Say something - Kylie Minogue

I haven't bought a lot of singles recently, and that's mostly down to the amount of new albums and box sets that I have added to my collection. I can only spend my budget once - which is also why I had some doubts about buying this single. It was offered online via the official website of Kylie, and while the promise of a red vinyl single was very tempting, the price was just a bit too steep, especially with added postage. But fortunately the next single was waiting in the wings, so buying both of them for the same amount of postage didn't make it as expensive a purchase.

Kylie's new album is called 'Disco' and that is probably the best description of her new tracks. As far as pop tracks go, this is a very decent effort, and if you ask me, certainly more alluring than her previous album which I personally felt to be a little disappointing. Extra points for including an inner sleeve that lists all the credits for each track; a stunning design for a beautiful see-through red vinyl single.

My collection: 7" single no. 6329
Found: Townsend Music, received November 14, 2020
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'Say something' / 'Say something (acoustic)'

No time to die - Billie Eilish

James Bond fans have not had a good year. Originally planned for April, the 25th Bond movie 'No time to die' was rescheduled to October because of the covid pandemic. And when this pandemic did not seem to come to an end, the movie was rescheduled again, until April next year. My guess is that in March we will hear that 'No time to die' will again be rescheduled. But we'll see.

But there was more to be depressed about. The theme song for the movie was recorded by Billie Eilish. For some, usually younger, people this was something to get excited about, but personally I had hoped for someone better. This song was my first encounter with miss Eilish but my conclusion is that she has definite problems articulating her words. Who remembers the excitement of 'Goldfinger', 'Live and let die', 'A view to a kill' and even 'Skyfall'? Well, listen to this and you will probably feel like locking yourself up in a dark room. Even Hans Zimmer's orchestral arrangement can't save this track. It is an addition to my collection of James Bond theme song singles, but not one I am particularly impressed by. Well, at least the vinyl is a curios shade of marbled grey.

My collection: 7" single no. 6328
Found: HHV, Germany, received October 8, 2020
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'No time to die' / 'No time to die (instrumental)'

Radar love - Golden Earring

I haven't got many singles by the Golden Earring because basically I find their music a bit boring. Much like the Rolling Stones, they have been making the same kind of music since they started, and it doesn't really appeal to me. 

However, 'Radar Love' is one of those tracks that has become a classic and when I used to listen to the Top 100 of all times this one was always played somewhere in the last hour of the show. The song was a hit in the USA, which I guess is a feat for a Dutch band. I never bought the single, though, probably because I never came across a good copy. That changed recently, as the single was released for this year's Record Store Day, and so I bumped into this one in a real shop. Yellow vinyl, a limited edition of 2500 copies....? I couldn't resist. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6327
Found: Paagman, Den Haag, October 3, 2020
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'Radar love (UK single version)' / 'Radar love (Moontan LP version)'

The bell - Mike Oldfield

Although I have followed Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells' outings quite closely, this is one 7" single I never knew existed. I did buy all the CD-singles that were released at the time of his 'Tubular Bells II' album, but I only found the Sentinel 7" single in London when it was released. The 7" single for Tattoo was a recent catch, and it was back in May that I also spotted that 'The Bell' was released in this format. But I had to wait for one to become available.

This finally happened last month, and of course I snapped it up. In the absence of record fairs, online sales are all there is, but I am quite happy to pay for postage when an item is on my wish list. I think I have all the 'Tubular Bells II' 7" singles now... which makes me happy.

My collection: 7" single no. 6326
Found: Discogs.com, received September 26, 2018
Cost: 3 pounds
Tracks: 'The bell (MC Viv Stanshall)' / 'Sentinel Restructure (Trance mix)'

Call my name - OMD

I was quite surprised to find that I never actually bought this OMD single. I was under the impression that I had them all - but 'Call my name' was hardly one of their most successful releases. It was released as the fourth and last single from the album 'Sugar tax', the first album that was released in OMD's "wilderness years", when co-founder Paul Humphreys left the band, unhappy with the band's commercial orientation. 

Andy McCluskey went on alone but the three albums he released couldn't really compare with the artistic highlights that OMD released before. 'Call my name' only made it to number 50 in the UK singles chart and number 28 in Germany, but failed to reach the charts everywhere else.

My collection: 7" single no. 6325
Found: Discogs.com, received September 24, 2020
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Call my name' / 'Walk tall'

We can't stop what's coming - The The

After the successful albums from the 1980's and 1990's, The The suddenly disappeared from the radar... or so it seemed. Matt Johnson, who basically is The The, continued recording music, but his soundtracks released on the Cinéola label were for a much more limited audience.

For 2017's Record Store Day, after premiering the song on a Radio Cineola broadcast, the The released a new 7" record called "We Can't Stop What's Coming", collaborating once again with Johnny Marr. The single was originally released with an etched side. This single is the white vinyl single that appeared shortly thereafter - also with just one track on it. I had to wait until the price came down a bit... and fortunately it did.

My collection: 7" single no. 6324
Found: Discogs.com, received September 24, 2020
Cost: 6 pounds
Tracks: 'We can't stop what's coming'

Dancing in the city - Marshall Hain

Although the duo Julian Marshall and Kit Hain only released one album and two singles, I managed to collect quite a few discs by them - even if the titles are always similar. This is, I think, the last time I can feature them on this blog, for this version of 'Dancing in the city' is the last one that actually contains different content.

This single was produced for promotional purposes. The first thing that strikes you is the very different cover, and then on the disc there are not two, but three tracks: 'Dancing in the city', 'Real satisfaction' and 'Coming home'. The commercial single of 'Dancing in the city', released around the same time, has a different album track on the B-side. 'Coming home' was, of course, the second single from the duo, but the album version is found on this disc, not the slightly different single version.

My collection: 7" single no. 6323
Found: Discogs.com, received September 4, 2020
Cost: 1,77 euro
Tracks: 'Dancing in the city' / 'Real satisfaction', 'Coming home'