Live and learn - Clannad

Nothing wrong with a bit of Clannad now and then. Their music is certainly more varied than family member Enya's. The single 'Live and learn' was released in 1988 and taken from the album 'Sirius'. It was the follow-up to White fool, and preceded the single The Hunter.

Whereas the album 'Sirius' was a success, peaking at number 34 in the UK albums chart, this single did not chart at all. Much like all the other singles taken from this album, I might add.

My collection: 7" single no. 5831
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, May 13, 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Live and learn' / 'Many roads'

Listen to the song

Hang on now (US mix) - Kajagoogoo

Although I already own a copy of Hang on now by Kajagoogoo, this single caught my eye because of the completely different sleeve. When I checked the label, it turned out to contain a "US mix" of the song. Obviously I had to buy this one. Checking this single out on Discogs.com, I found out that this particular mix was never released on CD, which makes it a nice collectable one. Sometimes you get lucky.

The synth saturated 'Hang on now' is one of my favourite Kajagoogoo singles. It flopped it the Netherlands, but reached a respectable number 13 in the UK singles chart. This single was made in France. I wonder if the single was a hit there...

My collection: 7" single no. 5830
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, May 13, 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Hang on now (US mix)' / 'Hang on now (instrumental)'

Listen to the song

Are you ready - Bucks Fizz

Bucks Fizz had a good 1981, winning the Eurovision Song Contest and having considerable success with their debut album and singles. By 1982, they had to work on maintaining that high profile. They were reasonably successful, with singles like The land of make believe and My camera never lies, although they were still regarded as a lightweight pop act.

'Are you ready' was the title of their second album. The title track was released as a single outside of the UK. The single didn't end up in the Dutch singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 5829
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, May 13, 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Are you ready' / 'Now those days are gone'

Listen to the song

Wonderful life (re-recording) - Black

In 1988 Black re-recorded his 1987 hit 'Wonderful life' for the American market. The new version was included in a version of his second album 'Comedy' that was compiled for the USA. It included this version of 'Wonderful life' and 'Sweetest smile', and a selection of tracks from 'Comedy' as it was released in Europe.

I didn't know that a single of this re-recorded version existed, until I started scouring websites like Discogs.com some time ago. And even then I didn't feel the urgency to buy the single. But the opportunity came up recently when I bought a stack of singles from a German dealer, and I just couldn't resist. As far as I know, this single is the only one with the re-recorded version, although CD-singles exist. But, of course, I do own those.

My collection: 7" single no. 5826
Found: Recordsale.de, received May 11, 2017
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Wonderful life (re-recording)' / 'I can laugh about it now'

Listen to the song

Military drums - Hubert Kah

'Erstauflage in rotem vinyl' declares the sleeve of this single, meaning that red vinyl is what you get. And that is of course a great incentive for buying a single. In this case, it was my main incentive because I didn't know the song. I did know, however, that Hubert Kah collaborated with Michael Cretu and Sandra at the time, and that meant that this single would probably be German pop at its best.

And indeed it is. 'Military drums' delivers quickly, and the production is typically Michael Cretu mid-'80s style. No real surprises, then, but a pleasant piece of pop nonetheless.

My collection: 7" single no. 5809
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 8, 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Military drums' / 'Explain the world in a word'

Listen to the song

De mono-kini - De Strangers

There have been a few earlier entries about the Belgian band De Strangers, as they have a repertoire partly consisting of covers of Eurovision songs. These covers are interesting because they are so different from the original.

'De mono-kini' is a version of '9 to 5', originally performed by Dolly Parton. But I really bought this single for the B-side.'Mor ni me den deze' - recorded in their local Antwerp dialect as usual - is a version of Bucks Fizz's 'Making your mind up'. I wish I could tell you what the lyric is about, but there is no way of knowing for someone who cannot understand that dialect. The fact that I found this single at a local flea market makes it interesting: how does a Belgian single like this end up near The Hague?

My collection: 7" single no. 5812
Found: Flea market, Voorburg, April 16, 2017
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'De mono-kini (9 to 5)' / 'Mor ni me den deze (Making your mind up)'

Listen to the song

Love gives - Hoffmann & Hoffmann

Hoffmann & Hoffmann represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1983 with Rücksicht. The duo also recorded their song in English, as you can see here. The single appeared in record fairs and online for handsome prices, so I was suitably amused when I found this copy for half a euro at a local flea market.

While his brother committed suicide in 1984, Michael Hoffmann continued in music and worked as a producer and composer for other artists, including Eurovision veterans Gitte Haenning, Wencke Myhre and Nicole throughout the Eighties. Afterwards he focused mainly on making spiritual and meditative music.

