House of the rising sun - Frijid Pink

'House of the rising sun' is a traditional American folk song, but it was made famous by the Animals, who made it a charttopper in the UK and USA in 1964. It's the version most people probably know best.

In 1969 the Detroit band Frijid Pink recorded a psychedelic version of "House of the Rising Sun", which became an international hit in 1970. Their version was almost as successful; peaking at number 4 in the UK singles chart and number 7 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It's an interesting twist of fate that I haven't even got a copy of the Animals single yet, but this one by Frijid Pink only cost half a euro, so I couldn't leave it in the shop.

My collection: 7" single no. 7288
Found: Plato, Leiden, 15 August 2024
Tracks: 'House of the rising sun' / 'Drivin' blues'

Horse race - Mo

It was a big surprise to find a single by the band Mo that I didn't own already. I thought my collection was complete, but this was literally the first time I ever saw the single 'Horse race'. Back in 2009 when I wrote about 'Nothing's wrong' I stated that it was their last single - but I was wrong: this one is! 

Like 'Nothing's wrong', 'Horse race' is taken from Mo's final album Stop Staring, released in 1984. Apparently a 12" single of 'Asia' was released a few months ago, but it is now impossible to find a copy. After all these years, the band hasn't been forgotten.

My collection: 7" single no. 7286
Found: Plato, Leiden, 15 August 2024
Tracks: 'Horse race' / 'In love there's pain'

Egyptian reggae - Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers

It's no wonder, I guess, that I never really knew who recorded 'Egyptian reggae', because who could remember the band name 'Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers'? So I was lucky to find this single by chance, after many years subconsciously searching for it. 

In the 1970s, Jonathan Richman experiments with different musical styles. Inspired by North African and reggae music, he comes up with this instrumental song, which he records together with the band The Modern Lovers. Although Richman initially claimed to have written the song himself, he later retracted this. The song has very strong similarities to Jamaican musician Earl Zero's 1973 hit 'None shall escape the judgement'. In reissues of 'Egyptian reggae', Zero is explicitly credited as co-writer of the song. Not on this original single from 1977, though!

My collection: 7" single no. 7285
Found: Record fair, Leiden, 15 August 2024
Tracks: 'Egyptian reggae' / 'Rollercoaster by the sea'

Face to face - Real life

The band Real life is best known for their hit 'Send me an angel'. Some years ago I bought the 88 version of that track, and I thought that would be the last of their singles I'd ever buy. But I was tempted yet again by a red vinyl single, and I guess you can't go very wrong with an Eighties band anyway.

'Face to face' was released in 1985 as the first single from the Australian band's second album 'Flame'. It reached number 32 in the Australian singles chart, and the red vinyl version also helped them get to number 52 in the German singles chart. Elsewhere this single remained unnoticed. The band soldiered on until 1990 without a lot of success. Later reunions didn't come with any chart success either.

My collection: 7" single no. 7284
Found: Record fair, Leiden, 15 August 2024
Tracks: 'Face to face' / 'Flame (instrumental)'

Martha's harbour - All About Eve

All About Eve were very busy after releasing their debut album. Having already released a few singles in advance, the singles kept coming after the album was out, and in various formats too. Their best known single 'Martha's harbour' wasn't just released on CD-single, 7" and 12", a special edition of the 12" single came in a box and featured a large colour poster and two exclusive live tracks.

You could say it's a nightmare for collectors, but all these years later it's still a major joy to look back and go through all these different versions.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record fair, 1989
Tracks: 'Martha's harbour', 'Another door' / 'In the clouds (live)', 'Shelter from the rain (live)'

Augustin - Siw Malmkvist

There's something odd about the sleeve of this single. With Siw & Lilian Malmkvist prominently on it with their names above, the song 'Augustin' seems to have been recorded by both. But upon further inspection it becomes clear that the sisters only recorded the two songs on the B-side of this EP, and Siw Malmkvist actually sings 'Augustin' on her own.

'Augustin' is of course a cover version of Sweden's 1959 entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, originally performed by Brita Borg. Which should tell you all you need to know why I wanted to have this single.

My collection: 7" single no. 7281
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 August 2024
Tracks: 'Augustin', 'Det Är Min Melodi' / 'Cocktail Tango', 'Nya Fågelsången'

Not the only one - Fiction Factory

Fiction Factory were very successful with their debut album and the hit single '(Feels like) Heaven'. They toured Europe as support for OMD, but the same year Eddie Jordan, Graham McGregor and Mike Ogletree departed from the band, leaving Kevin Patterson and Chic Medley to record the next studio album with session musicians, including keyboardist Paul Wishart and brothers Graham and Neil Weir of OMD. The first single from the second album Another Story was 'Not the only one'. Unlike the previous singles, this one didn't chart at all. 

This copy of the single was made in Germany. The disc has a label saying 'Ungeprüftes muster / Unverkäuflich', which means basically that it is some sort of promotional single. It's a nice find.

My collection: 7" single no. 7282
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 August 2024
Tracks: 'Not the only one' / 'Let me be a part'