New fashioned waltz - Rita Reys, Rob de Nijs & the Pim Jacobs Combo

Back in 1966, Sweden was represented by Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson singing 'Nygammal vals'. I still haven't been able to buy a copy of that song, although I do have a cover version by Gunnar Wiklund. 

However, there was another cover version, and a very interesting one at that. It was recorded in the Netherlands by two artists who both forged decades-spanning careers for themselves. Rita Reys became a celebrated jazz singer, whereas Rob de Nijs had a career that lasted almost exactly until his death earlier this year (with a moving farewell concert in June 2022). They recorded 'New fashioned waltz', an English-language version of the Swedish song. 

I have been looking out for this single for a few years now. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at a record fair, and seeing this very single standing right at the front on one of the dealers' racks. It was in a very good condition - the pushout center wasn't even dinked - and it wasn't even expensive. That was a very nice start for an enjoyable little record fair.

My collection: 7" single no. 7767
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, 5 October 2025
Tracks: 'New fashioned waltz' / 'Side by side'

Slow burn - David Bowie

The French are lucky to have a magazine like Rolling Stone in their own language. Famously they're not too concerned about learning other languages, and a magazine like Rolling Stone comes with lengthy articles about pop and (mainly) rock artists. But, more importantly: sometimes the magazine comes with a free single! 

In the current issue, there's a David Bowie single included. And it's quite a curious one: 'Slow burn' is a track from the album Heathen, which was released back in 2002. Back then, there was no 7" single of that track - but 23 years later, here it is. Of course this is related to the box set I Can't Give Everything Away, which brings together the last four albums Bowie recorded before his untimely death in 2016. Now, 'Slow Burn' is not really my favourite Bowie song of all time, but still this is a very nice item to have. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7766
Found: Fnac (France), received 29 September 2025
Tracks: 'Slow burn' / 'Wood Jackson'

December - All About Eve

We're some months away from December, but I still wanted to post this beautiful limited edition 10" single of All About Eve's 'December'. It was packaged in a box and included a little poster featuring portraits of the band members and the lyrics of the song.

What's more, the disc included no less than four tracks. 'December' appears here in the 'Narnia Mix', which also appeared on the 12" single. All of the tracks appear on various formats, so no exclusives on this one.

My collection: 10" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record fair, 1990
Tracks: 'December (Narnia mix)', 'Drowning' / 'Paradise (89 remix)', 'The witch's promise'

Confession - Mylene Farmer

Just by chance I found out that Mylene Farmer released a new single this month. There were no news items, nothing on social media as far as I could tell, but the single was just there while I was ordering some cd's on Amazon France.

'Confession', apparently, is an ode to David Lynch, who passed away early this year. Mylene sang this song at the Cannes film festival, where they gave the legendary director and creator all the attention that he should have also gotten at the Oscars (but America has lost the plot anyway this year). This is a lovely, almost understated song, with, as always, mysterious lyrics. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7765
Found: Amazon France, received 15 September 2025
Tracks: 'Confession' / 'Confession (instrumental)' 

What kind of fool - All about Eve

After the big success of their single 'Martha's Harbour', All About Eve released one last single from their debut album, titled 'What kind of fool'. Now several editions of that single have already been featured on this blog: the 7" single, this 12" single and this 12" single.

But there was also this 10" single. And not just any 10" single: it came in a gatefold sleeve with a booklet inside. The booklet contains the lyrics of 'What kind of fool' plus all the non-album tracks that were released as B-sides of several singles taken from the album. The B-side of the 10" single features an exclusive live track, recorded at the Astoria in London.

My collection: 10" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record fair, 1990
Tracks: 'What kind of fool', 'Gold and silver' / 'Every angel (live)' 

The name of the game - Abba

While I am still trying to catalogue several Abba singles that didn't yet make it to this blog while I've had them for years, I am also still buying different variations of Abba singles these days. And so, as luck would have it, I bought an Abba single yesterday which I can easily pair to one I've had much longer.

