Give give give - Dance Aid

Everyone remembers Live Aid, Band Aid and USA for Africa, but the stream of charity singles that followed was frankly quite embarrassing. Stock Aitken & Waterman were scraping the barrel in 1987 when they released 'Give give give' by Dance Aid. The proceeds of the single went to Disco Aid, but what that organisation was all about, I can't find out.

The interesting thing about this song is that you can't make out who's singing the lines. None of the voices are recognisable, they all blend together into one anonymous blob. Mel & Kim apparently contributed to this song as well - or so the sleeve claims - but I have yet to recognise them. Needless to say, the single flopped everywhere.

My collection: 7" single no. 587
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1987
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Give give give' / 'Give give give (Senza voce)'

Hollywood - Freddie James

Freddie James was born in Chicago, Illinois (USA) in 1965. At a young age he started a music career. In fact, in 1979 his debut single 'Get up and boogie' became a worldwide hit. The follow-up single 'Hollywood' sounded a lot like that hit, and subsequently failed to make the same sort of impact.

I mainly remember that this song was played on the radio once, and just after Freddie sang 'I'm going to Hollywood to become a star' the presenter commented: 'He'll have to eat lots of porridge first'.

My collection: 7" single no. 40
Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1980
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Hollywood' / 'Crazy disco music'

Joe le taxi - Vanessa Paradis

Vanessa Chantal Paradis was born on December 22, 1972 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, a suburb of Paris, France. She appeared on television for the first time on the show 'L'école des fans' in 1980. Five years later, she recorded her debut single, 'La magie des surprises-parties'. Although this was not a hit, her next single, 'Joe le taxi', released in 1987, was.

At only 14 years, Vanessa Paradis topped the chart in France for a whopping 11 weeks with this single. It stormed the European charts as well, peaking at number 3 in the UK singles chart and number 23 in the Netherlands. A successful career would follow.

My collection: 7" single no. 1739
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 18, 1992
Cost: 1,5 pounds
Tracks: 'Joe le taxi' / 'Varvara Pavlovna'

You're my world - Nick Heyward

Nick Heyward was a member of Haircut One Hundred between 1980 and 1983, then he pursued a solo career. His third solo album 'I love you avenue' was released in 1988 and contained this single, 'You're my world'. It peaked at number 67 in the UK singles chart.

I saw the music video for this song on television and decided right away that I would buy the single.

My collection: 7" single no. 658
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, September 29, 1988
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'You're my world' / 'Pizza tears'

The look of love - Madonna

People who like good singers can largely ignore Madonna's output during the Eighties. She couldn't sing until she got some vocal coaching for her appearance in the movie 'Evita'. Despite her lack of vocal skills, she did manage to release two interesting singles during the Eighties. 'The look of love' was one of them.

'The look of love' was the third and final single from the soundtrack of the movie 'Who's that girl' (a movie in which Madonna tried to show off her non-existant acting skills). The single reached number 8 in the Netherlands and number 9 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 2657
Found: House of Rhythm, London, June 29, 1996
Cost: 50p
Tracks: 'The look of love' / 'Express yourself (7" remix)'

History - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson may be dead, but his music still lives on. Never more than now. I was already filling in the blanks in my collection over the last few months, but recently there has been a surge of supply of rare items. And sometimes I'm lucky enough to win the bidding war on eBay.

'History' was released as the second single from Jackson's remix album 'Blood on the dancefloor' (1997), although the version on this single was not a remixed version but rather an edited version from the previous album 'History' (1995). This single was never commercially released on 7" vinyl. This is either a test pressing or a promotional disc, I think...

My collection: 7" single no. 3849
Found: eBay.co.uk, received July 11, 2009
Cost: 7 euro
Tracks: 'History' / 'Ghosts'

Tinsel town in the rain - The Blue Nile

So what is a mispressing of the Blue Nile's 'Tinsel town in the rain' worth? I never went out to research this and usually it's whatever someone wants to pay for it. And then I doubt that this mispressing is rare: the must be hundreds or thousands of singles like this, where the B-side is announced as an instrumental version of 'Heatwave', but it's an unidentifiable dance track.

'Tinsel town in the rain' was an unexpected hit for the Scottish band, peaking at number 28 in the Dutch Top 40 in October 1984. It was a remarkable hit, because in other countries the single did not chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 242
Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, 1984
Cost: 5,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Tinsel town in the rain' / 'Heatwave (instrumental)' (sic)