I don't know for sure, but this might well be the longest single ever released. Chris Rea's 'Nothing to fear' clocks in at 9 minutes and 10 seconds: truly an epic song. It's this length that piqued my interest when I came across this single during a week in London in 1992. I listened to it on a listening post, and decided I liked it enough to buy it.
I'm glad I did: it's probably the best song of Chris Rea's career. Taken from his 1992 album 'God's great banana skin', it reached number 16 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 1737
Found: Virgin Megastore, October 17, 1992
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Nothing to fear' / 'Nothing to fear (edit)', 'Strange dance'
'The edge of heaven' was Wham's last single. It was released in the spring of 1986, after George Michael and Andrew Ridgely announced their breakup. The single preceded a historic farewell concert at Wembley Stadium in London on June 28, 1986.
The single reached number 1 in the UK and the Netherlands that summer. It was sold as a double single including four tracks. One of them was 'Where did your heart go', which was also released separately as a single in some territories. The song, originally recorded by art-rock ensemble Was (Not Was), was a downbeat and sombre affair that would fit seamlessly onto George Michael's later solo albums.
The band had been together five years, selling close to 20 million albums and 10 to 15 million singles.
My collection: 7" single no. 483
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1986
Cost: 6,5 guilders
Tracks: 'The edge of heaven' / 'Battlestations' // 'Wham Rap '86' / 'Where did your heart go?'
In 1992, Prefab Sprout released their greatest hits album 'A life of surprises'. The album reached number 3 on the UK albums chart. It was a chance for me to get my favourite tracks 'When love breaks down', 'Appetite' and 'Johnny Johnny' on cd. And as has happened to me before: once I started playing the cd a lot, I started looking for more singles.
During a visit to London, I came across this single, 'If you don't love me', one of the nicest tracks from the compilatoin cd. I was very happy to see that a remixed version appeared on the B-side. It didn't take me long to make the decision to buy this single.
My collection: 7" single no. 1756
Found: Tower Records, London, October 19, 1992
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'If you don't love me' / 'If you don't love me (String driven thing)'
After the chart success of 'Something for the weekend', the Divine Comedy released the second single from their album 'Casanova', 'Becoming more like Alfie'. It peaked at number 27 in the UK singles chart, which meant that it did slightly worse than its predecessor.
The B-side, 'Your daddy's car' is another album track, but performed live on BBC Radio 1's Mark Radcliffe Show on April 29, 1996.
My collection: 7" single no. 3140 Found: Setanta mailorder, 1999 Cost: 4 pounds Tracks: 'Becoming more like Alfie' / 'Your daddy's car'
Joe Jackson was born as David Ian Jackson on August 11, 1954 in Burton upon Trent, England. He started off learning to play the violin but soon switched to piano. When he was sixteen he started playing in bars, and eventually won a scholarship to study musical composition at London's Royal Academy of Music. Jackson did not like the prospect of being a classical composer, and moved towards pop and rock instead.
Starting his career in the late Seventies, he had some early hits in the UK with 'It's different for girls' and 'Is she really going out with him?'. His first big hit in the Netherlands was 'Real men', taken from the 1982 album 'Night and day'. The album paid tribute to the wit and style of Cole Porter (and indirectly to New York City). 'Real men' pointed obliquely to the city's early Eighties gay culture.
Sheila was born as Annie Chancel on August 16, 1945 in Créteil, France. She started her musical career in 1962. She had numerous hits in France during the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties. One of her biggest hits was 'Spacer' (1979). The song was taken from her album 'King of the world', which was produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic fame.
The song was sampled by the Swedish pop group Alcazar for their track 'Crying at the discotheque' in 2000. Of course I prefer the original.
Out of all the Talk Talk 7" singles I have, this is probably the rarest one. It showed up in my record shop and I bought without hesitation. 'I believe in you' was already out for a few weeks, and spotting this promotional single with twice the edit of the song on it, I had to have it. This edit wasn't released on cd at the time, so I even wrote down which side of the disc I played, so I could preserve the other side for later. Fortunately, the edit was released on cd in 1997.
Taken from the excellent album 'Spirit of Eden', 'I believe in you' is apparently an 'anti-heroin song'. When asked whether the lyrics are based on personal experience, Mark Hollis replied, 'No, not at all. But, you know, I met people who got totally fucked up on it. Within rock music there's so much fucking glorification of it, and it is a wicked, horrible thing.'
My collection: 7" single no. 659 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, October 1, 1988 Cost: 3,5 guilders Tracks: 'I believe in you (edit)' / 'I believe in you (edit)'
Dave Stewart (not to be confused with David A. Stewart of Eurythmics fame) was born as David Lloyd Stewart on December 30, 1950 in London. As a musician he has worked in various progressive rock bands like Uriel, Egg, Gong, National Health and others. In 1981 he recorded a solo single with vocals by Colin Blunstone. It peaked at number 13 in the UK singles chart and number 22 in the Dutch Top 40.
