Blasphemous rumours / Somebody - Depeche Mode

Back in 1984, Depeche Mode released two great songs as a double A-side. 'Blasphemous rumours' explored the industrial sound the band had pioneered to great effect on their album Some great reward, whereas 'Somebody' was a fragile ballad, which according to rumours was sung by Martin Gore in the studio after having shed all his clothes. Make of that what you will.

 German buyers were lucky: the first edition of the single was released on red vinyl. These red vinyl editions of Depeche Mode's earlier singles are now highly sought after collectibles, to the point where I think the price has gone up too high. This copy with its tattered sleeve and scratchy vinyl was more affordable, so I went with this one.

My collection: 7" single no. 7704
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 July 2025
Tracks: 'Blasphemous rumours' / 'Somebody (remix)' 

Knowing me, knowing you - Abba

One of Abba's most touching songs (in my opinion) is 'Knowing me, knowing you', with its feeling of impending heartbreak and loss. I bought the single 41 year ago, on the original Dutch pressing. With a renewed interest in Abba in recent years I have started collecting sleeve variants like this one here: the French record company used the same photograph but did a different layout.

So where does this end? There are obviously many sleeve variants around the world, but for me the investment needs to be limited. However even with that, it looks like I will be posting my 100th Abba single on this blog pretty soon.

My collection: 7" single no. 7686
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 15 June 2025
Tracks: 'Knowing me, knowing you' / 'Happy Hawaii' 

Closer RSD mixes - Kim Wilde

Although I have a lot of Kim Wilde records, I haven't put them all up on this blog - something that I will have to rectify one day. Meanhwile I might as well post her most recent offering. It's a unique item, because it's the only 10" single she ever released.

'Closer RSD mixes' was released earlier this year on the occasion of - you would never guess it - Record Store Day (hence the title). The sleeve isn't the most imaginative, but the disc certainly is: it's clear vinyl with red splatters. And then there's the tracks: two remixes each of the two singles that were released off Kim's album Closer. It looks like there won't be a third single, so this disc kindof wraps up the whole Closer campaign. Fortunately Kim is still touring: she will be all over Europe this year.

My collection: 10" single [unnumbered]
Found: Cherry Red website, April 2025
Tracks: 'Trail of destruction (Project K remix)', 'Trail of destruction (Pensacola Mist remix)' / 'Midnight train (Chrisarama remix)', 'Midnight train (Rayne Reznor remix)' 

Amiga Quartett - Münchener Freiheit

The German band Münchener Freiheit actually achieved some success internationally as Freiheit, with hits like 'Keeping the dream alive', 'Baby it's you' and 'Play it cool'. All three are represented here, but in their original German versions ('So lang' man Träume noch leben kann', 'Tausendmal du' and 'Herz aus Glas' respectively). The only song that didn't get an English translation as far as I know was 'Ohne Dich', but that one became a hit for Dutch singer Erik Mesie, who translated the song into Dutch as 'Zonder jou'. 

This is another attractive Amiga Quartett EP featuring four hit songs. I can only assume that the songs were received favourably in the Eastern part of Germany at the time as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 7703
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 July 2025
Tracks: 'So lang' man Träume noch leben kann', 'Herz aus Glas' /  'Ohne dich (schlaf' ich heut' nacht nich ein)', 'Tausendmal du'

Hooray! Hooray! It's a holi-holiday - Boney M

When I bought a bunch of Amiga Quartett EP's online recently, I also spotted this single by Boney M and because of its low price I decided to buy this one from that seller as well. It's, after all, another GDR release of the band, with a different sleeve. No photograph, unfortunately, just some titles. Which makes it unique, I guess.

'Hooray! Hooray! It's a holi-holiday' was your typical summery anthem for the year 1978, created by Frank Farian and Fred Jay. It was an adaptation of the song 'Polly Wolly Doodle', an American minstrel song that became a popular children's song. The single was a top 5 hit all over Europe and topped the chart in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 7702
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 July 2025
Tracks:  'Hooray! Hooray! It's a holi-holiday' / 'Ribbons of blue'

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'