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'

Mamma Mia - Abba

In 1975 Abba released Greatest Hits with on the cover a caricature of the band. That version was only released in Scandinavia and Spain, with a photograph on the inside of the gatefold sleeve. In the UK that photograph was promoted to the front sleeve, and so the illustration didn't get a lot of exposure in much of Europe.

This Spanish single of 'Mamma Mia' uses the illustration and adds the recommendation 'No. 1 en Inglaterra'. It makes this single quite remarkable and an attractive item.

My collection: 7" single no. 7882
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Mamma Mia' / 'Tropical loveland' 

Does your mother know - Abba

For some reason you wouldn't associate Abba with huge success in America, but a lot of singles were released there. It is, however, not easy to find American singles with picture covers for some reason. So I was happy to find this copy of 'Does your mother know' at the record fair last week. (That saves a lot of postage costs.)

The funny thing about this sleeve is the back cover, on which there is an advertisement for three albums 'also on Atlantic Records & Tapes'. The albums Greatest Hits, Arrival and The Album are pictured. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7881
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Does your mother know' / 'Kisses of fire' 

Chiquitita - Abba

Once more I bought the single 'Chiquitita' by Abba, this time because it is the French pressing. The sleeve isn't significally different, at least, the front sleeve - the back sleeve is the typically understated 'infobox' that is typical for these French releases.

'Chiquitita' sold 150,000 copies in France, but the single only reached number 14 in the singles chart in that country. With just 50,000 copies that single reached number 1 in Ireland. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7880
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Chiquitita' / 'Lovelight' 

Honey, Honey - Abba

I saw this single on display at the Abba Museum in Stockholm last year and I thought this sleeve was absolutely beautiful. Not even necessarily the photograph, but the layout was just very stylish. I actually blame the Abba Museum for igniting my recent obsession with different Abba pressings, which I've started collecting since then. 

Anyway, this is the Spanish pressing of 'Honey, Honey', which includes 'Hasta mañana' on the B-side. The single was released by Carnaby, the label to which Abba was signed at the time. The single was released in 1974, after their legendary Eurovision win with 'Waterloo'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7879
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Honey, Honey' / 'Hasta mañana' 

Modern girl - Sheena Easton

Having bought a Japanese version of '9 to 5' at the record fair last week, I found another Japanese single from Sheena Easton with a different dealer that day. This time it was a version of 'Modern girl', re-released in a regular single sleeve (as opposed to the record company sleeve with an accompanying sheet of paper, as per usual in Japan). 

It was a curiosity, and a curiosity I wanted to have. Fortunately it was another one of those Japanese bargains stands, so I gleefully paid a few euros to own this beauty.

My collection: 7" single no. 7878
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Modern girl' / 'Paradox' 

Citations Ininterrompues - Café Creme

Café Creme was a French group formed by Jacky Arconte, Daniel Martigny, Frédéric Grenier and Denis Hekimian. They became popular in the second half of the Seventies with cover versions of Beatles songs. 

'Citations Ininterrompues' was released internationally as 'Unlimited Citations'. It was basically a long medley of Beatles songs, released on 7" and 12" singles in various countries. The Japanese sleeve was markedly different from the other sleeves, with this colourful illustration. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7877
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Citations Ininterrompues (partie 1)' / 'Citations Ininterrompues (partie 2)'

99 Luftballons - Nena

When you compare the sleeve of '99 Luftballons' as it was released in Europe with this Japanese sleeve you notice that there's a lot of added characters - in Japanese, of course!

The orange star in the upper right corner proclaims: U.S. big hit. And indeed, the English version reached number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Whether this single was a big hit in Japan is unknown. Another interesting fact: the B-side is 'Nur geträumt', which was another single in Europe.

My collection: 7" single no. 7876
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: '99 Luftballons' / 'Nur geträumt'

Super trouper - Abba

This sleeve of 'Super Trouper' may look familiar to you, but this is a really odd release. It couples the song not with 'The piper', as per usual on European releases, but with 'On and on and on', the song that famously was released on 12" singles only in Europe.

This single was made in Brazil, which might explain this strange coupling of tracks. It's this kind of exceptions that make an impression on me. The reasoning behind it will probably never be cleared up.

My collection: 7" single no. 7875
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Super trouper' / 'On and on and on' 

4 sucessos - Kate Bush, Harpo, Lucifer, Arjan Brass

Mention 4 sucessos to any Kate Bush fan and they're likely to break out in a cold sweat. There were four of these Brazilian EP's featuring Kate, and two of them even included four tracks by Kate alone. Those two are prohibitively expensive; the other two not so much. I was lucky enough to find a copy of one of the other two: a compilation of four different songs by four different artists. 

This EP has the weird distinction of containing, besides Kate, a track by a Swedish artist (Harpo), a Dutch solo artist (Arjan Brass) and a Dutch band (Lucifer). As for Kate, this EP features her debut single, 'Wuthering heights'.  

