You are my world 87 - The Communards

I wrote about the Communards' 'You are my world' before (although Blogger seems to have deleted that post again in their random actions vandalism), but that was the original version from 1986 with which they made their debut.

In 1987, they re-released the track in a re-recorded version. This version did better than the original: while that one peaked at number 30 in the UK, this one peaked at number 21. And in the Netherlands, where the original didn't chart, it reached number 24. I bought the single to get my collection of Communards singles complete. Always a good feeling to be complete.

My collection: 7" single no. 3646

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 18, 2009

Cost: 0,8 euro

Tracks: 'You are my world 87' / 'Judgement day'

A little bit further away - Kokomo

The British funk band Kokomo formed in the Seventies. They released their debut album 'Kokomo' in 1975. The second album 'Rise & shine' appeared two years later and the third album, again titled 'Kokomo' came out in 1982. This album contained the hit single 'A little bit further away', a beautiful soul song with vocal harmonies and a very early Eighties soul music backing.

While not a big hit in the UK, it peaked at number 4 in the Netherlands. I got to know the song thanks to a compilation cd which I bought in the late Eighties. Now I've finally got the original single as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 3680

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, April 25, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'A little bit further away' / 'Keep on dancin''

The ballroom blitz - The Sweet

'The Ballroom Blitz' was written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. It was released as a single in 1973, where it reached number 1 in Australia and entered at number 2 in the UK singles chart but failed to go to number one. The song reached number 5 in the United States and number 4 in the Netherlands.

The song itself was written about the Grand Hall of the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock, Scotland, after the band was forced off stage by a barrage of bottles.

My collection: 7" single no. 3678

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, April 25, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'The ballroom blitz' / 'Rock & Roll disgrace'

Belfast - Boney M

'Belfast' was originally written by Drafi Deutscher for Marcia Barrett while she was still performing as a solo artist in the early Seventies. Boney M performed the song live because they didn't have enough of their own material yet, and it proved to be an audience favourite. This gave producer Frank Farian the idea to record it anew.

However, because of the politically tinted lyrics ('when the hate you have for one another's past') he first recorded it with Gilla in German. It still appeared on Boney M's 1977 album 'Love for sale' and ended up being a single for them. It peaked at number 9 in the UK and number 3 in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 3682

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, April 25, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Belfast' / 'Plantation boy'

I'm your man - Wham!

'I'm your man' was released in November 1985 after Wham!'s world tour, followed by a period of rest. The last people had seen of Wham! was during Live Aid in the Summer. Thus, the single was long-awaited. It was a number 1 in the UK and peaked at number 4 in the Netherlands.

Within a few months, Wham! announced their split. 'I'm your man' did not appear on any studio album, and so its only appearance on an album was on 'The final', the compilation album that was released in 1986 to commemorate the end of Wham!'s career. In 1995, Lisa Moorish covered the song.

My collection: 7" single no. 3684

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, April 25, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'I'm your man' / 'Do it right (instrumental)'

Baby I love your way - Peter Frampton

'Baby I love your way' was written and performed by Peter Frampton and originally featured on his 1975 album 'Frampton'. A live version of the song was released in 1976 on his live album 'Frampton comes alive!'. In this version, the track peaked at number 12 in America and number 43 in the UK.

My collection: 7" single no. 3679

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, Apil 25, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Baby I love your way' / 'It's a plain shame'

Louise - The Human League

The third and last single from Human League's 1984 album 'Hysteria' was the melancholy 'Louise'. Writer of the song and frontman Phil Oakey points out that the story is actually about the original protagonists from 'Don’t you want me' meeting up four years later. In 'Louise' the man sees his lost love again and still cannot deal with reality. The anger that drove the earlier song has dissipated, and is replaced with a hopeful fantasy that his ex-lover is drawn to him all over again.

The single peaked at number 13 in the UK singles chart. I spotted this single the last time I went to La La Land, but didn't know whether I had it or not. I checked, and went back today to get it...

My collection: 7" single no. 3676

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, April 25, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Louise' / 'The sign'

Thunder and lightning - Risqué

After the breakup of the Dutch girl group Doris D. & the Pins got ugly, even to the point of lawsuits, the four girls backing lead singer Debbie Petter decided to go on as a girl group of their own. They debut in 1982 with the single 'The girls are back in town'. After this hit and 'Starlight', the follow-up, Risqué release 'Thunder & lightning'. This third single does not chart. One further hit, 'Burn it up (Mr. DJ)' and two flops later, the group falls apart.

