Love's great adventure - Ultravox

Next month sees the release of an expanded deluxe edition of Ultravox's The Collection, a 'greatest hits' album originally released in 1984 to celebrate the success of the band up until then. The new track on that album was called 'Love's great adventure', and it was a very unexpected and nice surprise that that track was released as a cd-single and 10" single recently. 

Both formats feature a new '80s style' remix by Blank & Jones, along with a few other unreleased tracks. Some would label these four tracks as 'inessential', but I think Ultravox fans are delighted with this release - just as I am. 

My collection: 10" single [unnumbered]
Found: Ultravox website, received 12 November 2025
Tracks: 'Love's great adventure (Blank & Jones so80s Reconstruction)', 'All stood still (12" extended re-mix extra)' / 'Love's great adventure (Steven Wilson instrumental mix)', 'Hymn (alternative instrumental outtake)' 

Unrequited / Live and let live - The The

Just when the campaign for The The's most recent album Ensoulment had ended, there was a new single. 'Unrequited / Live and let live' is a double A-side single taken from the soundtrack of the movie Odyssey, which features music from The The, i.e. Matt Johnson.

These two tracks come with prominent vocals from Gillian Glover, who also plays an instrumental part in running the record label Cinéola, which these singles are released on. And as always there are the illustrations by Andy Dog a.k.a. Matt's brother Andrew, who passed away in 2016.

My collection: 7" single no. 7848
Found: The The website, received 13 November 2025
Tracks: 'Unrequited' / 'Live and let live'

The winner takes it all - Abba

The final Japanese Abba single for today is the monumental track 'The winner takes it all'. It should be fitting to end with this one, because it is truly one of the band's best. 

Ulvaeus denies the song is about his and Fältskog's divorce, saying the basis of the song 'is the experience of a divorce, but it's fiction. 'Cause one thing I can say is that there wasn't a winner or a loser in our case. A lot of people think it's straight out of reality, but it's not'. However, Ulvaeus admitted that the heartache of their breakup inspired the song, but noted that the words in the song should not be taken literally. He said: 'Neither Agnetha nor I were winners in our divorce.' 

My collection: 7" single no. 6163
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'The winner takes it all' / 'Elaine' 

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

'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)' was written and composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with the lead vocal sung by Agnetha Fältskog. Fältskog, as the narrator, weaves the image of a lonely woman who longs for a romantic relationship and views her loneliness as a forbidding darkness of night, even drawing parallels to how the happy endings of movie stars are so different from her existence. The melody line of the song was played on an ARP Odyssey synthesizer.

The song came about after Benny and Bjorn heard Donna Summer's hit 'Hot stuff', and upon hearing it, it inspired the riffs, melody and sentiment of the song with Agnetha yearning for 'a man after midnight' whilst Donna was in need of some 'hot stuff'.

My collection: 7" single no. 6155
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A man after midnight)' / 'The king has lost his crown'

Chiquitita - Abba

'Chiquitita' proved to be one of Abba's bigger hits. It was featured in the Music for UNICEF Concert, broadcast worldwide from the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. As a direct result of this event, Abba donated 50% of all royalties from the song to UNICEF in recognition of the "International Year of the Child". In 2014, all ABBA members agreed on increasing their donation to 100% of all royalties from the song to UNICEF. As of 2021, the song's royalties had raised $4.8 million for the charity.

The Japanese sleeve only adds a few Japanese characters, which makes it less original when compared to earlier releases.

My collection: 7" single no. 6153
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Chiquitita' / 'Lovelight' 

Summer night city - Abba

While 'Summer night city' was recorded during sessions for the group's then-upcoming sixth studio album Voulez-Vous (1979), it was scrapped from the album. It was, however, included on the group's compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 2, a year after its release. Both Andersson and Ulvaeus have shared dislike of the song, due to being unsatisfied with the final mix. 

A planned US release was cancelled, the second ABBA single to be shelved following 'Eagle', and charted poorly in Canada. The single was, however, released in Japan, and with the same sleeve as in most of Europe. Due to the fact that the group was going to tour in Japan at the time, the sleeve also proclaims 'Welcome ABBA'. It's a nice touch.

My collection: 7" single no. 6154
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Summer night city' / 'Medley: Pick a bale of cotton * On top of old Smokey * Midnight special' 

Eagle / Thank you for the music - Abba

This double A-side single was also released as a double A-side single in Japan, with almost exactly the same sleeve - with some added Japanese on it, of course.