'What becomes of the broken hearted' was originally a hit for Jimmy Ruffin in 1966. I didn't know the original song when I first heard this in 1981. I thought it was a great electronic composition!
My collection: 7" single no. 360 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1985 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'What becomes of the broken hearted' / 'There is no reward'
'Embarrassment' was Madness' sixth single and lyrically one of their darkest tracks up to that point. Primarily written by Lee Thompson, the song reflected the unfolding turmoil following the news that his teenage sister, Tracy Thompson, had become pregnant and was carrying a black man's child. The song describes the following rejection by her family, and the shame felt.
The song is a clear indication of changing times and attitudes as time goes on. The real life story had a happy ending, however; Thompson later stated that when the child, named Hayley, was born, the antipathy of Tracy's relatives dissolved.
My collection: 7" single no. 1796 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, December 4, 1992 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'Embarrassment' / 'Crying shame'
Tommy Seebach had represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest on two previous occasions. In 1979, he did it for the first time with the song 'Disco tango', which ended up on 6th place. 1981, he took Denmark to 11th place with the song 'Krøller eller ej'. He participated in a number of national finals since then, without winning the competition. Finally, in 1993 he got another chance. 'Under stjernene på himlen' was the song that should bring him international acclaim. But unfortunately, it didn't. Instead, he brought back Denmark's worst result in years, finishing 22nd out of 25. The result was that Denmark wouldn't compete in the 1994 edition of the Contest.
In the Nineties, Seebach's career in Denmark took a nosedive. It was only in 1999 that he could find new audiences with a disco version of 'Krøller eller ej'. After that, he became the head of musical entertainment at amusement park Bakken in Klampenborg, Denmark. But Seebach's problems with alcoholism took their toll on him and he died at the age of 53 from a heart attack on March 31, 2003.
This single actually features another Danish song on the A-side, but since I bought this 'promotion only' single for the Eurovision song, it's only fitting that I should highlight that one. It's a wonderful upbeat song, and really should have done better in the Contest.
My collection: 7" single no. 1974
Found: Bea Records, October 17, 1993
Cost: 7,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Går det ikk', så går det nok' (Teddy Edelmann) / 'Under stjernene på himlen' (Tommy Seebach Band)
This single comes from the album 'Horoscope' (1980), subtitled 'Gary Fane's musical interpretation of the Zodiac'. The album apparently features 14 tracks, one track for every sign in the zodiac plus an 'Overture' and a 'Finale'. The album was produced by Jaap Eggermont (of 'Stars on 45' fame), who enlisted the help of famous Dutch musicians Jan Rietman, Hans Hollestelle and Dick Bakker.
Gary Fane's real name is Gerard Veen. He started his career with the Dutch group Johnny Kendall and the Heralds. This group has a couple of hits in the Sixties. 'Aquarius' peaked at number 10 in the Dutch Top 40. It was his only solo hit, although he did release another single, entitled 'Love' in 1981. Since then, he has kept on making music, although it didn't bring him any commercial success.
Sneaker was formed in 1973 by Mitch Crane, Michael Carey Schneider, Michael Cottage, Tim Torrance, Mike Hughes and Jim King. The band cited Steely Dan, the Eagles and the Doobie Brothers as their primary musical influences. Indeed, the band's name came from a Steely Dan track, 'Bad sneakers'.
'More than just the two of us' was the band's biggest hit, which became a top 40 hit in America. The single was taken from their self-titled debut album, released in 1981. After their second album, 'Loose in the world' (1982) the band broke up.
My collection: 7" single no. 1492
Found: Den Haag, July 18, 1991
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'More than just the two of us' / 'In time'
Secret Garden represented Norway during the 1995 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. They won the edition with 'Nocturne'. Featuring a lyric consisting of about eight lines, some were outraged that an instrumental track would win a 'song' contest. Personally I still think it's one of the best winners ever - especially when you consider all the boring predictable Irish songs that won the Contest in the Eighties.
Jan, who makes the excellent Eurocovers blog, informs me that there are at least 47 cover versions of this track. One of them is this dance version by Clerx & Van Dijk, released in 2002. Vocals in this version are performed by Margot Roeken. I ordered the 12" single recently and received it today. What a great way to start the weekend.
My collection: 12" single no. 487 Found: Y-Music, mailorder, received February 21, 2009 Cost: 10 euro Tracks: 'Nocturne (Fire & Ice mix)', 'Innocent' / 'Nocturne (Original mix)', 'Nocturne (Remix)'
As much as I remembered 'Don't give up on us', the only thing I knew about 'Going in with my eyes open' was that I didn't dislike the song when it was in the chart. Of course, I was only six years old at that time - so when I bought the single two decades later it was a bit of a gamble. What's more, the copy I bought originally didn't even have a picture sleeve. I replaced it two weeks after buying that one with a copy that did.
