S.O.S. - Abba

'S.O.S.' was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson. The title itself was coined by Stig, though the lyrics he provided were re-written by Ulvaeus. 'S.O.S.' was among the first three songs recorded for the group's upcoming 1975 album, ABBA. Despite the song's catchiness, it was passed over as the lead single from the album; the track 'So long' was chosen instead. 'So long' was chosen primarily because it had the same uptempo beat as their 1974 hit single, 'Waterloo'.

After 'So long' performed less well than expected, 'S.O.S.' became Abba's comeback single. It was a number one hit in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand and South Africa. In the UK, the single peaked at number 6 and in the Netherlands at number 2. Abba would from then on remain a force to be recogned with in pop music.

I have two versions of the single: I first bought the French edition (pictured above) during a record fair. 18 months later I bought a Dutch pressing (pictured below). When I bought the cd-singles box set a few years ago, the sleeve of 'S.O.S.' was different. So now I'm still looking for the German edition...

My collection: 7" single no. 2049 / no. 2298

Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, November 13, 1993 / Record fair, Utrecht, May 27, 1995

Cost: 3 guilders / 2 guilders

Tracks: 'S.O.S.' / 'Man in the middle'

S.O.S. - ABC

'S.O.S.' was the second single from ABC's second album 'Beauty stab'. Previous single 'That was then but this is now' was an obvious attempt to break with the band's glamorous pop image, performing loud rock music instead. But 'S.O.S.' seemed like a return to earlier singles.

It obviously confused the audience. The single only managed a lowly number 39 position in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 777

Found: All that music, Leiden, March 20, 1989

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'S.O.S.' / 'United Kingdom'

Et les oiseaux chantaient - Sweet People

Sometime in 1979 or 1980, someone had the brilliant idea of recording birdsong and scoring it with some laid back music. I think it must have been the first notion of so-called 'new age music'. The resulting single, 'Et les oiseaux chantaient' by the Sweet People, became a hit too. It felt really out of place in the post-punk charts of 1980.

But there it was, peaking at number 10 in the Netherlands and number 4 in the UK. I think I only started to like the track once it had left the charts and some time had gone by.

My collection: 7" single no. 2153

Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, September 7, 1999

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Et les oiseaux chantaient' / 'Perce'

Franse auto - Het Goede Doel

'Franse auto' was the fourth single from Het Goede Doel's 1986 album 'Mooi en onverslijtbaar'. Even though the album brought forth several hit singles, this is not one of them. It didn't reach the Dutch charts at all.

The lyrics were probably a bit too eccentric for the audience: 'You're exactly like a French car / when the motor still wants to run the exterior is already rotten'. Oh well, there's always the instrumental version...

My collection: 7" single no. 520

Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1986

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Franse auto' / 'Franse auto (instrumentaal)'

Surrender - Jon Anderson

My wife went to a Kringloop store today and brought back a few singles for me. One of them was 'Surrender' by Jon Anderson. There were two problems with that: (1) I already had the singles and (2) the sleeve contained the wrong disc. And the latter was true for the other two singles as well. Well, at least the intention was good.

'Surrender' was a brilliant track from Jon Anderson, who is probably best known for his work with Yes and Vangelis. This single was taken from his solo album 'Animation' (1982). It gave him a top 10 hit in the Netherlands: 'Surrender' peaked at number 7 in June 1982.

My collection: 7" single no. 2055

Found: November 27, 1993

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Surrender' / 'Spider'

I'm gonna be strong - Blue Angel

Blue Angel consisted of John Turi, Arthur Neilson, Lee Brovitz, Johnny Morelli and Cyndi Lauper. The band was briefly popular in the New York club scene. They recorded one self-titled album in 1980. This album included the single 'I'm gonna be strong'. This track was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. It was originally recorded by Frankie Laine in 1963 and Gene Pitney in 1964.

The single did not chart in Europe, but it's still a fine demonstration of Cyndi Lauper's powerful vocals. She would of course go on to have a very successful solo career later on in the Eighties. She re-recorded this song for a compilation album of her solo hits in 1994.

My collection: 7" single no. 265

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1985

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'I'm gonna be strong' / 'Just the other day'

The heaven I need - Three Degrees

After the Three Degrees single 'My simple heart' reached number 9 in the UK singles chart, the group disappeared from the scene for half a decade. They released two albums on their own 3D label, 'Album of love' and 'Live in the UK', but neither charted.

They returned to the charts in 1985 with the single 'The heaven I need', written and produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, who were quickly conquering the pop scene at the time. The single peaked at number 42, which was not a very high placing, but it still became one of the more convincing dance tracks of the year.

My collection: 7" single no. 3001

Found: Geest, Den Haag, 2001

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'The heaven I need' / 'Gimme gimme gimme'