Personally I always preferred 'Eagle'. The song was written and composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus as a kind of tribute to a band that the two men admired at the time, the Eagles. The recording, which commenced on 1 June 1977, had the working titles of 'High, High' and 'The Eagle'. Ulvaeus said that with the lyrics, he was "trying to capture the sense of freedom and euphoria" that he got from reading Richard Bach's 1970 novella Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

My collection: 7" single no. 6151
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Eagle' / 'Thank you for the music' 

Take a chance on me - Abba

Contrary to most of those earlier Abba singles, 'Take a chance on me' came with a similar sleeve to European ones in Japan. The only thing added were the Japanese characters and the fact that the lettering was transparent instead of white. Other than that, it was probably the start of the Japanese record company copying off the European sleeves from then on. 

The origin of the song sprang from Ulvaeus, a keen runner, who would repeat a 'tck-a-ch'-style rhythm to pace himself. This evolved into "take-a-chance" and the eventual lyrics. Roger Palm, the drummer on the track, described the song as "ABBA at their most energetic and forceful". 

My collection: 7" single no. 6159
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Take a chance on me' / 'I'm a marionette' 

The name of the game - Abba

Yet another copy of 'The name of the game', this time from Japan. Originally, another track entitled 'Hole in Your Soul' was intended for release, but those plans were soon shelved. 'The Name of the Game' was released with a live version of 'I Wonder (Departure)' as the B-side. This B-side was one of several songs written for the mini-musical The Girl with the Golden Hair, written by Ulvaeus and Andersson and originally performed by ABBA on their 1977 world tour. 

The recording used on this single was recorded at Sydney Showground, Sydney, Australia on 3 or 4 March 1977. A studio recorded version of the song was included on ABBA: The Album. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6157
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'The name of the game' / 'I wonder (Departure)' 

Dancing queen - Abba

Abba (especially Benny Andersson) wanted to release 'Dancing Queen' as the follow-up single to 'Mamma Mia' but their manager, Stig Anderson, insisted that the more sedate and folksy 'Fernando' should be first, as he felt it would appeal to a broader audience and so was more likely to be a hit. Therefore, whilst 'Dancing Queen' premiered on both German and Japanese television during the spring of 1976, the song did not appear on vinyl until later that summer, having had its first live and domestic performance on 18 June 1976 during an all-star gala staged by Kjerstin Dellert at the Royal Swedish Opera (and shown on Swedish TV) in honour of King Carl XVI Gustaf and his bride-to-be, Silvia Sommerlath, who were married the next day.

The Japanese single came with a very different sleeve when compared to its European counterparts. Like most Japanese sleeves, it looks stylish and even after almost five decades the disc and sleeve are in pristine condition. The B-side is 'Tiger', instead of 'That's me'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6152
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Dancing queen' / 'Tiger'

Fernando - Abba

I went through some recent acquisitions pertaining to Abba yesterday, but I also bought a few Japanese pressings a bit longer ago, which I will go through today. 

The first one, chronologically, is 'Fernando', a single from 1976. The sleeve uses the same photograph but has a different layout. I bought this single along with a handful other Japanese Abba singles in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. At some point, I could only spend my money online, because all the shops were closed. Even when the shops reopened, I was buying the good stuff online - in this case directly from Japan!

My collection: 7" single no. 6156
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Tropical loveland'

Voulez-vous / Angeleyes - Abba

In the UK, the double A-side single was called 'Angeleyes / Voulez-vous', but in Europe the non-alphabetical order 'Voulez-vous / Angeleyes' was preferred. To be fair, 'Voulez-vous' is the stronger track of the two, and also the title of the album where these two tracks came from. 

Presented here is the German copy, with the usual paperthin cover, and a photograph that would turn up years later on the cover of the Thank you for the music box set, which famously includes 'Abba Undeleted', a medley of some studio outtakes. How we wish they would release more from the vaults.

My collection: 7" single no. 5569
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 January 2018
Tracks: 'Voulez-vous' / 'Angeleyes'

Money, money, money - Abba

The song you knew as 'Money, money, money' was called 'Money, money' in Italy. At least, it seems that way when you look at this sleeve. On the label it clearly says 'Money, money, money'.

There's something else which is weird about this single release: the B-side features 'Knowing me, knowing you', which was of course a single in its own right. It replaces the track 'Crazy world', which was the B-side everywhere else. Again, this is one of those singles I wanted to have for the different sleeve design, but the weird B-side is a bonus.