My collection: 7" single no. 5811
Found: Flea market, Voorburg, April 16, 2017
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Love gives' / 'I need you now'

Listen to the song

I'm afraid of me - Culture Club

Prior to 'making it big' with Do you really want to hurt me, Culture Club released two singles that weren't quite so successful. I found the first one - White boy - eight years ago, and this month number two popped up almost equally cheap: 'I'm afraid of me'.

The single only got to number 100 of the UK singles chart. A remixed version of this track appeared on the band's debut album 'Kissing to be clever'.

My collection: 7" single no. 5807
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 8, 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'I'm afraid of me' / 'Murder rap trap'

Listen to the song

What'cha gonna do for me - Jody Watley

Jody Watley had a nice career going in the Eighties, especially with singles like Looking for a new love and Still a thrill. By the end of the decade, not so much. This single faded into obscurity rather quickly and she didn't return into the charts until 1993, when her song 'When a man loves a woman' (not a cover version) reached number 33 in the UK singles charts.

'What'cha gonna do for me' was taken from her 1989 album 'Larger than life', but didn't reach the charts anywhere. The sleeve looks colourful enough, and the song isn't half bad either. I don't know what went wrong there...

My collection: 7" single no. 5808
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 8, 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'What'cha gonna do for me' / 'What'cha gonna do for me (dub)'

Listen to the song

6 años de exitos de - Boney M

There's nothing wrong with a bit of Boney M now and again, and regular visitors of this blog will know that I already own a pretty impressive row of Boney M singles - some of which I have bought for a second time in the mean time because those early singles were ruined by my younger self. The fact that my wife actually likes their music - which is a feat in itself, because for some strange reason she seems to prefer folk like Bach - also helps.

This Spanish single from 1982 presents a medley of the group's biggest hits. Listening to it you'll have to admit this sound more like a quickly edited track than a professional remix. I don't know if it was a hit in Spain, but it's a nice item nonetheless.

My collection: 7" single no. 5805
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 8, 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: '6 años de exitos de Boney M' / 'Rivers of Babylon'

Listen to the track

I've got mine - UB40

UB40 was between albums when they released 'I've got mine' in 1983. It was just months before they hit the big time with their smash hit 'Red red wine', but while it was still very much a UB40 track -  reggae rhythm and all - it was more dynamic than songs like 'Love is all is alright' and 'Food for thought'.

I picked up this single at work, oddly enough. In the 'little white library' colleagues exchange books, but sometimes cd's and vinyl pop up as well. It's the newest way to add to my collection, I guess!

My collection: 7" single no. 5876
Found: Little white library, November 2016
Cost: 0
Tracks: 'I've got mine' / 'Dubmobile'

Listen to the song

Skorápky orechu - Marie Rottrová

Every once in a while I buy a single not for the A-side, but for the B-side. This is a good example. Marie Rottrová's 1983 single 'Skorápky Orechu' is a bit of a rarity for Kim Wilde fans, since the B-side features the only known cover version of Kim's song 'Action city'. Entitled 'Já tvé sny znám', you won't easily find it, but fortunately the sleeve does actually mention 'Action city' between brackets (as you can see below).

Marie Rottrová was born in Ostrava-Hrušov (Czech Republic) on November 13, 1941. She was born and raised in a musical family, with her mother a singer and her father an organist. She initially started working as a bank clerk but after participating in a talent show in Ostrava she was discovered and became a member of groups like Františka Trnka, Octect, Samuel, Majestic and the Flamingos. Her first LP with the Flamingos was recorded in 1970. This self-titled debut album in the Czech language was re-recorded a year later in English as 'This is our soul'. Several solo albums followed.Rottrová still performs and records these days, although she never became as prolific as she was during the 1970's and the first half of the 1980's.

My collection: 7" single no. 5859
Found: Discogs.com, received July 1, 2016
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Skorápky orechu' / 'Já tvé sny znám'

Listen to the song

Io senza te - Peter Sue & Marc

I already bought Io senza te by Peter Sue & Marc at the end of 2009 as part of a big stack of Eurovision singles. The B-side of that single featured the English version of the song. When I was in Vienna last month, I suddenly spotted the German version of that song, with the German version of the song on the B-side.

Nothing wrong with a little language variation here and there, and so I bought this single as well, especially since it was so cheap (if you ignore travel fares and hotel costs, that is). It just goes to show that you never know what you find when you go shopping for records in other countries!

