Een zomer aan het eind van de twintigste eeuw - Frank Boeijen Groep

After having made a handful of albums with pop songs with romantic lyrics, the Frank Boeijen Groep were moving away from this image with their ninth album, 'Een zomer aan het eind van de twintigste eeuw' ('A summer at the end of the twentieth century'). The album featured mostly guitar-based tracks with lyrics about the world instead of lyrics about love and life.

The title track was released as a single on the same day as the release of the album. Most people were not convinced by this new sound and didn't buy the single (although the album still sold well).

My collection: 7" single no. 1084
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, October 21, 1989
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Een zomer aan het eind van de twintigste eeuw' / 'De piano van Beethoven'

Sufi - MFO

Mazhar Alanson, Fuat Güner and Özkan Ugur formed MFO in 1984. They represented their homeland Turkey twice during the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1985, they competed with the song 'Didai didai dai', which finished in fourteenth place. They competed again in 1988 with the uplifting song 'Sufi', which finished in fifteenth place. They are still active as a band today, having released more than a dozen albums.

'Sufi' was released as a 12" single in Germany. It featured studio recordings of the original Turkish version of 'Sufi' plus an English translation of the song. The 'long version' is basically a combination of the two with added instrumental breaks.

My collection: 12" single no. 109
Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam, 1990
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'Sufi (Long version)' / 'Sufi (Original version)', 'Sufi (English version)'

Interview - Kate Bush

There isn't a lot of information about this picture disc: the disc itself gives no information other than 'Made in England' and 'Kate Bush Interview 1985', and when you listen to the interview without any factual knowledge, it could have been recorded pretty much anywhere.

In actual fact, I do know it's the soundtrack of an interview on Music Box, the European version of MTV in 1985, when Kate Bush was promoting her album 'Hounds of love'. Martin Buchanan was the lucky fella who got to speak with her, and this is a large portion of what they were talking about. And of course, it is a bootleg release.

My collection: 7" single no. 2283
Found: Record fair, March 6, 1995
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: Interview (part 1) / Interview (part 2)

What kind of fool - All about Eve

All about Eve released 'What kind of fool' as the last single from their self-titled debut album in 1988. As usual, the single was released in a variety of different formats. This 12" single was released in a limited edition and contains a version of the song that didn't appear on any other format: the Synthesis mix.

The B-side tracks were of interest as well: 'Gold and silver' was re-recorded on the band's second album 'Scarlet and other stories' (1989) and 'The garden of Jane Delawney' is a cover of a track originally recorded by the rock band Trees.

My collection: 12" single no. 128
Found: Record fair, 1992
Cost: 10 pounds
Tracks: 'What kind of fool (Synthesis)', 'Gold and silver' / 'What kind of fool (Autumn rhapsody)', 'The garden of Jane Delawney'

Tell it to my heart - Taylor Dayne

The Eighties were loud, proud and percussive, as demonstrated on this 12" single by Taylor Dayne. 'Tell it to my heart' was her breakthrough hit in 1987, and it pretty much defines how dance music sounded around that time.

Instrumental breaks, drum beats, vocals that almost tear through your bone, and all that in three versions that don't necessarily sound all that different from one another. Still, this is a fine dance track that stands the test of time pretty well.

My collection: 12" single no. 183
Found: Record Exchange, London, 1992
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Tell it to my heart (Club mix)' / 'Tell it to my heart (Percapella mix)', 'Tell it to my heart (Dub mix)'

So cold the night - Communards

The Communards released 'So cold the night' in 1986 as a track from their self-titled album from the same year. The 12" single featured a nine minute extended version of the track. It drags out a bit but it is never boring.

The B-side 'When the walls come tumbling down' was dedicated to Nelson Mandela, who at the time was still imprisoned in South Africa.

My collection: 12" single no. 373
Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam, 1999
Cost: 2,5 guilders
Tracks: 'So cold the night (extended)' / 'When the walls come tumbling down', 'Never no more'

Here it comes again - Black

The second single from Black's 1991 self-titled album was the beautiful 'Here it comes again'. It features backing vocals from Colin Vearncombe's wife Camilla Griehsel, who used to be a singer in the Norwegian band One 2 Many.

It was the last single by Black to reach the UK singles chart, peaking at number 70 in the summer of 1991.

My collection: 7" single no. 1693
Found: London, 1991
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Here it comes again' / 'Every waking hour'