Oops upside your head - The Gap Band

'Oops upside your head' is a 1979 funk track recorded by the Gap Band. It was the lead single from their third album, 'Gap Band'. This single became an international hit for the group upon its late 1979 release, though it failed to reach the US Billboard Hot 100. The song mainly features humorous spoken monologues by Gap Band lead singer Charlie Wilson, who was inspired by his cousin Bootsy Collins' own humorous slant in his songs. The song is said to be one of the first songs to use hiphop-styled monologues in a song.

When it came out, I hated this song, preferring the Gap Band's next single, 'Burn rubber'. Somewhere in the Nineties, I actually started to like it, preferring it to even worse hiphop tracks that were so prominent at that time. But I've come full circle: I hate it again. But the B-side is a nice song.

My collection: 7" single no. 2116

Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam, June 11, 1994

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Oops upside your head' / 'The boys are back in town'

Download: here

Peaches - The presidents of the United States of America

The alternative rock band The Presidents of the United States of America formed in 1993 in Seattle, USA. The band consisted of Chris Ballew, Jason Finn, Andrew McKeag and Dave Dederer. In 1995 they released their self-titled debut album. Party thanks to the success of the singles, the album became a big hit in the USA, but it also did well in the UK.

Their biggest hit was the song 'Peaches'. It reached number 8 in the UK singles chart. Although the meaning has been argued, the band has stated that the song is just about peaches. Chris Ballew said that he wrote it about a girl he once had a crush on. He allegedly wrote this song after sitting under a peach tree she had in her yard while waiting for her.

My collection: 7" single no. 2652

Found: HMV, London, June 29, 1996

Cost: 2 pounds

Tracks: 'Peaches' / 'Confusion'

Download: here

The eve of the war - Ben Liebrand

Ben Liebrand found fame in the Netherlands because of his remixes of hits during the Eighties. A weekly show during nighttime and a 'minimix', broadcast every Friday night on the popular Veronica radio station guaranteed a following that was quite big. By the end of the Eighties, Liebrand started to record cd's of his own. This resulted in the 1990 release of the album 'Styles'.

A year earlier, Liebrand created a remix of Jeff Wayne's 'Eve of the war', from his millionselling 1978 album 'The war of the worlds'. The single didn't chart, but it did become a collector's item for fans of the musical version of the H.G. Wells book.

My collection: 7" single no. 2694

Found: Beanos, East Croydon, London, July 3, 1996

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'The eve of the war (radio edit)' / 'Mankind strikes back'

Download: here

Rock around the clock - Telex

Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers formed the Belgian synthpop group in 1978. Their debut single was a stripped-down synthesized cover of 'Twist à St. Tropez' by Les Chats Sauvages. They followed this up with 'Rock around the clock', which would become their only hit in the UK. It reached number 34 in that country in the Summer of 1979.

Like Kraftwerk, Telex built their music entirely from electronic instruments, and the sounds of the two groups have a certain similarity. However, unlike Kraftwerk's studied irony, Telex favour a more joyously irreverent humour.

My collection: 7" single no. 3112

Found: Big Company records, London, May 13, 1999

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Rock around the clock' / 'Moskow Diskow'

Download: here

Happy ever after - Julia Fordham

I heard 'Happy ever after' for the first time on a compilation cd. At first I figured I owned the track, but a true vinyl collector is never happy until he owns the original single too. And so when I found the single, I bought it.

Julia Fordham was born in Portsmouth, England on August 10, 1962. In 1988, she released her debut album, simply titled 'Julia Fordham'. The single 'Happy ever after' introduced her as a singer with considerable vocal range. It reached number 27 in the UK singles chart. 'Happy ever after' was re-recorded and re-released in 1998, but that version didn't chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 2073

Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, February 19, 1994

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Happy ever after' / 'My lover's keeper'

Download: cd-single 'Happy ever after', including both tracks

The nameless one - Wendy James

After Transvision Vamp disbanded, Wendy James set out to start a solo career. She wrote a letter to Elvis Costello asking for his guidance. In response Costello wrote a full album's worth of material for her. These songs became the tracks on her 1993 solo album 'Now ain't the time for your tears'. The album entered at number 43 in the UK Albums chart - and then disappeared again. The single did slightly better, peaking at number 34 in the Singles chart.

It's great to hear this single even now. The vocals are slightly over the top, but they sizzle with venom and a touch of hysteria that is always apparent in miss James's vocals.

My collection: 7" single no. 1869

Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, March 27, 1993

Cost: 10 guilders

Tracks: 'The nameless one' / 'I just don't want it anymore'

Download: cd-single 'The nameless one', including both tracks (password: pwemb.blogspot.com )

Fantasy Island - Tight Fit

In 1981, record producer Ken Gold came up with the idea to record a single made up of a medley of 60s songs, following in the footsteps of Starsound and their Stars on 45 singles. He put together a group of session singers and released 'Back to the 60s' under the title Tight Fit. The song reached number 4 in the UK Singles chart. 'Back to the 60s Part 2' was released soon after and also hit the UK top 40.

Later in the year record producer Tim Friese-Greene recorded the song 'The lion sleeps tonight' with another group of session singers. The song was released in early 1982, again by Tight Fit. It caught a lot of attention and so a group was formed to front it. Dancer, singer and male model Steve Grant was teamed up with female singers Denise Gyngell and Julie Harris. The song reached number 1 in the UK for three weeks and the line-up were catapulted into sudden and unexpected stardom. Satisfied that this line-up could actually sing in their own right, Friese-Greene produced their next single, 'Fantasy Island', a cover of the song which had been a hit for the Millionaires earlier that year. While not charting in the Netherlands, it did become a hit in the UK and reached number 5.

My collection: 7" single no. 3359

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, 2002

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Fantasy Island' / 'Saturday heartbreak'

Download: here