Vienna - Ultravox

In 1981, I thought Ultravox was the best band in the world. In some ways, I still think that. But back then, I was totally enchanted by the song 'Vienna' and its interesting video. I'd been to Vienna on holiday with my parents the year before and I was always trying to figure out where they had filmed the scenes. One part of it was easy: the cemetary in Vienna is famous for its buildings and beautiful graves - one of which is featured on the sleeve of the single. I would come to visit that grave, too, because we went back to Vienna that summer. But the other scenes I couldn't identify. I have recently found out that Ultravox filmed those scenes in England. A great disappointment... Vienna is the title track of the equally great album, a landmark in pop history.

I bought the single twice: once in 1981 and once in 1998. The latter was a clear vinyl version, released in the UK.

My collection: 7" single no. 82 / no. 3061

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1981 / Record Exchange, London, 1999

Cost: 2 guilders / 3 pounds

Tracks: 'Vienna' / 'Passionate reply'

Download: Compilation album 'Dancing with tears in my eyes', including both tracks (Part One / Part Two)

Reduced to tears - In Parallel

In Parallel was an English band. Their single 'Reduced to tears' was a regular on satellite TV channels like Music Box and Sky Channel in 1984. It was produced by Phil Harding. That's about the extent of my knowledge. Even the web, usually a fountain of wisdom, contains no more information about this release. A truly rare single then, because it didn't even make the charts anywhere.

My collection: 7" single no. 2129

Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, July 30, 1994

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Reduced to tears' / 'Somewhere in Paris'

Download: here

Sensitive - Mick Karn

Having collected Kim Wilde records for more than a decade, it's not so strange that I started 'branching out'. The singles released by her brother Ricky were hard to come by, since they were all released in the seventies in rather small quantities. So the first Ricky Wilde record I found was 'Sensitive' by Mick Karn, which was produced and mixed by Ricky Wilde together with Mick Karn.

Karn made his name as part of the English group Japan, but he also made some solo records. 'Sensitive' was his first solo single, which didn't make the charts anywhere.

My collection: 7" single no. 2961

Found: Record fair, Netherlands, February 9, 1998

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Sensitive' / 'The sound of waves'

Download: here

Magic smile - Rosie Vela

Everyone who has a singles collection will recognise this: once you've heard an album you like, you'll want to have all the singles drawn from that album. Well, at least, I do. So after buying Rosie Vela's cd 'Zazu' in 1989, I started looking for her singles. It took me some time to collect them, but I finally started to see things going my way when I found 'Magic smile', the first single to be drawn from 'Zazu'.

'Magic smile' reached no. 27 in the UK singles chart in January 1987. In other countries it didn't reach the charts. Despite her great music, Rosie Vela was discarded by many so-called 'serious' critics because of her modeling career. When you listen to 'Magic smile', it's obvious that the former model was mistreated in this respect.

My collection: 7" single no. 2029

Found: House of rhythm, London, October 19, 1993

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Magic smile' / '2nd emotion'

Download: Album 'Zazu', including both tracks

Living on video - Trans X

My sister didn't approve. That's what I always think when I see this single. Back in 1983, it was still a big issue which records we bought. As we both had record collections, she didn't appreciate it much when I bought the same singles she did, because we would have less extra songs to play, but whenever I bought something she didn't like, she was disappointed as well.

'Living on video' was an example of electronic music. When I grew older, I came to realise that women generally don't like electronic music, because of its mechanic nature. But I loved this song for all its simplicity and weird noises. And that includes the vocals...

My collection: 7" single no. 212

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1983

Cost: 3,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Living on video' / 'Digital world'

Download: Album 'Living on video', including both tracks. (Part one / Part two; password video93)

Så länge det lyser mittemot - Marie Fredriksson

Marie Fredriksson was famous in Sweden even before she joined the band Roxette, that would take her around the world. Her solo work is sometimes just as poppy, but also contains a darker, more melancholic side that appeals to me a lot.

I got to hear 'Så länge det lyser mittemot' via MTV Europe in 1992, soon after it was released in Sweden. I wasn't too impressed by this track at first, mostly because the video didn't appeal to me. Then, a year later, I spotted Marie's cd 'Den standiga resan' in a record shop in Amsterdam at a discount price. The booklet of this cd was beautiful, and because of that I decided to buy this cd and try it out. I fell in love with the album. It was only in 2001 when I bought this vinyl single. I've come to like this track and the thought of owning this single was too attractive to deny. It's the only Marie Fredriksson track that I have on vinyl - everything else I have on cd now.

My collection: 7" single no. 3317

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, March 24, 2001

Cost: 10 guilders

Tracks: 'Så länge det lyser mittemot' / 'Den där novemberdan'

Download: here

Precious little diamond - Fox the fox

The Dutch group Fox the Fox was formed in 1983 by Berth Tamaela and Robbie Brans. They were joined by Silhouette Musmin. Their first single 'Flirting and showing' barely missed the Dutch top 40, but in 1984 they had their first (and only) hit: 'Precious little diamond'. The song is a big success in Europe and South America as well.

'Precious little diamond' was remixed by Ben Liebrand, who had just become a famous dj and remixer thanks to his weekly 'minimix' on Radio Veronica. The remix is an extended version of the original song with extra instrumental breaks. Very attractive.

My collection: 12" single no. 459

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 22, 2008

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Precious little diamond (special remix by Ben Liebrand)' / 'Man on the run'

Download: here