Infatuation - Rod Stewart

Back in 1984, the music video of 'Infatuation' was a regular guest on television programmes. Rod Stewart posing as a voyeur had something, er, believable. After a very successful career in the Seventies, Stewart was struggling to have hit singles. In the UK, he only had four top 10 singles during the Eighties, one of which was this single, peaking at number 6.

These days Stewart is concentrating on singing American standards from the Thirties and Fourties. Hard to imagine now that the man was once a pop star...

My collection: 7" single no. 1030

Found: Record Exchange, London, October 17, 1989

Cost: 50p

Tracks: 'Infatuation' / 'Three time loser'

Broken heart - The Babys

The Babys second album, 'Broken heart' was released in September of 1977. The album spent two weeks at number one in Australia. The title track was released as a single, but it didn't chart in any country. Later single 'Isn't it time' was much more successful.

I'd never heard this track when I tried it out in 1988 when I got the opportunity to go through my brother's record collection. Apparently it made some impression because seven years later, I bought the single.

My collection: 7" single no. 2244

Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, February 23, 1995

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Broken heart' / 'Wild man'

In het donker - Kadanz

The group Kadanz was a continuation of the gay cabaret group Spitsroeden, from which band members Frans Bakker, Herman Schulte and Kees van den Berg came. Their debut single 'In het donker' ('In the darkness'; 1982) was an immediate hit: it reached number 23 in the Dutch Top 40.

Since then, the track has been re-recorded several times by the band, during their different incarnations between 1982 and 1998. This original version was also released as an edited and a full length track. The main difference between the two was a synthesizer solo in the middle of the song, which was cut from the edited version on the A-side of this single.

My collection: 7" single no. 181

Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1983

Cost: 6 guilders

Tracks: 'In het donker' / 'In het donker'

Never knew love like this before - Stephanie Mills

Stephanie Mills was born on March 22, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York. Her single 'Never knew love like this before', taken from the album 'Sweet sensation', shot her to international fame, whereas she had been in the music business for seven years.

In the UK, this single reached number 4, but in the Netherlands it did even better, peaking at the top of the chart in November 1980.

My collection: 7" single no. 2730
Found: September 7, 1996
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Never knew love like this before' / 'Still mine'

Head over heels - Tears for fears

'Head over heels' was the fourth single taken from Tears for fears' second album 'Songs from the big chair'. The track was remixed for the single, because on the album the track segued from a studio recording of the track 'Broken' and into a live recording of that same track. Roland Orzabal commented about the song: 'It is basically a love song and one of the most simple tracks that Tears for Fears have ever recorded. It is a love song that goes a bit perverse at the end.'

The single performed well in the UK singles chart, peaking at number 12, but in the US Billboard Hot 100 it fared even better: it reached number 3. The music video is centered around Roland Orzabal's attempts to get the attention of a librarian (played by a Canadian model), while a variety of characters (many played by the rest of the band) take part in shenanigans in the library. The final scene shows Orzabal and the librarian as an older married couple. The video was filmed at the Emmanuel College Library in Toronto, Canada.

My collection: 7" single no. 302

Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, 1985

Cost: 5,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Head over heels' / 'When in love with a blind man'

In between days - The Cure

'In between days' (sometimes listed as 'Inbetween days' or 'In-between days') was released as the first single from the Cure's 1985 album 'The head on the door'. In the UK, it was the band's ninth chart single and their fourth consecutive Top 20 hit, peaking at number 15. In the US it was their first single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 when it peaked at number 99.

The music video that accompanied the single, directed by Tim Pope, was an interesting one: it featured a camera on a string, which was pushed forward and back by members of the band.

My collection: 7" single no. 1643

Found: May 3, 1992

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'In between days' / 'The exploding boy'

Healing waters - Mr. Mister

Mr. Mister was formed in 1982 by Richard Page, Steve George, Pat Mastelotto and Steve Farris. Their debut album 'I wear the face' was released in 1984. A year later, their second album 'Welcome to the real world' yielded the hits 'Broken wings' and 'Kyrie'. They were under pressure to come up with an equally successful third album.

