Am I losing you forever - Mai Tai

After the Dutch trio Mai Tai had two big hits in the UK in 1985, they tried their luck with the ballad 'Am I losing you forever' in November of that year. Despite an attractive sleeve, this single didn't find favour with the British audience: it only managed to reach number 78 during a two week chart run. It effectively ended their UK adventure: two subsequent releases in the UK only reached similar lowly positions.

For me, this single was a bit of an impulse buy, based on the glossy cover. But I wasn't disappointed: the B-side is actually very enjoyable too.

My collection: 7" single no. 6886
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 4 March 2023
Tracks: 'Am I losing you forever' / 'The rules of love'

Step off - Junior Giscombe

Junior Giscombe had his biggest success with 'Mama used to say' and 'Too late' in 1982, but all the singles he released next landed outside of the UK top 40. Until, that is, in 1987 when his duet with Kim Wiled 'Another step (closer to you)' made it to number 6.

Junior eventually switched to Kim's record label and in 1990 he released this single, 'Step off'. He wrote the song himself, together with Gregg Smith, and it's another example of his brand of funky music. The B-side is unfortunately less inspired.

My collection: 7" single no. 6885
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 4 March 2023
Tracks: 'Step off ' / 'Step off (the boogie pella)'

A whiter shade of pale - Procol Harum

An old, familiar song like 'A whiter shade of pale' is an essential part of any music collection. I've had a single for many decades, but it was a slightly embarrassing reissue from the 1980's. 

This single is also a reissue, but from 1974. And best of all, it features a credible picture sleeve and the B-side 'A salty dog', which is another fabulous track from the band. It being on sale for just half a euro, I couldn't resist.

My collection: 7" single no. 6884
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 4 March 2023
Tracks: 'A whiter shade of pale' / 'A salty dog'

Chiquitita - Abba / Too much heaven - Bee Gees

This single is a nice curiosity, since it features two big hits from the year 1979: Abba's 'Chiquitita' and 'Too much heaven' by the Bee Gees. Both tracks feature on the album 'Music for Unicef concert: a gift of song', which was released in 1979. It was the album that accompanied the benefit concert of popular music held in the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on 9 January 1979. It was intended to raise money for UNICEF world hunger programs and to mark the beginning of the International Year of the Child. The concert was the idea of impresario Robert Stigwood, the Bee Gees, and David Frost, who originally conceived it as an annual event. Not all of the performances were truly live, with ABBA lip-synching their new song 'Chiquitita' and the Bee Gees lip-synching their song 'Too Much Heaven'. It's kindof ironic that these two songs were chosen for a single release.

The concert raised less than one million dollars at the time for UNICEF, although this figure did not include longer-term royalties from the songs and repeat performances. (The Bee Gees' song 'Too much heaven', for example, earned more than seven million dollars for UNICEF as of 2003). 

My collection: 7" single no. 6881
Found: Discogs.com, received 2 March 2023
Tracks: 'Chiquitita' (Abba) / 'Too much heaven' (Bee Gees)

En gång i Stockholm - Monica Zetterlund

Monica Zetterlund was born as Eva Monica Nilsson on 20 September 1937. During her lifetime, she starred in over 10 Swedish film productions and recorded over 20 studio albums. 

Her long career also included the song 'En gång i Stockholm', a jazz ballad with which she represented Sweden in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest. She finished last, however and scored nul points, but remained successful in Sweden.  

It was quite difficult to find a good copy of this single for a reasonable price, so I had to make do with this one, which comes without the four prong centre.

My collection: 7" single no. 6880
Found: Discogs.com, received  March 2023
Tracks: 'En gång i Stockholm' / 'En gospel om dej'

Mit potpourri - Katy Bødtger

If you want to buy a copy of the single 'Det var en yndig tid', the song with which Katy Bødtger represented Denmark at the 1960 Eurovision Song Contest, you will have to pay 45 euros or more. By contrast, this 10" compilation LP, which includes the song, only costs a few euros. So obviously I went for the latter. 

It is actually a very nice collection of songs that presents the state of music in the early 1960's quite well. It all sounds ancient right now, but these were real instruments and a very capable singer. Katy Bødtger ended up in joint tenth place with 'Det var en yndig tid' at the Eurovision Song Contest, which I think is one of those inexplicable injustices by the international juries.

My collection: 10" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 25 February 2023
Tracks: 'To rode roser', 'Min barndoms klokker', 'Visne roser', 'Fiskerpigens sang', 'Det var en yndig tid' / 'Sa laenge du er til', 'Bla viol', 'Somand, mon du drømmer?', 'Jeg elsker dig fordi', 'Farvel Jimmy, farvel'

Hush - Tommy Körberg et al.

EP's like this were quite popular in the Sixties and Seventies, because it was a way to own several hits for a reduced price. The only downside was that they were not the original versions of the hits, but rather recorded by other artists. 

This Swedish EP is a bit weird, because it features Tommy Körberg quite prominently on the front sleeve. Tommy, of course, went on to become quite a wellknown Swedish performer, representing Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1969 and 1988. On this disc he performs a version of the Deep Purple song 'Hush'. Another attraction is Sue Miller's version of the Marty Wilde song 'I'm a tiger', made famous by Lulu. And that, of course, is the reason I bought this disc. There's an interesting version of 'Son of a preacher man' by Martha Dove. And finally there's an interesting song called 'Lord of the ring', which indeed is a musical retelling of the Tolkien story. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6877
Found: Discogs.com, received 25 February 2023
Tracks: 'Hush' (Tommy Körberg), 'I'm a tiger' (Sue Miller) / 'Son of a preacher man' (Martha Dove), 'Lord of the ring' (Downliners Sect)