Amigo - Black Slate

Black Slate was formed in 1974 with musicians from England, Jamaica, and Anguilla.They backed Delroy Wilson and Ken Boothe on their UK appearances, and had their first reggae-chart hit themselves in 1976, with the anti-mugging song 'Sticks man', calling themselves Disco Reggae Band Black Slate.

They toured the UK for the first time in 1978, and formed their own TCD label, having a minor hit with 'Mind your motion'. They also backed Dennis Brown when he played live in the UK, and in 1980 their Rastafarian rallying call 'Amigo' was picked up by Ensign Records, and reached number 9 in the UK singles chart and number 15 in the Dutch Top 40. An album, 'Sirens in the city', followed on Ensign the following year. The band released two further albums in 1982 and 1985, but little was heard of them after that.

My collection: 7" single no. 2604
Found: Record fair, January 27, 1996
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Amigo' / 'Black Slate Rock'

From the hip ep - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions

The 'From the hip EP' was the last single release of Lloyd Cole & the Commotions before the band broke up and Lloyd Cole continued solo. The song 'From the hip' was taken from the band's 1987 album 'Mainstream', but the three other tracks were new recordings. The EP reached number 56 in the UK singles chart.

Neil Clark continued working with Lloyd Cole on almost all of his solo releases and full band tours. He was also member of the short-lived group Bloomsday. Blair Cowan collaborated with Cole and his new backing band in New York on Cole's first two solo albums. He played with Del Amitri, Paul Quinn and the Independent Group, the Kevin McDermott Orchestra and Texas. He is now an IT-specialist at British Telecom. Lawrence Donegan became a journalist and author. Stephen Irvine, finally, worked as a session musician with Del Amitri, Sarah Cracknell and Etienne Daho.

My collection: 7" single no. 1076
Found: HMV, London, October 19, 1989
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'From the hip', 'Please' / 'Lonely mile', 'Love your wife'

Een vrouw zoals jij - Hans de Booy

Hans de Booy was born on June 2, 1958 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. In the early Eighties he made his debut with the album 'Hans de Booy', which was successful in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The album contained three hit singles, of which 'Een vrouw zoals jij' ('A woman like you') was the first.

The single reached number 20 in the Dutch Top 40 in January 1983.

My collection: 7" single no. 222
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1983
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Een vrouw zoals jij' / 'Sammy'

Cinema - Paola

Paola di Medico represented Switzerland during the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest. She sang the French-language song 'Cinéma', written by Peter Reber and Veronique Müller. The song remembers the childhood of the singer, when she liked the cinema very much, the lights and the heroes of the movies.

The song finished fourth in the Contest, one of Switzerland's better performances. While widely released in Europe, the song was only a hit in Switzerland.

My collection: 7" single no. 3302
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, February 24, 2001
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Cinema' / 'Jukebox'

Storms in Africa - Enya

On Enya's album 'Watermark, 'Storms in Africa' was an instrumental track with vocals that didn't express any lyric. It is included on this single as part 1 on the B-side. The track was re-recorded and retitled 'Storms in Africa II'. This new version did include a lyric, although it was in typical Enya style: floating, vague and slightly windy.

The single was released in the UK in June 1989 and reached number 41 in the singles chart. The song was used as part of the soundtrack for the Peter Weir film 'Green card' (1990) along with the album tracks 'River' and 'Watermark'.

My collection: 7" single no. 947
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, July 21, 1989
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Storms in Africa II' / 'Storms in Africa I'

Queen of hearts - Juice Newton

Juice Newton was born as Judith Kay Cohen on February 18, 1952 in Lakehurst, New Jersey (USA). During the first half of the Seventies she was part of a band called Juice Newton and Silver Spur, but this band broke up after two albums. In 1977, Juice Newton embarked on a solo career.

'Queen of hearts' first appeared on Dave Edmunds' album 'Repeat when necessary' in 1979. Recorded two years later, Juice Newton's version sold more than one million copies in the USA and peaked at number 20 in the Dutch Top 40. The song is also featured prominently in Oliver Stone's 1986 movie 'Salvador'.

My collection: 7" single no. 3133
Found: July 24, 1999
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Queen of hearts' / 'Angel of the morning'

Stay with me till dawn - Judie Tzuke

Judie Tzuke was born as Judie Myers on April 3, 1956 in London. She signed to Elton John's Rocket Records in 1977. 'Stay with me till dawn' was the first single credited to her alone, since her official debut 'For you' (1978) was credited to Tzuke and Paxo. The song became Tzuke's most wellknown track and her only hit single in the UK, peaking at number 16.

