Rikki don't lose that number - Steely Dan

With 'Rikki don't lose that number', the band Steely Dan had the biggest hit of their career. But what was the song about? Walter Becker stated in a 1985 interview in the magazine Musician that the "number" in question was not slang for a marijuana cigarette, and an uncharacteristically forthcoming Donald Fagen revealed that the "Rikki" in question was simply a woman he'd had a crush on in college [writer Rikki Ducornet].

This copy was pressed on yellow vinyl and comes in a slightly suggestive sleeve. The single reached number 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, but failed to chart in Europe.

My collection: 7" single no. 7598
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Rikki don't lose that number' / 'Any major dude will tell you'

Strawberry fields forever - The King's Singers

With a suggestive sleeve like this (there's even [gasp!] a nipple on the back cover!) and a disc pressed on red vinyl, it's no wonder that my interest was piqued. Especially when it contains a version of one of my favourite Beatles songs, 'Strawberry fields forever'. I would think this is quite a rare record, but to my surprise there's a lot of copies available online.  

The King's Singers is a British vocal ensemble founded in May 1968 in Cambridge, England.  Countertenor singers Alastair Hume & Nigel Perrin, Tenor singer Alastair Thompson, Baritone singer Simon Carrington & Anthony Holt, Bass singer Brian Kay were the former members of the ensemble.  The King's Singers are now Patrick Dunachie (countertenor), Timothy Wayne-Wright (countertenor), Julian Gregory (tenor), Christopher Bruerton (baritone), Christopher Gabbitas (baritone) and Jonathan Howard (bass).

My collection: 7" single no. 7597
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Strawberry fields forever' / 'Disney girls (1957)'

Tightrope ride - The Doors

After the sudden death of Jim Morrison, the three remaining members of The Doors soldiered on. They released an album called Other voices, and this single was taken from that album. While 'Tightrope ride' could never compare with classics like 'Light my fire', 'Touch me' or 'Riders on the storm', it is still a good example of what these men were capable of. 

Robbie Krieger later reflected: 'We probably shouldn’t have put it out that quick after Jim’s passing. We just felt like that was all we could do. We could've sat around and be depressed. Which we were. But, I don't know. The record company, Elektra, they were wanting us to continue. It wasn’t that hard of a decision.'

My collection: 7" single no. 7591
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Tightrope ride' / 'Variety is the spice of life'

Lookin' through the windows - The Jackson 5

Since most of the Jacksons singles from the Eighties are already in my possession, I am often tempted to go back in time and buy some of their earlier stuff. It's not bad, it just doesn't appeal to me in quite the same way. 

'Lookin' through the windows' was released as the second single from the 1972 album of the same name. It reached number 16 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, but it didn't chart at all in Europe - with the exception of the UK, where the song peaked at number 9. This single is the Dutch pressing, with the sort of sleeve that was kindof habitual at that time.

My collection: 7" single no. 7593
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Lookin' through the windows' / 'Love song'

Llámame - Victor Balaguer

This single spent a long time on my wantlist, and when I ordered it online I didn't pay enough attention to the description, otherwise I would have known that I would receive this single in a record company sleeve instead of the picture sleeve. Oh well, at least it is the original record company sleeve.

'Llámame' was the song performed by Victor Balaguer for Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962. It was a rather traditional Spanish-style song, which was not out of the ordinary at the Contest around that time. It wasn't a very successful song: it finished in shared last place (with Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria) with zero points. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7587
Found: Discogs.com, received 22 February 2025
Tracks: 'Llámame', 'Serenata' / 'Leccion de Twist', 'Dile tu'

Pange lingua - Mocedades

Anyone who is even remotely interested in the Eurovision Song Contest (and collects records) will probably own a copy of 'Eres tu'. Some might even venture into the unknown and buy the German version, 'Das bist du'. But this single is a rather obscure one: it's 'Pange lingua' with on the B-side a live version of 'Eres tu'!

This single was released in 1984, and features live versions from the album 15 años de musica, a celebratory live album by Mocedades. It's rather lovely that this copy is a promotional version, although the single was also commercially available at the time.

My collection: 7" single no. 7586
Found: Discogs.com, recieved 22 February 2025
Tracks: 'Pange lingua [live]' / 'Eres tu [live]'

The Big Four, no. 20 - Leslie Uggams, Marty Wilde, Guy Mitchell, The Kaye Sisters

I posted no. 11 of the Big Four EP's three years ago, and here is no. 20. The formula remains the same: four songs by four different artists who were popular at the time of the EP's release. There's no year mentioned on the sleeve or label, but thanks to Discogs.com we know that this EP was released in 1959. 

An obvious reason for me to want to have these EP's is the appearance of Marty Wilde, even if the song is not rare: 'Sea of love' is one of his big hits which was also released on a 'normal' 7" single. The three other tracks are a nice bonus. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7580
Found: Discogs.com, received 22 February 2025
Tracks: 'One more sunrise' (Leslie Uggams), 'Sea of love' (Marty Wilde) / 'Heartaches by the number' (Guy Mitchell), 'True love, true love' (The Kaye Sisters)