My collection: 7" single no. 3681

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, April 25, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Thunder & lightning' / 'Thunder & lightning (Special dance mix)'

Ghost of love - Fiction Factory

Fiction Factory are best known for their Eighties classic '(Feels like) Heaven'. I was surprised to find out that I only have the 12" single of that song, so I started looking out for the 7" single. So today I found the follow-up: 'Ghost of love'. This single peaked at number 64 in the UK but did not chart in the Netherlands.

Still, it's got the same synthpop edge of early Eighties material and the vocals by Kevin Patterson are just as striking as they are on '(Feels like) Heaven'. A great find.

My collection: 7" single no. 3677

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, April 25, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Ghost of love' / 'The other side of grey'

Stepping Stone - Duffy

I'm probably going to irritate my friend Puck with this entry, so here goes... I think Duffy is a good singles artist. She's got interesting songs that are worth a spin or two. But a full album by her is bound to be a boring experience: I think the interesting voice will become grating when you listen to it non-stop for an hour.

That said, I liked the single 'Warwick avenue' and so I decided to give this one a try as well. 'Stepping stone' is again a nice song. The single peaked at number 21 in the UK singles chart and number 30 in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 3686

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, April 25, 2009

Cost: 5,9 euro

Tracks: 'Stepping stone' / 'Big flame'

Name and number - Curiosity killed the cat

Curiosity killed the cat was formed in 1984 by Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot, Julian Godfrey Brookhouse, Nick Thorpe and Migi Drummond. Their first success came in the guise of the video for the 1986 single 'Misfit', which featured Andy Warhol. Further hit singles were 'Down to earth', 'Ordinary day' and 'Free', all taken from the band's debut album 'Keep your distance' (1987).

Their second album 'Getahead' (1989) was led by the upbeat funky single 'Name and number'. The single peaked at number 14 in the UK and number 24 in the Netherlands. The 'Hey, how you doin'' refrain would be borrowed by De La Soul in 1991 for their song 'Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)', which would end up being a top 10 hit in the UK.

My collection: 7" single no. 3685
Found: La La Land, Den Haag, April 25, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Name and number' / 'Keep on trying'

Onyx - Space art

I have to admit, I didn't know this track but I assumed this would be instrumental synthpop when I saw the sleeve. I was not wrong. Space Art is a French band that was formed by two friends in Paris in 1977. The group consisted of Dominique Perrier on keyboards and Roger Rizzitelli on drums. Their music was all about experimenting with new sounds on new machines.

'Onyx' was released in the summer of 1977 and reached number 22 in the Netherlands. Space Art released three albums between 1977 and 1980, which have been released as a three cd box set last year.

My collection: 7" single no. 3683

Found: La La Land, Den Haag, April 25, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Onyx' / 'Axus'

They all run after the carving knife - New Musik

The single 'Churches' featured 'They all run after the carving knife' on the B-side. On this single, that track is the A-side - but it's an edited version, clocking in at 3'19 it's more than a minute shorter than the album version. It's a great dynamic track with lots of synths, which immediately explains its attraction to me.

The track also sounds a lot like A-ha's early work, which is not so strange considering New Musik's Tony Mansfield produced them in the beginning. Worth a listen if you don't know this.

My collection: 7" single no. 2919
Found: Record fair, November 9, 1997
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'They all run after the carving knife [edit]' / 'This world of Walter'

Soley Soley - Middle of the road

Middle of the road had a top 5 hit in the UK in 1971 with 'Soley Soley'. The single did even better in the Netherlands, peaking at number 1. The single was also a huge hit in the Faroe Islands, where the name 'Sóley(ð/g)' is very popular as a girl's name and is pronounced the same way as this song's title.

I bought the single a few weeks ago already, but the sleeve proved to have the wrong disc in it. I usually check the disc, but you'll always find that the one time you forget to do it, you're a victim of a bad sale. Anyway, I found the correct sleeve ánd the correct disc this time around.

