Soundtrack to a generation - Human League

With the release of 'Heart like a wheel' the Human League seemed to have gotten things back on track. The album 'Romantic?', released a month later, reached number 24 in the UK albums chart, which wasn't particularly high, but it did warrant a second single release. Perhaps 'Soundtrack to a generation' wasn't the best choice, with its generic music score and the incidental exclamations of 'Holy cow!' by Sulley and Catherall.

After losing money on the single's promotion and its music video, Virgin Records ran out of patience with the Human league. There would be no further releases from 'Romantic?' and within a year the band would be dropped by the label.

My collection: 7" single no. 2509
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 30, 1995
Cost: 10p
Tracks: 'Soundtrack to a generation' / 'Soundtrack to a generation (instrumental)'

Opportunities (let's make lots of money) - Pet Shop Boys

After the original version of 'Opportunities' did not become a hit, Pet Shop Boys changed record companies and released the song once again, in a new version. It became their third hit single, after 'West end girls' (also a re-recorded version) and 'Love comes quickly'.

Accoring to Neil Tennant, the lyric of the song is about 'two losers'. The song is written from the perspective of a man who describes himself as being intellectual and educated. The lyrics are addressed towards another character, who is invited to join the song's protagonist in a scheme to 'make lots of money'. Tennant has made it clear, however, that the schemes are doomed to failure. The band have attributed the cynicism of the song, in part, to the punk rock attitudes of the period.

A notable change between the original and re-recorded versions of 'Opportunities' is the omission of the spoken outro 'All the love that we had / And the love that we hide / Who will bury us / When we die?' According to Tennant, the lyrics were removed from the second version of the song as the duo feared the passage would be construed as being 'too pretentious'.

My collection: 7" single no. 456
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, September 13, 1986
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Opportunities (Let's make lots of money)' / 'Was that what it was?'

Love like we do - Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians

Since my sister had bought the cd, I'd heard every track on the album 'Shooting rubberbands at the stars', the debut album by Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians. So when I saw this single during a holiday in London, I did not know it had been released, but I did know it was a nice track. And so I bought the single without blinking an eye.

'Love like we do' is another optimistic track from an already very optimistic album, and comes with a bonus non-album track. It was the third and last single from the album; it did not chart in the UK and Europe.

My collection: 7" single no. 1077
Found: HMV, London, October 19, 1989
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Love like we do' / 'Plain Jane'

Sold on you - IQ

After I bought 'Promises (as the years go by)' I saw this single. In the mood for an experiment, I decided to take it home. The track was pleasant enough, but I didn't play it very often. 'Sold on you' was taken from the band's 1989 album 'Are you sitting comfortably?'. Neither the single nor the album reached the charts in the UK - or outside of the UK.

My collection: 7" single no. 930
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, July 6, 1989
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Sold on you' / 'Through my fingers'

Red hot! - Princess

If Princess had continued working with Stock, Aitken & Waterman, her entire body of work would have sounded like her debut single. So thankfully, with this single, she changed things around a bit. 'Red hot!' was produced by Richard James Burgess, giving the track a bit of a fuller sound.

It was the last time that Princess would grace the UK singles chart, reaching number 58 in the summer of 1987. This single was a limited edition, pressed on - how appropriate - red vinyl.

My collection: 7" single no. 2373
Found: House of Rhythm, London, July 1, 1995
Cost: 60p
Tracks: 'Red hot!' / 'Programmed to love you'

Walking back to me - Sam Brown

Sam Brown is the daughter of Sixties rocker Joe Brown and top session singer Vicki Brown. She was born on October 7, 1964 in Stratford, London, England. She began her musical career at twelve, singing backing vocals on the Small Faces album '78 in the shade' (1978). She continued doing backing vocals with Sade, Spandau Ballet and Barclay James Harvest.

In 1986, she signed a recording contract with A&M Records. Her debut single 'Walking back to me' was released in 1988. It did not chart in England, but it did reach number 65 in Germany. Little did she know that her second single would become the biggest hit of her career...

My collection: 7" single no. 1885
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, April 24, 1993
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Walking back to me' / 'Tender hearts'

Love is all is all right - UB40

Although this track sounds slightly rudimentary, it is the seventh single by UB40, released in 1982. 'Love is all is all right' is one of the most laidback reggae songs I ever heard in my life, which was part of the appeal.

