Voulez-vous - Abba

If you're confused about this sleeve, then I can help you. It is indeed the photograph that was used for the single 'Does your mother know', but it features 'Voulez-vous' on the A-side, and 'Kisses of fire' on the B-side - originally the B-side of 'Does your mother know' (and a track from the album Voulez-vous). 

Why did the Japanese choose to replace the track 'Does your mother know' on this single? I don't know. I do know that it's this kind of variation that I really like. And it's a nice addition to my subcollection of Japanese Abba singles of course.

My collection: 7" single no. 7774
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2025
Tracks: 'Voulez-vous' / 'Kisses of fire' 

Flowers - Zaine Griff

‘Flowers’ is a song written by Zaine Griff. It was released on Zaine Griff’s second album Figures (1982). The lyrics explicitly refer to the theatre play Flowers, written by Jean Genet and is meant to be a tribute to his old mime and movement teacher, Lindsay Kemp, who produced the play during the Seventies. Zaine asked Kate Bush to sing backing vocals on this song, and she did.

Quite why I never managed to buy this single before has to have something to do with the price of it. I can't recall that I ever saw it for a low price anywhere, but when I thought of this single recently, there it was, for just a few quid. Of course I had to have it. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7773
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2025
Tracks: 'Flowers' / 'Turn out the light'

Don't take my mind on a trip - Boy George

Some years ago I bought the 3" cd-single (yes, that's also a collection I have) of Boy George's 'Don't take my mind on a trip'. I didn't know the song at the time, but it came with a rather good cover version of 'What becomes of the broken hearted'. I didn't give it a second thought for some time, but then I bumped into this 7" single. It was interesting (and cheap) enough for me to want to take it home.

The single wasn't very successful, peaking as it did on number 68 in the UK singles chart. But the two tracks on this disc are varied: the A-side sounds like a Teddy Riley or Jam & Lewis production (it was produced by Gene Griffin, but actually arranged by Teddy Riley) and the B-side sounds like a Stock, Aitken & Waterman (in their good days) production (it was producted by Vlad Naslas). 

My collection: 7" single no. 7772
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, 5 October 2025
Tracks: 'Don't take my mind on a trip' / 'Girlfriend' 

In all honesty - Breathe

Obviously I'm familiar with the band Breathe, because I have quite a few of their singles. But I never saw this one before, and I had a little trouble finding out where this one belongs in their discography. As it turns out, this was their second single release, before the original release of 'Don't tell me lies', back in 1986. 

Unlike that song, 'In all honesty' did not end up on the band's debut album All that jazz. Actually, that album is going to be re-released by Cherry Red in December this year in a deluxe 2cd edition, which adds the two tracks on this single.

My collection: 7" single no. 7771
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, 5 October 2025
Tracks: 'In all honesty' / 'Take a little time' 

I don't believe in miracles - Colin Blunstone

'I don't believe in miracles' was recorded by Colin Blunstone for his 1972 album Ennismore. In October of that year the song was released as the album's lead single. The single reached number 31 in the UK singles chart, but failed to chart in other territories. Somehow it became a minor classic, because artists like Barbara Dickson and Judie Tzuke recorded their own versions of the song. Rumour has it that Kim Wilde also recorded the song, but her version is languishing in an archive somewhere.

When I saw this single I was curious enough to buy it, even though I'm not familiar with the song. I have to say it's nice.

My collection: 7" single no. 7770
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, 5 October 2025
Tracks: 'I don't believe in miracles' / 'I've always had you'

Thunderball - Tom Jones

Theme song for the fourth James Bond movie Thunderball was called, surprisingly, 'Thunderball'. The song was recorded by Tom Jones, whose biggest claim to fame was the hit single 'It's not unusual' at the start of 1965. 

Composer John Barry teamed up with lyricist Don Black and wrote the song. Tom Jones allegedly fainted in the recording booth after singing the song's final, high note. Jones said of the final note, "I closed my eyes and I held the note for so long when I opened my eyes the room was spinning." The single reached number 35 in the UK singles chart and didn't become as famous as, for instance 'Goldfinger' by Shirley Bassey. Still, it's a rather impressive vocal effort.

My collection: 7" single no. 7769
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, 5 October 2025
Tracks: 'Thunderball' / 'Key to my heart' 

Never can say goodbye - The Jackson 5

Most people will remember 'Never can say goodbye' in the version by Gloria Gaynor, or, more recently, the Communards. But originally it was recorded by the Jackson 5 in 1971. The song was originally written and intended for the Supremes; however, Motown decided it would be better for the Jackson 5. 

The song features a young Michael Jackson singing a serious song about love, with accompaniment from his brothers. The single reached number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 33 in the UK singles chart. Oddly enough, it didn't chart in the Netherlands at all, although this is actually a Dutch pressing.

My collection: 7" single no. 7768
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, 5 October 2025
Tracks: 'Never can say goodbye' / 'She's good' 

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'