My collection: 7" single no. 7805
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'Money, money, money' / 'Knowing me, knowing you' 

The name of the game - Abba

I know I did an entry on 'The name of the game' in September, but that was before I went to Vienna and found this copy of the same single. Rather unsurprisingly, it's an Austrian copy, but with a totally different sleeve. And as I wrote back then, I probably won't easily get the Australian, Hungarian and Yugoslavian editions, but it was surprisingly easy to get a few Austrian ones. 

This sleeve comes with a unique design, placing a cropped version of the same photograph in the middle and surrounding it with an attractive shade of blue. It's a lovely variant!

My collection: 7" single no. 7804
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'The name of the game' / 'I wonder (Departure)'

Knowing me, knowing you - Abba

Along with 'I do, I do, I do' I bought another Abba single in Vienna with a strikingly different sleeve. And again, this one was made in Austria. With a smaller photograph and lots of white space this design is a lot more sophisticated than other sleeves for this single.

'Knowing me knowing you' is of course one of the more dramatic singles by Abba, foreshadowing all the divorce troubles the two couples would go through during the existence of the group.  

My collection: 7" single no. 7807
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'Knowing me, knowing you' / 'Happy Hawaii' 

Strangelove - Depeche Mode

When I bought 'Blasphemous rumours / Somebody' on red vinyl earlier this year, it was a bit of a lucky buy along with a few other singles. I didn't really see it as the start of a new obsession, but then I stumbled on 'Master and servant' last month, and the gates had opened. So when I spotted this one online, I simply decided to get this one as well. 

'Strangelove' was the last of the Depeche Mode singles to get an Erstauflage in rotem Vinyl in Germany. I ordered this copy online and was very pleased to see that both the disc and the sleeve were in pristine condition. Unfortunately this only encourages me to get all the other red vinyl Depeche Mode singles too. May something have mercy on my wallet.

My collection: 7" single no. 7846
Found: Discogs.com, received 7 November 2025
Tracks: 'Strangelove' / 'Pimpf' 

Amiga Quartett - Nena

Another one of those delicious Amiga Quartett EP's is dedicated to Nena. It was their first of two EP's released by the East-German state-run record company, but the one song you might expect to be on here, '99 Luftballons', is suspiciously absent. Probably the anti-war statement was a bit too much for the censors back then. 

Instead there are two other singles on here plus their respective B-sides. 'Nur geträumt' and 'Leuchtturm' were almost equally big in West-Germany, but not so much in other territories. Obviously some people in the GDR were very glad to hear some tracks from a German speaking superband. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7845
Found: Discogs.com, received 7 November 2025
Tracks: 'Nur geträumt', 'Kino' / 'Leuchtturm', 'Indianer' 

Freunde der Nacht - Pascalis, Marianna, Robert & Bessy

With 'Mathema solfege' the quartet consisting of Paschalis Arvanitidis, Marianna Tolli, Robert Williams and Bessy Argyrake represented Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977. I didn't check, but there are just a few opportunities where Greek Eurovision entries were also recorded in German. Vicky Leandros comes to mind, but other than that, I wouldn't know.

'Freunde der Nacht' is unique, because it completely sets aside the original idea of the lyrics, and replaces it with something else. The chorus of 'sol fa fa fa', mimicking solfege lessons, has disappeared, and with it, a lot of the charm of the song. It's always nice to have a different language version of a Eurovision song, but this time, the English version (appearing here on the B-side) wins. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7847
Found: Discogs.com, received 7 November 2025
Tracks: 'Freunde der Nacht' / 'Music lesson'

I do, I do, I do - Abba

The song most people know as 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do' was presented as 'I do, I do, I do' on this colour Austrian sleeve of this 1975 single by Abba. It was exactly this colourful sleeve that made me decide to buy the single, because it looked so different from the copies that I already owned. The Austrian record company certainly knew what it was doing!

On the label, the full title is displayed, by the way. The single was a reasonable success for the band, but obviously their biggest success was yet to come at that point in time. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7806
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do' / 'Rock me'

Phased - All About Eve

After All About Eve signed to MCA Records, incredibly, the releases on various formats kept coming, but they weren't as exciting as before. The 'Phased' EP was their first release on the new label, but the 10" single contained the same tracks as the 7" single, cassette single and the cd-single. It was a proper EP, but there were no real surprises unfortunately.

The only surprise, if one might call it that, was that the 10" single was pressed on blue vinyl. Obviously the music has stood the test of time.

My collection: 10" single [unnumbered]
Found: HMV, London, 1992
Tracks: 'Phased', 'Mine' / 'Infrared (instrumental)', 'Ascent/descent'