My collection: 7" single no. 7874
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Wuthering heights' (Kate Bush), 'San Franciscan nights' (Harpo) / 'Self pity' (Lucifer), 'Leonie' (Arjan Brass) 

New York groove - Ace Frehley

I would really like to have the picture sleeve of this single, but a quick look on Discogs earlier this year made me realize that in order to have a complete copy (i.e. with a picture sleeve and the included mask) it would set me back a considerable sum. So when I saw this single at the record fair last week I decided I would just get it for the music instead of the pictures.

After all, Ace Frehley passed away last month, and traditionally that means that any items bearing his name will only become more expensive, not less. 'New York groove' is a decent track, taken from his 'solo' album, released when all four members of Kiss released a 'solo' album. It was the perfect marketing trick, although some argued that the strength of the band lay in the four working together, not apart.

My collection: 7" single no. 7873
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'New York groove' / 'Snow blind' 

Catch my fall - Billy Idol

Although I own a copy of 'Catch my fall', I was quite surprised to see this version of the single, because it comes with a completely new cover. It turns out that this version was released in 1988, when his record company released the compilation album Idol Songs. 

Besides the cover, this single doesn't really bring anything new: the A-side and B-side remain the same as on the special box set that was released along with this 'regular' single.

My collection: 7" single no. 7872
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Catch my fall' / 'All summer single' 

The piano bird - The Doors

There is no doubt in my mind that I have never seen this single before. It's The Doors sans Jim Morrison with a track from their 1972 album Full Circle, which the three remaining members recorded as the second album without him.

Although both tracks on this single are pretty decent, somehow it lacks the spirit and dynamics that Jim brought with him. Full Circle didn't perform as well commercially as their previous albums. Once their contract with Elektra had lapsed, the Doors disbanded in 1973. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7871
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'The piano bird' / 'Good rockin'' 

Rio - Duran Duran

Sometimes keeping a collection in good shape means that you have to buy a single again and again, as this blog has demonstrated quite well in recent years. There are some old purchases that I really regret, such as the single 'Rio' by Duran Duran without a picture sleeve. What was I thinking? 

Well maybe, back in 1989, I didn't believe that I would ever find a copy with a picture sleeve. I was in London and it was the first time I saw the single for real. I have to say that I only saw it a few times since, and I wasn't really motivated to buy it since 'I already had it'. But finally, a week ago, I corrected a very old mistake. 'Rio' is here!

My collection: 7" single no. 7870
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Rio' / 'The chauffeur (blue silver)' 

Tell me tomorrow - Princess

I bought 'Tell me tomorrow' back in 1986, soon after it didn't become a hit and the store wanted to get rid of the single by dropping the price. Unfortunately the sleeve was a bit worn then, and that bothered me ever since. 

Fortunately, almost four decades later, I got the opportunity to buy this UK pressing of the single. And this limited edition comes in yellow vinyl too! It looks likely that this single is going to be featured a few more times on this blog, because the single was actually released in four different colours.

My collection: 7" single no. 7868
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Tell me tomorrow' / 'Say I'm your number one (original demo)' 

What about love - Heart

The band Heart has a special place in my heart, ever since I first heard 'Magic Man' and 'Crazy on you' back when I was very young. Their self-titled album from 1985 is a firm favourite of mine, so it might not be too surprising that when I saw this Japanese pressing of 'What about love', I simply wanted to have it. Fortunately the dealer wasn't asking a lot for this item.

I did have the US pressing of this single, but without a picture sleeve, so this is a very nice addition to my collection. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7866
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025 
Tracks: 'What about love' / 'Heart of darkness'

Raw - Spandau Ballet

Two weeks ago I nearly bought this poster edition of Spandau Ballet's 'Raw', but decided to wait a little because I was going to the big record fair in Den Bosch. I'm glad I did, because I had the unique opportunity to buy this item for just 1 euro! That saved me a lot of postage costs.

And why would I want this poster edition? It's not because I'm particularly looking forward to seeing the boys from the band in great detail, but I'm just a sucker for limited editions. 'Raw' reached number 47 in the UK singles chart and number 27 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 7864
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Raw' / 'Raw (flip)' 

Rhythm is gonna get you - Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine

Sometimes I buy singles just for the sheer beauty of the artwork. This is a good example. Gloria Estefan used to be (!) very photogenic, and her record company realized this and released a lot of her singles as limited editions with posters and - in this case - a gatefold edition featuring a calendar. 

Inside this gatefold sleeve was a little booklet showing Gloria in all her glory, in six different photographs. 'Rhythm is gonna get you' is a catchy little song, and the fact that I could buy this little gem for just 1 euro was a good deal.

My collection: 7" single no. 7863
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Rhythm is gonna get you' / 'Give it up' 

On your knees - Grace Jones

'On your knees' is exactly the sort of title you would expect from Grace Jones - her attitude was legendary already in the late Seventies. It was the only single released from her third album Muse in 1979. The single was ignored by the record-buying public and left little impact on dance music charts in the US. 

The album version was 6 minutes and 20 seconds long; for this single release it was edited down to three minutes and 47 seconds. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7861
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'On your knees' / 'Don't mess with the messer'