Both sides now - Clannad & Paul Young

After a successful album campaign for 'From time to time', a collection of Paul's hits since he went solo, he recorded 'Both sides now' with those Irish folk giants Clannad. The track was created for the motion picture 'Switch'. The single wasn't very successful; it peaked at number 74 in the UK singles chart. At the same time, it was the first time that Clannad appeared in the Canadian singles chart. No wonder: 'Both sides now' was a cover of a song by their beloved Joni Mitchell.

The B-side of this single features 'Broken man', a track taken from Paul's debut album 'No parlez'.

My collection: 7" single no. 6008
Found: Discogs.com, received March 9, 2019
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Both sides now' / 'Broken man'

Matador - Jeff Wayne

People who know me, know that any activities involving sports or anything associated with sports turn me off big time. So it's quite ironic that I should buy this single - a theme tune for the 1982 World Cup. In my defence: this is a Jeff Wayne single and since I am slightly obsessed with Jeff Wayne this single qualified as a nice-to-have in my book.

It was one of Jeff's first single releases since the very successful 'War of the worlds' campaign and it is an interesting instrumental piece. The B-side is named 'Henry Higgins', presumably titled after the English bullfighter who lived between 1944 and 1978. 'Matador' reached number 57 in the UK singles charts in the summer of 1982.

My collection: 7" single no. 6010
Found: Discogs.com, received March 12, 2019
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Matador' / 'Henry Higgins'

Bravo tu as gagné - Mireille Mathieu

I wonder how many Abba fans are aware that this track happened. I don't recall any news items about this back in 1981, but it is pretty astounding that Benny, Björn and Frida contributed backing vocals to 'Bravo tu as gagné', a French cover version of their then-recent hit 'The winner takes it all', recorded by Mireille Mathieu. The back cover of this single even shows a photograph of the four in the studio. Why Agnetha wasn't present, I don't know - she was probably sulking at home somewhere.

The song was actually produced by Benny and Björn as well, which makes it almost an Abba single. I found this single while shopping online. It was a big surprise for me, especially since the single wasn't particularly expensive. You'd think that any rare Abba track would fetch a lot of money.

My collection: 7" single no. 6009
Found: Discogs.com, received March 9, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Bravo tu as gagné' / 'Viens chanter pour le Bon Dieu'

Die Roboter - Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk singles are pretty rare, so whenever I see one for an affordable price I leap at the chance to own it. Even if, in this case, the state of the sleeve is a bit questionable. 'Die Roboter' is the original German version of the track better known as 'The robots' in English speaking countries, and it was released in 1978.

Taken from the album 'Die Mensch Machine', the single reached number 25 in the German singles chart and number 23 in Austria. The track was remixed for the album 'The Mix' in 1991 and got to number 18 in Germany then.

My collection: 7" single no. 6006
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, March 2, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Die Roboter' / 'Spacelab'

Bang-a-boomerang - Sven & Charlotte

Svenne Hedlund and Charlotte Walker met in 1967 when Svenne was the vocalist in the band Hep Stars, which also included Benny Andersson who would go on to form Abba. They spent time together during the Swedish leg of Lotta's concert tour with the American band the Sherrys. Upon Lotta's return to America, the pair missed each other so greatly that Lotta soon travelled back to Sweden; this time with her three children. Seeking parental approval, Lotta also brought her mother to meet Svenne.

After the Hepstars broke up and Abba became a phenomenon  after winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, Sven and Charlotte competed in the Swedish national finals for the Contest in 1975 with 'Bang-a-boomerang'. The song was composed by the male members of Abba, who didn't want to represent Sweden a year after having won the contest, so they gave the duo the song instead. It became a big hit in Scandinavia. Abba recorded the song as well, but from a Scandinavian perspective, this is primarily a Seven & Charlotte hit.

My collection: 7" single no. 6005
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, March 2, 2019
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Bang-a-boomerang' / 'Roly-poly girl'

The best things in life are free - Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson

The movie 'Mo' Money' featured this track by Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson, 'The best things in life are free'. The 12" version presents six versions of that track. It can become a bit of a monotonous affair to listen to these remixes one after another, despite the fact that two different remixers have done their thing.

The first two tracks on the B-side were created by David Morales and Frankie Knuckles, whereas the three other remixes were made by CJ Mackintosh. The whole thing was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who were also responsible for Janet Jackson's other output at the time.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received March 2, 2019
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'The best things in life are free (LP version)', 'The best things in life are free (CJ's UK 12" with rap)', 'The best things in life are free (CJ's Mackapella)' / 'The best things in life are free (Classic 12" with rap)', 'The best things in life are free (Def version)', 'The best things in life are free (CJ's UK dub 1)'

Wuthering heights / The man with the child in his eyes - Kate Bush

There's been a lot of attention for Kate Bush these last few months, on the occasion of her 'Remastered' box sets. Re-releases of Kate Bush music have been very scarce - between 1978 and now there has even only been one official compilation album.

Which is why this 'Old gold' single is a bit of a rarity too. It presents Kate's first two hits on one single. It was released in 1983, while EMI also released the 7" singles box set 'The Single File'. Interestingly, this single features the single version of 'The man with the child in his eyes', which has never been released on any Kate Bush CD until now (although it does appear on a compilation CD of love songs somewhere...).

My collection: 7" single no. 6004
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, March 2, 2019
Cost: 3,5 euro
Tracks: 'Wuthering heights' / 'The man with the child in his eyes'