The single reached number 29 in the UK singles chart and number 22 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 2405
Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Love is all is all right' / 'One-a-penny'

Some finer day - All about Eve

When you compare all the sleeves of All about Eve singles through the years, this one is a pretty dismal affair. It's almost a shoddy sleeve, a piece of work that could only have resulted from disinterest from the record company.

'Some finer day' was the final single by All about Eve, the second one from their album 'Ultraviolet' (1992). It reached number 57 in the UK singles chart during its one week in the chart. Soon after this, the band was dropped from their label MCA Records and the band disbanded not long after that.

My collection: 7" single no. 1865
Found: Wreckastow, Rotterdam, January 30, 1993
Cost: 10 guilders
Tracks: 'Some finer day' / 'Moodswing'

What if - Coldplay

'What if' is a track from Coldplay's third album 'X&Y'. It was released as a single to radio stations in France and the French speaking regions in Belgium and Switzerland. A cd-single was only released commercially in Belgium, whereas this 7" vinyl single is originally part of the Coldplay Singles box set. (I managed to buy a separate single from a dealer who was apparently splitting up his box set.)

This single features the Tom Lord-Alge mix of 'What if', which differs from the album version.

My collection: 7" single no. 3496
Found: eBay.com, received December 23, 2008
Cost: 4 euro
Tracks: 'What if' / 'How you see the world (live)'

Blue Monday 1988 - New Order

At 7 minutes and 30 seconds, the original version of New Order's 'Blue Monday' is one of the longest tracks ever to chart in the UK. It was released on 12" single only, which made it an even more unique charting track. The band claimed to have written the song in response to crowd disappointment at the fact that they never played encores. This song, they say, allowed them to return to the stage, press play on a synthesiser and leave the stage again.

The track was remixed in 1988 and released as a single. This remixed version was considerably shorter and peaked at number 3 in the UK singles chart (whereas the original reached number 9).

My collection: 7" single no. 2450
Found: Record fair, Leiden, September 2, 1995
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Blue Monday 1988' / 'Beach buggy'

Had a dream - Roger Hodgson

Roger Hodgson was born on March 21, 1950 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. Between 1969 and 1983 he was a member of the legendary pop group Supertramp, lending the band his distinctive vocals and also writing some of their best known songs.

After he left Supertramp, Hodgson launched into a solo career, starting off with 1984's 'In the eye of the storm'. He was credited with playing nearly all the instruments as well as writing and producing the album. The single 'Had a dream' was released in October 1984 and reached number 39 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 2417
Found: All that music, Leiden, July 22, 1995
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Had a dream' / 'Only because of you'

Tandem - Vanessa Paradis

Young Vanessa Paradis followed up her debut album 'M&J' (1987) with a second album, 'Variations sur le même t'aime' in 1990. On this album, she had French music legend Serge Gainsbourg compose songs for her. The track 'Tandem' was released as one of the singles from the album.

I bought the single without having heard it, because sometimes I like to experiment a little. Even though the song did not touch me back in 1995, I have to say I quite like it now that I've heard it again. At only 18 years old, Paradis was making some very mature music.

My collection: 7" single no. 2275
Found: Record fair, April 23, 1995
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Tandem' / 'Ophelie'

Careless memories - Duran Duran

'Careless memories' was the second single by Duran Duran, released in April 1981. The choice to release this song as a single was made by the record company. They must have been unpleasantly surprised when it stalled at number 37 in the UK singles chart, after the debut single 'Planet earth' had been a top 20 hit. Subsequent singles were chosen by the band - and became big hits.

This perhaps one of the least recognised Duran Duran tracks, and I admit I didn't know the track when I bought the single. Still, as I was collecting Duran Duran, I had to have this one as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 2639
Found: April 13, 1996
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Careless memories' / 'Khanada'

The second time - Kim Wilde

Kim Wilde left RAK Records in 1984 and signed a new recording contract with MCA Records. They launched Kim Wilde with a new image, courtesy of XL Design, who were also responsible for the images of Wham! and Frankie goes to Hollywood back then. Kim's new single 'The second time' sounded fresh and exciting, the video was vibrant and full of energy and the lyric of 'The second time' was quite daring.

Still, the audiences did not fall for it immediately. The single reached number 24 in the Dutch Top 40 and at number 29 in the UK singles chart. It was quite hard for Kim to come back with a bang. I for one still think this is one of the best singles of her career.

