Profiles in gold, album 1 - Abba, Spinners, Firefall, England Dan and John Ford Coley

In 1978, Burger King and the Coca-Cola Company in the USA conspired to release two EP's called Profiles in gold, featuring two tracks each from four different acts. The first one is probably the most collectable, since it features two tracks by Abba (and I would think that there are more Abba fans in the world than there are of other acts on this and the other EP). 

Playing at roughly 33rpm, this disc manages to fit in eight tracks in total. I would think that the A-side is the most interesting one, with the two Abba tracks and two cracking tunes by the Spinners, while the very American-sounding other side is standard radio far, with the most interesting song lyrics-wise is Firefall's second track. It says that if the world has crumbled, you're feeling lonely and have been abandoned by almost everyone, "Just remember I love you". That should make everything alright, then.

My collection: 7" single no. 8293
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 April 2026
Tracks: 'Fernando', 'Waterloo' (Abba), 'I'll be around', 'One of a kind (love affair)' (Spinners) / 'You are the woman', 'Just remember I love you' (Firefall), 'Gone too far', 'We'll never have to say goodbye again' (England Dan and John Ford Coley) 

Fernando / Dancing queen - Abba

The label BR Music specialized in releasing singles with hits from earlier decades. In 1986 they released this Abba single - a few years before Abba would be re-evaluated and re-appreciated thanks to the Abba Gold compilation album. As far as I know, it's one of very few singles released by a different record company than their own (Polydor or Epic). 

The single has become rare. In fact, I've seen it a couple of times at previous record fairs and the last one with one dealer who was asking 30 euros for it. Fortunately this time there was also another dealer who asked much less for this single - and so I snapped it up.

My collection: 7" single no. 8292
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 April 2026
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Dancing queen' 

Waterloo - Abba

Now this is a special one. I've been searching for the Japanese single of Abba's 'Waterloo' for some years now, ever since I bought a few lesser known Eurovision songs on Japanese vinyl. But unfortunately, when you would order this single online, combined with shipping, you're bound to lose close to 100 euros, which I think is a bit steep.

I was really happy to find a copy of this single during the weekend's record fair. Best of all, I also managed to haggle about 20% off the stated price. And so here it is: a near mint copy of Abba's winning Eurovision song from 1974 on Japanese vinyl. It's an item that not many people in Europe own, I'm sure.

My collection: 7" single no. 8278
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 April 2026
Tracks: 'Waterloo' / 'Watch out' 

Under attack - Abba

The very first item I found during the record fair in Den Bosch this weekend was this single by Abba. It's another copy of 'Under attack' - this time the UK pressing. UK pressings are always interesting, of course, and in this case the back of the sleeve features an advert for the compilation album The Singles - The First 10 Years. 

Maybe my collection of Abba singles is getting out of hand - but it's always a pleasure to find a version that I don't already have. 

My collection: 7" single no. 8269
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 April 2026
Tracks: 'Under attack' / 'You owe me one' 

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' 

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' 

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'

Under attack - Abba

So I bought a lot of Abba singles at the record fair last week, but only one came from Japan - my favourite country for singles. And this was the last one from Abba: 'Under attack', released after their The first ten years compilation album. 

The sleeve of this single is gorgeous and much better than other versions that were released elsewhere in the world. It just shows that the love and care that Japanese record companies had for their releases.

My collection: 7" single no. 7888
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Under attack' / 'You owe me one' 

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A man after midnight) - Abba

When I saw this sleeve of 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!', I instantly knew there was something different about it, but I couldn't really put my finger on it. Initially I thought the photograph was cropped differently, but when I compared it to the other singles I own at home, I saw what was wrong with it: the photograph was mirrored! 

This version of the single comes from New Zealand. I don't have a lot of singles from that part of the world, and so it is quite nice to own one.

My collection: 7" single no. 7887
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A man after midnight)' / 'The king has lost his crown'

Dancing queen - Abba

If the photograph on this sleeve looks familiar, it's because it also appeared on this Spanish sleeve of 'Honey, Honey'. But this single was released some time later, when Abba released 'Dancing queen'. 

The single was made in Hungary, and features 'Fernando' on the B-side. As far as I know only six Abba singles were made in Hungary. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7886
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Dancing queen' / 'Fernando' 

Fernando - Abba

While I bought the Spanish single of 'Fernando' I also found the Italian version. And again, the sleeve came with a different design. Just like on the Spanish one the Abba logo has gone missing, and is replaced by a certain custom font. 

There is no info on how many copies were sold of this single in Italy, but it reached number 3 in the chart run by the oldest music industry publication Musica e dischi. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7885
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Tropical loveland' 

Money, money, money - Abba

I've bought a few copies of this single. But we've had 'Money, money, money' and 'Money, money', but this Yugoslavian pressing changes the layout even more and adds the B-side title to the front sleeve as well. 

The single was released by Radio-Televizija Beograd, as usual in Yugoslavia at that time. Interestingly, the Polar logo still survives in the upper right corner of this sleeve. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7884
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Money, money, money' / 'Crazy world' 

Fernando - Abba

Another Spanish Abba single comes with another variation of the sleeve for 'Fernando'. Just like on 'Mamma Mia' the recommendation 'No. 1 en Inglaterra' is featured on this sleeve. What else? The familiar 'Abba' logo has gone missing and the title 'Fernando' is repeated three times. It's a design that is imperfect in a way. 

On the back sleeve the lyrics of 'Fernando' are printed in full, which I think is a first for an Abba single. It's another nice item for my growing Abba collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7883
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Intermezzo no. 1'