Yester-me, yester-you, yesterday - Stevie Wonder

In 1966 Chris Clark recorded 'Yester-me, yester-you, yesterday', a song written by Ron Miller and Bryan Wells. Stevie Wonder recorded the song a year later, but the single was released in 1969, when he was going through some vocal problems and was required to wait before recording a song. Motown decided to release some tracks that were recorded earlier, and so his version of the song saw the light in September 1969. 

It was a big success: the single reached number 7 in the US BIllboard Hot 100 and number 2 in the UK singles chart, making it at that time, Wonder's biggest UK hit.

I found this disc during the annual family holiday while going through some singles in a record store in Darmstadt. That record store was a highlight of the week for me. Oddly, because I went to that same shop in 2018 and found exactly nothing!

My collection: 7" single no. 7733
Found: Come Back, Darmstadt (Germany), 4 August 2025
Tracks: 'Yester-me, yester-you, yesterday' / 'I'd be a fool right now'

The blood that moves the body - A-ha

Back in 1988, I bought a single of 'The blood that moves the body', not knowing that there was a much more interesting release in the UK. This limited edition pack included three postcards of the band, which in itself isn't exactly earth-shattering, but as I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to limited edition packages, I still wanted to have it when I found out about it 35 years later. It took me almost two years to find a near mint copy, and of course I had to find it online.

In fact, I was tipped off by a friend, and I think I bought this copy from a friend of that friend. I don't really care: it makes my A-ha collection that much more interesting. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7730
Found: Discogs.com, received 23 July 2025
Tracks: 'The blood that moves the body' / 'There's never a forever thing'

Slow emotion replayed - The The

When The The announced their most recent single 'Slow Emotion Replayed' last month via their newsletter, I was very disappointed when it was already sold out when I looked. Mind you, I read that newsletter within an hour after it dropped in my mailbox. This month another newsletter dropped, and lo and behold, it was announced that more copies were available to order! I didn't hesitate, of course, because the The The collection needs to be complete. Well, as complete as it can be. 

'Slow emotion replayed' is a new version of 'Slow emotion replay', recorded after their successful recent tour. I missed out on those live gigs, because I hate standing for hours, so this is a fine replacement. The B-side is a bit of wordplay on the title of the A-side and is an instrumental track that is inspired on the A-side as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 7729
Found: The The website, received  22 July 2025
Tracks: 'Slow emotion replayed' / 'Crow commotion displayed'

Kids in America - Kim Wilde

Since I am catching up on older acquisitions, I think it's time I highlight my Japanese pressings of Kim Wilde singles. I started last week with the exclusive release 'Take me tonight', and today I went for her debut single, the immortal 'Kids in America'. 

On the internet there's the recurring debate about the line 'New York to East California' in the song, with people wondering why exactly Kim chose to sing about East California while there's really nothing there to sing about. The simple explanation given by dad Wilde, who wrote the song, was that it sounded better than 'West California'. In pop, things usually are that simple.

In Japan, 'Kids in America' was released twice, and with different sleeves. In the absence of any chart data I have to assume that the first release wasn't successful enough, and so the record company went for a re-release after worldwide success became evident. 

My collection: 7" single no. 1838 / no. 3340
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 23 January 1993 / Ebay, 2001
Tracks: 'Kids in America' / 'Tuning in tuning on'  

L'amour est bleu - Vicky

Almost ten years ago I bought my first copy of Vicky Leandros's 'L'amour est bleu'. Why it didn't end up on this blog back then, I don't really know. It is an interesting enough EP, because it announces all the tracks in Spanish, but they are actually sung in French.

Two of these tracks are familiar, because they are also on other releases of the song, but the B-side is populated by two more songs. Vicky didn't win the contest on this occasion, but she would do so half a decade later, when she performed 'Après toi'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 5704
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, 21 November 2015
Tracks: 'L'amour est bleu', 'Le soleil a quitté ma maison' / 'Le tour du monde', 'Les amoureux' 

Voy a volverme loco - Chris Rea

Chris Rea's single 'Fool (if you think it's over)' was released in 1978 and became quite successful. Although it only reached number 30 in the UK singles chart and number 25 in the Dutch Top 40, it also reached number 12 in the US Billboard Hot 100, which gave the singer the status of a 'one hit wonder' over there.

In 1980 he recorded a Spanish version of the song. 'Voy a volverme loco' was released in Spanish-speaking countries. This promotional single is a welcome addition to my collection, even if I already owned this version on CD.

My collection: 7" single no. 7728
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2025
Tracks: 'Voy a volverme loco' / 'Three angels' 

Tu eres mi mejor amante - Luv'

After Luv' acquired great success in the Netherlands and surrounding countries, they tried to capitalize on that success by recording an alternative version of their number one hit, 'You're the greatest lover' in Spanish. 'Tu eres mi mejor amante' was the result of this, but the single was packaged in this rather dull black and white sleeve. I am pretty sure that it would have made more impact if the sleeve had been as colourful as the original version.