The single is 'The name of the game'. It's one of my favourite Abba songs (which, I will grant you, there are many of), but all too often the song has been butchered on CD releases. The vinyl singles presented here contain a version that almost reaches the five minute mark, but on various CD's the song skips an entire second verse. 

The German edition, pictured above, has a light blue stripe across the photograph. It is this version which is replicated in the CD singles box set, released in a tin box in 1999.  

When you compare it with the French edition, pictured here, it is easy to spot the difference. That edition was released on the Melba record label, as opposed to Polydor which was used in most of Western Europe.

You might find these differences trivial, but for me they are quite fascinating. I am a bit of a late adopter when it comes to collecting Abba singles, so I probably won't easily get the Australian, Hungarian and Yugoslavian editions, but once you dive in, it's hard to resist. 

My collection: 7" single no. 5891 / no. 7764
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 January 2018 / Rommelmarkt, Voorburg, 14 September 2025
Tracks: 'The name of the game' / 'I wonder (Departure)' 

 

Woodstock - Matthew's Southern Comfort

The song 'Woodstock' was originally written and performed by Joni Mitchell. It appeared on her 1970 album Ladies of the Canyon and on the B-side of her single 'Big Yellow Taxi'.The song's lyrics refer to the four-day Woodstock Music and Arts Festival held in August 1969, and tell the story of a concert-goer on a trek to Max Yasgur's farm in New York State to join in the "song and celebration".

A few months later, the song was recorded by Matthew's Southern Comfort. It became the best-known version of the song in the UK, where it topped the charts. Matthews recalled in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner & Spencer Leigh: "I had bought Joni Mitchell's album and we had to do four songs on a BBC lunchtime show. We worked up an arrangement for “Woodstock” and the response was so good that we put it out as a single."

I first became aware of the song when I was just a child. I had an EP featuring 6 Top Hits from England (which, incidentally, was also the title of that EP) and I played it a lot on my first ever record player. As far as I can recall, it was my favourite song of the six. I threw away the EP when I sanitized my record collection a few years later, but the memory remains. This became clear when I bought this single and played it again after all those decades. I have to say this version by Matthew's Southern Comfort is better than the version by the unknown artist on that EP though.

My collection: 7" single no. 7763
Found: Rommelmarkt, Voorburg, 14 September 2025
Tracks: 'Woodstock' / 'Scion' 

Driving in my car - Madness

While the foldout sleeve edition of the single 'Driving in my car' is an amusing way to package a 7" single, there was also a picture disc released at the same time, no doubt to make the single go higher in the UK charts. 

The strategy must have worked, because the single ended up peaking at number 4, which was just slightly lower than the charttopping 'House of fun', which preceded this single release a few months earlier, also in 1982. Then again, Madness routinely released picture disc 7" singles at that time - and now, over four decades later, I am still hunting them down.

My collection: 7" single no. 7762
Found: Discogs.com, received 12 September 2025
Tracks: 'Driving in my car' / 'Animal farm' 

Life's what you make it - Talk Talk

In 1991, a remix version of 'Life's what you make it' by Talk Talk was released in Europe. The single featured an arty sleeve with a cover painting by James Marsh, as per usual. However, a year earlier the same sleeve was used for a UK re-release of the original song.

This single may have a similar sleeve, but both the A-side and B-side are different. On the A-side, there was the original version of 'Life's what you make it', and on the B-side there was a live recording of that song. The single was released to promote the album Natural history, a 'greatest hits' collection put together by EMI. They followed this up with the remix album History revisited, which is why the other single was released in 1991.

My collection: 7" single no. 7761
Found: Discogs.com, received 12 September 2025
Tracks: 'Life's what you make it' / 'Life's what you make it (live from Hammersmith Odeon)' 

Deshojada - Simone

In 1969 Simone de Oliveira represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Desfolhada Portuguesa'. In a year when the contest had four winners, Simone landed in penultimate place with her song. 

The event took place in Spain, and it was perhaps logical that Simone also recorded her song in Spanish. 'Deshojada' was released in French as well, but the EP with that version requires a buyer to shell out 750 euros. I wouldn't pay that much for a vinyl disc in 750 years.

