Sometimes - Spargo

I already explained a few times on this blog how I revised my singles collection when I was younger. Sometime in the eighties the final revision took place. On this occasion, most of the Dutch language singles plus those of Dutch bands were removed. That included my rather big collection of Spargo singles. I owned most of their hits thanks to cheap offers in my favourite second hand record shop. 'Head up to the sky', 'One night affair', 'Just for you', 'Hip hap hop'... They all went out.

One single remained: 1980's 'Sometimes', which was a great ballad. The band didn't even make the top 10 with this, like they had with all the aforementioned singles.

My collection: 7" single no. 77

Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1980

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Sometimes' / 'Take a break'

Download: Album 'Good time spirit', including both tracks

How beautiful you are - Peter Blegvad

Peter Blegvad was born on August 14, 1951. He is an American musician, singer/songwriter and cartoonist. He was a member of the avant-rock band Slapp Happy, which founded in Germany in 1972. In the 1980's he released two albums that were both commercially unsuccessful. This single, 'How beautiful you are' is taken from his debut album 'The naked Shakespeare'. On the album he collaborated with several wellknown British musicians. 'How beautiful you are' was produced by Dave Stewart (Not the one of Eurythmics fame, but the other one who worked with Barbara Gaskin) and the B-side 'Vermont' was produced by Andy Partridge (from XTC).

I recorded this track from radio in 1983, played it endlessly and finally found the single in 1990 during a record fair.

My collection: 7" single no. 1228

Found: Record fair, Den Haag, April 22, 1990

Cost: 5 guilders

Tracks: 'How beautiful you are' / 'Vermont'

Interlude - Rosie Vela

'Interlude' was another single to be taken from the album 'Zazu' by Rosie Vela. Like its predecessor 'Magic smile', the single contained album versions only. Even the 12" single offers no surprises: it only adds the track 'Tonto', also taken from the album.

So why buy all this? Well, because of the sleeves of course. And to complete a collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 2147 / 12" single no. 138

Found: Record fair, Netherlands, August 25, 1994 / London, 1992

Cost: 2 guilders / 2 pounds

Tracks: 'Interlude' / 'Taxi', 'Tonto' ('Tonto' 12" only)

Download: Album 'Zazu', including these tracks

Suffer the children - Tears for Fears

Taken from their debut album 'The Hurting', 'Suffer the children' was actually Tears for Fears's debut single. According to Curt Smith: ''Suffer The Children' was the first song we did together when we left Graduate. It was our very first experimentation with sequencers and drum machines, with a guy called David Lord, who worked with Peter Gabriel and different people down in Bath. So that was actually the first song we did as Tears For Fears.'

The 12" single featured three tracks that were never included in any of the compilations and re-releases on cd: an extended remix, an instrumental version and the B-side 'Wino', which is probably the simplest track Tears for Fears ever recorded: just guitar and voice.

My collection: 12" single no. 87

Found: London, 1989

Cost: 2,5 pounds

Tracks: 'Suffer the children (remix)' / 'Suffer the children (instrumental)', 'Wino'

Download: here

Love games - Belle and the Devotions

'Love Games' represented the UK at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Luxembourg. The song was criticized by some for its blatant resemblance to certain Motown classics. It was a relative success, because it ended up seventh place in the Song Contest and number 11 in the UK charts.

I didn't know there was a 12" single of this track until I spotted it during a record fair. It is one of the few 12" extended versions of a Eurovision song. Even 1987's winner Johnny Logan managed to release a 12" single with just the three minute version of his winning song on it...

My collection: 12" single no. 470

Found: Record fair, Netherlands, 2003

Cost: 2 euro

Tracks: 'Love games [extended]' / 'Rock me'

Download: here

(Feels like) Heaven - Fiction Factory

Fiction Factory were a British band, formed in the mid-1980's. Kevin Patterson, Eddie Jordan and Chic Medley were playing in a band called The Rude Boys, a skinhead ska band based in Perth, Scotland. After they left that band, they wanted to keep writing songs but were fed-up with live performances. With no name for this project, the first song Kevin and Eddie wrote for it was '(Feels Like) Heaven' in the space of roughly half a day. From a list of names that Chic had drawn up, Fiction Factory was chosen: firstly, because of the perceived falseness of the music scene and its reliance on pretty faces, the project was originally going to be fronted by nice-looking people who had nothing to do with the songwriting or performance of the music; secondly, the hope was that they would write music for themselves, other artists and maybe even films.

'(Feels like) Heaven' is one of the big pop standards of the eighties. It got to number 6 in the UK singles chart, and number 12 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 12" single no. 467

Found: ?

Cost: ?

Tracks: '(Feels like) Heaven [extended]' / 'Everyone but you', 'This is'

Download: here

Popcorn - Luminatus

'Popcorn' was always a popular track to cover. Many artists and groups have tried their hand at this instrumental track through the years, with varying success. One of my personal favourites is the 1993 cover version by Luminatus.

I found this single during a holiday in London in 1995. By then, I'd already made the resolution to buy every 'Popcorn' cover I would come across. This was one of the first I found (and bought). It was going downhill from then on, because my oh my, there have been lots of worse covers around. More about that later...

My collection: 7" single no. 2515

Found: London, October 31, 1995

Cost: 2 pounds

Tracks: 'Popcorn' / 'Cryptoid'

Download: here