Dr. Mabuse / Duel - Propaganda

The magazine Electronic Sounds did it again! They released their latest issue with a cover story on Propaganda and included a clear vinyl 7" single with it. When this issue was announced I read something about a 'David Kosten mix', so I ordered it right away.

It turns out that David Kosten was the one who reconstructed the album A Secret Wish from the original master tapes. So these mixes are not remixes, but just reconstructions of the original versions. In that sense, this single doesn't contain anything unique.

My collection: 7" single no. 7924
Found: Electronic Sounds website, received 22 January 2026
Tracks: 'Dr. Mabuse - The first life (David Kosten mix)' / 'Duel (David Kosten mix)' 

Prisoner of love - Miami Sound Machine

'Prisoner of Love' was the second single released by the American band Miami Sound Machine on their first English language album, and eighth overall, Eyes of Innocence. The song was written by the band's drummer Enrique "Kiki" Garcia. 

The single was released worldwide following the release of the album with great expectations. The lead single, 'Dr. Beat', also written by Enrique Garcia, had moderate success, also in Europe. 'Prisoner of Love' was unable to follow the success, debuting on the UK singles chart at only number 98 and failing to chart elsewhere. The single was only released in Europe, Australia and Japan.

My collection: 7" single no. 7923
Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Prisoner of love' / 'Toda tuya' 

Japanese lovesong - Ten Sharp

I always thought Ten Sharp's 'Japanese lovesong' was the weakest track they released in the mid-Eighties. Still, I bought the 7" single in 2009, and now here's the 12" single.

I was quite surprised at the extended mix included on this disc. It runs just over ten minutes and contains a great little jam right in the middle of the track. It's a big improvement on the mediocre single version. 

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Japanese lovesong (extended dance mix)' / 'Goin' on' 

Windpower - Thomas Dolby

I bought the 7" single of 'Windpower' almost twenty years ago. No wonder that the sleeve of this 12" single looked familiar, but I quickly realized that I'd never heard an extended version of the track.

The single was taken from Dolby's debut album The golden age of wireless (1982) and released on 26 July 1982.  

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Windpower (high power extended play)' / 'Flying North (High Altitude extended play)' 

Sloop John B - The Beach Boys

'Sloop John B' is a Bahamian folk song from Nassau. A transcription was published in 1916 by Richard Le Gallienne, and Carl Sandburg included a version in his The American Songbag in 1927. There have been many recordings of the song since the early Fifties.

In 1966, American rock band the Beach Boys recorded a folk rock adaptation that was produced and arranged by Brian Wilson and released as the second single from their album Pet Sounds. The record peaked at number 3 in the US Billboard Hot 100, number 2 in the UK singles chart, and topped the charts in several other countries. It was innovative for containing an elaborate a cappella vocal section not found in other pop music of the era, and it remains one of the group's biggest hits.

My collection: 7" single no. 7922
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Sloop John B' / 'You're so good to me'

I'm the man - Joe Jackson

Joe Jackson released the album I'm the man in October 1979, just nine months after his first album Look sharp!. On his website, he explained: 'This is really Part Two of Look Sharp! – it was released less than a year later. I don't know how I even had the time to write and record a slightly more mature record, but I think it is, and the best of the first three.'

Besides the LP version, there was also a box set of five 7" singles, featuring all ten tracks of the album (one on each side), as well as a poster of the sleeve image. I was surprised to find a copy of this box set in such great condition for just 10 euros, and I bought it despite the fact that I only knew one track: the single 'It's different for girls'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7921
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'On your radio' / 'The band wore blue shirts' // 'Geraldine and John' / 'Don't wanna be like that' // 'Kinda kute' / 'Amateur hour' // 'It's different for girls' / 'Get that girl' // 'I'm the man' / 'Friday' 

Love is the art - Living in a box

'Love is the art' was the fourth single from Living in a box's eponymous debut album. It was the least successful of the four, reaching number 45 in the UK singles chart. 

I was lucky to find a copy of the UK pressing of the single, among many German and Dutch pressings of different singles from different artists, so I don't really know how this dealer got this particular item. But that's the fun part of record fairs: finding singles you weren't particularly looking for, but get to buy them just the same.

My collection: 7" single no. 7917
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Love is the art' / 'Love is the art (instrumental)' 

The hit combination - Level 42

Level 42 was very popular during the Eighties, but in the Nineties that popularity seemed to elude them. Their ninth album Guaranteed (1991) didn't score as well as its predecessors, and so the record company tried to reverse their fortunes. A greatest hits album wasn't going to do that, because Level Best was just two years old at that point, and so they went for the next best thing: a remix album. The Remixes was released on 20 July 1992.