My collection: 7" single no. 7760
Found: Discogs.com, received 9 September 2025
Tracks: 'Deshojada' / 'Cinco pedras, cinco quadras'

Ascension day - Talk Talk

After three very successful albums with EMI Records, the band Talk Talk delivered their fourth, Spirit of Eden to baffled record company executives and enthusiastic critics. Decades later the album is appreciated as their masterpiece, but it meant the end of their recording contract with EMI.

The fifth album, Laughing Stock, was released on the Verve label and took the approach of Spirit of Eden to another level. For decades I couldn't get into that album myself, until I read Mark Hollis's biography A perfect silence last year. I played the album numerous times and finally heard the beauty of that unstructured music with those unintelligible lyrics. 

However, I never thought that there was actually a 7" single taken from that album! And in fact, there was no commercial 7" release. All that happened in 1991 was this promotional 7" single from Spain, featuring the second track from the album with a fade out ending. It is a unique release from a unique band. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7758
Found: Discogs.com, received 9 September 2025
Tracks: 'Ascension day' / 'Ascension day' 

Que daria yo - Alan Sorrenti

Alan Sorrenti represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980 with the song 'Non so che darei'. Due to the success of his song at the contest, he decided to record several versions of the song. The English version, 'If you need me now', was released in several countries, and the Spanish version was released in Spain and South America. 

My copy of 'Que daria yo' is a promotional disc, meaning that the label is white and says 'disco promocional - prohibida su venta'. That's always a bonus in my book.

My collection: 7" single no. 7753
Found: Discogs.com, received 2 August 2025
Tracks: 'Que daria yo' / 'Todo es magico de noche'

Every angel - All about Eve

All about Eve were promoted heavily by their record company when their debut album looked like it was going to be a big success. They didn't yet have their big hit 'Martha's harbour' yet, but a good live reputation and a strong fanbase went a long way. 

And so, Mercury Records started releasing singles in many different formats - a wellknown strategy in 1988, before chart rules were made more strict in the UK. 'Every angel' was released on a 7" single, a 12" single, and this limited edition 10" single. This format came with its own exclusive track: 'More than this hour' was only available on this 10" single. The exclusive poster showed the image from the sleeve of the 7" and 12" singles. 

My collection: 10" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record fair, 1990
Tracks: 'Every angel (extended)', 'Candy tree' / 'Wild flowers', 'More than this hour'

Mamma Mia - Abba

'Mamma Mia' was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, with the lead vocals shared by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. It is the opening track on the group's third album, the self-titled album ABBA (1975). The song was released in September 1975 as its sixth single. It tells the story of the narrator's on-again, off-again relationship with a lover who is repeatedly unfaithful to her. The song's name is derived from Italian and literally translates as "my mother", but is used as an interjection (Mamma mia!) in situations of surprise, anguish, or excitement. 

The distinctive sound at the start of the song is the marimba. According to biographer Carl Magnus Palm, the instrument was incorporated at the last minute, added after Benny Andersson found it in the studio and decided its "tick tock" rhythm was perfect for the track. 

The song was ABBA's first number one in the UK since 'Waterloo' in 1974. As of September 2021, it is ABBA's seventh-biggest song in the UK with 860,000 chart sales (pure sales and digital streams).

The Dutch pressing had a beautiful sleeve, but in Germany and France different designs were used. It was nice to find these recently.

My collection: 7" single no. 5891 / 6759
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 January 2018 / 9 August 2022
Tracks: 'Mamma Mia' / 'Intermezzo no. 1' 

Light my fire - Amii Stewart

Another picture disc I bought online is this one by Amii Stewart, featuring her version of 'Light my fire' coupled with '137 disco heaven'. I already owned this single as a regular 7", but like the other picture discs I bought from this online seller I thought it was too pretty to miss.