The band's third album was 'Go On...' (1987), which the band said was "some of the best stuff we ever did," showing a much more mature band and a sound that hinted at progressive rock. The track 'Healing waters' was released as the second single from that album, but despite its catchy refrain and compelling lyric, it did not chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 767

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, March 16, 1989

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Healing waters (remix)' / 'Control'

Cathy's clown - Tarney Spencer Band

The Tarney-Spencer Band was an Australian rock band composed of Trevor Spencer and Alan Tarney in the late Seventies. The band recorded three albums: 'Tarney and Spencer' (1976), 'Three's a crowd' (1978) and 'Run for your life' (1979). In 1979, the band was released from their contract with A&M Records after the release of the non-album single 'Cathy's clown' . It peaked at number 31 in the Netherlands in early 1980.

Trevor Spencer left the UK and returned to Perth to help start Sh-Boom studios with Gary Taylor. Alan Tarney began working as a producer in 1979 and was largely responsible for masterminding Cliff Richard's resurgent chart career in the late 1970s and mid-1980s with world-wide-hit 'We don't talk anymore'. He also produced A-ha's first three albums.

My collection: 7" single no. 65

Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1980

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Cathy's clown' / 'Anything I can do'

Loreen - Sandra

'Loreen' was the third single release from Sandra's second album 'Mirrors'. It was the first time that she released a ballad as a single, marking a slight change from the upbeat pop songs that had started to sound so alike.

The change was not especially rewarded: it was the lowest charting single by Sandra in Germany, peaking at number 23. Still, in Sweden the single peaked at number 4.

My collection: 7" single no. 2085

Found: Record fair, February 26, 1994

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Loreen' / 'Don't cry'

The elephant song - Kamahl

Kandiah Kamalesvaran was born in Malaysia on November 13, 1934. He grew up as Kandiah Kalamesvaram (King of Lotus flowers) in Kuala Lumpur. In 1953 he moved to Adelaide, Australia with his family. It is where he got to know pop and classical music. During a concert by Nat King Cole he had the opportunity to meet the singer. It made him determined to start his own career as a singer.

He debuted in 1959, but only achieved fame in the Netherlands in 1975 thanks to 'The Elephant song'. The track appeared in a TV documentary about the World Wildlife Fund. The song was written by Dutch producer Hans van Hemert with lyricist Gregor Frenkel Frank. The single topped the Dutch Top 40 for five weeks in the summer of 1975. The B-side is an English version of a song that was a hit for Conny van den Bos the year before as 'Ik geef je 'n roosje m'n roosje'.

My collection: 7" single no. 2722
Found: Record fair, September 2, 1996
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'The elephant song' / 'A daisy a day'

Only women bleed - Julie Covington

'Only women bleed' was written by Alice Cooper and Dick Wagner. It is a ballad about a woman in an abusive marriage. It became one of Alice Cooper's biggest hits, reaching number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1975. It was the first of several ballads by Cooper that got into the top 20.

Julie Covington recorded her cover version for her 1978 self-titled album. It reached number 12 in the UK singles chart. In the UK, Cooper's version did not chart while Covington's version did not chart in the USA.

My collection: 7" single no. 861
Found: All that music, Leiden, June 2, 1989
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Only women bleed' / 'Easy to slip'

American English - Wax

After the success of 'Building a bridge to your heart', Wax released the title track of their second album 'American English' as the second single from that album. While the single was just as upbeat and a little more dynamic than the previous one, it did not make a dent in the charts anywhere.

I don't even remember how I got to hear this track, but I do know I liked it so much that I bought it quickly.

My collection: 7" single no. 582

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, February 1, 1988

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'American English' / 'Marie Claire'

Spark - Tori Amos

While all the singles from Tori Amos' 1996 album 'Boys for Pele' were not released on 7" vinyl, I was very surprised to find this 7" single in 1998. 'Spark' was the first single taken from Tori Amos' fourth solo album 'From the choirgirl hotel'. The single was also released on cd-single and a promotional 12" single in America, which is where this single also was made.

'Spark' reached number 16 in the UK singles chart and number 49 in Australia.

My collection: 7" single no. 3013

Found: Record fair, August 29, 1998

Cost: 10 guilders

Tracks: 'Spark' / 'Purple people'

Fleurs du mal - Stephanie

While elsewhere in Europe the single 'Live your life' was released, French-speaking countries preferred the track 'Fleurs du mal' as a single. It was a hit in France, peaking at number 16.