'Going in with my eyes open' peaked at number 17 in the Dutch Top 40, number 2 in the UK and number 54 in the US Billboard Hot 100. I think the British people were right: it's still a beautiful song now.
Michelle Charles played Marilyn 'Charley' Charlton in the British youth TV series Byker Grove between 1990 and 1992. She recorded 'The best thing', a song which apparently she also sung in the television series.
But this is not why I bought this 12" single. The real reason is the B-side track, 'You don't know me'. Written by Kim Wilde and Tony Swain, this track was never recorded by Kim herself as far as I know (although it might well have been), and ended up being performed by Charley. This 12" single is pretty rare these days, although the cd-single is even more rare. It does exist - so if anyone has a copy for me, don't hesitate to contact me...
My collection: 12" single no. 421
Found: Record Exchange, London, 2000
Cost: 50p
Tracks: 'The best thing (FM mix)', 'The best thing (Byker Grove mix)' / 'The best thing (12" original mix)', 'You don't know me'
I think I've mentioned a few times that I like cover versions. Especially Kim Wilde and Kate Bush cover versions are always interesting to me, just because I love the original songs so much I always like to hear what other artists do with them. (I also like cover versions of Eurovision songs, so Eurocovers is really an addictive blog for me.)
So every now and again I go hunting for cover versions I haven't heard yet. That is how I found this single by Inside moves, an anonymous dance outfit from 1992. Their version of 'The man with the child in his eyes' is typical nineties fare, nothing too high class unfortunately. It's hard to do justice to Kate Bush.
My collection: 7" single no. 3364
Found: Esprit mail order, 2002
Cost: 5 pounds
Tracks: 'The man with the child in his eyes' / 'I wish'
Space was founded in 1977 by Didier Marouani (also known as Ecama), Roland Romanelli, and Jannick Top in Marseille, France. Their debut single 'Magic fly' and the album of the same name, both released in 1977, gave them immediate success. Today, they are considered to be pioneers of the eurodance/electronica genre.
I first heard the track 'Magic fly' in 1996 when it was shown on a television show. I was very surprised when I found this old single within days in the record shop in my hometown which I regularly visited.
My collection: 7" single no. 2645 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, May 24, 1996 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'Magic fly' / 'Ballad for space lovers'
Sniff 'n' the Tears will always be remembered for their biggest hit, 'Driver's seat', one of the best songs to play if you're driving around in a car. Or so I've heard - I don't have a car. Which may be why I prefer this single, released three months earlier in August 1980.
'One love' comes from Sniff 'n' the Tears' 1980 album 'The game's up'. It reached number 34 in the Dutch Top 40.
The Silencers were a Scottish rock band formed in London in 1986, consisting of Jimme O'Neill, Cha Burns, Joseph Donnelly and Martin Hanlin. Their debut single was 'Painted moon', written by O'Neill about his reaction to the Falklands war. Their first album 'A Letter from St. Paul' was released soon after. The Pretenders invited the band to support them on their European tour.
In 1988 The Silencers toured Europe with The Alarm and 'Painted Moon' became a radio hit in Britain. The band moved back to Scotland and recorded second album 'A Blues for Buddha', with Flood producing. The first single drawn from that album was 'Scottish rain', a song about love and fallout from Chernobyl. The band then toured Europe with Simple Minds for four months, culminating with a stadium show at Wembley in front of 80,000.
It was my sister who'd discovered the Silencers and bought this single. I bought it soon after and was pleasantly surprised that it came in a gatefold sleeve - always a nice item. My sister actually saw them play live in Rotterdam, supporting the Simple Minds - my interest waned after this one single.
My collection: 7" single no. 972 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, August 29, 1989 Cost: 3,5 guilders Tracks: 'Scottish rain' / 'A blues for buddha', 'Gimme shelter'
Readers of this blog know that I write entries about various 7" and 12" single with an image of the sleeve, some random facts and memories, plus the information about that single - and whenever possible a link to a soundfile. Blogger has been deleting random posts over the last few months, without stating what the hell the problem was with those particular posts. I've been writing messages to them but they are as responsive as my deaf and insane neighbour.
Their actions are based on the DMCA, they write. Has any reader got any understanding of this? Since when is it illegal to link to stuff that's already out there on the web? And what does Blogger want - that I stop blogging? Your responses are welcome here. God knows that big corporations don't listen to reason, but it would be nice to hear from some people out there who do give a f***.
What's more, this blog will feature divshare from now on - I've noticed that they host a lot of music as well and it allows me to stream music instead of letting people download the stuff. Perhaps this is more acceptable to the DMCA people? We'll find out.
I don't know for sure, but this might well be the longest single ever released. Chris Rea's 'Nothing to fear' clocks in at 9 minutes and 10 seconds: truly an epic song. It's this length that piqued my interest when I came across this single during a week in London in 1992. I listened to it on a listening post, and decided I liked it enough to buy it.
