Sunday girl - Blondie

I've complained about Record Store Day on this blog before: it's too expensive, too limited and too attractive for scalpers. That's not to say that the releases are always bad: there's been quite a few interesting items over the years - the trick is just to find them, years later, and hopefully for lower prices.

This double single of Blondie's 'Sunday girl' was released in April 2022, so not too long ago. One disc is pressed on yellow vinyl, the other on red vinyl. The second disc actually presents a previously unreleased live version, recorded at the Paramount Theatre in Portland in January 1979. Unfortunately that's a rather low-fi recording. But anyway, it's a nice release and it looks great.

My collection: 7" single no. 7090
Found: A&O, Düsseldorf, 16 December 2023
Tracks: 'Sunday girl' / 'Sunday girl (French version)' // 'Sunday girl (demo)' / 'Sunday girl (live)'

You're all I need to get by - Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams

'You're all I need to get by' was written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson. It was originally recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968.

Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams recorded the song for their 1978 duet album 'That's what friends are for'. It was the follow-up to their US number 1 hit 'Too much, too little, too late'. Their version of 'You're all I need to get by' reached number 47 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 45 in the UK singles chart. The copy I bought is a UK promotional single, which is a nice find!

My collection: 7" single no. 7091
Found: 33|45 Records, Den Haag, 22 December 2023
Tracks: 'You're all I need to get by' / 'You're a special part of my life'

Soerabaya / Junge Komm Bald Wieder / Bachelor Boy - De Accordo's

Released in 1963, this single features two medley's of popular songs from that time, as performed by the Accordo's, apparently a Dutch group although this single seems to have been made in Germany.

Not that I suddenly became a fan of music played on accordeons, but the B-side medley features a bit of 'Uno per tutte', the song which was performed by Emilio Pericoli at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1963. In other words, it's another cover version of a Eurovision song, and so an interesting addition to my collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7082
Found: 33|45 Records, Den Haag, 22 December 2023
Tracks: 'Soerabaya / Junge Komm Bald Wieder / Bachelor Boy' / 'Uno Per Tutte / Limbo Rock / Blame It On The Bossa Nova'

Atomic city - U2

It's been a while since I bought a U2 single, but it's also a while since I heard something interesting from the band. I sort of drifted off after 'All that you can't leave behind', and that's 2000. 

But the band has been making waves with their appearance in Las Vegas in a truly strange venue, and released a new song dedicated to the city to boot. It was released on a "photoluminescent transparent 7" vinyl with bespoke etching on side B', which is marketing speak for "we only have this one track and no B-side so we will try to make it appealing by throwing a lot of adjectives at you". Still, I like the track and so this single ended up in my collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7089
Found: A&O, Düsseldorf, 16 December 2023
Tracks: 'Atomic city'

Tainted love (demo) - Soft Cell

While the Dutch magazine scene is still boring as hell, more exciting things happen in the UK and Germany, where music magazines regularly come with free 7" singles. 

In this case, it's the UK magazine Electronic Sounds that came up with the goods. This single features two tracks by Soft Cell (you wouldn't have guessed it, looking at the sleeve) from 1981. The A-side is a demo of the duo's biggest hit, 'Tainted love', while the B-side is a version of 'Bedsitter' that was previously released on a flexidisc with the magazine Flexipop - yes, even four decades ago UK magazines were more interesting than Dutch ones. It's high time this country catches up.

My collection: 7" single no. 7088
Found: Electronic Sounds website, received 15 December 2023
Tracks: 'Tainted love (demo)' / 'Bedsitter (Flexipop version)'

Pocket calculator - Kraftwerk

Just four months ago I bought the German version of 'Pocket calculator' by Kraftwerk, 'Taschenrechner'. Besides that original version they also recorded the track in English, and that version appears on this single. 

'Pocket calculator' reached number 39 in the UK singles chart during a six week chart run in May and June 1981. At the same time, the album 'Computer world', from which this single was taken, reached number 15 in the albums chart in the UK.

My collection: 7" single no. 7087
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 December 2023
Tracks: 'Pocket calculator' / 'Dentaku'

Pianos, strings and some other things - Jeff Wayne

Recently Jeff Wayne announced another live tour of his 'War of the worlds' epic, planned for 2025. It's both impressive and a little sad that the entire career of the man has become synonymous with this one double album, originally released in 1978 - a whopping 45 years ago. 

Another example of his enduring obsession with the project is this Record Store Day release from 2019. 'Pianos, strings and some other things' is, and I am being irreverent here, an elevator music adaptation of four of the tracks from that very same album, 'War of the worlds'. After remix albums and a 'new generation' version this was the latest new take on the music. Well, at least the tracks are very well done, I have to admit. So I am still glad I managed to pick up a copy of this 12" single.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: 33|45 Records, Den Haag, 26 August 2023
Tracks: 'The eve of the war', 'Forever autumn' / 'The red weed', 'Brave new world'