I discovered the song years after its release, but when I did, I fell for it immediately. I had it on a compilation cd for years, before I finally bought the 7" single. I don't really own a track unless I've got it on this format...

My collection: 7" single no. 1938
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, August 11, 1993
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Stay with me till dawn' / 'New friends again'

Une femme avec une femme - Mecano

The Spanish group Mecano mostly popular in Spain, but they also recorded songs in other languages. Some of their songs were recorded in English, while many of them were recorded in Italian.

This song, 'Une femme avec une femme' is a French version of Mecano's 1988 track 'Mujer contra mujer'. It was released in France in 1990. I bought the single mainly out of curiosity. It doesn't happen often that Spanish acts record French songs...

My collection: 7" single no. 3211
Found: Record fair, September 30, 2000
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'Une femme avec une femme' / 'Mujer contra mujer'

Heart like a wheel - Human League

Human League released their last album for Virgin, 'Romantic?' in 1990. The song is a return to the overtly political lyrics that the Human League sometimes do, but dressed up to a poppy hook that makes it acceptable for the public.

Whereas 'The Lebanon' of 1984 was the Human League’s view of the Israeli Invasion of Southern Lebanon and subsequent civil war, 'Heart like a wheel' is a commentary on US military imperialism. Callis's lyric 'sell your soul to a holy war' went over the heads of most of the song's listeners at a time when Jihad was all but unheard of in the West. It still reached number 29 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 1311
Found: HMV, London, October 15, 1990
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Heart like a wheel' / 'Rebound'

Some people - Cliff Richard

In 1987, Cliff Richard recorded the album 'Always guaranteed', which became his best selling album of all new material. It contained two top ten hit singles, 'My pretty one' and 'Some people'. The album was produced by Alan Tarney, who had been successful with Cliff Richard before.

'Some people' reached number 3 in the UK singles chart and number 4 in the Dutch Top 40. It was Cliff's last top 10 hit in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 1147
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, January 19, 1990
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Some people' / 'One time lover man'

Patience of angels - Eddi Reader

Eddi Reader was born as Sadenia Reader on August 28, 1959. After working as a session vocalist for a few years, she joined the band Fairground Attraction in 1987. The band made a name for themselves with the hit 'Perfect', but fell apart already in 1989.

Reader then went solo and released the album 'Eddi Reader' in 1994. The first single, 'Patience of angels' was written by Boo Hewerdine and reached number 33 in the UK singles chart. As much as I'd hated the song 'Perfect', this was a track I found irresistible.

My collection: 7" single no. 2197
Found: HMV, London, September 30, 1994
Cost: 2,4 pounds
Tracks: 'Patience of angels' / 'Red face big sky'

System addict - Five Star

'System addict' was released in January 1986 as the seventh and last single from Five Star's debut album 'Luxury of life'. It was their first top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at number 3. The 12" single features two remixes of the track, plus an extended version of the album track 'Winning'.

'System addict' was remixed and re-released in July 2005, after Five Star had participated in a Here and Now tour in December 2004. This version did not chart in the UK.

My collection: 12" single no. 500
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, 2007
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'System addict (M&M remix)', 'System addict (dub remix)' / 'Pure energy', 'Winning (extended version)'

Bla bla bla - Bob Barbeque, Willy Would-Be plus Agaath

The illustrious trio Bob Barbeque, Willy Would-Be plus Agaath recorded a Dutch version of Trio's 'Da da da', entitled 'Bla bla bla'. In fact, it was a parody of the song, using the same song structure and melody but with entirely different lyrics, performed in the dialect of The Hague, one of the four big cities in the Netherlands.

The single was released soon after Trio's original single, but it did not chart. According to some sources, the production company Cat Music was behind this release, the same group of people who were involved in the Dutch band Catapult in the Seventies and Rubberen Robbie in the Eighties.

My collection: 7" single no. 133
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1982
Cost: 3,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Bla bla bla' / 'Boem-tek-boem-boem'

Da da da - Trio

Stephan Remmler, Gert 'Kralle' Krawinkel and Peter Behrens formed Trio in 1980. They used the term 'Neue Deutsche Fröhlichkeit' ('New German cheerfulness') to describe their music. Their main principle was to remove almost all the ornamentation and polish from their songs, and to use the simplest practical structures (most of their songs were three chord songs).

