Strange - Boney M

Like the title indicates, this single is indeed strange. In Germany, the B-side 'Felicidad' was released as a single, and it was quite successful too. However, a few months after its release, the B-side became the A-side and 'Strange' saw the light of day.

'Strange' was originally recorded by Dobby Dobson in 1969. He was a Jamaican reggae singer and producer who released over a hundred singles between the Sixties and Nineties. Dobson died on July 21 2020 from COVID-19 in Florida, aged 78.

My collection: 7" single no. 7479
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2024
Tracks: 'Strange' / 'Felicidad'

Du kennst die Liebe nicht - Nena

As popular as Nena was in Germany during the first half of the Eighties, things became a lot quieter when the year 1984 arrived. Most of their singles didn't chart, and although the album 'Feuer und Flamme' reached number 2 in the German albums chart, the singles didn't fare as well. The title track made it to number 8, 'Haus der drei Sonnen' scraped to number 43 and the two remaining singles didn't even chart. 

The last single taken from the album was 'Du kennst die Liebe nicht', released in 1985. The single features a live version of the same track on the B-side.

My collection: 7" single no. 7475
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2024
Tracks: 'Du kennst die Liebe nicht' / 'Du kennst die Liebe nicht (live)'

Live and let die - Paul McCartney & Wings

One of the singles I've been after for a couple of years now is 'Live and let die', the theme song of the 1973 James Bond film of the same name. Originally, the movie's producer Harry Saltzman was interested in having Shirley Bassey or Thelma Houston perform it instead of Wings. George Martin said McCartney would allow the song to be used in the movie only if Wings was able to perform the song in the opening credits. The recording contract specified that McCartney would "perform the title song under the opening titles".

After the release of the single, it reached number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 in the UK singles chart. Amazingly, it only reached number 27 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 7470
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2024
Tracks: 'Live and let die' / 'I lie around'

Love her madly - The Doors

Band guitarist Robby Krieger wrote 'Love her madly' during the period of Jim Morrison's trial in September 1970. He composed the music while experimenting on a twelve string guitar, and he was inspired to write the lyrics from his troubles and fights with his then-girlfriend and later-wife Lynn. Ray Manzarek has said that the song's title was taken from Duke Ellington's line 'We love you madly', a catchphrase which he used to utter to the audience at the end of his concerts.

The B-side of the single, '(You need meat) Don't go no further', is the only studio recording released by the Doors during Jim Morrison's tenure with the group to feature a lead vocal by keyboardist Ray Manzarek. It is also one of only three non-album B-sides by the Doors, the other two being 'Who scared you?' (B-side of 'Wishful sinful') and the relatively rare post-Morrison track 'Treetrunk' (B-side of 'Get up and dance'). '(You need meat) Don't go no further' met its first official album release on the compilation album Weird scenes inside the gold mine. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7469
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2024
Tracks: 'Love her madly' / '(You need meat) Don't go no further'

Have a cigar - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd became one of the most famous bands in the world because of the album Dark side of the moon, released in 1973. After this, they continued making remarkable records, and 'Have a cigar' appeared on the next album Wish you were here. 

In some markets, the song was issued as a single. English folk-rock singer Roy Harper provided lead vocals on the song. In his book Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, author Mark Blake recounts that Gilmour had been unwilling to sing the lead vocal as he did not share Waters' opinions, as expressed in the lyrics, on the nature of the music industry. Waters has since said he dislikes Harper's version, saying he would have liked it to emerge 'more vulnerable and less cynical', adding that Harper's version was too parodic while Gilmour loved Harper's vocal delivery and called it the 'perfect version'. I'm inclined to take Gilmour's side, since Waters has since proved to be a lunatic.

My collection: 7" single no. 7468
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2024
Tracks: 'Have a cigar' / 'Shine on you crazy diamond (part 1)'

Lola (live) - The Kinks

Around the time of John Lennon's death, the Kinks released a live version of their song 'Lola'. I remember this quite vividly, because a picture of the sleeve appeared in the printed version of the Dutch Top 40 and I always thought it was an image of a big cross. It seemed like quite a biblical sleeve. Of course, upon closer inspection - weeks later - I saw this was actually a live photograph of Ray Davies!

I didn't really like the song a lot back then, but as things go, you get to appreciate things decades later sometimes. And the added attraction of a colour vinyl edition - in this case, blue - also helped. And so I was glad to find a good copy, finally, after having failed to do so for a few years. The fact that the single arrived together with that Beatles one, really made my day.

My collection: 7" single no. 7464
Found: Discogs.com, received 21 November 2024
Tracks: 'Lola (live)' / 'Celluloid heroes'

Let it be me - Hep Stars

It has become common practice for me, when I buy singles online, to search for 'Ulvaeus', because you never know when you might pick up some obscure Abba release, or a cover version. But this time the Hep Stars turned up, thanks to the B-side of this single. I knew the title 'Let it be me' somehow, but I didn't really know the song. And so I listened to it online - and that's when I remembered that song from very long ago. Obviously I had to have it. 

'Let it be me' was released in 1968, and it was based on 'Je t'appartiens', which was written in by Gilbert Bécaud and his frequent collaborator, lyricist Pierre Delanoë. Delanoë reportedly wrote the lyrics for Bécaud as an apology for missing one of the singer's performances at the Olympia in Paris. The most famous version was recorded by the Everly Brothers in 1959 - but the Swedish band were actually a year earlier! So which version did I know? I can't recall. Lovely song, though.

My collection: 7" single no. 7463
Found: Discogs.com, received 21 November 2024
Tracks: 'Let it be me' / 'A flower in my garden'