Besides remixes of their biggest hits, taken from various 12" singles, there was also a medley mix titled 'The hit combination', created by Ben Liebrand. That remix was released as a single as well. The full version appeared on the B-side, whereas an edit appeared on the A-side of this single.

My collection: 7" single no. 7916
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'The hit combination (edit)' / 'The hit combination (full version)'

Rivers of Babylon - Boney M

I was glad to buy a Japanese single of Boney M's 'Rasputin' a little over six years ago, because of the radically different sleeve of that one. Well, it happened again, when I went to a record fair in Amsterdam last week, and the first thing I found was the Japanese edition of 'Rivers of Babylon'. 

Quite why the Japanese decided on using a very small picture of the group, in the corner of a generic 'tropical island' image is a mystery to me, but it is a nice little rarity to add to my collection. Of course, Japanese singles are almost always in an impeccable state, and this one is no exception.

My collection: 7" single no. 7915
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Rivers of Babylon' / 'Brown girl in the ring' 

Radioactivity - The Divine Comedy

The latest issue of Electronic Sounds magazine in the UK came with a free 7" single of The Divine Comedy, featuring their excellent cover version of Kraftwerk's 'Radioactivity' (actually an old B-side from 1998), backed with the rather less impressive, but brilliantly titled 'The Synthesizer Service Centre Super Summer Sale' (from the rather frustrating album Office Politics). 

When I bought the issue online I assumed that both the original 'Radioactivity' by Kraftwerk and The Divine Comedy's cover version were on this single, which actually would have made it an excellent single. But it's still a nice item, and pressed on yellow vinyl, too!

My collection: 7" single no. 7914
Found: Electronic Sounds magazine website, received 7 January 2026
Tracks: 'Radioactivity' / 'The Synthesizer Service Centre Super Summer Sale'

Happy New Year - Abba

Just like last year, the last entry in my bl
og for this year has to be 'Happy New Year' by Abba. They stayed true to their tradition of re-releasing the single in December. This time they opted for a black sleeve and a zoetrope picture disc. This edition was limited to 4500 copies. I was happy to order one right when it was first announced, so I didn't have to miss it. 

It's funny how the record company comes up with new ways to sell this single. In the past, there have been picture discs, silver and gold vinyl variations. I would propose a version with a poster sleeve and one with a gatefold sleeve in the future. Perhaps a double single? A single with a double groove? I have lots of ideas.

My collection: 7" single no. 7902
Found: Platenzaak.nl, received 6 December 2025
Tracks: 'Happy New Year' / 'Felicidad' 

 

Under attack - Abba

Just before the end of this year I succeeded in putting all the Abba singles I didn't post on this blog yet, although I've had them in my collection for quite some time. And the last one to post is also the last single they ever released - or so we thought - in 1982. 

'Under attack' was recorded for an album that never came, but it did end up in the compilation album The Singles - The first ten years. Different countries had different sleeves for this one. The most colourful one came from Germany. I bought it during my final visit to All That Music in Leiden in 2010. At the time the shop was closing down, and I was lucky enough to buy 52 singles during their final sale.

The French edition followed more recently, in 2022. I bought it online as part of a package that included some Eurovision singles. You would never guess it, but the seller was French.

My collection: 7" single no. 4687 / no. 6764
Found: All that music, Leiden, 13 March 2010 / Discogs.com, received 13 August 2022 
Tracks: 'Under attack' / 'You owe me one'

The day before you came - Abba

For those who knew Abba mainly for their upbeat songs like 'Waterloo', 'Dancing queen' and 'Mamma mia', it would have been a shock to hear 'The day before you came' for the first time. The moody, wistful track took most people offguard and because of the fact that the Seventies had turned into the Eighties, the overpowering popularity of Abba was starting to crumble. 

Still, 'The day before you came' is an epic track, and stands apart as one of my most favourite songs of the quartet. It is strange that I never bothered to buy other pressings of the single than the one I bought in 1982, but this year I corrected that by buying the UK edition of the single. The front cover isn't different this time, although the back cover definitely is - it says 'Taken from the double LP/Cassette ABBA - The Singles AVAILABLE SOON' under the same photograph that was used at the front. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7837
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 30 October 2025
Tracks: 'The day before you came' / 'Cassandra' 

One of us - Abba

In the UK, 'One of us' was released as a regular 7" single and as a picture disc. Although the picture disc of 'One of us' in the UK featured the men of Abba on the A-side, the front sleeve of the regular edition showed Frida and Agnetha. 

