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)'