Marcel - Margot Eskens

Although Heidi Brühl was selected internally to sing five songs for the German national final for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1963, other artists were quick to jump on that bandwagon. The winning song, 'Marcel', which Heidi went to London with, was quickly covered by Margot Eskens, in the hopes of having a hit with it as well.

While Heid Brühl recorded 'Das grosse Spiel' as the B-side, a song she didn't perform at the national final, Margot did a smarter thing and recorded 'Ein schöner Tag' on the B-side - the song that was the runner-up during the national final. In the end, both versions of 'Marcel' only reached number 36 in the German chart during a one week run.

My collection: 7" single no. 7322
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 September 2024
Tracks: 'Marcel' / 'Ein schöner Tag'

Mijn moesje - Annie

A lot has been written about Annie on this blog, particularly the lyrics of her Eighties singles which were a bit morbid at times. Those lyrics can't be followed by those of you who can't understand Dutch, which is why I try to describe them.

'Mijn moesje' ('My mum') is very different from previous singles, because it is a bit of a tribute to mothers. The singer expresses her love and gratitude to her mum, but in the last verse it turns out that mum is old and parked in a retirement home. The B-side, 'Je bent toch mijn zoon' ('You're still my son') sounds like a lament of a mum who has a son that never comes to visit. "Why don't you come and see me?", she complains.

This was Annie's last single, released in 1986. Annie passed away in 2013.

My collection: 7" single no. 7258
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 July 2024
Tracks: 'Mijn moesje' / 'Je bent toch mijn zoon'

Linoleum smooth to the stockinged foot - The The

The The have released three singles from their new album Ensoulment until now, but unfortunately the first and third one have eluded me until now. Not strange when you realize the 7" singles sold out within a day online. 

'Linoleum smooth to the stockinged foot' was number two, and I managed to order that one from an online vendor recently. Matt Johnson - the only permanent member of The The - wrote the lyrics in a hospital bed, under the influence of morphine whilst recovering from a life-saving operation. As fate would have it, Johnson’s weeks in hospital had nothing to do with Covid, but occurred at precisely the time Covid reached crisis proportions, making for an even more surreal ordeal. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7317
Found: Discogs.com, received 3 September 2024
Tracks: 'Linoleum smooth to the stockinged foot' / 'Mycelium muse'

Under attack - Abba

Although war crept in to some Abba tracks from time to time (most notably 'Waterloo' and 'Fernando'), the feeling of paranoia and fear was never more obvious than on 'Under attack', a real Cold War song. It was released as Abba's last single - or so we thought. After 'Under attack' there were endless re-releases of singles until the band surprised us in 2021 with 'I still have faith in you'. 

'Under attack' was not a commercial success upon its release. ABBA's popularity was in decline and the two preceding singles ('Head over heels' and 'The day before you came') had failed to reach number 1 anywhere. Although a Top 5 hit in Belgium and the Netherlands, and a Top 20 single in a couple of other European charts, it did not become a major hit anywhere else. It peaked at number 26 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 7311
Found: Sounds, Delft, 31 August 2024
Tracks: 'Under attack' / 'You owe me one'

The day before you came - Abba

After a short break, Abba returned to the studio in the spring of 1982. The first results were deemed disappointing: the tracks 'Just like that' was never released (a snippet appeared on the box set Thank you for the music in 1994), 'I am the city' only made it out in 1993 on More Abba Gold and 'You owe me one' would become a B-side later in 1982. Concluding that a new full length album was not a realistic prospect for 1982, Polar Music decided instead to release a double-album compilation of ABBA’s most successful singles in autumn 1982, in which would be included some new recordings which could also be released as singles.

The group went back in the studio in August and recorded 'Cassandra' and 'Under attack'. Under the working title ‘Den lidande fågeln’ (‘The Suffering Bird’) they also started on what would become 'The day before you came'. The song was based on "a single melodic fragment that lent itself to being repeated in a series of ascending and descending phrases over several key changes", according to Benny. 

Björn wrote the lyrics at and following the session. His first task was to decide on a theme, and here he was inspired by the characteristics of the melody he and Benny had written: "The tune is narrative in itself, and relentless. That almost monotonous quality made me think of this girl who was living in a sort of gloominess and is now back in that same sense of gloom." His idea for a theme therefore was "a woman recounting all the dull, ordinary things she “guessed she must have done” the day before she had a highly charged encounter with a man" and began a relationship that would end unhappily: "He has left her, and her life has returned to how it ‘must have been’ before she met him.”

Many years after the song was recorded, Michael Tretow recalled Agnetha performing the lead vocals with dimmed lights and said that the mood had become sad and everybody in the studio knew that 'this was the end'. Although 'Under attack' would be released after 'The day before you came', this song certainly sounds like Abba's last great moment, and it remains one of my absolute favourite songs of the band. 

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album The Visitors in 2023.

My collection: 7" single no. 7310
Found: Sounds, Delft, 31 August 2024
Tracks: 'The day before you came' / 'Cassandra'

Head over heels - Abba

'Head over heels' was released in March 1982 as the second single from the album The Visitors.  Agnetha Fältskog sang the lead vocals, singing about her "very good friend", played in the music video by Anni-Frid Lyngstad, an overactive high-society woman who rushes through the shops, with her hapless and exhausted husband (played by Ulvaeus) following behind and being forced to carry the shopping bags. 

The single reached number 4 in the Dutch Top 40, while it stalled at number 25 in the UK singles chart. No further singles were released from the album - in Europe at least, because the B-side 'The Visitors' was released as a single in the USA in April 1982, with 'Head over heels' added on the other side.

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album The Visitors in 2023.

My collection: 7" single no. 7309
Found: Sounds, Delft, 31 August 2024
Tracks: 'Head over heels' / 'The visitors'

One of us - Abba

At the start of the 1980s, Abba was slowly falling apart. After the divorce of Björn and Agnetha (which some felt was documented in 'The winner takes it all'), Benny and Frida followed suit and the album The Visitors, released in 1981, was definitely a more sombre affair when compared to previous albums.

The lead single was 'One of us', one of a number of tracks that explored the darker territory of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson's songwriting, as the two men's divorces were beginning to influence their musical output. The message of the song is about a woman trying to revive a relationship she had ended. The single reached number 3 in the UK singles chart and number 1 in the Dutch Top 40. 

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album The Visitors in 2023.

My collection: 7" single no. 7308
Found: Sounds, Delft, 31 August 2024
Tracks: 'One of us' / 'Should I laugh or cry'