My collection: 7" single no. 3663

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 18, 2009

Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'Soley Soley' / 'To remind me'

To die a virgin - The Divine Comedy

'To die a virgin' was the second single to be released from The Divine Comedy's 2006 album 'Victory for the comic muse'. The track begins with a sample of Jennifer Ehle in the 1992 TV film 'The camomile lawn'. The B-side, 'Long slow suicide' was an exclusive track, released on the 7" vinyl only.

The single peaked at number 67 in the UK singles chart. The single came with a small promotional poster.

My collection: 7" single no. 3669

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 18, 2009

Cost: 5 euro

Tracks: 'To die a virgin' / 'Long slow suicide'

Rasputin - Boney M

A disco song about Russian history, now there's something that hadn't been tried before! Boney M recorded and released 'Rasputin' in 1978, a song about Grigori Rasputin who alledgedly healed Tsarevich Alexei of Russia from haemophilia in the first years of the twentieth century. While 'Rasputin' accurately indicates that unfavorable rumors damaged Grigori's reputation, there is no verifiable evidence to suggest that he had an affair with Alexandra.

'Rasputin' peaked at number 8 in the Netherlands and number 2 in the UK. In the Netherlands, the B-side was 'Painter man', which was released as an A-side in the UK, peaking at number 10. The B-side of 'Rasputin' in the UK was 'Never change lovers in the middle of the night'. I bought the UK single back in 1981 and got the European pressing recently. Both B-sides are here for your enjoyment.

My collection: 7" single no. 100 / 7" single no. 3642

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1981 / Record fair, Utrecht, April 18, 2009

Cost: 1 guilder / 0,8 euro

Tracks (1): 'Rasputin' / 'Painter man'

Tracks (2): 'Rasputin' / 'Never change lovers in the middle of the night'

Knock knock who's there - Mary Hopkin

Mary Hopkin represented the United Kingdom in the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest singing 'Knock Knock, Who's There?'. Despite being the pre-contest favourite, Hopkin came second to 'All Kinds of Everything', performed by Irish singer Dana. The singer expresses a long-held optimism at the prospect of love finally finding her. At the exact point that said optimism has faded, and she has resigned herself to not finding love and companionship, she hears a 'knock knock', which signifies love finally becoming attainable for her. Excited, she beckons love to 'come inside' and into her life.

"Knock Knock, Who's There?" was released as a single on 23 March 1970, reaching number 2 again in the UK singles chart. In the Netherlands, the single peaked at number 3.

My collection: 7" single no. 3649
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 18, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Knock knock who's there' / 'I'm going to fall in love again'

Lithium - Evanescence

'Lithium' was the second single taken from Evanescence's second album 'The open door'. Peaking at number 32 in the UK and number 55 in the Netherlands, the single was reasonably successful. This picture disc 7" vinyl was the last vinyl release of the band so far.

Frontwoman and writer of the song Amy Lee explained: 'It's not literal about the drug for me, I've never taken lithium before. It's [...] me looking at happiness in a negative way because I've always been, you know, kind of afraid to be happy. So it's this fight within the song of 'do I do this and get out of here and get happy or do I wallow in it like I always do?' and it's cool because at the end of the song I say 'I'm going to let it go', I am going to be happy.'

My collection: 7" single no. 3667

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 18, 2009

Cost: 5 euro

Tracks: 'Lithium' / 'The last song I'm wasting on you'

Driving in my car - Madness

Not included on any of Madness's original studio albums, 'Driving in my car' was a single released in July 1982. From the video and most of the lyric, the track is about a Morris Minor that was used by the group in the early years before band became famous.

'Driving In My Car' was the thirteenth in a run of twenty consecutive UK top 20 hits for Madness, and is the only one of those twenty never to have been officially released in the USA in any form. The single I bought comes in a 21" x 7" foldout sleeve, featuring all members of the band inside the car (a photo montage) and on the other side, all members of the band pushing the car forward (another photo montage).

My collection: 7" single no. 3638

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 18, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Driving in my car' / 'Animal farm (Tomorrow's dream warp mix)'

Alors je chante - Rika Zarai

Rika Zarai was born on February 19, 1938 in Jerusalem, Israel. She became famous in 1969 with this single, 'Alors je chante', a French cover version of the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest song 'Vivo cantando' by Salome, one of the four winners of that year's edition.

Interestingly, the original version did not chart in the Netherlands, but this version did. 'Alors je chante' peaked at number 10 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 3652

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 18, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Alors je chante' / 'Un mur a Jerusalem'