Meanwhile, the album 'Besoin' sold more than 2,5 million copies. That same year, Stephanie released the single 'Young ones everywhere' to benefit UNICEF.

My collection: 7" single no. 3772

Found: eBay.fr, received June 17, 2009

Cost: 3 euro

Tracks: 'Fleurs du mal' / 'Rendez-vous'

Un premier amour - Isabelle Aubret

Isabelle Aubret was born as Thérèse Coquerelle on July 27, 1938 in Lille, France. Before starting a career in music, she won the French national gymnastics championship in 1952. Ten years later, she represented France during the Eurovision Song Contest, singing 'Un premier amour'. With sixteen countries participating, she was the one who won the competition with 26 points. The runner-up only had 13 points, so it was a convincing win.

When I decided I wanted to have all the winning songs of Eurovision as a single, the early years were of course the hardest to find. I'm still searching for 'Refrain' (1956) for instance....

My collection: 7" single no. 3771

Found: eBay.fr, received June 17, 2009

Cost: 3 euro

Tracks: 'Un premier amour', 'La-bas' / 'Petit bonhomme', 'Ces deux la'

Mamma mia - Abba

While never released as a single in their native Sweden, Abba's 'Mamma Mia' (1975) was the band's first song to make a breakthrough in Australia, even reaching number one for no less than 10 weeks. At the time, it was rumoured that every third citizen of the country owned an Abba record.

It was almost entirely due to this overwhelming success that the single was subsequently released in the UK and other territories. It took the single nearly two months after it was released to top the UK charts. "Mamma Mia" also reached No.1 in Ireland, Switzerland and West Germany. In 1999 the musical 'Mamma Mia', featuring songs by Abba opened in London's West End. Since then, production has spread to many other countries, with over 1500 performances on Broadway alone.

My collection: 7" single no. 2724

Found: Record fair, September 2, 1996

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Mamma mia' / 'Intermezzo no. 1'

All for a reason - Alessi

'All for a reason' sounds a bit like a telephone conversation set to music - although you can only hear one side of the conversation and the other one hanging up at some point. Besides this technical innovation, the rest of the song sounds a lot like other Alessi songs: in other words, laidback Seventies fare.

In the Netherlands, this was the Alessi brothers' second and last hit, peaking at number 22. The track was taken from the album of the same name, which reached number 27 in the albums chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 683

Found: All that music, Leiden, 1988

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'All for a reason' / 'Make it last'

Libertine - Mylene Farmer

Although the music video of 'Libertine' cannot be found on YouTube, I'm certain there is one. It was one of the videos that made me interested in the Canadian-born singer in the first place. When she had a hit in the Netherlands with 'Désenchantée', I started buying her records and I was glad to find 'Libertine' quite quickly.

I have no record of its chart position of France, but I am pretty sure that this one was her first big hit there. After this, her superstar status continued to rise.

My collection: 7" single no. 1900

Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, May 2, 1993

Cost: 10 guilders

Tracks: 'Libertine' / 'Greta'

Chalk dust (The umpire strikes back) - The Brat

Roger Kitter is a British actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Captain Bertorelli in the seventh season of the comedy series ''Allo 'Allo'.

In 1982, Kitter released a single as The Brat, entitled 'Chalk dust (The umpire strikes back)'. In the track, he parodied John McEnroe, who was famous for his verbal fights with umpires during tennis matches. 'The ball's in, everyone can see that the ball's in! Chalk dust!' was one of the most famous expressions of the year 1982, when this single reached third place in the Netherlands. In the UK, the single reached number 19.

My collection: 7" single no. 1094

Found: All that music, Leiden, November 11, 1989

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Chalk dust (The umpire strikes back)' / 'Moody mole'

Rattlesnakes - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions

'Rattlesnakes' was the title track of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions' debut album, released in 1984. While it only peaked at number 65 in the UK, the single was the band's only hit in the Netherlands, peaking at number 31.

The repeated mention of Simone de Beauvoir in the lyric gave the band their literary, slightly geeky image. Cole cites Bob Dylan and Booker T. & the MGs as major influences, but also notes the impact of his studies in English and philosophy on both the album's title, a reference to the novel 'Play it as it lays' by Joan Didion.

My collection: 7" single no. 3360
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, 2002
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Rattlesnakes' / 'Sweetness'