Listen to the song

My collection: 7" single no. 5857
Found: Moses Records, Vienna, June 3, 2016
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Io senza te' / 'Ich ohne dich'

December - All about Eve

Ordering online can be a treat sometimes, especially when you're able to combine things and get a few interesting singles together. I was a little surprised when this one arrived in a picture sleeve. It is a promotional 7" single for All about Eve's 'December', featuring the single edit on one side and an even shorter radio edit on the other side.

This track is of course best in its unedited version, but to own an exclusive radio edit is a nice addition to my already impressive All about Eve collection.

Listen to the song

My collection: 7" single no. 5857
Found: Discogs.com, received July 1, 2016
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'December (radio edit)' / 'December [single edit]'

Hon går rakt fram - Leyla

Having a complete Kim Wilde collection also includes many cover versions. Through the years I have been able to identify over 250 cover versions of Kim Wilde songs, and more than half of those are cover versions of 'Kids in America'. So it really is a nice surprise when it turns out that not everyone has turned to Kim's debut hit for inspiration.

The Swedish band Cotton Club debuted in 1984 with a self-titled album full of cover versions from hits between 1981 and 1984. One of them was Kim Wilde's 'Love blonde'. All the songs were translated into Swedish, and so 'Love blonde' became 'Hon går rakt fram'. When the track was released as a single, the record company decided to release it as a solo single from the band's lead singer, Leyla Yilbar Norgren.

Listen to the song

My collection: 7" single no. 5865
Found: Discogs.com, received July 27, 2016
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Hon går rakt fram' / 'En enda rad'

Song of love - Thomas Forstner

On the day of the dramatic outcome of the British referendum about the EU and proof that democracy does not always work well, I thought it would be nice to write about something else the Brits are really good at: Eurovision. In fact, they are so good at it that they haven't reached the top 10 in that competition for over a decade now (except in 2009, when they made number 5 just for once).

Even Austria has done much better in recent years, winning in 2014 and reaching the top 10 once as well. And in 1989, they did pretty well too: Thomas Forstner's 'Nur ein Lied' made it to number 5. Such was the success that he even recorded an English version of that song. 'Song of love' was released as a separate single, but this didn't become a hit outside of Austria.

Listen to the song



My collection: 7" single no. 5846
Found: Discogs.com, received May 2, 2016
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Song of love' / 'Song of love (instrumental)'

Layla - Habibi

Habibi represented Israel during the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Layla'. The band consisted of: Shlomit Aharon, Kikki Rothstein, Yuval Dor and Ami Mendelman. They had originally been offered the song 'Hallelujah' in 1978, but they turned it down. That song was performed by Milk and Honey, and famously won the contest in 1979.

'Layla' fared less well, with just 56 points placing seventh in a field of twenty competitors. They released one more album in 1982 (which included their Eurovision song) before disbanding.

My collection: 7" single no. 5845
Found: Discogs.com, received May 2, 2016
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Layla (English version)' / 'Layla (Hebrew version)'

Listen to the song

Tonight - The Look

Just like I am the beat, The Look's 'Tonight' is a song I know well from my childhood. Finding the single has proved a little more difficult, because I haven't seen it through the years between then and now. And it's quite amusing to note that I bought the other single in 1995 and this one just 21 years later...

I don't really know why I remember the song that well, since it wasn't a hit - neither in the UK nor in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 5842
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 17, 2016
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Tonight' / 'Three steps away'

Listen to the song

Love goes up and down - Errol Brown

Although 2016 has confronted us with morality in a big way - with David Bowie, Prince and several other big names in music departing - last year was no small matter either. In February Visage's face Steve Strange passed away, and in May we lost Errol Brown, the frontman of Hot Chocolate.

It's easy to forget that beside his 18 years with that band, he also released a handful of solo releases in the late Eighties. 'Love goes up and down' was his fourth solo effort, which only got to number 89 in the UK singles chart. If you listen to the song here, you'll hopefully agree that the song was very much underrated.

My collection: 7" single no. 5853
Found: Moses Records, Vienna
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Love goes up and down' / 'Thank you'

Listen to the song

Young ones everywhere - Stephanie

Princess Stephanie from Monaco made a name for herself as a singer with the 1986 hit 'Ouragan' / 'Irresistible', and on the back of that success released an album of reasonably good pop songs. But royalty is almost obliged to do something for charity as well, and so one of the tracks from the album ended up being connected to Unicef in 1987.

'Young ones everywhere' was the appropriate title of the single, and it announced in large letters 'Stepahnie for Unicef'. It is not known whether this single raised a lot of money for Unicef, but since it wasn't a Europe-wide hit, the worst is to be feared.

My collection: 7" single no. 5847
Found: Discogs.com, received May 2, 2016
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Young ones everywhere' / 'Young ones everywhere (instrumental)', 'Besoin'

Listen to the song