New life - Depeche Mode

These are the humble beginnings of Depeche Mode. 'New life' was their second single, released in June 1981. The song was composed by Vince Clarke, who at the time was the band's chief songwriter.

The single became Depeche Mode's breakthrough hit in the UK, peaking at number 11. On June 25, 1981, the band had their first appearance in the UK chartshow 'Top of the pops'. The single was not released in other territories.

My collection: 7" single no. 2914
Found: London, November 1, 1997
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'New life' / 'Shout!'

Wonderwall - Oasis

'Wonderwall' takes its name from the 1968 album 'Wonderwall music' by George Harrison. It is often claimed that the song was written for Gallagher's then-girlfriend, Meg Mathews. Gallagher married Mathews in 1997, but the couple divorced four years later. Gallagher now claims that the song was not about Mathews at all, but he felt he had to go along with the rumour, saying 'The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it. How do you tell your Mrs it's not about her once she's read it is? It's a song about an imaginary friend who's gonna come and save you from yourself.'

The single reached number 2 in the UK singles chart in November 1995. In the Netherlands, it reached the Dutch Top 40 in the last chart of the year, peaking at number 9 in early 1996.

My collection: 7" single no. 2637
Found: Record fair, April 13, 1996
Cost: 10 guilders
Tracks: 'Wonderwall' / 'Round are way'

Where the streets have no name (I can't take my eyes off you) - Pet Shop Boys

The Pet Shop Boys stated that they wanted to turn 'a mythic rock song into a stomping disco record'. They recorded their version of U2's stadiumfiller 'Where the streets have no name' in combination with the disco anthem 'Can't take my eyes off you'. Singer Neil Tennant performs the lyrics with no vocal exertion or stresses, in contrast to Bono's performance. Tennant claims that when this record was released, Bono of U2 heard it for the first time, and issued the statement, 'What have we done to deserve this?'.

The B-side was 'How can you expect to be taken seriously?', a new version of a song from the album 'Behaviour'. The lyric of the song criticizes the insincere humanitarian messages of a number of pop stars during the Eighties.

My collection: 7" single no. 1429
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, September 13, 1991
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Where the streets have no name (I can't take my eyes off you)' / 'How can you expect to be taken seriously?'

Go your own way - Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac band member Lindsey Buckingham wrote 'Go your own way' with regard to his bandmate Stevie Nicks, with whom he had just ended a romantic relationship. It describes their breakup, with the most obvious line being, 'Packing up, shacking up is all you want to do.' Nicks insisted she never shacked up with anyone when they were together, and wanted Lindsey to take out the line, but he refused.

'Go your own way' was the first single taken from Fleetwood Mac's legendary album 'Rumours'. It reached number 38 in the UK singles chart, number 10 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 331
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1985
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Go your own way' / 'Silver springs'

Roxanne - The Police

The Police's lead singer Sting wrote 'Roxanne', inspired by the prostitutes he saw near the band's seedy hotel while in Paris, France in October 1977 to perform at the Nashville Club. The title of the song comes from the name of the character in the play Cyrano de Bergerac, an old poster of which was hanging in the hotel foyer.

During recording of the song, Sting accidentally sat down on a piano keyboard in the studio, resulting in the atonal piano chord and laughter at the beginning of the track. The Police were initially diffident about the song, but eventually it got hem their first record deal. At its first release in April 1978 the single did not chart, but when it was re-released exactly a year later, in April 1979 it reached number 12 in the UK singles chart, number 32 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 21 in the Dutch Top 40. This copy of the single was pressed on blue vinyl.

My collection: 7" single no. 3260
Found: London, 2001
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Roxanne' / 'Peanuts'

Uri - Achinoam Nini

This is a very rare one-sided 12" promo from Israel, which I got to buy through eBay a few years ago. The disc contains an early version of the song 'Uri' as recorded by Achinoam Nini, or Noa as she is better known in the rest of the world. Although this version is very different from the 'Uri' that appeared on her subsequent cd's, when I reported this track to Noa's webmaster at the time, he replied that no earlier version of 'Uri' was ever recorded. Well, I think this is proof enough, don't you?