Amy Paulette "Amii" Stewart was born on 29 January 1956. She grew up as the fifth of six children in a strictly Catholic family. In 1975, before signing a contract at Ariola Records, Stewart worked at the touring company for the stage production of the musical revue Bubbling Brown Sugar, relocating to places of production, such as Miami, then New York city's Broadway and eventually London's West End, where she met Barry Leng, songwriter and record producer for Hansa Records. Her debut album in 1979 yielded this energetic take on the Doors classic. Since relocating to Rome in the mid-Eighties her career has mainly developed in Italy.

My collection: 7" single no. 7750
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 August 2025
Tracks: 'Light my fire/137 Disco Heaven' / 'Bring it on back to me'

Through the barricades - Spandau Ballet

It's been five years since I last bought a Spandau Ballet single, and I thought I had them all. But then I saw this picture disc while I was browsing through an online seller's catalogue and I felt it was pretty enough to want to have it.

The album of the same name was re-released a few years ago as a deluxe edition, but unfortunately the extra tracks on that one were not interesting enough. Now that the band has released a sumptuous book/disc collection spanning their formative years, here's hoping they will do a similar thing for later years in their career too. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7749
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 August 2025
Tracks: 'Through the barricades' / 'With the pride (live in '85)' 

Who will you run to - Heart

In the Eighties, Heart went through a kind of metamorphosis, after the record company took the band aside and said they needed to change their style in order to have some kind of success. According to Nancy Wilson in an interview: 'The image of it was so intensely unreal. It was the [hair] extensions, the corsets and all the stuff'.

'Who will you run to' was taken from the band's 1987 album Bad Animals, which was full of these high energy, loud songs. Personally I prefer the more intimate sound of the B-side, 'Nobody home', which ends up pretty loud anyway, but in a good way. I already owned the regular 7" single, but this picture disc is definitely an added bonus.

My collection: 7" single no. 7748
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 August 2025
Tracks: 'Who will you run to' / 'Nobody home' 

Excerpts from Bye Bye Birdie, vol. 3 - Various artists

In 1961 the musical Bye Bye Birdie opened in London's West End, after its Broadway debut a year earlier. The role of the titular Conrad Birdie was played by Marty Wilde. Together with Chita Rivera, Peter Marshall and others the story revolved around a popular singer going off to the Army and its effect on a group of teenagers in a small town in Ohio. There were obvious parallels to Elvis Presley being drafted to go to Germany in 1957. The name of the rockstar, 'Conrad Birdie', was word play on the name of the then-popular Conway Twitty.

The EP presents five songs from the musical, two of which were performed by Marty Wilde: 'One last kiss' together with the ensemble, and 'A lot of livin' to do' with Sylvia Tysick and a group of teenagers. With its big band sound, the tracks border on jazz at times.

My collection: 7" single no. 7747
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 August 2025
Tracks: 'Hymn for a Sunday evening', 'One last kiss' / 'What did I ever see in him?', 'A lot of livin' to do', 'Kids' 

We love you - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Back in 1986, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released this double single of 'We love you'. The package contained the original single of 'We love you' plus the original single of 'If you leave'. Although I already own both singles, this double single package was just too good to pass on. 

The inside of the gatefold sleeve shows the group, which at the time counted no less than six members. These days OMD still exists, but only with core members Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey.

My collection: 7" single no. 7745
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 August 2025
Tracks: 'We love you' / 'We love you (dub)' // 'If you leave' / '88 seconds in Greensboro' 

Does your mother know - Abba

'Does your mother know' is one of the rare occasions (at the time anyway) where the lead vocals were performed by Bjorn Ulvaeus. By today's standards the lyrics are a bit risqué, because the singer seems to lead on a very young girl. 

The sleeve of this single leapt out at me because the blue on this one is brighter than the blue on the one I already owned. On top of that, this was an Austrian pressing. I don't have many 7" singles pressed in Austria, and so this was a very pleasant surprise.

My collection: 7" single no. 5537
Found: Teuchtler, Vienna (Austria), 25 September 2017
Tracks: 'Does your mother know' / 'Kisses of fire'