Whereas the sleeve used in most countries repeated the album cover photo, Epic Records wanted a different image for the British release and used separate photos of the group members together with a large ABBA logo. The photos were actually out-of-date, as Frida was depicted still with her frizzy perm, while Björn was beardless. 

It's worth listening to the B-side of this single, as it includes a spoken count-in (in Swedish) from Benny. This count-in appeared on the British and South African releases, but not internationally. The master tapes supplied to Epic contained the error, but were not picked up in time, and so appeared on the single release. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7181
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 April 2024
Tracks: 'One of us' / 'Should I laugh or cry' 

Super trouper - Abba

The single 'Super trouper' was featured on this blog a long time ago. It was the Dutch pressing, with I think the most perfect cover. The photograph wasn't obscured by any record company logo. 

In the case of the German and Austrian versions, the cover only differs because of that record company logo. You can compare them here. 

I bought the German version a long time ago at a record fair, when I had just bought the cd-singles box set, and decided I wanted to have their 7" counterparts (as the cd-single sleeves were all based on the German 7" single sleeves). 

The Austrian version joined my collection a few years later, during a visit to Vienna. I took the opportunity to buy a few Austrian pressings of Abba singles, because at the time I didn't have any Austrian 7" singles in my collection! 

My collection: 7" single no. 4318 / no. 5862
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, 21 November 2009 / Teuchtler, Vienna, 25 September 2017
Tracks: 'Super trouper' / 'The piper'

Summer night city - Abba

The recording sessions for 'Summer night city' began in early 1978. The new recording studio, Polar Music, had opened in May 1978, but it wasn't ready to use, so the primary backing track had been recorded at Metronome Studio. Allegedly, mixing the single took at least a week, far more than it took to mix any other track in ABBA's recording history. In the end, the song had an enormous amount of compression applied to it to give it a more "driving" sound.

The Hungarian edition of the single has a sleeve with glossier paper than its Western European counterparts. The photographs of the band members are much clearer on this sleeve than on any other edition.

My collection: 7" single no. 5891
Found: Discogs.com, received on 31 January 2018 
Tracks: 'Summer night city' / 'Medley: Pick a bale of cotton / On top of old Smokey / Midnight special'

Dancing queen - Abba

'Dancing queen' was released in 1976 with a photograph of the members of Abba wearing hats. The photograph was used in most territories, but the sleeve design was different in almost every country. The Swedish version (which I don't have yet) was the most straightforward one, with the photograph splashed across the front, but in other countries the record companies wanted some fancy borders.

Take for instance the German version, with its orange border and the logo of the band taking centre stage. Or the French one, where the title of the song takes up almost half of the front sleeve.  

Some people will think I'm mad for collecting all these different sleeves, but I quite enjoy watching them. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7608 / no. 7609
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 March 2025
Tracks: 'Dancing queen' / 'That's me' 

Does your mother know - Abba

Although 'Does your mother know' was one of Abba's big hits, I never really connected with the song. As a result, I only had one copy of the single for a long time, until I started collecting more pressings of Abba singles quite recently. 

Earlier this year I found the French pressing of 'Does your mother know'. The sleeve is slightly different from other versions, because it doesn't announce the new album Voulez-Vous on the front cover and because the back cover is the standard template that the Vogue label used for their singles. This made it a nice addition to my collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7836
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 30 October 2025
Tracks: 'Does your mother know' / 'Kisses of fire' 

Tell me tomorrow - Princess

When I bought the pink vinyl version of 'Tell me tomorrow' online from a Danish dealer, he also had the blue vinyl version on offer. It was only logical that I would buy that one too, because it would only leave the white vinyl version for me to find. 

Next year the white vinyl version will undoubtedly arrive too, and that will complete the quartet. That's something to look forward to in 2026, I guess.

My collection: 7" single no. 7893
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2025
Tracks: 'Tell me tomorrow' / 'Say I'm your number one (original demo)' 

Tell me tomorrow - Princess

When I bought 'Tell me tomorrow' on yellow vinyl last month, I announced that the song would likely be featured a few more times on this blog, because the single was released in multiple colours of vinyl.

So here we are, with the pink vinyl edition of 'Tell me tomorrow'. While I found the yellow vinyl version at a record fair, I ordered this version online, just because I could. It was part of a larger order which included seven singles and a cd. The dealer was based in Denmark, which makes it rather surprising that he had this UK pressing of the single on offer.

My collection: 7" single no. 7892
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2025
Tracks: 'Tell me tomorrow' / 'Say I'm your number one (original demo)'