Noa went on to become a big name in the worldwide 'world music' circuit. She's recorded three studio albums in Hebrew and five in English, plus several live albums. More recently, she represented Israel together with Mira Awad during the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.

My collection: 12" single no. 517
Found: eBay.com, received 2001
Cost: 20 guilders
Tracks: 'Uri'

Shadow of your heart - Risqué

While I was going through the 12" singles today at the Kringloop, I suddenly found this one. And the first thought that came to mind was: 'Jos is going to love this!'. As regular readers of this blog know all too well, Jos is Puck's brother and he really loves Risqué.

This is a 12" single of their 1984 single 'Shadow of your heart'. It contains two versions of the song that didn't appear on the 7" single.

My collection: 12" single no. 516
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Shadow of your heart (extended)' / 'Shadow of your heart (instrumental)'

Why - Bronski Beat

'Why?' was the second single taken from Bronski Beat's debut album 'The age of consent'. I already own the 7" single since 1994, but it's been quite a search to get the 12" single as well.

The 12" single features a 7 minute remix of 'Why', plus the B-side of the single, 'Cadillac car'.

My collection: 12" single no. 515
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 1,5 euro
Tracks: 'Why? (extended mix)' / 'Cadillac car'

Longer - Dan Fogelberg

I'm really shocked! I found this single of 'Longer' earlier today and while doing research for this blog I found out that Dan Fogelberg died on December 16, 2007. I didn't know this - and it's always a bit of a shock when someone you admire passes away.

Dan Fogelberg has made a couple of outstanding ballads, of which 'Longer' is probably one of his best known ones. It has become a standard on weddings for its highly romantic lyric. Fogelberg himself jokingly described 'Longer' in the liner notes to one of his retrospective albums as 'the song that put me on the elevators.' The single reached number 59 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 4127
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Longer' / 'Along the road'

Volare - John Raver

'Volare' is probably one of the Eurovision Song Contest's best known songs ever. Amazingly, it did not win the Contest when Domenico Modugno performed it in 1958, representing Italy. But the song has been covered by an impressive array of artists, including Dalida, Frank Zappa, Richard Clayderman and David Bowie.

One of them was the Dutch artist John Raadtgever, who used the stage name John Raver. He recorded his 'Sinatra light' version of 'Volare' in 1981. The single did not chart. Raadtgever, who was born on July 7, 1943, died on August 31, 2002.

My collection: 7" single no. 4126
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Volare' / 'Blue moon'

Heaven must be missing an angel - Tavares

'Heaven must be missing an angel' was written by Freddie Perren and Keni St. Lewis. It was recorded by Tavares in 1976. The song was released as a single from their album 'Sky high!' and was split into two parts for the single.

The single reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the UK singles chart, it reached number 4. But it performed best in the Dutch Top 40, where it got to number 1. In 1985, Ben Liebrand made a remix of the track, which was also released as a single.

My collection: 7" single no. 4125
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Heaven must be missing an angel (part 1)' / 'Heaven must be missing an angel (part 2)'

Set me free - Jaki Graham

'Set me free' was the first single taken from Jaki Graham's second album 'Breaking away'. It is one of her better known songs, having reached number 7 in the UK singles chart and number 11 in the Dutch Top 40.

As per usual, the tracks on this single were written by her partner Derek Bramble.

My collection: 7" single no. 4124
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Set me free' / 'Stop the world'

The wild boys - Duran Duran

The idea for 'The wild boys' came from Duran Duran's video director Russell Mulcahy, who wanted to make a full-length feature film based on the 1971 novel 'The wild boys: a book of the dead' by William S. Burroughs. He suggested that the band might create a modern soundtrack for the film. Singer Simon Le Bon began writing some lyrics based on Mulcahy's quick synopsis of the book, and the band created a harsh-sounding instrumental backdrop for them.

