
The single was recorded in three separate location, the back of the sleeve reveals: Münchener Freiheit were recorded in Weryton Studios in Cologne, the Jackson Singers were recorded at Far Music-Studio in Rosbach and the London Symphony Orchestra, led by Andrew Powell, were recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London.
My collection: 7" single no. 3275
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 11, 2000
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'So lang' man träume noch leben kann' / 'So lang' man träume noch leben kann (instrumental version)'
I was quick to discard Donald Fagen's single 'New frontier' as boring when it was released in 1983. Just like previous single 'I.G.Y.', I couldn't appreciate the subtle sound of this track. Chances are, I was simply to young to appreciate it.
I had to chance my point of view a decade later, when the music video (which strangely enough can not be found on YouTube) appeared regularly on MTV for some reason. I quite like the track now.
My collection: 7" single no. 2285 Found: May 6, 1995 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'New frontier (edit)' / 'Maxine'
Jim Capaldi was born on August 2, 1944. In his teenage years he learned to play the drums. Since then, Jim made a career for himself as drummer with bands like the Hellions and Traffic.
In 1972, he released his first solo album, 'Oh how we danced'. Ten years and ten albums later, he had his first and only American top 40 hit: 'That's love', taken from the album 'Fierce heart' which was produced by Steve Winwood. The single reached number 28. The single was also released in the Netherlands, where it didn't chart.
Capaldi died of stomach cancer on January 28, 2005. He is survived by his wife and daughters.
This is one very strange single. 'Zo gaat ons leven voorbij' ('And so our lives pass by') is a collection of short talks with several characters, including such immortal lines as 'Vreet maar uit je neus en je bent toch al zo vet' ('Eating out of your nose as if you're not fat enough').
So who's Rob Meier? Where did he come from? What did he do before and after this single? No-one really knows. There is no information about the man anywhere and the single itself did not chart in the Netherlands. All that remains is this rather strange single.
I do wonder what foreign readers make of this. Tell me your thoughts after hearing this...
My collection: 7" single no. 211 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1983 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Zo gaat ons leven voorbij' / 'Klaas is de baas'
Marianne Rosenberg was born on March 10, 1955 in Berlin, Germany. She is the fifth of seven children of Auschwitz survivor Otto Rosenberg, who was part Roma. At age fourteen, she won a talent show, after which she recorded her first single.
'Ich bin wie du' was released in late 1975, at the height of the disco craze. The single reached number 18 in Germany, but (amazingly) did better in the Netherlands, peaking at number 2 in early 1976. It has since become a disco classic.
'I don't want to be a hero' was the second hit single for Johnny hates Jazz. The song has a strong anti-war sentiment and is written from the perspective of a soldier who is questioning their participation in what they consider an unjust war. The band's American record company were reluctant to release the single in the U.S. because of its anti-war stance.
Still, it was released in the US and peaked at number 31 in the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, the single peaked at number 11 in the UK singles chart and number 25 in the Netherlands.
While Jerney Kaagman is best known in the Netherlands for the static expression on her face thanks to an overkill of botox treatments these days, she used to be the singer in a successful Dutch band called Earth & Fire. The group started out in the early Seventies as a progressive rock outfit, tending more towards pop as the Eighties came along.
'Maybe tomorrow, maybe tonight' was released in 1973 and shows a successful blend of the two genres. Slightly bombastic but very effective, this single peaked at number 3 in the Dutch Top 40 in April 1973.
My collection: 7" single no. 1138 Found: All that music, Leiden, December 28, 1989 Cost: 3 guilders Tracks: 'Maybe tomorrow, maybe tonight' / 'Theme from Atlantis'
Live Report was originally called Midnight Blue and was formed by Ray Caruana, John Beeby, Brian Hodgson and Maggie Jay. Their moment of fame came in 1989 when they participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, representing the UK. Their song 'Why do I always get it wrong' finished second in the Contest, behind one of the worst winners in the history of the Contest: 'Rock me' by Riva.
I still rate this as one of the UK's best songs for Eurovision ever. Strangely enough, the citizens of the UK don't agree. The single only landed in the UK singles chart for one week, at number 73.
My collection: 7" single no. 839
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, May 27, 1989
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Why do I always get it wrong' / 'Take a chance on me'
Jeff Wayne was born on July 1, 1943. He turned to music after finishing his academic studies. In 1966, his father Jerry Wayne offered him the opportunity to score the West End musical 'Two cities'. Then Jeff produced David Essex's album 'Rock on'.
After working on his project for a long time, 1978 saw the release of the double album 'Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War of the Worlds'. 'The eve of the war' was released as its first single, achieving a lot of success in various countries. In the Netherlands, the single peaked at number 3. The version of the single is very different from the one on the album.
Thompson Twins formed in 1977. The original line-up consisted of Tom Bailey, Pete Dodd, John Roog and Jon Podgorski. By 1981, Podgorski had left and three new members had joined: Chris Bell, former band roadie Joe Leeway and Jane Shorter. After their debut album, Shorter left, to be replaced by Alannah Currie. The band then signed to Arista Records and released their second album 'Set'.
From this album, the single 'In the name of love' was taken. Although the single did not chart in the UK, it was a top 40 hit in the Netherlands, peaking at number 27. This edition, made in Germany, was pressed on red vinyl.
My collection: 7" single no. 295
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1985
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'In the name of love (edit remix)' / 'In the beginning'
Vitesse is formed in 1975 by Herman van Boeyen, Herman Brood, Rob ten Bokum and Peter Smid. A year later, the band has already had several personnel changes and they release a debut album. When this album is not successful, Herman Brood leaves the band to go solo.
It takes several albums and singles to finally have some success in the Netherlands. In September 1982 they have their first top 10 hit with 'Rosalyn', which peaks at number 9.
My collection: 7" single no. 148
Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1982
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Rosalyn' / 'Screwed, blewed and tattooed'
'Don't fall in love', released in 1985, was Toyah Wilcox's last top 40 hit in the UK, peaking at number 22. She'd had a lot of hit singles since 1977, when she started her career as part of a band named Toyah. A year later she married guitarist Robert Fripp.