My collection: 7" single no. 244
Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, 1984
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'The second time' / 'Lovers on a beach'

Headlights on the parade - The Blue Nile

The second single from the Blue Nile's second album 'Hats' was a remixed version of 'Headlights on the parade'. The remix was made by Bob Clearmountain, who previously mixed tracks by artists like Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Bryan Adams. Not the most obvious person to handle a Blue Nile track, but the remix turned out quite reasonable.

It didn't help the success of the single much: it spent one week in the UK singles chart at number 72. But the Blue Nile was always an 'albums act' anyway.

My collection: 7" single no. 1295
Found: HMV, London, October 15, 1990
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Headlights on the parade (Bob Clearmountain remix)' / 'Headlights on the parade (album version)'

Straight up - Paula Abdul

'Straight up' was the third single from Paula Abdul's debut album 'Forever your girl', but the first one to be a worldwide success. The single spent three weeks at number 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaked at number 2 in Australia and number 3 in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.

I bought the single within months of its release, since I liked this song as it played on the radio. In later years, I learned to appreciate it less for its synthetic sounds and the thin voice of Abdul. But now I have to say my judgement lies somewhere in the middle: despite its flaws it's still a nice song. I bought a poster edition of the single in the UK, but only just realised that the B-side of the poster edition is different. Hence, here's the last addition from my London shopping spree.

My collection: 7" single no. 871 / no. 3999
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, June 2, 1989 / Record Exchange, London, August 5, 2009
Cost: 6 guilders / 50p
Tracks (1): 'Straight up' / 'Cold hearted'
Tracks (2): 'Straight up' / 'Straight up (Power mix)'

Secret land - Sandra

When I was introduced by a friend to the music of Sandra (he kept nagging me to listen to it until I finally gave in), he gave me the cd of 'Into a secret land'. It was the title track that grabbed my attention, and it is probably the track you can single out as the creative peak of Sandra and Michael Cretu. A great synth hook, an interesting lyric and a nice, glossy Eighties production.

The song is an adaptation of a Hubert Kemmler-produced song called 'Trenchcoat man', released as a single by an unknown German band named Fabrique in 1987. 'Secret land' reached number 1 in Israel, peaking at number 7 in Germany and number 9 in Switzerland.

My collection: 7" single no. 2094
Found: Record fair, April 16, 1994
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Secret land' / 'Into nobody's land'

You keep me hanging on - Vanilla Fudge

Oh dear. Whenever the song 'You keep me hangin' on' is mentioned, the cover version by the Sixties band Vanilla Fudge comes up. I guess at the time it was quite an innovation to record a song in a different style than the original (in this case, slower and in a rock fashion), but when you listen to it now, you can't help but noticed the dated sound of it all and the terrible lead vocals by Mark Stein. This is even more obvious in the B-side, which sounds like an amateur band at best.

Still, the band managed to reach number 18 in the UK singles chart and number 13 in the Dutch Top 40. After this one hit, they disappeared from the charts until their breakup in 1970. But like in bad horror movies, the band keeps being reanimated - they have reformed in various lineups three times already.

My collection: 7" single no. 2980
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, April 16, 1998
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'You keep me hanging on' / 'Take me for a little while'

Living in another world - Talk Talk

After 'It's my life' and 'Such a shame', here's the third and - as far as I know - last of three singles taken from the compilation album 'Natural history'. As far as re-releases go, this single is probably the most interesting of the three. Not only does it feature a live recording of the track on the B-side, the A-side features a new edit of 'Living in another world'. Although I'm not a fan of edits per se, it is always interesting to hear a new version of a track.

It was an unsuccessful release: the single did not chart, and the record company EMI turned their attention towards the following step in their 'milking the Talk Talk catalogue' operation. More about that later.

My collection: 7" single no. 2725
Found: September 7, 1996
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'Living in another world (edit)' / 'Living in another world (live)'

Don't you want me - Jody Watley

Jody Watley's debut album 'Looking for a new love' yielded five hits, of which 'Don't you want me' was the second. It reached number 6 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 55 in the UK singles chart.

Even though I am really impressed with the album as a whole and all the hit singles as well, I do wonder why Jody Watley posed on the sleeve of this single in such a lack of clothes. It doesn't look particularly classy...

My collection: 7" single no. 1749
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 19, 1992
Cost: 60p
Tracks: 'Don't you want me' / 'Don't you want me (radio remix)'