Although the movie never came to be, Mulcahy did direct the ambitious music video for 'The wild boys', which cost over one million dollars to make (a staggering sum for a music video at the time) and also delivered an urban myth about Simon le Bon supposedly nearly drowning while he was strapped to a windmill. The single reached number 1 in Germany and Canada and number 2 in the UK singles chart and the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 4123
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'The wild boys' / '(I'm looking for) Cracks in the pavement (live)'

Wonderland - Paul Young

'Wonderland' was the first single taken from Paul Young's third solo album 'Between two fires'. The song was written by Betsy Cook, who would record the track herself a few years later. That single has been in my collection for years now, so I decided to add this cover version as well.

Paul Young's version of 'Wonderland' reached number 24 in the UK singles chart and number 12 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 4122
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Wonderland' / 'Between two fires'

Era - Wess e Dori Ghezzi

Last month,Wess Johnson, one half of the duo Wess & Dori Ghezzi passed away. Wess and Dori were a very successful duo in Italy. They represented their country during the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Stockholm after Abba's historic victory the year before.

The song they performed was 'Era', an Italian love song. The song finished third in the Contest.

My collection: 7" single no. 4121
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Era' / 'Sempre tu'

Are you hearing (what I hear)? - Level 42

Level 42 released their third album 'The pursuit of accidents' in 1982. The first single from the album was 'Are you hearing (what I hear)?'. The song had a bouncy quality that the band would become famous for later on in their career.

This single didn't become an international hit, and only reached number 49 in the UK singles chart. The B-side is an interesting non-album track.

My collection: 7" single no. 4120
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Are you hearing (what I hear)?' / 'The return of the handsome rugged man'

Que sera mi vida - Gibson Brothers

All I can say is that my Spanish wasn't very good when I was eight years old. I always thought that 'Que sera mi vida' meant 'How are you, I'm okay', but it actually means 'How would my life be'. Oh well, lessons learned.

This disco hit sold over five million copies worldwide. The single reached number 5 in the UK singles chart and number 3 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 4119
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 24, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Que sera mi vida' / 'West Indies'

Angeleyes / Voulez-vous - Abba

In the UK, 'Angeleyes' and 'Voulez-vous' were released as a double A side, because the record company believed 'Angeleyes' would appeal more to the record buying public than 'Voulez-vous', which was released as the A-side track in most other countries. They were not wrong: the single peaked at number 3 in the UK singles chart.

'Angeleyes / Voulez vous' was the first Abba single in the UK to be released in a picture sleeve, as all previous Abba singles were released in a standard 'Epic' company sleeve. The single was also issued in several different colours of vinyl, although my copy is pressed on 'standard' black vinyl.

My collection: 7" single no. 2016
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 19, 1993
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Angeleyes' / 'Voulez-vous'

How are you - The Kinks

'How are you' was released as the first single from the Kinks' 1986 album 'Think visual'. The title track from that album was an attack on the very MTV video culture the band seemed to be enjoying so much during the earlier part of the decade.

The song 'How are you' was a more innocent song. The single did not chart in any territory. I noticed the song during a showing of the music video on Dutch television. It stuck in my head, so I bought it a few years later.

My collection: 7" single no. 1185
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, March 3, 1990
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'How are you' / 'Killing time'

The king is dead - Go west

After their debut album was very successful, with four hit singles lifted off it, Go West's second album 'Dancing on the couch' paled in comparison. The first two singles 'True colours' and 'I want to hear it from you' landed just outside the UK top 40, and the singles 'Don't look down - The sequel' and 'From Baltimore to Paris' didn't chart at all.

In an attempt to reverse the band's fortunes, a fifth and final single was taken from the album. It was 'The king is dead', a track notable for the backing vocals by Kate Bush. The single did reach the UK singles chart, but stalled at number 67. Go West would return to the UK top 40 with their next singles. Perhaps their second album just wasn't very appealing to most...

My collection: 7" single no. 1926
Found: June 5, 1993
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'The king is dead' / 'Little Caesar (live)'