Love in itself - Depeche Mode

While Depeche Mode are releasing yet another live album (with four new studio tracks, unfortunately, because that means I will have to buy it!) I am going back to almost the beginning of the band's singles output. 

'Love in itself' came out in 1983 and as per usual the Germans were treated to a red vinyl version. This is one of their finest singles, because not only is the A-side very good, the B-side is almost as catchy as their best work during this period. Their music would turn out much darker in the second half of the Eighties.

My collection: 7" single no. 7755
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, 6 September 2025
Tracks: 'Love in itself' / 'Fools' 

Komm, komm, komm - Monique Melsen

How do you translate a song called 'Pomme, pomme, pomme' into German? German producer and songwriter Fred Wyrich came up with 'Komm, komm, komm', and wrote the lyric for this Eurovision song for the German market.

Monique Melsen performed her song at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971 for Luxembourg, with medium success. She could have scored higher if she hadn't worn a red blouse, red stockings and rather strange dungarees, I think.

My collection: 7" single no. 7903
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 December 2025
Tracks: 'Komm, komm, komm' / 'Fa-fa-fa' 

Wake me early in the morning - Mary Roos

In 1972 Mary Roos represented Germany during the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Nur die Liebe lässt uns leben'. She also recorded the song in English. The song 'Wake me early in the morning' is contained on this single, along with a B-side that is also translated. 

I bought the French version 'Nous' just a month ago, and it's funny how the singles of these two versions are housed in sleeves with a similar design - but with totally different photographs. This is the kind of thing I really like about having a physical collection, of course.

My collection: 7" single no. 7904
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 December 2025 
Tracks: 'Wake me early in the morning' / 'When you're singing (don't forget)'

Det' lige det - Hot Eyes

There's something decidedly camp about the Danish entries for the Eurovision Song Contest during the Eighties, and the epitome of that was the duo Kirsten & Søren, known internationally as 'Hot Eyes' (also a very dodgy name). I remember I didn't like their songs at all back then, but with age comes a lot of longing for the past, I guess.

'Det' lige det' isn't necessarily a very good song, but the fact that the duo decided to record multiple versions shows attitude. I already owned the single with the English version on the B-side, and now here's the one with the German version on the B-side. The sleeve is almost identical, so I was quite lucky not to scroll past it online when I bought this.

My collection: 7" single no. 7905
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2025
Tracks: 'Det' lige det' / 'Mit dir will ich zusammen sein' 

Love gives - Hoffmann & Hoffmann

I wasn't actively searching for this single, but I was ordering a few singles from a German seller and this promotional single from the UK just leapt out at me. Of course, I already own the German pressing of 'Love gives', but a promotional single always has its own special appeal.

'Rücksicht', of course, was the German entry for the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1983. Günter Hoffmann died a year after the Contest, after hurling himself out of a hotel window in Rio de Janeiro on 15 March 1984. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7908
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2025
Tracks: 'Love gives' / 'I need you now' 

 

Fernando - Abba

Rumour has it that Abba's old hit 'Fernando' is getting a resurgance because of the appearance of the song in the latest series of Stranger Things (you know, the one with the 'open marriage' adept David Harbour). I haven't noticed any chart placings for the song yet, but who knows. 

Of course I have a few copies of this single (some of them have appeared on this blog already) but this is an original German pressing. I thought it would be nice to feature it here while the song is hot, so to speak. Some people are still hoping for new Abba songs - I think they won't appear anymore. Thanksfully I still have a backlog of Abba singles to feature on here for a while yet. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7103
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 2023
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Tropical loveland' 

Popcorn essen ist gesund - Fausti

The very definition of a novelty single is when a badly sung song is based on a popular melody. And this single is a good example of that. Everybody knows the tune 'Popcorn' by Gershon Kingsley, and the person hiding behind the pseudonym Fausti decided to make a song from it, titled 'Popcorn essen ist gesund' ('Eating popcorn is healthy').

The single was released in 1972; the lyrics were apparently written by Hans Podehl, a German drummer. The singer goes uncredited. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7907
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2025
Tracks: 'Popcorn essen ist gesund' / 'Schalalaleila, ich bin 'ne kleine Maus' 

Amiga Quartett - Hot Chocolate

It's time for another one of those delicious Amiga Quartett EP's, this time featuring Hot Chocolate, the successful band fronted by Errol Brown. They had a lot of hits in the Seventies, and four of them were collected on this disc.

The fact that this product was German is underlined by the sleeve photograph, taken by Hartmut Schorsch, a German photographer who was born on 26 March 1936. HIs photographs appeared on a lot of Amiga products between 1973 and 1981. In fact, this EP, released in 1981 was the last to feature one of his photographs.  

My collection: 7" single no. 7906
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2025
Tracks: 'So you win again', 'Emma' / 'Every 1's a winner', 'Going through the motions' 

Thank you for the music - Abba

After about a decade of people sort of resenting Abba (God knows why) the Swedish band had their revenge when the compilation album Abba Gold came out in 1992. The album sold millions.

Quite unique for this compilation album, consisting of old Abba hits, was that a handful of singles were released from it. The first one was 'Dancing queen', the second one was 'Voulez-vous' and the third one was this one: 'Thank you for the music'. I had to search for a long time to find one! This single was released near the end of 1992, and so 'Happy new year' ended up on the B-side. The 'Promo only - Not for resale' sticker on the front sleeve makes this copy a little bit more special.

My collection: 7" single no. 7901
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 December 2025
Tracks: 'Thank you for the music' / 'Happy new year'

Ding-a-dong - Teach-In

For the longest time I have wanted to buy a few Japanese singles of winning Eurovision songs. A few of the most famous ones have become very expensive - and one of them was this one. Luckily this copy was sold for a reasonable price!

Teach-In won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975 with 'Ding-a-dong', a single that I now own in various different versions. This Japanese version has a unique sleeve with a photograph that, as far as I know, wasn't used on sleeves in other countries. It doesn't beat the Italian sleeve, but I think that one can't be beaten anyway.

My collection: 7" single no. 7900
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 December 2025
Tracks: 'Ding-a-dong' / 'Let me in' 

Djurgårdsfärjan / Äntligen har jag kommit hem (De mallemolen) - Small Town Singers

One of the most revered Dutch Eurovision entries ever is Heddy Lester's 'De mallemolen', in my humble opinion of course. 

That's why I had a look at cover versions of the song, and it turns out that the song made some impression in Europe. This single presents a Swedish version, with Swedish lyrics by Ingela Forsman. She is no stranger to Eurovision, of course: she also wrote the lyrics to 'Casanova', 'Främling' and 'Kärleken är', Swedish entries between 1977 and 1998.

My collection: 7" single no. 7899
Found: Discogs.com, received 2 December 2025
Tracks: 'Djurgårdsfärjan' / 'Äntligen har jag kommit hem (De mallemolen)'