People need love - Björn & Benny with Frieda & Anna

Although I bought the recent picture disc edition of 'People need love', I didn't own an original pressing of that single yet, and that, of course, needed some correction. I was lucky to find this French pressing with an original sleeve for a reasonable price, because lest we forget, this single is already 53 years old! 

Björn & Benny with Frieda & Anna, as they were called then, were at the start of their career which would turn out to be stellar, but at this point they were still recording slightly folky tunes. At the time of the single's release, the Ring Ring album had not been planned, since there was no intention to form a permanent group. However, the song was included on the album the following year. The single became a hit in Sweden (although there wasn't yet any official national chart to prove this) and even made an appearance in the American Cashbox chart (peaking at number 114) and the American Record World chart (peaking at number 117). According to ABBA's manager Stig Anderson, could have been a much bigger American hit, if not for the limited distribution resources of the label that was unable to meet the demand from retailers and radio programmers.

My collection: 7" single no. 7687
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 15 June 2025
Tracks: 'People need love' / 'Merry-go-round' 

Amiga Quartett - Fine Young Cannibals

Another Amiga Quartett EP and this time it's the Fine Young Cannibals with a selection of their biggest hits. It's a nice quartet this time, consisting of four singles that were taken from the album The Raw & the Cooked from 1989. 

In 1990 the last Quartetts were released, since West and East Germany ended the 'iron curtain' era and the state-run record company from the Eastern part, Amiga, ceased to exist. The last interesting EP - for me at least - was the next one, by the Bangles. But I bought that one last year. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7700
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 July 2025
Tracks: 'She drives me crazy', 'I'm not satisfied' / 'Ever fallen in love', 'Good thing' 

Arrival - Solar Explosion

It's quite amazing that even an instrumental track by Abba inspired other acts to record their own versions of it. Before Mike Oldfield had a go at it, the German outfit Solar Explosion recorded a version. The track was arranged by Peter Wagner and produced by Kurt Vethake and Rainer Etzrodt. Wagner and Vethake were also responsible for composing the B-side, 'Silver clouds'. 

It's a cute little single and I would never have known about it if I didn't routinely go through my Discogs purchases searching for 'Ulvaeus' every once in a while. It's great that Discogs makes composers and producers searchable throughout their marketplace.

My collection: 7" single no. 7698
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 July 2025
Tracks: 'Arrival' / 'Silver clouds' 

Amiga Quartett - Boney M

Is Boney M still Boney M without Bobby Farrell? I've always had my doubts. He was sacked from the group by the end of 1981, and the band soldiered on with Reggie Tsiboe, a Ghanaian-British singer who previously was a member of the group Sugarcane, who had a hit in 1978 with 'Montego Bay'. 

'Kalimba de luna', released in 1984 is a decent track and pretty well performed too. Still, with this single and the tracks that appear on this Amiga Quartett EP the group failed to attract as many record buyers as before. By 1986, the band fell apart. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7701
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 July 2025
Tracks: 'Kalimba de luna', 'Felicidad' / 'My Chérie Amour', 'Consuela Biaz' 

Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann - Nena

My little subcollection of Amiga Quartett EP's continues with this release of Nena's hit singles from 1984. The title track, 'Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann' may sound more familiar than most tracks on this one, becuase it also became a hit in English as 'Anyplace, anywhere, anytime' as a duet with Kim Wilde in 2003. 

The four other tracks were all released separately as singles in the West, but in the German Democratic Republic this EP would have to do. It's a great selection, actually, because these Quartett's often also included B-sides or album tracks. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7699
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 July 2025
Tracks:  'Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann', '? (Fragezeichen)' / 'Rette mich', 'Lass mich dein Pirat sein'

Love is blue - Vicky Leandros

I have my share of copies of Vicky Leandros's 1967 Eurovision entry for Luxembourg: in French (two, no, three different copies), German, and English. But there are actually two different versions of the song in English, and this is the other one. 

'Love is blue' has the same lyrics as 'Colours of love', but the musical accompaniment is quite different. You can hear it during the first verse already: 'Colours of love' features a piano accompaniment which is absent on 'Love is blue'. 

Initially I bought this single because I didn't have this sleeve - which is quite pretty - but in doing so I actually found a different version of this Eurovision classic. And that's always a treat. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7690
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 15 June 2025 
Tracks: 'Love is blue' / 'Dance with me until tomorrow'

Mamma Mia - Abba

The fourth and final picture disc to be released recently off the album Abba from 1975 is 'Mamma Mia'. Coincidence: my mum was also called Mia, and so this song became a bit of an injoke when I was young. ('Here she goed again'). 

This is actually my fourth copy of the song, having bought the Dutch single, the German single (not on this blog!) and the GDR single over the past few decades. I doubt this will end here, because I'm still after a few variants!

My collection: 7" single no. 7683
Found: Platenzaak.nl, received 14 June 2025
Tracks: 'Mamma Mia' / 'Intermezzo no. 1'