I don't know, to be honest, whether this was a hit in Spanish-speaking countries, but I saw this single while buying some records from a Spanish dealer and I just couldn't resist.

My collection: 7" single no. 7727
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2025
Tracks: 'Tu eres mi mejor amante' / 'Everybody's shakin' hands on Broadway'

Dan ljubavi - Nada, Bisera, Beti & Boba

Back in 1975, Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Dan Ljubezni', performed in Slovenian by Pepel in kri. Although this was a fine version, it wasn't exactly what those in the Serbian-speaking regions of the country wanted. And so they recorded their own version: 'Dan ljubavi'. 

The song was recorded by Nada, Bisera, Beti and Boba, although the sleeve of this single suggests that many more people were involved in the recording of this single. The sleeve proudly exclaims 'Pesma je kandidat za gran pri evrovizije '75' ('The song is a candidate for the Eurovision Song Contest '75'). It was, but not in this version.

My collection: 7" single no. 7725
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2025
Tracks: 'Dan ljubavi' / 'Ostavi sve'

Mix - Cock Robin

I thought I had every Cock Robin single known to man, but then I spotted this Spanish release some time ago. Getting hold of a copy wasn't simple, because I tend to wait until the price goes down and/or the seller has more interesting releases to buy (in order to slash the relative shipping costs). 

I got lucky earlier this month, so now I can finally say that I own 'Mix', the most peculiar Cock Robin single out there. It is a medley of their three hit singles, and honestly I think it was mixed together in a slightly amateurish way. I wonder if the band approved the release back in 1986.  

My collection: 7" single no. 7726
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2025
Tracks: 'Mix'

Fernando - Abba

Since I was ordering a few singles from Serbia, I thought it was nice to check out if the seller had any nice sleeve variations of Abba singles. And indeed, he did: this Yugoslavian pressing of Fernando comes with the same photograph that was used on most 'Fernando' singles, but with a different layout and a different 'Abba' logo!

The single was released on the Radio-Televizija Beograd' label, although the original Swedish Polar company gets a mention on the sleeve as well. Collecting Abba singles is best left to the most avid fans, but it is nice to catch a few in my collection as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 7724
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2025
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Tropical loveland'

Poslije tebe - Zdenka Vučković

Zdenka Vučković was born in Zagreb on 20 June 1942. She was a Croatian popular music singer with a career spanning 60 years. Her popularity peaked during the Sixties, when she was a teen pop star. In 1972 she recorded a Croatian version of the song 'Après toi', which won the Eurovision Song Contest in the original version by Vicky Leandros.

She announced the end of her career with the song 'Odrasla je djevojčica mala' ['The Little Girl has Grown Up'], performed at the 1989 Zagreb Festival. However, in 1991, she performed the song 'To Love Somebody' (a cover version of the Bee Gees song in Croatian) as a duet with Severina. She passed away in Zagreb on 7 March 2020.

My collection: 7" single no. 7723
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2025
Tracks: 'Poslije tebe' / 'Doći Će ljepši dan' 

Malo mira - Ana Štefok

Yugoslavia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest during the Seventies and Eighties, and like in other participating countries it was pretty popular. Although Yugoslavia didn't manage to win until 1989, the Contest inspired many local artists to record their own versions of winning songs - and in their own language too.

Ana Štefok recorded a version of 'Ein Bisschen Frieden', the winning song of 1982, in Croatian. She even recorded the Belgian entry 'Si tu aimes ma musique' for the B-side. It's interesting how exotic these songs sound just by changing the language.

My collection: 7" single no.  7722
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2025
Tracks: 'Malo mira' / 'Ako voliš tu pjesmu'

I do, I do, I do, I do, I do - Abba

One of the earlier singles of Abba is 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do', released the year after they won the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Waterloo' and - perhaps unsurprisingly - not as successful. The song was recorded on 21 February 1975 at Glen Studio, and was inspired by the European schlager music of the 1950s, as well as the saxophone sound of the 1950s American orchestra leader Billy Vaughn.

The single did reach number 1 in Australia, Belgium, New Zealand,  South Africa and Switzerland, but in the UK it only got to number 38. The singles shown here are the French and German pressings, featuring different sleeves when compared to the Dutch version which I posted a long time ago.  

My collection: 7" single no. 6598
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 January 2022
Tracks: 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do' /  'Rock me'

What have you done for me lately - Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson shot to instant worldwide fame when she released 'What have you done for me lately' in 1986. It was the lead single for her third album Control, but the previous two albums didn't score as high as that one would. Of course she profited a little from the stellar popularity of her brother Michael, but engaging Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for the album was also a smart move. They gave her the right sound for the mid-Eighties.