Their most popular song was 'Da da da', which reached number 2 in the UK singles chart and number 7 in the Dutch Top 40. Cover versions were recorded by Elastica and Christina Aguilera (for a Pepsi ad).

My collection: 7" single no. 2671
Found: Leeds, June 30, 1996
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Da da da (English version)' / 'Da da da (German version)'

Man in the mirror - Michael Jackson

After Michael Jackson's death last week, a tremendous amount of his songs reappeared on the UK singles chart. This is because of the fact that the chart is compiled partly with (legal) downloads of music. Along with several other tracks, the highest charting song on the June 28 edition of the UK singles chart was 'Man in the mirror', entering at number 11.

When the single was originally released in 1988, its highest chart placing in the UK was number 21. In America, the single topped the chart, whereas in the Netherlands, it reached number 16. Michael dedicated 'Man in the mirror' to Yoshiaki Hagiwara, a five year old boy who was kidnapped and murdered while Michael was touring Japan. He made a donation of 20,000 dollars to the grieving family. Although the song comes across as a rather sappy ballad, you have to listen to the instrumental version of this track to really appreciate what is going on here musically.

My collection: 7" single no. 727
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, January 28, 1989
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Man in the mirror' / 'Man in the mirror (instrumental)'

Song for whoever - The Beautiful South

The Beautiful South formed in 1989 when Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway left their band the Housemartins. They were joined by Sean Welch, Dave Stead and Dave Rotheray. On the band's debut album 'Welcome to the Beautiful South', Briana Corrigan was featured as a background vocalist.

Their debut single 'Song for whoever' was sung from the point of view of a cynical songwriter who romances women solely to get material for his love songs. The single reached number 2 in the UK singles chart and number 17 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 968
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, August 19, 1989
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Song for whoever' / 'Straight in at 37'

You name it... I'll do it - Chips

The twin brothers Hans and Rob Keller were born and raised in Hilversum, the Netherlands. Together with Lidy Sluyter they formed the trio Chips in 1979. Their debut single 'You name it... I'll do it' was produced by Hans van Hemert.

It was a hit in the Netherlands, peaking at number 26. After this one single, subsequent singles failed to reach the chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 3286
Found: February 24, 2001
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'You name it... I'll do it' / 'Ooh... the night'

Kalimba de luna - Boney M

'Kalimba de Luna' was originally released as a single by Italian musician Tony Esposito in 1984. It was covered almost instantly by Boney M for the German market. The lead vocals were performed by new group member Reggie Tsiboe, who was originally scheduled to release it as a solo single. The plans were changed, and 'Kalimba de luna' became a new Boney M single, released in the autumn of 1984.

Neither Liz Mitchell nor Marcia Barrett sang on this recording - the backing vocals were done by producer Frank Farian, Amy & Elaine Goff, and vocal group La Mama (Patricia Shockley, Madeleine Davis and Judy Cheeks). The single became Boney M's first hit single in three years, peaking at number 27 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 246
Found: Cochem, Germany, October 1984
Cost: - (present)
Tracks: 'Kalimba de luna' / '10.000 lightyears'

You are the one - A-ha

The fourth and final single from A-ha's third album 'Stay on these roads' was 'You are the one'. The track was remixed by Justin Strauss to give the track some extra 'punch'. The strategy worked in some countries: in the UK, for instance, the single reached number 13. In the Netherlands the audience was less impressed: the single did not chart.

The B-side was one of the album's strongest tracks, the lengthy 'Out of blue comes green'. After two rather disappointing singles (for me at least), the band was back on track.

My collection: 7" single no. 696
Found: Present, December 5, 1988
Cost: -
Tracks: 'You are the one (remix)' / 'Out of blue comes green'

The real thing - ABC

Adding insult to injury, ABC released a second single from their disappointing fifth album 'Up' (1989). This second single performed even worse in the charts than 'One better world', peaking at number 68 in the UK singles chart.

After this single, the record company quickly released a compilation album, and must have felt some relief to see an end to the recording contract with the band. Fortunately, further releases were better than 'Up', which despite its title was the lowpoint of their career.

My collection: 7" single no. 1059
Found: London, October 18, 1989
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'The real thing (edit)' / 'The greatest love of all (edit)'