Back in 1993 I bought the UK pressing of this single, featuring a different sleeve and a different B-side. This European edition has another track from the album on the B-side and the sleeve that most people will recognize.

My collection: 7" single no. 7721
Found: Kay's Outlet, Wagenberg (Netherlands), 12 July 2025
Tracks: 'What have you done for me lately' / 'He doesn't know I'm alive' 

I'm not perfect (but I'm perfect for you) - Grace Jones

There's no-one quite like Grace Jones. She's got a few classic songs to her name, and the album Inside story (1986) was an attempt to add a few more. That album didn't really get that legendary status, despite the involvement of Nile Rodgers.

However, the album did contain a few nice pop songs, and this was one of them. The song came from an idea that Jones and Mick Jagger had "when you are famous, and having to be as perfect for your partner as you are as a performer"; one of the pair did one line and the other followed. Although they only got as far as the title, Jones told Jagger that she would go away and develop it into a song imagining what her and Jagger would have said. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7720
Found: Kay's Outlet, Wagenberg (Netherlands), 12 July 2025
Tracks: 'I'm not perfect (but I'm perfect for you)' / 'Scary but fun'

April love - Pat Boone

'April Love' was composed by Sammy Fain and written by Paul Francis Webster. It was written as the theme song for a 1957 film of the same name, starring Pat Boone and Shirley Jones and directed by Henry Levin. Pat Boone recorded the song, and helped by the release of the film, it became a number one hit for him. In 1958, it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song but lost out to Frank Sinatra's 'All the Way'.

In 1973 the song was recorded by Ricky Wilde, and this is how I got to know this song. Obviously I was interested to hear the original as well, and I was lucky enough to find a copy last weekend!

My collection: 7" single no. 7719
Found: Kay's Outlet, Wagenberg (Netherlands), 12 July 2025
Tracks: 'April love' / 'When the swallows come back to Capistrand' 

Electric circus - Spectral Display

I wasn't actively searching for this single, but when I saw it I immediately realized I had something pretty rare. And indeed it is: it's the final Spectral Display single to complete the series - I now have all of them (although I am still after a few different formats). Of the five, this is probably the most unexpected one, because 'Electric circus' is a fully instrumental track!

Spectral Display came to prominence in 1982 with 'It takes a muscle to fall in love', a single I bought soon after it came out. I only heard 'There's a virus going round' over a decade after it came out, but that made me curious about this band and I started collecting their singles after that. If you like electronic music, this should pique your interest.

My collection: 7" single no. 7718
Found: Kay's Outlet, 12 July 2025
Tracks: 'Electric circus' / 'Sailor' 

Suddenly - Olivia Newton-John & Cliff Richard

The duet 'Suddenly' was a love theme for the movie Xanadu, which premiered in 1980. The song was performed by two big stars: Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard. The single reached number 15 in the UK singles chart and number 20 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Surprisingly, it didn't chart at all in the Netherlands.

The B-side, 'You made me love you', performed by Olivia, didn't appear on the soundtrack album for Xanadu, although it did appear in the movie. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7717
Found: Kay's Outlet, Wagenberg (Netherlands), 12 July 2025
Tracks: 'Suddenly' / 'You made me love you' 

Piove (Ciao, ciao, bambina) - Peter Schilperoort

Domenico Modugno's 'Piove' has been covered so many times that it's hard to keep up. It always pays off to type in 'Piove' (or 'Volare'!) when doing online purchases, but in this instance I found a single in a real life record shop. 

This instrumental version was played by Peter Schilperoort on the clarinet, along with his quintet (whose members remain uncredited). Schilperoort was a founding member of the Dutch Swing College, a band that started on 5 May 1945, when the Netherlands were liberated from the German nazis. He passed away on 17 November 1990.

My collection: 7" single no. 7715
Found: Kay's Outlet, Wagenberg (Netherlands), 12 July 2025
Tracks: 'Piove (Ciao, ciao, bambina)' / 'When the saints go marching in'

Take me tonight - Kim Wilde

Although I own a lot of Kim Wilde records (and I do mean a lot) most of them have never featured on this blog. Which kind of distorts the image of my collection, so I plan to rectify that in the weeks to come. Although I won't bore you with the many different pressings of certain singles, I should really point out the weird variations and, of course, 12" singles that I own.

This single is a great one to start off with. 'Take me tonight' was released in Europe and the UK as the B-side of 'View from a bridge', but in Japan it was promoted to the A-side, because the song was used at the end of the movie Shadow (or Tenebrae as it was called elsewhere) - although that happened without director Dario Argento's consent. His dismay was loud and clear on a commentary track when the movie was released on DVD decades later. 

My collection: 7" single no. 1611
Found:  Record fair, Amsterdam, 28 March 1992
Tracks: 'Take me tonight' / 'View from a bridge'